Having failed miserably with my ipod excursion, I did decide to learn to use itunes. My primary purpose is to burn cds for the car.. I'm one of those people who switches cds at virtually every traffic light, putting in that next 'right' song. Having cds full of songs I like - rather than those on which I like every 3rd or 4th song - would be so wonderful.
Itunes is incredibly easy to use. Songs are downloaded through the computer, and I can check off which ones I want. It's fast - 5 minutes or so, start to finish. The one place I ran into confusion was in trying to rearrange the music: it just wasn't working. I used the 'help' tab (duh!) to discover that I had to make a separate playlist (for example 'smooth study jazz') and then it was as easy as clicking and dragging the music that I wanted. Within the playlist music can be rearranged, and I wasted a lot of time listening to the end of one song meld into the beginning of another to be sure the mix was just right!
I'm going to need better speakers on my computer, because now I click itunes open and pick a playlist anytime I sit down to browse email or play cards. Ambience is everything... :)
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Thursday, April 5, 2007
About blogs...
I thought I'd take a little time to blog about blogs. (Sounds redundant!)
This is one new technology application I think I can sink my teeth into. It was wonderfully easy to set up, thanks to the host site. The first one I looked at - seedwiki - looked a bit utilitarian and blah. This site seemed a little classier - a bit easier to read. I worked on my profile (as if anyone cares!) and began writing.
What I like, I think, is the free-form approach. While I like to journal, I don't do a lot of it. Journaling with the inkling that someone else might actually read it, though, is a different feeling - I can communicate what's on my mind and just maybe someone will care!
I also get the feeling I get when I am involved in NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org) . For a month every year I write furiously, attempting to complete some semblance of a novel. No one else reads it, but it gives me purpose in writing. The more I write, the better I get with it (gee, eventually practice does make perfect!) and the easier the next bit is to write.
I could imagine blogs being useful for the youth services department - what a way to communicate with today's digital natives! And what kid doesn't like feeling as if they're eavesdropping on someone's diary...
This is one new technology application I think I can sink my teeth into. It was wonderfully easy to set up, thanks to the host site. The first one I looked at - seedwiki - looked a bit utilitarian and blah. This site seemed a little classier - a bit easier to read. I worked on my profile (as if anyone cares!) and began writing.
What I like, I think, is the free-form approach. While I like to journal, I don't do a lot of it. Journaling with the inkling that someone else might actually read it, though, is a different feeling - I can communicate what's on my mind and just maybe someone will care!
I also get the feeling I get when I am involved in NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org) . For a month every year I write furiously, attempting to complete some semblance of a novel. No one else reads it, but it gives me purpose in writing. The more I write, the better I get with it (gee, eventually practice does make perfect!) and the easier the next bit is to write.
I could imagine blogs being useful for the youth services department - what a way to communicate with today's digital natives! And what kid doesn't like feeling as if they're eavesdropping on someone's diary...
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
The Rise and Fall of the Library Playstation
The playstation2 has died. Amazingly, it made it through 2.5 years of hard use - probably some kind of record.
We got the PS2 through a grant, along with a large-screen tv. The tv doubled as a movie screen (the library has a movie license) until we got a projector. As predicted, there were mixed reactions to the gaming system at first (this predates my employment here, so I'm going by anectode): apparently many adults who were not connected to younger patrons complained about the noise and simply the presence of the tv. A new location was found, and the general hubbub died down.
The staff generally found the PS2 to be a good thing. It certainly drew kids (and the occasional over-18 patron)into the library who may otherwise have avoided the building completely. It was a great equalizer - kids who couldn't afford (or weren't allowed) a gaming system could come play, letting them join in on the playground conversations about this game over that game, or how hard level 4 of Star Wars was! Perhaps most surprisingly, we noticed a good bit of intergenerational experience happening around the PS2 - grandparents would be amazed at the skill their grandkids showed at the game.
