Task #10--New Website

I like the looks of the new site--it's not cluttered, but has plenty of information. The use of our motto to direct patrons to information is clever and user friendly. I noticed the "pages" were slow in loading when changing screens, but I'm assuming it's because it's not "live" yet. I really like the click-on calendar on each page. The upper search box works well. I tried all three searches and found what I wanted. The menu at the bottom of the home page is very good--easy to find what you need. The only problem I could see was that the book covers under the heading are incomplete. It would be nice to see the entire book cover. Also, when you go to the search the catalog page, there's no icon to take you directly back to the home page--you have to do some kind of search first. I'd like to see a direct link to "home" on that page.

It's an easy-on-the-eye website, not cluttered, and easy to navigate. Well done, Cari!!!

Task #9--Universal Class

I'm embarrassed to say that I signed up for the "Customer Service" class almost a month ago, and have yet to find time to do the first class. I chose "Customer Service" because that's a huge part of our job at MCPLD. There are any number of classes that staff would benefit from, including the one I'm taking. As for our patrons, the following classes (to name only a few), would be a great help:
Career Training
General Education (help for those needing to take the GED, etc.)
Health & Medicine
Homeschooling (we have a very active homeschooling group in Mesa County)
How to/do it yourself (Very helpful since we lost that database)
Writing Skills (we all could use help in this area)

We, as staff, need to encourage our patrons to use this new tool.

Now, if I can just find time to study...

#8--Spanish Libguide

This is a great libguide for the Spanish-speaking community. I can see opening a couple of windows--one with the English translation and one with Spanish--when helping a Spanish-speaking patron with questions about the guide. I noticed that when in the English translation, if you put the cursor over a heading, it would show the Spanish words--very helpful.

As for the quiz--I missed two.
#3 was a little confusing. I had false at first, then changed it to true. I wasn't sure whether the question was referring to the guide itself, or the Google translation page. It's Monday, okay?!
#8--thought it was difficult to determine which were actual language-learning links. (See above comment concerning day.)

Cloud Computing--#7

I don't use Dropbox or Google docs. However, I can see the advantages of using either one. Dropbox seems more geared to a business, or a group working on a single project. Google docs is more personal, although documents can be shared if desired. As a writer, I would prbably use Google docs. I'm paranoid enough to have a flash drive with all my novels on it, plus having them on my laptop, and I've considered a second flash drive at an entirely different site. I carry the flash drive with me, in case the house burns down. Ack! Don't even want to think about that. By using Google documents (my second flash drive of sorts), that would be a central location for agents and editors to access my writing. All I would have to do is share the file I want them to see. And if something happens to both the flash drive and the laptop, I won't have to re-create 3 novels of 90,000 words + and a novella of about 36,000 words. There's no way I could duplicate them word for word from memory. I think I'll have to look into Google docs.

Webolution #6

I think I was most surprised by question #5. The answer was "D", but I picked "A" (I think) as that referred the patron to the business libguide, which includes a link to "Book a Librarian," if they can't find the answers. No since booking a librarian if they can easily find the answers.

"I need to find information on growing grapes and making wine." We have numerous non-fiction books on both topics, plus they can access ebsco for articles, and the libguide "Home & Garden" has references to magazines, such as organic gardening that might be helpful. This guide should also have a reference to Tri-River Cooperative Extension Service, which it does not. And we might even be having a program that would speak to their topic.

Extra Credit #2--Google a day

This was a hoot! Of course, I could't answer any of the questions, but it was still fun. I only tried three, and quit after the gold sphere question. Who wants to do math late in the afternoon? Aaaaargh! It does help with searching skills, so it would be good to visit several times a week, time willing.

Of course, I want the Sony Reader!

