The Bubbly Librarian

Just in case any of my readers are not subscribers of LM_NET, I wanted to share a great idea that came through the listserv this weekend. The original post, by Deborah Stafford, describes a ”Seek and find bottle”. It was a plastic water bottle (individual size) filled with birdseed and about 18 small items such as a paper clip, penny, screw, jingle bell etc. The lid is glued on. You turn and shake the bottle attempting to find all of the small items.  She generously posted a link for how to make one, and, as often happens on LM_NET, the follow-up ideas began to flow.  There have been suggestions to make a Dewey themed bottle and a story themed bottle, among others. This link will take you to the archives and you can read the suggestions and let your own creativity take off. If you are not a librarian, you can probably think of other variations that would apply to your own profession.  I imagine anyone who has visitors to their office might enjoy adding this curious item to their workspace. 

If  you are a school librarian and you are not a member of LM_NET, I strongly suggest you subscribe. Regardless of how long you have been practicing, you’ll find LM_NET to be a useful resource.  I can’t tell you hame many times the helpful members (over 10,000 internationally) have come to my rescue with lesson ideas, book titles, or comfort during those inevitable times of stress. This virtual community has made me look like a genius and feel like a valued member of this profession at various times over the past 10 years.

I was just reading Will Richardson’s blog post on “Controlled Connectedness” which is something I need to work on given my previous post.  I noticed that he also had a link titled “RSS Guide” and found it to be very concise and helpful in explaining what RSS is as well as ways that RSS can really be useful in the classroom. For those of you who may be grappling with these issues, you might find this guide helpful.  I have to admit that Will Richardson spoke at our local BOCES conference last fall, but it still took me until now to really start to get the hang of this.  

I started wondering if I had a problem earlier this week when I was sorely tempted to log on at 3:00 AM after giving my daughter her meds, but it was confirmed today. You know you have a problem when you start dreaming about the computer. No kidding, I woke up to images of my monitor this AM! Therefore, I have made a real effort to stay away from the this thing today. We have a huge festival going on in town and my garden has been badly neglected due to a combination of wet weather and my new addiction, so there has been plenty to do.

Thing 2 in the SLJ ATN project was to set up an RSS reader using Google Reader or NetVibes.  Since I had already set up a Google Reader Account, I thought I’d experiment with NetVibes to compare the two.  The rest of the family is getting a little grumpy about my computer time, so I haven’t gotten as far as actually trying NetVibes, but I did come across an excellent blog that compares the two.  It is written much better than I could have done, so I’ll just share the link. Thank you Mermaid Librarian!

I may be behind the curve, but I just purchased Will Richardson’s book and after only a few pages, my mind is racing.  I’ve shared it with my 16 year old who has many ideas of how her teachers could take advantage of this technology, not only to make their teaching more effective, but also to save tons of paper. She said, “Mom, they could post all of their handouts online. Do  you know how much paper I threw away this year?” In NYS, there is a two-year class called Global Studies.  We talked about how a wiki could be a great tool for that class as they are continually building their knowledge.  Everytime they add to the wiki they would be exposed to previous posts and all of the information they need for the exam is in one place growing and created by the learners. She took the exam in June, but she had PILES of paper and notes from two years to study.  The wiki would have been better.

I bought my first PC in 1994.  What a surprise to read in Mr. Richardon’s book that the Internet as we know it was only about a year old. My brother, a programmer with IBM, advised me to get the fastest modem I could find because the Internet would be big.  I remember debating with the salesman about special ordering a 28.8 modem. (They only had 14.4 in stock) He convinced me that there was no reason to buy one that fast.  I would never have need for that kind of speed.  (The store went out of business within 3 years. Maybe due to shortsightedness?) Just four years later I was signing up for high speed cable Internet so I could more efficiently complete the coursework for my online MLS.  In hindsight, the speed of this evolution has my head spinning.

I used to like to think of myself as an early adapter; my class was only the third cohort to begin the distance learning MLS program at Syracuse University in 1998, and there were only 3 other programs offered nationwide. I had classmates from as far away as Barrow, AK because there were so few options at that time.  And the online program was viewed with some skepticism by employers, but now online degrees are almost common.

These days things are coming at me so fast, I can’t begin to keep up.  Everyday my technology reading presents words or applications that I have never heard before. Today I had to ask my daughter what “ping” means. She explained,  but I still don’t understand.

I hope this course will help me feel more in control and comfortable with the “Read-write web.”

As part of an exercise for School Library Journal’s All Together Now Project, I had to migrate my blog over to edublogs.  It wasn’t so hard.  I’m still working on migrating my blogroll, though.