Technology reflections...

Well, this one should be easy. As a graduate student in an information science program, I am constantly inundated with literature and discussions of everything and anything that is technology-related. One aspect of the whole Web 2.0 arena that I really enjoy is the concept of social networking. Personally, I love my MySpace page. It not only allows me to keep up on my favorite bands and musicians and find out when they will be touring, but it also helps me to keep in touch with my friends throughout the country that I could not afford to speak with on the phone or that I would frankly not have the time to talk with if it weren't for my social networking site.

Now, there are a lot of library folks out there who might disagree with me. Many people feel that these types of sites are a waste of time and do not see the benefits for libraries. I disagree. Let's look at teenagers for example, as a public library user group. We all know that teenagers are using sites such as MySpace or Facebook in large numbers so what better way to reach out to this often underserved and overlooked group than by reaching them where they're at??

Flickr Mashups...not so fun

O.K. so here I am, trying to have fun with Flickr and explore Thing 7 of the 23 Things. I was really excited when I saw the Trading Card application and was going to create a card for 2 of my cats. However, every time I got half-way through the application, the page would freeze and I would have to cancel out of everything and attempt to start all over again. So, instead of a card, you're going to get to see my kitties in all their glory sans the cool trading card motif. :(

As for the other mashup applications and so on. O.K. Honestly, I just think this is way too much for the common user. I really feel these types of applications are for those people who: A) Have a lot of time on their hands and B) are really, really interested in photography, art and manipulating their photos. I really don't see the use for the general user of Flickr in my opinion.

Flickr fun...

Warsaw
Originally uploaded by missvoyant

So, on to the next step and exploring all of the fun that Flickr has to offer. This picture is just so cute I thought it would be perfect for my blog. My best friend spent the summer in Poland, studying fine art, her major. As you can see, she is also an extremely talented photographer as well. This picture was taken in Warsaw, Poland. I do not know what street or what area and frankly, I have no idea what it's all about! I am assuming it is some sort of work of public art. I just thought this was such a neat and colorful picture that I thought it was definitely something worth sharing with others, so enjoy!!

7 1/2 Habits....

So, after viewing the video about lifelong learners and reflecting upon my experiences, here are a few thoughts:

1. The hardest part for me about lifelong learning is changing how I look at problems and seeing them as challenges. I'm sure many of you can agree. It's sort of like the glass half-full vs. half-empty saying. I can say that I am definitely trying to be more positive but it is definitely an everyday challenge for me.

2. The easiest part for me is accepting responsibility for my own lifelong learning. I think evidence #1 is that I went back to graduate school after being out of school for 7 years. Nobody made me do it. It was just something that I always knew I would do because I feel that it is never too late for learning. In fact, I fully believe that I would be absolutely bored with life if I weren't not always in the process of trying to learn something new.

So, with that said....Viva life long learning!!

It's about time....

Well, here I am, blogging again! I have to admit that I put this off way too long and now I am playing catch up (as usual)! I do believe procrastination is an illness-anyone know of any support groups?? Anyways, I am finally getting in the groove and getting this thing up and running. I can't imagine why it took me so long-it's not as though I am busy, what with work, an internship, classes, a 9 year old boy, etc. Really-what's my problem?? ;) As for blogging, this isn't foreign to me as I am about to graduate in the next month with my Master's in Library and Information Science. So you see, every day is about Learning and Playing for me!!!