Task #5--Chiltons

Okay, I have a husband and two sons who work on vehicles (one is actually working as an engineer for a company that designs carburetor parts), so this one is pretty much a no-brainer for me. All three guys have used the site--more than once. I also show patrons asking for our repair manuals the site and its easy access from home. I thnk this is one of our better databases. The guys love it. I've even had guys sign up for a card so they can access it at home. One even remarked, "I can take my laptop out to the garage and look at Chilton's while I'm working on my truck."

As for ease of use, the site is visitor friendly. It's also nice to have recall notices for vehicles.

I looked up my car (Pontiac Grand Am 2000) and found instructions for removal & installation of struts and HVAC blower motor. The pictures are great and print out very clear. Believe I'll leave the mechanicking part up to my guys.

Task #4--e-Readers

So, the Kindle gets top marks, but doesn't play well with OverDrive. Thank goodness the Sony reader, which I intend to WIN, ranks fairly close to the Kindle, and actually rates as high or higher in some features that I would consider important, such as navigation, versatility, and response time. The rating was actually only 3 points apart for the higher end Sony and 7 points for the less expensive one, which is the one I would buy--if I were going to buy one. Winning one is soooo much better. The Sony Touch edition weighs the same as the Kindle, has only a slightly bigger screen (which, at my age, I'd prefer), and is comparable in price. So, I'm looking forward to winning the Sony and getting some books downloaded. YES!

Cari's instructions for downloading to the Nook and Sony readers is very clear and concise. The first three steps are crucial for first-time users.

1. Go to the websie and click on "Downloadable Media" under "Books and More."

2. Click on the "OverDrive" image; click on "get Adobe Digital Editions."

3. Click on "Install" and follow the instructions. (I know--step 4.)

Happy reading!!

Task #3--Masterfile Premier

There are several Consumer Reports articles listing smartphones in the subject area, but the first several articles concentrate on cell phone plans and cell phones, too. So, I'm assuming the article you want is Sept. 2010, volume 75, issue 9, pgs. 24-27. The title of the article is: "Smart Phones." However, the very first article, although it's not just about smart phones, also rates smart phones, so you might be looking for Jan. 2011, Vol. 76, Issue 1, pgs. 30-38, titled "Find the Best Fit." You pick. I guess you can compare the two smart phone charts and see how they've changed in one year. Or if they have.

From "Rolling Stone" 1/9/1992--"Izzy quits Guns n' Roses." How sad.

And yes, please enter my extra credit in the Sony Reader drawing!

Discovery Task #2--Scavenger Hunt

100%!!!!!! A good many of the questions I knew without having to look them up, including the first one. I did learn that we have 4 mobile resources--okay, I'm living in the dark ages...don't text, don't have internet on my phone, just the bare bones. I can call for help if I need to. I also learned that we connect to the Hover Public Library if an error message comes up when downloading ebooks. Do I feel smarter? Well, yes. At least a tiny little bit.

Discovery Task #1

Yaaaay!!!!! I have this part already done. WhooHoo!! And of course, I'd like the Sony reader. What a perfect way to get more adept at ebooks downloading.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing is, in some ways, a bit foggy at the moment, but maybe that's because I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. If I'm understanding it right, it's the ability to use computer programs/storage off-site. In a sense, that's what MARMOT does for us. Because we have MARMOT we don't have to hire our own IT person, as we pay the MARMOT folks to do that. I'm also guessing that some of our databases are cloud computing. As libraries grow and information grows, "clouding" could beneficial to libraries. By not having to hire IT people, significant money could be saved and used toward collection development. I participate in Facebook, which I'm guessing is cloud computing. Also, my delicious account could be considered the same thing. I don't have it stored on my computer. I can see where this type of service might be helpful to me to have a safe and secure place to store my writing, so that if my computer at home died, and my flash drive self-destructed, then I would still have access to what I have written. The drawback would be how secure the information might be. With the ability of hackers, I suppose nothing is completely secure.

BTW--How did they get Wes to narrate the video?

