OCLS and Library 2.0

Well, talking a little bit about the Orange Seed here at OCLS, I have to say it's very important not only for me, but for the Library itself. As part of the Strategic Goal I, OCLS wants to have a good reputation among libraries and also wants to be established as an Employer of choice. Who wouldn't want to work in a place, that among other things, will allow you to propose or suggest ideas by posting them in a web page accessible to everyone that works there so you can get help developing it?
Plus having the Orange Seed, contributes to the Achievement of Strategic Goal II because it is beyond the traditional library experience, allows ideas to become an integral part of innovation and demonstrates that values the free flow of the employees ideas.
It is important for me because it allows me to see ideas posted by others and interact with them and I can even post my own so my opinions and ideas can be known.

Now talking about Orlando Memory... According to Strategic Goal I, OCLS wants to use psychographics (which is the study of personality, values, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles) to develop and market services. Orlando Memory will precisely show what are the values, lifestyles and interests of the community we offer our services to here in the Orlando Area because they will not only post comments, they will post any kind of media item that is significant to them, so we can see, hear or read about what they enjoy or think. I see it as something that definitely goes beyond the traditional library experience since it's completely digital, it allows electronic communication and connects the community with us.


The strategic plan makes me see in the horizon a lot of changes specially regarding embracing new technologies. The new OCLS widget that was developed it's a great example of that. With this widget we can be part of patron's webpages, and it will be easier for them to keep in touch with us. (You can see the widget on the left hand side of my screen below my Blog List)

Also the (now being tested)new OCLS catalog which you can see here will be a great way of "connecting the community to our services and products", it is also another way of electronic communication and it will give OCLS psychographics since it will allow patons to comment, tag and rate items. Test it, search by the keyword "Dogs" and check those new features and comments posted.



This strategic plan also reminds me of how important, patron's thoughts are and how important their feedback is. Because without them we wouldn't be here. If they are not able to share their thoughts and ideas we wouldn't be able to give them the services they would prefer and they could stop coming.

It also tells me how different some libraries, the ones that embrace the 2.0 concept, will be 5 or 10 years from now.

I saw a picture about this in another blog:

Where will the 2.0 take the library?


Picture was posted on the Boroondara City Library Blog

Web 2.0 Continues

Wow!
Browsing through the Seomoz awards page (http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0#cat_117) was awesome. I saw so many cool websites. A fun one was www.hairmixer.com in which you can upload your picture and change your hairstyle, you can even see your face reduced 50 pounds!


But some of them that we can really use at the library are:
Vufind in which the Library's catalog can be customized with open source software. (I know in a meeting I went to they spoke about changing the catalog to something similar, but I don't know if it was using this same software.) Anyway you can quickly sort the search results using the categories on the right of the screen. You can bookmark your searches, add tags to the items and even leave comments. If you click on the "review" tab for a book, it will display the review from Amazon.com and you don't even have to leave the page. When the search results are displayed and you choose one of them, it's going to show you similar items. This will definitely help patrons personalize and keep a record of their search, it will definetly make it easier for them to find what they want and it will let them say their opinion about items, making their opinion count.
See it yourself:

VuFind: Social Features from Falvey Memorial Library on Vimeo.


Another one is www.docstoc.com which compiles a wealth of legal, educational, technical and business documents for you to download for free. You can upload your own files in a number of formats. So this can help patrons when they need help typing documents like an eviction letter, they can get the document from here free!

Video Games you may not want for kids

According to today's Orlando Sentinel page A11 these games are intended for ages 17 and older not under:

Blitz: The league 2
Gears of war
Saints Row 2
Dead Space
Fallout 3
Far Cry 2
Legendary
Left 4 dead
Resistance 2
Silent Hill: Homecoming

Positive games recommended for Teens:
Guitar Hero World Tour
Rockband 2
Rock Revolution
Spider Man: Web of Shadows
Shaun White Snowboarding


Picture courtesy of www.thegamerzzone.com

Talk about Change

We were talking here few weeks ago about how the Internet and new technologies can change everything we do. Here is what the newly elected president is planning to do. Talk about change...

New gaming controller (talking about change...)

1UP News (1up.com)

Check out this new remote coming up. This article is from 1up.com.

