A Chair-itable Cause

Click on the link on the left (article from Austin American Statesman) to read about how my sister-in-law is raising funds for hospital chairs that will not only accommodate sitting beside family members during the day but will accomplish the purpose of spending the night beside loved ones: they're special pull-out chairs. If you've ever had anyone you've loved in the hospital, you know what a drain it is, physically and emotionally. I'm very proud!

#9 I guess I'm just a Google Girl

. . . because everything else just seems visually complicated in comparison, including Technorati et al. Suffice it to say that I liked the Google feed best of all. I tinkered with this at least a week, and I'm almost embarrassed at my conclusion. I wish I was a little more tech sophisticated, but no. Just keep it simple. Plus, I found myself looking at the blogs I liked to get ideas for other blogs I might look at, and jumping off from there. I've got quite an assortment! From Appalachian history to Library concerns to Writing techniques to my 15 year old cousin's blog as she travels the country, it's a plethora of blogfeeds!

#8 + Making a Public Google Reader

. . . and there it is! Just click "Teresa's Shared Readings" and you should link into the page.

#8 RSS Feeds!

I couldn't wait to get to this one! There is a world of opportunity just waiting behind that little orange icon! I have been dying to know how to incorporate it into my world! And now that I do I feel very smug! (Okay, more jubilant than smug. . .) Anyway, there's so much I can do with this, personally -- news updates are a given. This is even better than the Google alerts, because with that tool, I had to know what key word to alert Google to. With RSS, it feeds me updates, regardless of key words. Some of the info I'll disregard -- just like reading a regular newspaper. Other bits I'll hone in on. But I can do RSS feeds on fun stuff, too: hobbies, words of the day, weather in faraway places, pictures from Flickr from photographers I think are cool . . . it's endless. And then there are professional considerations. Wow. It's like taking staff development, practically. (Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration.) However, it's a great way to stay on top of what people are talking about in terms of technology usage, the how-to's of the library world, etc. The RSS feed is a great way to provide encouragement to people professionally, because we read what other real librarians are doing out there in the world through their updates in blogs. I know when I read Doug Johnson saying he's discouraged because he's not seen such and such being used widely, I feel a tiny bit better about my own little world. I mean, come on -- if a big hitter like Doug Johnson goes through hi's and low's like I do, I must be on the right path.

#7 Google Alerts and More!

I explored all the things Google offers and was pretty impressed. I wracked my brain for what I could set up an alert for -- surely I could have some fun with this! Finally, after seeing a very pregnant, but very mum's-the-word-on-that-subject Jennifer Lopez on Dancing with the Stars, I set my Google Alert to tell me everything about her. I thought, Surely she is about to announce that she is expecting-- I mean, how can she keep denying that belly? And sure enough, a few days later, my Google alerts ALERTED me that indeed, she had made the big announcement! Surprise, surprise. I had a chuckle. But I thought of a more urgent need: my daughter loves Avril Lavigne, and she's coming to Dallas in the spring. I think Google needs to keep me informed on ticket prices! In the library/literary world, we could use this to alert us to new book releases, or authors coming to our area.

I also experimented with the calendar in this very busy holiday season. If need be, I can let family and friends view this online. This is pretty cool! (As long as others don't have add-on rights!)

I'm looking forward to working with the Google Notebook for researching online for the book that I'm writing. That's really interesting! A great idea, one that I'm going to put to good use! I can see this being used to the hilt for research purposes at school, too. Once again, though, it's Google -- and we have the filter to deal with. But the idea of an online notebook to keep notes, pictures, web addresses, etc, in a central location is super cool. I wonder if Yahoo puts out a resource like this?

A great sunrise

hello beautiful
Originally uploaded by teresasbookbuzz

#6 Flickr Toys

I liked playing with all the toys! There's so much here! I love the mosaic, and explored with my school's theme with wild animals aka the zebras, jaguars, tigers, et al. With the flash option, this would be great to put on the school website, so fun for the kids to see and easy to change periodically. Also, this would be great to do with students' photos after an event like Children's Book Week, and posting it to the library website. I look forward to doing just that after our annual Fishing for a Good Book.
Zebra mosaic courtesy of Mosaic Maker
http:bighugelabs.com