Subscribing to Feeds

The directions for this quest were somewhat cryptic to follow. I am looking forward to getting lots of information without lots of keystrokes. Here is the address for bloglines subscriptions:

http://www.bloglines.com/public/mgreenhill1

So far, the quests have been interesting and challenging at the same time, especially for a non-tech type of person!

Instant Messaging

IM was a new experience for me. I liked the immediacy and experimented with both the emotors and audio aspects that are in Yahoo. I had my share of technical glitches which seem to follow me like dirt follows Charles Schultz's character Pigpen! My office computer would not accept Yahoo IM, so I found a computer in the workroom that did accept it. Helen Walker and I had fun experimenting in IM with the audios. Other staff was treated to our laughter and exclaiming as we tried the sounds. I tried meebo today and it worked on the children's services computer, but again, Yahoo IM would not work! I wrote systems about the difficulty. Meebo seems less showy and I like the fact that I can use my pre-existing Yahoo IM information to sign in--it simplifies the prolifieration of passwords.

Life Long Learning

In viewing the ideas for lifelong learning, I find that attitude makes a big difference. Obstacles are sometimes created due to attitude alone. Technology can be one of our most useful allies, unless our attitude turns it into a foe (obstacle). I was concerned that it would be difficult to create a blog--the only tiny glitch was finding a user name for my g-mail account--a common difficulty that librarians encounter often when they are helping patrons create e-mail accounts. I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of the process.

As librarians, it seems a natural part of our profession to do informal teaching on the job. I feel strongly also about mentoring employees who are considering entering our profession. These are lifelong learning habits that I already practice.