September Webolution--Election

The Libguide for elections is great! Lots of info in one place. I took the quiz and scored 100%. And yes, I've already voted--turned in my mail-in ballot today at the mall location. I'll be glad when Nov. 3rd gets here and the phone is not ringing off the hook from all the political calls. Always starts when we've just sat down for supper and doesn't quit until we go to bed. Aaaaaargh!

Historical events on birth date

"Critical Past" is a fascinating website. It was fun to see the large range of history that it covers. As for my birth date: U.S. airmail was inaugurated in 1918 (we've come a long way in the last 92 years--I thnk); lots of WWII news including the Dutch defending their homeland against the Germans in 1940 (my heritage is Dutch, so this was interesting to me), the fall of the Remagen Bridge to the allies in Ahrweiler, Germany in 1945, and a Japanese air attack on the USS Bunker Hill, 1945. In 1935, King George V of Britain celebrated his Silver Jublilee, and in 1948, a New York City motocade celebrated the new state of Israel. On a more sporting note--Bimelech won the Kentucky Derby at Pimlico, MD for a purse of $50,000 in 1940.

And, yes I already knew the minimum temperature for cooking pork, but went to the website anyway to verify. Yep, 160 degrees F.

Printer Friendly

This site is a very handy tool for printing only the article. It not only cleans up the page, but it shortens the number of pages by eliminating all the junk. I can see where this might be useful with ILL when sending articles to other libraries. The article can be saved as a PDF file, and that could be sent through email as an attachment, saving time and postage. Now, if I can just remember to use it. :-)

New Opac

Enjoyed playing around with the new opac. Fairly easy to use. There's so much information on each page that I can see where it might be confusing to people who don't use the internet or aren't familiar with computers, or find searching for something intimidating. For those savvy in using the above, it's a virtual playground for information. It will be interesting to see how the public reacts to it.

Newspapers

I enjoyed visiting this site, but the first time I visited, I didn't have enough time to explore, so missed the interactive map. I think the map is easier than trying to find a newspaper through the "gallery" or the "list." This could be helpful for "current" obituaries or current news items. It doesn't, however, provide historical information, which many genealogists are looking for. It was fun to play around on the site.

Ebooks and ePub

This proved to be a bit frustrating. When I tried to download the Adobe Digital Editions, I kept getting a message about an administrator password. Aaaaaaargh! Thanks to Cari, I discovered that MARMOT no longer allows downloads on our computers, so I can't download any books using ePub. However, I visited Project Gutenberg, Google Books, and ManyBooks. Results: Found one of my favorite books, Mark Twain's "Adam's Diary" on Gutenberg (which I couldn't download) and Google books, which I could as a PDF file--actually it was "excerpts from"--so that worked out. On ManyBooks, I browsed "Recent Additons" and found "And That's How It Was, Officer" by Ralph Sholto, which looked interesting, but I, of course, couldn't download it. I doubt I'll use this much--still like having a book in my hand--but I can see how a lot of our patrons would "eat this up."

Optimal Resume

This is a great site. Really helpful in all areas of job searching. Not just the resume help, but cover letters, interview skills and job searches. Was a little disappointed that Library wasn't listed as one of the areas for resumes, but oh, well. Can't have everything. The job search was very interesting. You could really narrow it down to the area you wanted to look in. This will be an excellent tool for our patrons.

Learn-A-Test

This one was fun!I decided to see if I could pass the citizenship test. I was really proud of myself. I'm guessing I would have scored between 95% and 98%. Keep in mind this was the end of the day and my brain was tired. (A couple of things just couldn't be retrieved from that vast filing system in my brain on a Friday afternoon.) I recommend everyone look at this test--see if you can live up to the title "citizen." As for recommending tests to someone, I've done that several times, particularly the GED test. At the Palisade Branch, a young man comes in every Wednesday morning when I'm there to receive tutoring in math so he can attend college. I showed him the practice ACT and SAT tests and he was thrilled. I'm extremely glad we have this particular database.