Anyway, it died. We're most noticing that kids who run to the children's desk to sign up for a turn are momentarily disappointed, but not terribly so. They quickly move on to something else. In a week, we haven't had a single request to replace it. It's as if the kids know it was good while it lasted. Will we replace it? We're not sure. Not right away - the budget isn't there. If one were to be donated we'd probably take it.
As a librarian, I would support the presence of a gaming system again. There are far more positives than negatives within the library setting.
*Note - I've never played, nor do I want to. It's easier to say 'don't know how!' to questions than to spend time trying to figure out the problem of the moment!
We got the PS2 through a grant, along with a large-screen tv. The tv doubled as a movie screen (the library has a movie license) until we got a projector. As predicted, there were mixed reactions to the gaming system at first (this predates my employment here, so I'm going by anectode): apparently many adults who were not connected to younger patrons complained about the noise and simply the presence of the tv. A new location was found, and the general hubbub died down.
The staff generally found the PS2 to be a good thing. It certainly drew kids (and the occasional over-18 patron)into the library who may otherwise have avoided the building completely. It was a great equalizer - kids who couldn't afford (or weren't allowed) a gaming system could come play, letting them join in on the playground conversations about this game over that game, or how hard level 4 of Star Wars was! Perhaps most surprisingly, we noticed a good bit of intergenerational experience happening around the PS2 - grandparents would be amazed at the skill their grandkids showed at the game.
Anyway, it died. We're most noticing that kids who run to the children's desk to sign up for a turn are momentarily disappointed, but not terribly so. They quickly move on to something else. In a week, we haven't had a single request to replace it. It's as if the kids know it was good while it lasted. Will we replace it? We're not sure. Not right away - the budget isn't there. If one were to be donated we'd probably take it.
As a librarian, I would support the presence of a gaming system again. There are far more positives than negatives within the library setting.
*Note - I've never played, nor do I want to. It's easier to say 'don't know how!' to questions than to spend time trying to figure out the problem of the moment!
Monday, April 2, 2007
sdopi:ipods (ipod reflections)
For two months I had an ipod. Not just any ipod - a super deluxe, massive memory capacity fifth generation video-capable ipod. I could have done amazing things with the gadget - watched tv shows I missed the first time around, loaded hundreds of songs from my cd collection, discovered the whole world of downloadable podcasts.
So what did I do? I left it, untouched, in the box. For months. My initial experience with the device had me attempting to switch the instructions from Dutch to English - unsuccessfully, until I handed it to my 16 yr old. Finally forced to use the thing (or so I thought - it turns out the podcast didn't require the ipod!), I enjoyed putting a little music onto it, though the earpieces were terribly uncomfortable.
I have two primary impressions of the ipod now - first, that I think I'd enjoy a shuffle. I like to create my own playlists, and spend so much time reading in my car, waiting on my children, that I can imagine I'd use it then. Secondly, I have more concern than I did before about the amount of time some teens/college kids are spending plugged in. My son wants a shuffle - but I don't think I'd get one for him. (If he gets it for himself, that's a different story!) How many conversations and chirping birds, and how much general awareness about life are kids missing while they're connected? It's hard to teach balance when they have constant input at their fingertips.
So what did I do? I left it, untouched, in the box. For months. My initial experience with the device had me attempting to switch the instructions from Dutch to English - unsuccessfully, until I handed it to my 16 yr old. Finally forced to use the thing (or so I thought - it turns out the podcast didn't require the ipod!), I enjoyed putting a little music onto it, though the earpieces were terribly uncomfortable.
I have two primary impressions of the ipod now - first, that I think I'd enjoy a shuffle. I like to create my own playlists, and spend so much time reading in my car, waiting on my children, that I can imagine I'd use it then. Secondly, I have more concern than I did before about the amount of time some teens/college kids are spending plugged in. My son wants a shuffle - but I don't think I'd get one for him. (If he gets it for himself, that's a different story!) How many conversations and chirping birds, and how much general awareness about life are kids missing while they're connected? It's hard to teach balance when they have constant input at their fingertips.
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