Karen's best YS Blog ever

Staff day comming up

2007-12-02T10:36:00.000-08:00

First, I'd like to say how funny the pictures on the third floor are. Who is that masked man...Dave perhaps? Very funny. So I'm bummed out because I can't go to staff day and from what I hear it should be a lot of fun.
Why? you ask. Well, it's the day job. Unfortunately, I have to be a teacher first and school will still be in session, so truly, I am officially bummed out because it would have been nice to meet people from different departments.
So I hope everyone has a good time (sob, sob) jk. I'm sure it will be great. :)
I think I can still be in the raffle even if I don't go, at least I hope so. Catch you guys later.

Another Day Another BLOG!

2007-10-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

Hello out there! I have lost my voice- I sound like a frog lives in my throat and the only sounds that come from me sound like a deep voice "ribbit!" ha-ha. Seriously though-very tough to be a teacher of preschoolers and have no voice. Nonetheless, it was a good week in school but I am looking forward to kicking back and relaxing with the family this weekend. Looking forward to Halloween also. I'm actually thinking of dressing up as a "princess" I figure the kids will get a good laugh out of it and so will my husband. :) Anyway, hope all of you are doing great out there.

Chat with you later, Ribbit!

Hi

2007-10-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to send a shout out to anyone who actually reads my blog. I was just curious when staff day is?What is it?Who can come(besides staff)?

POST 10 Things

2007-10-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

Whew! I'm still recovering from doing the 10 things. Needless to say I got a bit obssessed there. Nonethelss that was alot of fun. I think I approaced it like a race and I just wanted to finish--it was very cool.

Well, it's kinda busy in the lab today--lots of kids doing there homework which I really didn't expcet since they have a day off tomorrow. Its been kinds hectic but either way I just wanted to say Hola to you guys out there and good luck on the ten things.

#10 WU-HU FINISH LINE BABY

2007-10-05T17:12:00.000-07:00

Who needs the Lasalle marathon anyway? ha-ha I can't believe I got through this.
I have become utterly obsessed with finishing the ten things. I have spent way to much time on them. It was like a game I had to finish. I know that there was no pressure from anyone to be done with them this quickly and yet, I had to be done.

But now that its "over" I find that it is really just begun. I know that I will go back and set up some things for myself now. But WU HU!!! I feel such a sense of accomplishment (and I have no idea why)

But anyway, this post is about Thing #10.

I spend a lot of time searching the library's website before the 10 things. Being in the youth lab, I have found that it is very helpful knowing what is on there. Yet, for all my searching I always found the digital books to be very intimidating. I personally, love the feel of books and the idea of reading a book online ...well, its not my favorite thing. Nonetheless, I do like that it is available to me. Had it not been for this journey I don't think that is something I would ever have done. And as cool as it was to find a book I wanted to read and to download it onto the computer--it will never replace the love I have for actual books. Personally, I think a lot of people feel the same way I do. Then again, that could just be me, thinking everyone thinks like me. ha-ha

Seriously though, I am so happy that we as a library have this as a resource for our patrons. It can be very helpful and there seems to be so many books out there. Who knew?

I think it would be great if we had a staff picks link on the website that simply listed the staff picks. I understand that this may be hard to do but sometimes I think people just want a list. I think patrons really value what the staff thinks and having access to a link like that might be the sort of personal touch that could make the Skokie Public Library website all the better. As it is the link on the website makes you choose by name - but sometimes a patron may not know a person's name. It was a just a thought; you let me know what you think.

#9 Love it, but I still like filezilla better

2007-10-05T16:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, I had no idea that google had an FTP. This is actually really cool because I am one of those people who is constantly e-mailing myself things. I love that the home for a document is in the virtual world. It makes life a heck of a lot easier. My issue with google's version of this is the way it reformats you're document. This can be especially troublsome if you took a lot of time to format the document. Still, I prefer this to a jumpdrive anyday.

For those of you that don't know what FTP means I beleieve its (file transfer protocal) but don't quote me on that. And its just like this google thing except your document is kept intack --as in it is not reformatted--my favorite FTP is called filezilla(made from the people who brought you mozilla) I know that all this going around on the web can get you a bit dizzy but if you get a chance, check it out as well.
Whew, almost finished!

#8 Wiki

2007-10-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

Wiki, Wiki, Wiki Jam on it!

I am so showing my age. If any of you understood the above joke--your old school just like me. Ha-ha. I like the idea of a Wiki- that information stays up to date and that the public is part of the process of sharing information. However, Some people out there really do go out looking to destroy Wiki's. I think they are a great source of information--however, if they are the only source of information you may have to think twice about your sources.

Nonetheless, I had fun updating the Wiki for the Skokie Public Library. I added my favorite movies --I'd love your take.

