YouTube Nation

I have used YouTube before (in fact, I embedded a video in my blog a couple of weeks ago), so I was familiar with the site. I looked up library related videos and found a video of Tim Noah performing at the Lynnwood Library (!), as well as some comedy videos (a library workout video circa 1987, "The Adventures of Super Librarian," "Ninja Librarian," etc.).

On Hulu and Fancast, I found many videos that I would watch, both clips and full episodes. It would be nice to watch something I missed (e.g. a clip from the Saturday Night Live episode Christopher Walken hosted a few weeks ago -- love him but fell asleep halfway through the show) or an older show that I loved and haven't seen available on DVD (Remington Steele, St. Elsewhere). My problem is that while I do have high speed at home, it is satellite high speed. My satellite high speed puts a limit on how much you can download and upload every month. If you reach the limit (which we often do, with two teens in the house!), your connection is slowed WAAAYY down until you are back to 70% of your limit. Extremely annoying, especially since it isn't a cheap service to begin with, but since it is the only high speed available where I live, I have to deal with it. So I wouldn't be watching entire episodes or movies online.

Libraries could use these sites to help patrons find video content they can't find anywhere else. In addition to popular shows, it would be a good place to find videos of news events you may have missed. For example, you could watch a political speech or debate that you missed, or some news coverage of a topic that interests you. They could also be used to advertise library services or programs, if you sent a YouTube link to a mailing list of interested patrons.

(I am not going to embed a video in this post, since I already embedded one as a feature on my blog. I called it "Art Class.")

A Scanner Not-So-Darkly

I decided to visit LibraryThing before logging off tonight. This is the site I have been dreaming of! The most exciting thing (to me, anyway) is that I can create a home library catalog. I looked into buying some home software to do this a few years ago, but the time involved was so daunting (I have thousands of books) that it became a "someday" project. Well, LibraryThing not only catalogs your books, it offers a cheap ($15) bar code scanner to make it faster. It plugs into a USB port and scans the universal bar code on the book jacket/cover. For $10 you can enter as many books as you want in a year; for $25 you're a lifetime member. Sign me up!

Antisocial Networks

Since I am very familiar with MySpace and its features from spending time visiting the pages of my kids and their friends (I don't have my own page), I decided to create a Facebook account instead. I can see how its streamlined content and features would appeal to an older crowd than MySpace, but I have to say that I didn't think it was as much fun to view. I don't see myself using a social networking site at this point in my life (I can't keep up with the relationships I already have!), but I think is a wonderful resource for people who are. Just call me antisocial...

I also checked out GoodReads, the electronic version of my trusty old reading journal. I like how you can organize the books you've read, those you'd like to read, and even add your own reviews. I can also see its possibilities for sharing books you like with friends (library patrons?) through its social networking element. It would be fun to enter the contents of my journal, but even more fun to spend the time reading another book or two!

Mariner Family

MarinerFamily
Originally uploaded by bookgirl84

Okay -- here is a photo from my Flickr account. I had to create a Yahoo account to create a Flickr account. Then I uploaded the photo and added tags. So far, so good. Then it got tricky. While trying to allow Flickr access to my Blogger blog, I had to sign into Google. I signed into the wrong Gmail account (somehow I have 2!), so at first it said I didn't have a blog. I started to panic, then realized my blog is associated with my OTHER account. Everything went smoothly from that point on.

(BTW -- This is me and my family at a Mariners/Angels game at SAFECO last Saturday night.)

A whole new (musical) world...

Wow! I visited Pandora and Finetune and played around for awhile before deciding that Finetune was for me. I liked the layout and wanted to embed my playlist on my blog. I created a playlist (using the "I'm Lazy" button for part of it to save time -- I can "finetune" later), then followed the directions to embed the playlist in my blog. It was very easy and fun. Now I understand why my kids always have music playing while they are online -- it adds a whole new dimension that is tailored specifically for you. I will definitely be exploring these sites more on my own time.