Tracking the blog

I added a Statistics Counter from StatCounter last Friday. I had no idea how many people were finding my blog! I was playing with StatCounter today and discovered they have a cool mashup with Google Maps on there so you get a map of where your hits are on a world map. I had a hit from Thailand, India, and Spain! Also New York, Michigan, California and lots of other places along the east coast of the US. I just added a blocking cookie to my browser that keeps my visits from being counted and confusing the counts. Of course, I have to do it on the PC's I use at work too but the hard part is remembering to do it. I feel a bit slow not doing this right way. I knew I have readers as I have some comments. Helene I know has viewed it a few times, so did Jamie and some other PLCMC staffers. But now I know not only how many but where they are and what brought them to me. I was pleased to see several from del.icio.us and technorati, but also a few from search engines I hadn't heard of.

Continuation

Since I already have the blog going I'm going to keep track of it. No I won't check stats several times a day but I will add anthing new I stumble upon and thoughts on those discoveries.

Last week I realized that I had no way of knowing how often people visit this blog (should have used Wordpress) so I set up with StatCounter and added the code so I could check it. It was rather surprising. I just put it in on friday and by this morning I had gotten 50 loads. I admit about 8-12 were me with viewing after publishing a new post. They give a lot of information including where the link came from. Not surprisingly several were from plcmcl2 but a few were from del.icio.us and technorati and there were a few that really surprised me that had nothing to do with Learning 2.0.

Surprisingly, my daughter complained that she didn't think anyone other than myself and a former teacher were reading her blog since we are the only ones to comment. I hope she tries out the suggestions I made. Anyway I'm using what we did here in so many ways it's almost silly.

Thing 23

Wow, this is the end but I for one will continue with these tools.

Well, it's been a busy journey but since I'm on the Emerging Tech and Tech Talk Teams I think I need to finish before some of the rest. I did enjoy the exercises and was very thrilled to see my motivational poster hit Tame the Web. I've found some new tools for my box, explored others in new ways. I feel I also picked up ideas for my Systemwide Strategic Planning Team.

Given all that I really feel that this has been very useful. Yeah, a bigger player will be great to have and a chance at the Laptop would be fine (it would be used mostly for work, I promise). But that didn't really effect my thoughts here since I can see some great ideas for marketing the library with YouTube (ex. our Studio I submissions). This couldn't have been done at a better time despite how busy we all are with the SSP teams etc. The thing is I see both as going hand-in-hand. What better way go with Strategic Planning than to explore some of the technologies that could allow us to move forward into the 21st Century! I see this as a kind of brainstorming for the teams. Technology is moving to Web 2.0 whether we are ready or not, and a basic part of Strategic planning is exploring the technologies that will embrace it. One of the main points of Library 2.0 is meeting our customers where they live and that is very much in the Web 2.0 World. It's time we move forward into this world and use it along side the technologies we already have. Let them support and expland each other.

Finally, I suspect the incentives got more than a few motivated but for me I hope PLCMC also wins greater "buy-in" (to quote Lydia and Martin) by staff to these new resources and tools.

Web 2.0 sites

Well, this was a tough one since we have used so many of the sites listed. However, I couldn't resist the offer to explore Threadless since I joined threadless earlier this month. My daughter introduced me to them and I personally think her wearing her Be Green T-shirt into ImaginOn is why we did so well on the Leeds Certification.


This is just a part of the great graphic but it is also a link to the page for this shirt that is sadly on the out of stock page. I also like many others but sadly since they aren't really library apporved apparel I can't wear many to work.

On a related not, I was perusing the Genuine Scooter Co page today and found this great photo. Genuine and Threadless are only a couple blocks from each other in Chicago. Since my husband rides a white Stella to save gas, they get 90 mpg, it was only natural for me to love this bike. I just might have to get him to put one of the stickers I got with our T-shirts on his bike windscreen or helmet. On weekends when I work you might see his bike in front of ImaginOn if he joins me for lunch. Maybe I'll get him to give me a ride someday once he takes his driving test and can take passengers.

I also played a bit with Wayfaring and had fun making my own map. I included the major locations I worked at with PLCMC over the past 18 years and counting. I also included a few of my favorite stores, including where we adopted our lovely Stella.

video and audio searchng

I tried several searches for videos, Blinkx and Singingfish, as well as Google and Yahoo. I couldn't locate one of the great Studio i producations posted on YouTube, sigh. I did find a post of the opening day celebrations for ImaginOn from ChooseCharlotte on the Google search pages. I never saw any of the outside events that day since I was stuck inside manning StudioI and Tech Cental, so cool.

Since the ImaginOn Studio I productions didn't come up on the searches I tried here they are:





If you like Troy Story go to YouTube and Rate It.

Next I tried a couple podcast search engines and finally found Podzinger. On it I found the Talking With Talis series and one other I had not seen before but by and large I don't think many library sites are doing Podcasting. It would be a fun way to do booktalks. Perhaps PLCMC should start one.

YouTube

I've also been enjoying the YouTube entries from ImaginOn such as the Peeps take Over the World trailer and the award winning Troy Story by the Rust Sisters. I also played there listening to one of my favorite Finnish bands who recently got popular as a soundtrack for YouTube animations, though some I wouldn't view at work so I won't link it. Actually one of my favorite YouTubes was the Human Space invaders.

The day Steve Irwin died CNN posted several articles about him, one more reason to not have a TV. Who needs it, between Netflicks and YouTube I can get it all!

