Push It To The Limit

I always want to push my skills in organizing my life and work to the limit. That is why I am willing to give my first born child to Google. They have forever changed the way I conduct my business. At any time and place I have access to my most important files. I am always on the lookout for new programs and applications that can assist me. That is why I am attracted to Life Hacker and Instructables. It is great that there is a community of individuals who want to share their unique knowledge with the world. I am more excited about these sites because not only can I learn from them, I can add to them!

I remember in the film The Net there is a scene when Sandra Bullock orders pizza online. That was 1995. It took us over 10 years to get there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUnXJgtXeQ8&feature=related

Look at about 1:30 in.

Library 2.0

I think Orlando Memory is important to the library because it places the power of archiving in the hands of the community. For so many years our institution was based on what WE found important. We decided what books people would have access to, what reference material would be on file, and so on. Now we have options like the internet that gives patrons to ability to search their own resources. Orlando Memory is a way for the community to upload what they feel is important. It gives them the tools to permanently put on file their memories.

I am very excited about the direction the library is taking with "Library 2.0" I feel I am in a unique position considering many of the ideas, terms, and technologies that are now becoming the norm in libraries are concepts my generation has been familiar with for a long time. Now I can become an important asset to the organization by utilizing skills that I have been learning on my own before I even realized they could be useful in my business life.

Last.fm

One great web 2.0 application I have been using for some time is last.fm. After installing a small application that communicates with my iTunes, last.fm collects the information and not only informs the web surfing public of my musical tastes but also suggests new artists for me.

You can check my profile here: www.last.fm/user/nickjade

Last.fm allow me to listen to a "radio" that plays songs by my favorite artists as well as artists in a similar genre. It is a great way to find new bands, or in my case, old bands that I have never heard of.

Last.fm has gone through many changes over the years. You used to be able to place a small playlist on your blog or website that input songs you played. This feature is now disabled as last.fm included no ads in the playlist and this is an important aspect of their revenue. Last.fm function in an entirely legal realm as they pay royalties to the bands they feature. I think this is a positive step forward to sharing music on the web.

The web is now part of our basic communication with people. If I want to play a song for a friend I am not looking at the web as some tunnel for distribution the same as I would a store. The web is now an extension of my body. I do not have to be in the same room with somebody to communicate with them. I think this is an important aspect to except for the media industries and they hopefully can learn to adapt to it.

Sometimes it may be hard to browse the catalog and know what music may be enjoyable or not. Most artists appear on last.fm and can be helpful in identifying artists within a patron's tastes.

I found the Clay Shirky video very interesting! My roomate and I were just speaking last night about dropping our cable. We still want to keep it because there are a few shows that we do enjoy watching. Although we record them to our DVR and watch them on our own time. And even then I only watch TV while I am eating or doing something in which my attention is being occupied by a task. Otherwise I am typically pretty busy working on a project!

I'll be back... to check out some books when I find my library card.

The Orange County Library System, a public enterprise, brings value to the residents of the district through collections, staff, services and facilities. The Library connects our changing community to the evolving world of ideas, information and technology. Through continuous innovation, the Orange County Library System will create a well-informed, well-connected community, making Orange County a great place to live, learn, work, and play.

The things that stand out the most to me with our mission statement are "changing community," "continuous innovation," and "well-connected community." When I began working here I was amazed at what we carried. Films, albums, the whole nine yards. And I do mean films. There are actually legitimate pieces of art in the DVD selection. It's not a Blockbusters' new release wall! That is the first way I noticed how we meet community wants.

Next I was impressed by the computer classes and resources we offer. At the library back home I can walk in today and use the exact same catalog computer I used when I was 8. I am not even kidding. The same exact computer! And typically it is logged out or frozen and I have to have a library employee come unlock it. I am a big fan of that old black and green screen but it just won't cut in the days of Blackberries and iPhones.

We offer our patrons the chance to use our computers and the Internet on a daily basis. In my opinion we can not offer any greater a community service. These days you even have to register for food stamps online. That is like telling somebody your shop that fixes broken brakes is on the edge of a cliff at the bottom of a steep hill. You can get there but it will be really hard.

