Just returned from MLA. It was a wonderful experience. I have to say, librarians and their staff, are about the most welcoming people I have ever come across. They made me feel as if I was one of them right from the start. They were very helpful in giving me ideas for increasing our monthly circulation. Best of all, these people truly know how to laugh and have a good time. I definitely will not forget this experience any time soon. If anyone out there has not ever gone to MLA, I highly recommend it!

Step #11 for #mtlib20

Super Cool Stuff, but I am beginning to feel as though my brain is about to explode! I have looked at several different libraries/librarians and it appears that a majority of them use their twitter sites to update people on upcoming events (closures, conferences, book discussions, etc.).
I also used twittering yesterday to get the word out about our "Twilight" party last night. I have to admit even though I am a techno-phobe, this is a very useful tool for libraries. It gets the word out quickly with little effort on our parts and takes very little time. So, I will give "Twittering" an "A". Way to go "sreymer" you made me a believer.

Wow! I never realized just how much I didn't know, until I took this challenge! I am now trying to figure all the finer points of twittering. I told my 17-year old daughter that I was learning about twittering, she seems to think I will never really catch up to the 21-century. This probably has something to do with the fact I refused to get a cell phone until 4 months ago and I am still using "abc" when I text instead of using "word". She has unknowingly thrown down the gauntlet!!

Assignment #2 of Lesson #1

I chose to attend an OPAL event for this part of the assignment. There was nothing on the calendar before this assignment was due, so I attended an archived event. It was a presentation on Wikis. This was really cool since I know next to nothing about Wikis. One of our library board members has a wiki site for Jefferson County Library System, but since I didn't understand how it worked, I wasn't all that interested in it. But the session I attended explained Wikis and their uses so well, even I understood it. I have to admit, it would be easy to become addicted to this OPAL website. The amount of information and ease of the site is amazing!! This is definitely a tool I will be using in the future.

Boulder Community Library doesn't use e-mail for patron questions. We primarily use our e-mail account to keep updated on what is happening with the state library, msc group, bvf group, that sort of thing. I think it would be interesting to see how many patrons would actually use an e-mail account; set up specifically for patron questions. I have enjoyed using the Webinars, but I have to admit, I am still somewhat intimadated by some of the technology. Oh well, I guess I it's time to catch up with the twenty-first century! Many of Boulder's patrons use our library because they do not have home computers, so I am not sure if we would have many remote users for online reference. I do love the idea though. I am new to the texting world. My teenagers have convinced me that I absolutely cannot get by without it. I have found that I do like it. I think it would be wonderful for patrons to have the ability to text librarians with their questions. Kids love texting about everything, so why not use what they love, to actually teach them!