However, I am anxiously awaiting the posting of the full movie of Peeps. Hint to Julie and Glenn.

I am slowly getting used to NetFlix and would be interested in what other people at PLCMC watch from there. I noticed they have a means of inviting friends but I don't know the emails other people I know are using, so if you use NetFlix and wish to share your recommendations and reviews, add me as a friend, my email for them is: mkyle_42@yahoo.com. I do think they have a bit to learn about social networking from other Web 2.0 sites.

PBWiki Central

It's neat to see what other people like but how did our staff get over 1 million cats and over 2 million dogs? I did add my 2 cats though.

I've played on Wiki's before and use several that are serving as forums for Open Source Software projects I've been tracking. Personally I think they make better resources than the old listserves or bulletin boards. They allow greater organization. I also use Wikipedia fairly often and get lots of good info from it. I also know that they can be locked down some so the absolute openness of something like Wikipedia really isn't that big a problem. I see a lot of additions to the various favorites and I think a lot of our staff are ready to take the next step of collaboration on a Wiki to share programs, ready reference information, and other staff related ideas.

Wiki, Wiki, Travels

Here's were I think we are missing out. For any of you who visited the Bull Run Wiki, they have a welcome right on the page for those of use participating in PLCMC's 23 Things. It was cool, but I can see lots of great uses for Wiki's in Libraries.

Limited to library staff they can offer and open collaboration between staff for sharing ideas and concerns. Perhaps not replacing our Intranet but building on it and opening it to all staff sharing ideas, knowledge, and resources. Don't get me wrong, I was early on a member of the Intranet Team participating in it's evolving into PLCMC Central. I feel it has a well established place in our toolbox but we also need open collaboration between staff of all levels to keep that ball rolling. Imagine a ready reference Wiki to for all staff to share where to find what in Charlotte and online? A program ideas Wiki for staff to share their successful and perhaps not so successful programs. Perhaps that program that flopped at one branch would be a major hit at another.

But why stop there? A Wiki can make a powerful tool for marketing our bookclubs and the sharing of ideas by our public as well, such as the Book Lovers Wiki from Princeton Public Library.

Really the possilbilities are endless.

Library 2.0 Perspectives

I read all 5 perspectives but found the next one in line "The Ripple Effect" really informative. It was on a much smaller scale reading about the services they have in place and are putting in place was truely astounding.

Additionally the more I read the more I felt the current SSP teams are really the best place to launch Library 2.0 ideas and technologies. I can see this as a major change in how we do business. It seems to meet our goals for a Balanced Scorecard we do need to embrace the new trends and reach out to our customers where they live, work, and play.

Technorati blog searches

Well, the biggest limit I see here is that the blog writer needs to claim the blog on Technorati. I tried adding my daughter's to my favorites and it shows up but I can't use Technorati to go to it. Instead I get told the blog has not been claimed and thus can't be found. However, I was able to find several fellow staff through searching for PLCMCL2 and liked that. I find the biggest help are the widgets that can be added to my blog allowing other people to search my blog.

Just finished looking at Digg and found an interesting insight on the the rise in blogging. Martin Neumann's Blog Columnist. To a degree I suspect there are a lot of blogs of no consequence and he does make the point that we need to get out and enjoy the world we live in and not let blogging rule our lives. I think I'll go to bed early now.

Tagging Delicious

We are using a lot of resources that use tags. You can tag your photos in Flickr, tag blogs in your favorites in Technorati, tag bookmarks in Del.icio.us, tag your posts in blogger or most other blogging sites, tag your search roll in Rollyo, tags are also used in LibraryThing and this is where I find them most useful. When I enter and tag my books, I can follow these tags to related books I might like. I can also follow tags other users have for the same books to find yet more. The same principle is how tags in Del.icio.us help. Mostly, I had fun following the tags but I can see that entirely too much time could be spent here. I found that it didn't always narrow the search but instead opened it. I have a pretty useful search style and have fairly good success with it and will keep using it, but in some cases it does help to use tags. In my case I like to use LibraryThing's tags for finding related books to the ones I read.

My own Rollyo

I can't figure out what's going wrong with adding Rollyo Searching on my webpage so I am doing a direct link on my other Blog, Computer Notes. It was appropriate there since the Roll was built from the Mac Search Roll already public on Rollyo with a few additions of my own. Anyway you'll find the link in the top left.

Rollyo searches and Library Thing

This is fun, I haven't actually made my own but using rollyo to limit to a few websites likely to have what you want is pretty neat. I found "Ask Mr. Fix-it" and decided to see what I could find out about Shellac there, we have a 1942 house we are restoring and my husband was wondering just what it is. Wow, all we ever wanted to know and then some.

Another good roll was "Mac Search". I set up my account and plan to play a bit now.

I also have a few of my too numerous to count collection of books on Library Thing. It's hard to believe we got rid of 2 boxes of books last year. I think I'll start lining all the outside walls with bookshelves, it's "bound" to increase the insulation. Of course we nearly always have several on the bedside table and nearly all are nonfiction! I did use a Library Thing Widget to post my current reading on my blog. Hmm, wonder if there is a site like this for movies, that would be fun. If anyone has found one let me know! I remember reading about one but can't remember the name. I know Amazon and NetFlix will help me find other similar books and movies but I rather like using Library Thing.

Wow, I can import my bookmarks, yeah, now that's helpful. I have a whole range of bookmarks and here's where I can upload them. If you could download them again it would make a good way to back them up. Haven't found that yet though.