# 7 Podcasts

2007-10-05T15:29:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you guys but I thought podcasts were just for ipods. I throughly enjoyed Booktalks Quick and Simple. What a fantastic thing! It gives you a brief synopsis of a book and she has a wonderful reading voice. As you saw in my previous post- I don't like RSS too much but wow -this might make me use it. http://nancykeane.com/rss.html I added the link for you guys to check it out.

I am so blown away. I sound like a little kid but honestly this is a journey for me.

#6 I had no idea this exsisted

2007-10-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

Who knew? If you look at all my bookmarks on my computer --well lets just say I was shocked to know that such a wonderful thing exsisted out there. Who knew? I added starfall.com to the list. I find it to be one of the best websites out there for young children to use. It's a lot of fun and children really seems to enjoy it.
I hope you guys out there check it out.

#5 Flickr

2007-10-05T14:55:00.001-07:00

I like Flicr. Many a time I have seen pictures on flickr but I had never posted any --ever. That was fun, I especially liked adding the photos of my kids. Very cool, I will definatly be using that again. I had no idea it was so easy.

K- Thing 4

2007-10-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

I have a facebook account-it's set to private. I have a hard time- ha-ha sharing my ideas and photos, though funny enough not on this blog. Anyway, I started an account with myspace, posted a picture but then immediatly deleted it. It was very simple to delete the account. The reason I didn't keep the account probably has to do with the fact that I dislike myspace so much. I think it's too easy to use and as a consequence you have kids that are nine years old with myspace accounts.
Gosh, I sound so grumpy but having three kids myself I value my children's privacy and I think kids put out too much inforamtion about themselves --not to mention the pictures they put up. I think it's great that we can communicate with our friends via the net- I love it but even though I did myspace for the ten things I felt dirty afterwards--I know kinda dumb huh?

Mind you, I love facebook though. It's not that easy to use and I don't know I don't associate it with the sleezyness of myspace. I need to note here that myspace in it of itself is not sleezy--that is just my perception. There are plenty of people out there who have wonderful mysapce webpages --this is just my personal opinion. I will gladly visit anyone's myspace webpage --I'm sure they are wonderful. Anyway, I hope I didn't offend anyone--I'd love to hear your opinion.

THING 3

2007-10-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

How cool! I really like IM'ing thing. It's like talking on the phone without the phone. I'm no stranger to IM'ing nonetheless, I cannot help but see how useful it will be when we use it in the library.
I know it sounds cheesy, but I am really enjoying the 10 things at SPL. While I've used some of this technology before I never really had a reason to use it and so this is all alot of fun for me. I hope all of you are enjoying it as much as I am. Now I'm on to thing 4.

Oh my Goodness RSS

2007-10-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you guys but RSS- is really not for me. Call me old fashioned but I like wasting my time going to websites to see if they have been updated. I know, I know-I'm usually all for technology I just find myself overwhelmed by the amount of media now available to me as I open my e-mail. Call me crazy but I just like my e-mail in my e-mail.

Mind you, I like being up to date on the news, I added NPR, and CNN as two of my subsciptions, however, I don't see this as something I can't live without or that I really enjoy. Nevertheless, I'm on to thing 3.

However, I am glad that I tried RSS out--I feel so "in the know" now. :)

WOW! Another Blog!

2007-09-30T13:42:00.001-07:00

Well, It's been a very busy day today at the Computer lab. It seems that every usual patron has walked in through the door. It's been a little hectic so I'm just writing this blog to say hello.

Anyway, I wanted to let you guys know a little bit more about me. As you saw from my picture I have a preschool classroom. Actually, it a head start bilingual classroom and I love the children I work with. There is something very fulfilling about working with children especially when they are so young. I was actually hoping to get some input from you creative folks out there. I was thinking of doing thematic unit on the Day of The Dead and was looking for ideas for Science projects for preschoolers around this theme. So please feel free to share any ideas that you may have. I would really love the input.
Bye for now!

A Blog to start Blogs

2007-09-28T17:11:00.000-07:00

My hope is that someone actually reads this blog. I think this "10 things @spl" is a really great idea-honestly! It's really nice to have a reason to access some of this technology and it'll be great to be able to pass the knowledge forward.

Anyway, Hi! For those of you who don't know who I am I'm Karen in The YS Lab. I'm usually tucked away in the corner on the first floor so I don't really get to talk to many of you. For those of you that do know me- Hola! and for those of you that don't "Nice to meet you!" Don't be afraid to say hello to me if you see me.

I've been here at the library for almost a year now and I have to say that I really love it. I get to work with kids and technology- two of my favorite things. For my day job - I'm a teacher at CPS so coming here is like a breath of fresh air. Hopefully, I didn't bore you and you had fun reading this. Just in case you wanted to take a look- I posted some pictures of my classroom.