Yay! The presentation is done! I got lots of compliments from the attendees, and it was a “sold-out” crowd – standing room only.

I’ve posted the PowerPoint file to SlideShare.net (download the file to see my notes).

Or, you can view it here:

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The audio file will be up as soon as I figure out how to post it somewhere 🙂 (ETA: See next post for the audio)

This is the title of the presentation I’ll be giving on Thursday, at the Tennessee Library Association conference in Kingsport, TN. Check back here for a copy of the presentation.

Resources used in the presentation are available in my del.icio.us account, at http://del.icio.us/library_chic/TLA2008

After yesterday’s post, this came through my Twitter feed: How to: Manage your online identity. This post gives pretty simple directions on how to delete your accounts at a variety of sites, and a couple of tips for consolidating the accounts you want to keep.

I’ll get my first “speaker” ribbon at this year’s Tennessee Library Association annual conference. I’ve been working on my presentation for a couple months now. The title is “Technology Training Tune-Up: Computer and Technology Skills for All Library Staff”. I’ve been looking around at the various training programs libraries do for their staff, and one of the most prominent ones has been the Learning 2.0/23 Things program from the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County (PLCMC). This program was designed by Helene Blowers, and released under a Creative Commons license for other libraries to use. Libraries worldwide have picked up this program and are using it to expose their library staff to emerging technologies online.

As I’ve looked through the participant blogs from the libraries that are using this program, I’ve noticed something.  Some of the blogs simply exist, some stop after just a few posts, some stop part of the way through the program, some stop after the last week of the program, and a very few continue on after completing the program.  Seeing these blogs, in various states of abandonment (especially this one), raised a question in my mind.  What happens to all these accounts that get created in the process of the 23 Things programs?  Do they just languish at the various websites indefinitely?  While some accounts expire after a set time (usually 6 months or so), many of the new 2.0 sites don’t seem to have an expiration date on their login information.  So, again, what happens to all these accounts?  The PLCMC program alone had over 300 participants.  If the participants create an account, but don’t have the desire to continue using it after the program, do they know how to delete it?

I did find one participant blog missing (http://aboutait.blogspot.com/), but that’s the only one that has been removed.  Shouldn’t we be teaching these participants how to clean up their online presence as well?  Isn’t part of learning about emerging technologies also learning how to get out of them when you discover they aren’t working for you?

With the reports of employers using things like Google, Myspace and Facebook to check up on potential new hires and discipline employees, shouldn’t these programs also teach participants how to keep their online persona the way they want it to be?  There are many new tools that allow for tracking your online identity.  Some of these tools could be added to the end of the 23 Things program, along with the suggestion to go through and delete any accounts participants don’t plan to continue using.  There should be no shame or guilt in removing these accounts once the program has been completed – the whole purpose of the program is exposure.  I have signed up for new websites thinking they would be great and very useful, only to discover that they didn’t quite do what I wanted or needed.  So I deleted my account (which is not to say that I don’t still have accounts languishing around the web).  If you try something new, that’s great!  But you are by no means obligated to keep using it if it’s not working for you!

I have recently become a pretty crafty person, at least in my opinion. I have a lot of hobbies, and most of them are crafty. I like to knit, sew, bake and decorate cakes, and make scrapbooks, among other things. (If you’re curious, you can find pictures of my hobbies at my Flickr account.) This month’s challenge was kind of hard for me, actually, because I couldn’t think of a single book I wanted to read cover-to-cover on any of my crafts. Then I realized that I had *already* read at least one knitting book cover to cover. So, for this month’s challenge, I present my favorite knitting book.

Written by Bust founder Debbie Stoller, Stitch ‘N Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook provides a wonderful introduction to knitting that also has an excellent essay on being a feminist and a knitter. There are 40 patterns that are suitable for beginners, but the best part is the actual instruction sections. There are very clear, basic instructions for all of the knitting basics – casting on, binding off, knitting, purling, increasing and decreasing – everything you need to know to do the patterns in the book. Or nearly any other pattern you can find. I’ve been knitting for several years now, and this is *still* my go-to book for trying to figure out how to increase or decrease a certain way. The instructions are clearly written, but they still have a sense of humor, which pervades the entire book.

I normally check out knitting books from the library, but this book (and its sequel, Stitch ‘N Bitch Nation) are the first two books that I bought when I was learning to knit. Stitch ‘N Bitch Nation has the same sense of humor and feminism throughout, but it goes more in depth on how to change patterns so that they fit your body and your style.

I have recommended both of these books to every new knitter who has asked what books to buy. I know there are a *lot* of knitting books available, but these two are the ones that made the most sense to me and have helped me the most as I continue to knit.

I’ve been collaborating with colleagues around the country lately on several possible conference presentations. We’ve been collaborating via Twitter, Google Docs, Gmail and Meebo‘s chat rooms. While I’ve met a few of the people I’ve been collaborating with, most of them I only “know” virtually.

Anyway, the point of this is that in the latest collaboration, we are trying to come up with a proposal for Internet Librarian 2008 about technology and uses of technology and librarianship. We seem to have a good handle on what’s being done now with things like Twitter and Del.icio.us and chat reference. It’s the future part that we’re struggling with. How does one become one of the forward thinking people who seem to be a step ahead of the rest of us when it comes to these things? I’d consider myself a fairly early adopter of Twitter, but I know I wasn’t in the first wave.

So is it a mindset that keeps people on the front wave of new technologies? Or is it happenstance? This is something I’m going to have to think about some more….

I actually finished my book for this BAM Challenge a couple weeks ago, but I haven’t gotten around to writing my review until now. I went for the “trashy romance novel” genre for this month’s “Heart” challenge.

So… I read J.D. Robb’s Innocent in Death, one of the latest in her In Death series. J.D. Robb (who is really Nora Roberts) is one of my favorite mystery/romance novel writers. The In Death series, Detective Eve Dallas solves cases that are set in the future, but without being too “science-fictiony”. She is an excellent detective who truly cares about her cases and takes them personally. She also has an husband who cares deeply for her. The books are well written, with the story carrying you along. These are some of my favorite books when I want a good mystery that has some excellent steamy romance built in.

The first challenge of the year over at the Book a Month Challenge blog is to read a book about time. I chose Jasper Fforde’s Something Rotten. This is the fourth of the Thursday Next books.

It deals with the element of time as all of the Thursday Next books do. The Chronoguard, the Special Operations department in charge of keeping the timeline of history proper, is featured throughout the book. Thursday Next has several revelations dealing with time, and her own personal timeline, and continues to remark on how difficult all of the time “twists” are to deal with. There are many of the usual Jasper Fforde features – character names that are a play on words, a multitude of literary references, and a fast-moving plot that carries you along with it.

I highly recommend this, and all the Thursday Next books, to anyone who’s looking for a “light read” that still has some depth to it.

So, I submitted a proposal to the state library association to present something for the annual conference. Several of my coworkers also submitted proposals for the roundtable that I am the co-chair of. Mine was accepted (I haven’t heard about theirs).

Now I have until this Friday to decide if my topic – “Technology Training Tune-Up: Computer Skills for All Library Staff” can be covered in 50 minutes. The description “Computer training should be an essential part of your library routine. Topics covered include: vocabulary, shortcuts, simple troubleshooting tips, examples of core competencies, and how to keep up with new technologies” is giving me some concerns. But I’m not sure what to cut…..looks like I’ve got some searching to do.

And ideas, suggestions, or links to helpful info would be appreciated!