Sony Patents Break-Apart Controller
In conjunction with the PlayStation Eye, Sony's reconfigurable controller aims to offer the best motion control yet.By Dustin Quillen, 10/30/2008
Legitimizing rumors from earlier this year, Sony has registered a patent for a new, break-apart controller with advanced motion-sensing technology. Originally uncovered by a poster on Neogaf, this new controller -- should it actually see the light of day -- would put the PS3 in more direct competition with Nintendo's Wii.
This new controller isn't just another revision of the Sixaxis; rather, it looks like a complete overhaul of the form and function of the device, resembling a pair of ice cream cones more than Sony's ubiquitous Dual Shock. The images accompanying the patent display two Wii-like remotes with removable button faceplates, topped off with strange, bulb-like shapes. These glowing, spherical structures house LEDs and ultrasonic sound emitters, which would allow the PlayStation Eye camera to determine the controllers' positions in three-dimensional space.
While the controller's two pieces are separate in many of the provided images, they can also be connected in numerous configurations. One side-by-side permutation is somewhat akin to a traditional Dual Shock, while another looks more like a tribute to Aboriginal weaponry than a gaming device. Anyone who hated on Sony's original PS3 controller design should probably shield their eyes, because this thing makes the infamous boomerang controller look pedestrian by comparison.

Gaming companies come up with unusual patents like this and fail to act on them all the time, but our instincts tells us this one's serious. With the Wii continuing to dominate the console scene and Microsoft gradually repositioning themselves toward more casual gamers, this new input device could be the foothold Sony needs to define themselves this generation. Hopefully they can figure out some sort of reasonably-priced bundle for this thing, because we're having a hard time imagining your average Wii consumer dropping the massive amounts of cash required for a PS3, PlayStation Eye, and a new controller.

Chain, Chain, Change........

I love the fact that the mission statement shows that this Library adapts to the changing community and the evolving technology and ideas. Like a patron said today: "This Library is a whole different world". She has never seen what we offer, in the other libraries from where she lived before: No computer classes, no downloadable media, no 100 limit on items for checkout.
I enjoy the Gaming nights a lot, which also adapt to the evolving technology, first we had a Gaming Pod with an Xbox and Dance Dance Revolution, then we got a Nintendo Wii console with cool games and now we have Rockband and more up to date games! So yes, the Library is a good place to play and learn at the same time.

I also think that we connect our community by our Family Movie Nights, people gather and new friendships are made, and family bonds grow stronger.

The DaVinci article about libraries is very interesting, we are already offering some of the services suggested. For example the say to Preserve the Memories of our community, well we have the Orlando memory Database.
It's true that we offer computer classes as a resource for people that want to learn new technologies but it would be good if we offered a series of guest lectures on different technologies.
And we should definetly have creative spaces, as for now we offer programs fro Teen and Children creativity trough crafts, songs, gaming workshops and gaming related to musical instruments, but we should do it for everybody with these creative spaces the article talks about.

So in general, I think we are on the right track. We just have to keep it up.

Open Source week

Well, since I began in OCLS and specially after Learn 2.0 I learned a lot of new ways of finding information online. Just recently I took the Novelist Database training and I find it quite good. It's a fast and specific tool that can help you find any kind of fiction or series book, along with ideas even for book clubs. When patrons ask me anything I inmediatly "google" it. Everyday we are just becoming more and more dependable on technology to learn. It's the same thing that happened when everybody got access to e-mails. Now who writes paper letters?

In the future, I think the Library will continue to evolve and meet the technology standard as it has been doing. We even have playaways, and tons of online databases just to mention some. The Open Source software can help us develop software applications that are going to be useful for us individually here at OCLS and for our public needs. So we can customize everything we offer or use online or on the computer itself.

By the way, I "googled" myself and one of the first results was a class here at OCLS that I presented. And I didn't even use the keyword FL or Orlando. I just searched by my name.

It's just a little creepy, that you can be found so fast these days.

Technology + Wellness

Well, I definitely love the Wii, and since I hate doing exercise I think wii Fit could be very good for me and my health. gimme20.com it's an awesome tool to find workouts for you without the need of a special trainer, it will help me to design an exercise routine in which I'll feel comfortable. And the graphs that nutritiondata.com builds according to what you eat really helps in creating awareness of how healthy or how much certain food will fill your stomach. I need to improve my meals!!!

A nice Rss feed

Hey if you like tech info, check the Extremetech RSS feed at the bottom of this blog.

For those who don't know me

Hello, I'm cyber_butterfly. I am looking forward to learn the most I can from this course. I enjoyed a lot the 2.0, even finding some of the tasks hard to do or understand at first. But I'm here... And I am looking forward to finish it, like I finished the 2.0!!!