7 1/2: the beginning at the end

I somehow escaped doing the entry on 7 1/2 habits of lifelong learning.
So here it is...

When it comes to my learning habits, the easiest for me is without a doubt accepting responsibility for my own learning. It's just natural for me. I am a very curious person and I love learning. I've been this way from birth and that's all the motivation I need! As a curious person I have also gotten pretty good at creating a tool box to work with. I keep adding to it all the time.

I would say the harder parts for me are having more confidence in myself and the viewing problems as challenges. I think that those two go together for me. Initially I have a tendency to view problems as merely problems and have doubts about how to deal with them. I need to work on having more confidence in my abilities to overcome the various "challenges" that I meet along the way.

Thing #23: Finito

Well, it took me a little longer than I planned, but that's ok. I am glad we had the extra bit at the end though; it was a good buffer for those of us who were delayed by distractions, obstacles or who are just plain slow. I am relieved that it's over, but I really do believe that I have learned quite a lot. That makes for a very satisfied feeling! I am already taking what I've learned as a part of this project and applying it to what I do here as well as to what I do on my own time. So many of these things were things I had read about and heard about but never really took the time to explore in greater detail. I appreciate the push to get me started in learning more.

It's hard to choose one clear favorite, but I do really enjoy Goodreads. (When I remember to log on!) It's great to see what other FRL-ers are reading and reminisce about books that I'd read ages ago and forgotten about. I think it's a nice way for those of us who are spread out at different locations to make more of a connection as well. I've also really loved reading and commenting on the fellow blogs. I am proud that we have so many witty, insightful and creative people in our Fontana circle. It's so refreshing!

I would certainly do a project like this again. There were a few things that I found to be a tad bit tedious or frustrating, but I have enjoyed the vast majority of our tasks. And I have definitely enjoyed the skills and confidence boost that have come out of it.

Thing #22: Netlibrary

I have browsed Netlibrary before, especially to look at all the Pimsleur language cds that are available there; that is quite an impressive selection! And I do know of some particular patrons who use the downloadable audiobooks. The fiction selection seems pretty good. I found several things that interested me right away without much searching. I was pretty disappointed with the children's and the young adult selection, though. That's really a shame because it seems like young adults especially would be more likely to take advantage of the downloadable books since so many of them have mp3 players and are not intimidated by computers. This is the exact opposite of so many of our adult patrons and the main problem I foresee in getting them to take advantage of Netlibrary downloads. I was also surprised that none of the downloads are compatible with zunes or ipods. I think that really limits the number of people who will use this resource. Maybe that will change eventually?

After playing around I feel a bit more comfortable and better informed about the whole process. I am glad to know that the audiobooks can be renewed! That was my first question. I logged in and downloaded Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat just out of curiosity; I was able to play it on my media player without any problems. I can't wait to try it out on my mp3 player.

Thing #21: Podcasts

Well, I must confess that had never actually listened to a podcast before today. I don't have an mp3 player (yet). And I spend so much time on the computer during the week that I try to stay away from it on the weekends. I have been quite curious though, and I feel sure that it is something I could get addicted to really easily.

I tried all three directories and personally liked podcastalley.com and podcast.com the best. I found loads of book reviews and film reviews, which I love. Not to mention language tutorials and Brazilian-themed podcasts. I can't wait to load my mp3player up with stuff!

I chose to listen to a podcast from Studio 360 which is a great show I know from npr. They do a lot of book and movie reviews amongst many other topics--hence the title "Studio 360." I saw a review there of David Gilmour's recent book Film Club. (This David Gilmour is a Canadian novelist/film critic, not to be confused with the other one from Pink Floyd.) His latest book is a memoir about his relationship with his troubled teenage son. Gilmour decided to let his son quit school in exchange for watching three films a week with him. The idea of film watching instead of high school really made me wish I had a film critic for a dad. I would have totally traded chemistry for Italian neo-realism!

Thing #20: Youtube

I love Youtube!!!

Yes there is a lot of junk, but there is so much great stuff there. I don't mind sifting through the other drivel for the gems. Maybe we should broadcast "trailers" for upcoming programs on Youtube? As long as it's not me on there...I'll bet Charlie would do it.

This is Marisa Monte singing "Para Ver As Meninas." She's the best living female vocalist in Brazil, singing a song by the best living samba/choro songwriter in Brazil, accompanied by the the best cavaquinho player in Brazil. That's just my opinion, but I don't think you'd get many arguments from Brazilians. (I have to post the link because the embedding has been "disabled by request.")


"The Lonely Goatherd" from The Sound of Music. I love this movie, this song and those puppets!






And here is "Library Limbo"--a short cartoon by Cornell film students. Really adorable!

Thing #19: My choice

Naturally I gravitated towards the book category here. I didn't see a cinema category which would have also been high on the list. I found biblio.com which is a site for used and rare books. It's the rare part that interested me most. They have a great feature that allows you to browse their rare book room. So I browsed their rare art and architecture books. Too bad I don't have an extra $15,000 handy. Sigh. There on biblio I also found a great e-zine called Biblio Unbound. I found this article there about paperback preservation . Anyhow, it's a great site! I will be going back. There is lots there for those of us who collect books, read books or provide books to the public.

Thing #18: Google Docs

After exploring Google Docs I found myself lamenting: "Why didn't this exist when I was in college?" Or even better: "Why haven't I been using this already?" There are no drawbacks that I can find to being able to access your documents from any computer. It's organized. It saves space on the hard drive. It makes collaborations easy. As an employee it means I don't have to save everything I'm working on at my desk to a flash drive or send it to my e-mail in order to continue working out in the library. For patrons I see only advantages as well. No lost work. No more desperate purchase of floppy disks! (It's amazing to me they still even make those...)

Thing #17: Wiki part II

That was sorta fun! It took me a minute to get it to work, but that's what I get for trying without following the instructions. Once I read those, though, it was simple. I'm not very good at narrowing down to one favorite anything but I added The 400 Blows to the favorite movie list and Arts and Letters Daily to the favorite websites.

Thing #16: Wiki part I

This is a great concept, with all the things that I like about it also being the reasons it is difficult to manage, but what the heck! Overall I really like the idea of wikis, mostly because they're accessible to everyone and they have the potential to be a great free resource. It appeals to the egalitarian nature in me. I do realize that with this kind of setup there are guaranteed problems, but I still (at least in theory) like the idea of everyone being able to contribute. I have no doubt that library wikis have the same basic issues as wikipedia does, so it seems like some kind of structure is needed from the beginning to cut down on the confusion and inappropriate editing. Of course that would require some kind of "wiki master" to make sure the content is correct and appropriate and well...that's a big job! I think that the end result would probably be worth it, though.