O, IM, how I both love and hate thee.
IM Love: It's easy to use. Main Reference's IM service using Plugoo is great. Don't have to download Yahoo Messenger and end up having to download Yahoo detritus with it, for example (IM Hate issue), just to IM a question if you usually use, say, Google Chat. From a work perspective, IM is just another way to help people find the information they need--and an easy way to send patrons weblinks right away.
IM Hate: I thought I'd try meebo.com, but my computer kept crashing on it today and the meebo screen wasn't instantly clear to me. I have little tolerance for technology that doesn't instantly make my life simpler. If it isn't seamless or intuitive, then what's the point? Learning how to use new tools shouldn't be difficult. The complicated part of lifelong learning should be the intellectual activity.
Back to IM Love: I've now worked Main's IM service from both sides of the desk and now have not only answered questions, but had one answered as well. Today I asked for the population of Cologne, Germany, and received the answer and the source of the answer. (Don't know what I'll do with the information, though...)
And once more to IM Hate: I've used Google Chat long enough to know that I really don't like carrying on conversations with more than one person at a time. I can do it, but it's a little too reminiscent of the reference desk at the old Main library on Sunday. That would be the really old Main, the one where there were just two people staffing the reference desk, one from Main and one from a branch. It was hectic. It wasn't much fun. There was no way to give anyone the assistance and attention he or she deserved. Multiple chats ongoing chats feel that way to me--not the way I choose to multi-task.
Guess these IM Hate entries make me an aging curmudgeon, but the IM Love ones show that I am a fan of it.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Quest 2 Assignment
My seatwork for Quest 2:
Biggest challenge is: Beginning with the end in mind.
Completing this quest by November whateverth seems a bit like a school assignment. Becoming more familiar with new technologies seems a bit vague, unfocused, and, quite frankly, very easy to achieve. (In my first blog posting I figured out how to put in a hypertext link, so I've already become more familiar with new technology...) I acknowledge that goals are good to have, but come evaluation time I always feel as though I am back in the middle of a library school assignment. I had one professor for multiple classes who she was all about goals, objectives, enabling objectives objectives, and some subparts of that I thankfully no longer remember! I learned a lot from her, but feel as though I did enough end-in-mind thinking and how to get there for three very long lifetimes.
Easiest challenge is: Accepting responsibility for my own learning.
Let's be real. Whose fault is it if I don't learn because I won't ask questions (already done that one...), don't try, don't collaborate, don't share what I have learned, pretend I don't have time (that excuse just means I need some help w/ time management), etc.
We've been given encouragement to learn and play. Why not take advantage of it? It's great to be able to explore--all the while letting my mind work in tandem thinking of how this can help CCPL and its mission.
Another challenge: Spelling and typing
I hate spell-checkers--just one of my many irrational quirks--but I am also a bad keyboarder. Also hate proofreading. So I have the challenge of presenting literate-seeming posts without spell-checking or much proofreading. I think this might be my biggest challenge! The solution is easy enough to fix, but that would require another set of goals and objectives...
Biggest challenge is: Beginning with the end in mind.
Completing this quest by November whateverth seems a bit like a school assignment. Becoming more familiar with new technologies seems a bit vague, unfocused, and, quite frankly, very easy to achieve. (In my first blog posting I figured out how to put in a hypertext link, so I've already become more familiar with new technology...) I acknowledge that goals are good to have, but come evaluation time I always feel as though I am back in the middle of a library school assignment. I had one professor for multiple classes who she was all about goals, objectives, enabling objectives objectives, and some subparts of that I thankfully no longer remember! I learned a lot from her, but feel as though I did enough end-in-mind thinking and how to get there for three very long lifetimes.
Easiest challenge is: Accepting responsibility for my own learning.
Let's be real. Whose fault is it if I don't learn because I won't ask questions (already done that one...), don't try, don't collaborate, don't share what I have learned, pretend I don't have time (that excuse just means I need some help w/ time management), etc.
We've been given encouragement to learn and play. Why not take advantage of it? It's great to be able to explore--all the while letting my mind work in tandem thinking of how this can help CCPL and its mission.
Another challenge: Spelling and typing
I hate spell-checkers--just one of my many irrational quirks--but I am also a bad keyboarder. Also hate proofreading. So I have the challenge of presenting literate-seeming posts without spell-checking or much proofreading. I think this might be my biggest challenge! The solution is easy enough to fix, but that would require another set of goals and objectives...
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Quest 1? or Rocky Start 1?
To be honest, Tech Trek 2.0 got off to a very slow and rocky start with me. I had to use my love of irony to make it through Quest 1.
In Quest 1 we have a topic presented in one way--in a tone that quite honestly tries my patience no end--about a subject (Lifelong Learning) that can be experienced and approached in many different ways!
Quest 1's negativity about past learning experiences irked me no end, as I have been around long enough to have had many positive "old school" learning experiences. Technology can be wonderful and can enhance, enrich, and aid learning experiences, but the tone of 7 and 1/2 habits online tutorial was not endearing to me.
Making lemonade of lemons, though--a seeming theme of the 7 and 1/2 habits--I envisioned my mother's impatience going through the same presentation. My irritation was nothing compared to what I imagined hers would be; I could hear her fussing up a storm. I really cherish occasions & things that make me feel my mother's presence, so I easily put my irritation behind me and enjoyed the memories, the connection and the moment.
With Quest 2, we're getting into the learn-through-play part, so all is now right with Tech Trek 2.0 and me. My plan is to continue with the trek despite the irksome start. I realize Quest 1 probably works fine with other people, but I felt I was working with a salesperson who just didn't get me. Because, after all, it is all about me.
In Quest 1 we have a topic presented in one way--in a tone that quite honestly tries my patience no end--about a subject (Lifelong Learning) that can be experienced and approached in many different ways!
Quest 1's negativity about past learning experiences irked me no end, as I have been around long enough to have had many positive "old school" learning experiences. Technology can be wonderful and can enhance, enrich, and aid learning experiences, but the tone of 7 and 1/2 habits online tutorial was not endearing to me.
Making lemonade of lemons, though--a seeming theme of the 7 and 1/2 habits--I envisioned my mother's impatience going through the same presentation. My irritation was nothing compared to what I imagined hers would be; I could hear her fussing up a storm. I really cherish occasions & things that make me feel my mother's presence, so I easily put my irritation behind me and enjoyed the memories, the connection and the moment.
With Quest 2, we're getting into the learn-through-play part, so all is now right with Tech Trek 2.0 and me. My plan is to continue with the trek despite the irksome start. I realize Quest 1 probably works fine with other people, but I felt I was working with a salesperson who just didn't get me. Because, after all, it is all about me.
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