The portion of the DaVinci Institute article that interests me most is the mention on we as library employees becoming competent professionals to turn to. I think we are already this and will become more so:

As we achieve the ability to conduct more and more complicated searches, the role of the librarian to assist in finding this kind of information also becomes more and more important. People will not have the time and skills necessary to keep up on each new innovation in the search world, and they will need a competent professional to turn to.

However, I am extremely concerned with computers becoming like people. It could just walk up to you in a crowd and kill you!

Computers will become more human-like with personalities, traits, and other characteristics that will give us the sense of being in a room with other humans.

Give Me Your Address There

Since I have joined the OCLS family I have come to realize all the great digital resources available. I am a big fan of Google and Wikipedia for their abundance of information on practically anything available 24/7. But it was not until I started working here that I realized similar sites existed online (through the library) that could give me similar information but with a level of authority attached.

I see the library becoming a portal for open source information. In the past the library was one of the few locations individuals could go to research a subject. Now the library is becoming more of an assistant in connecting the individual with said information. We provide the computers, or the wireless Internet. We provide them with the free databases and staff who know how to navigate them as well as they do the books, and even Google.

When I Google myself I find several entries for a moving company in Louisiana, BUT also my MySpace, Facebook, posts I made on message boards, an company I used to work for, etc. I hope the cyborgs don't find me.

"I'll be back... after I do a Google search on you!"

Health, Wellness and Technology!

I found both sites enormously intertesting and helpful. They have managed to combine health, nutrition, and social networking all under a sleak design. Although I did find the front page of Nutrition Data to be a little busy and it causes my eyes to wonder.

I want to live as long as I can! Well, until the computers (and Web 3.0) decide to rise up and destroy us.

Hello World. Heres a Blog That Im Posting. Come On Get Happy.

I love to blog! I had a chance to catch the blog bug before it was even called blogging (and I was just considered kind of wierd for having a website). Blog is an interesting word. The more you say it the less it sounds like a word and the more it sounds like a noise that might crawl out of your mouth as you slump out of bed in the morning.

On that note I present you with this:



With this project I am interested in becoming more familiar with the ways our library system plans on using the web and technology to adapt to a changing world. So many times I am questioned "why not just use google?" when I tell somebody I work at the library. And I shout "GREAT IDEA! And lets use everything else on the web we can. Come in and let me show you."

I am also trying to keep tabs on the web becuase I am afraid that one day it might try to stab me in the back and take over. BE AWARE!

Web 3.0

What is Web 3.0 going to look like? According to PC Magazine and Wikipedia it will be a web that not only precisely articulates the meaning of your keywords through a search engine but eliminates keywords all together. The "semantic web" as they call it. The new web will analyze and read through websites for you, providing only the results that pertain exactly to your needs. And it will know your needs not because you have necessarily initiated a search but because it watches your actions and anticipates your moves. Kind of like the Skynet military defense system in the Terminator franchise but less hostile and without the want to destroy the human race. (Although I still have my reservations on completley trusting the electornic beast.)

I completely agree with the predictions currently being discussed. I see the web moving to a place where the general population becomes unaware that they are even using it. When I was younger I had a dream of one day walking up to a restaurant in New York and on my sunglasses would appear an extensive review of the establishment including menus, contact information, etc. In my mind it would involve a large backpack full of electronic equipment with wires running to a large pair of sunglasses. Lame I know. But it was the 90s and I watched a lot of bad science fiction films.


It seems that what once was a fantastic figment of my imagination is now a reality in the iPhone. However, unlike my designs, there is no backpack and glasses but a small sleek device that fits in the palm of your hand. With this device you can stand outside of an establishment (or anywhere for that matter) and research any information you would like. And with third party companies like Google offering online maps with pinpointed locations that seem to list every business under the sun, the idea of researching a restaurant before you walk is now a reality. Before you realize it you forget that you are even using the web at all. It's just your phone.