#8: RSS

I started using RSS and Bloglines several years ago after hearing Karen Schneider and Stephen Cohen speak about it at Computers in Libraries. It is a very handy way to keep current bringing all of your news reads to one place. Since then, I've tried a few different readers. While I still do like Bloglines, my current favorites are Firefox's live bookmarks that display right in your browser window and Google Reader. Firefox is particularly useful for keeping track of feeds related to libraryland, and I like Google Reader since it sync's so easily with my iGoogle page.

Here's a few feeds from my Bloglines.

New Technology Finds: #7

My latest tech discovery is Kaboodle. It's a site where you can save your shopping list or wish list and share it with friends and family. People can add comments to your items or even purchase gifts from your list For example, if you visit Art.com and find a painting that you would like, you can store it to your Kaboodle list.

Another new site I am using A LOT is iGoogle. Not only can you have your news feeds in one place, but you can also use your Google Calendar there too. The Google calendar has been a great find for me (and my family). We used to keep a calendar in our kitchen, but we were always forgetting to write things down, but now we can share our calendars from anywhere.

Flickr exploration: #5 and #6

This is a timely topic as I am am working on collecting all of our branch photos for MCPL's flickr account. At ALA, a number of different presenters talked about using flickr for library photos so I am creating flickr badges for each branch. Here are some branch photos.

I also recently discovered fd's flickr toys, which I used on Teensite for the Teensite Advisory Group photos. This is the Andy Warholizer tool.

Seven and 1/2 Life Long Learning Habits

Here's my take on the 7 1/2 habits:

The most challenging habit for me is to view problems as challenges. This is something I need to always remember - even if something is problematic or seems like a big obstacle, there is still a lesson that can be learned and something positive we can take away from the experience.

The easiest habit for me is to use technology to your advantage. Technology is our friend. I love it - particularly any tool that we can use to do our work better or make our lives easier. I also like accept responsibility for your own learning. I like to learn new things and taking the initiative to explore.