How May I Help You?

Since I signed up for iGoogle and was messing around with some of their tools, I signed up for their Google Reader. I could "discover" other blogs that they suggested were similar to my interests. I did that and found several local newspapers and news outlets plus a few library related. I added KETV and OWH news feeds. I could also just click on "Add a Subscription" and could do a search by keyword. I searched for "library" and it came up with many individual library feeds as well as the Wikipedia entry for library. I signed up for the "librarian.net" & "Nebraska Library Association" and "Nebraska Library Association." I also subscribed to the "Fresh Air" podcast and to a couple bloggers from O! What a Geek.

I'm at NYPL Mid-Manhattan Library at 42nd and 5th Avenue trying to use their Internet. At least it is free - just had to show ID and wait for about 40 minutes. Just like home, they've got all the features shut down, so can't have more than one tab open at once. For this exercise I'd like to comment on how much people are willing to share and reveal about themselves and their friends on their "social networking" sites. I haven't explored a lot of them, mainly Flickr and Face Book, but I'm sure it happens in the other sites as well. In exploring, I've determined that I want to try to be cautious about how much information I put out there for all to see. When I rant about a social issue or cause or air my political views in person, I am usually doing it in front of people I know and trust. I don't feel like it is in my best interest to do this in a forum without any boundaries. It is great the technology can unite people of like mind and vie...

Ok - - - explored - found where I could order some really cool tiny photo calling cards - - I've received a few of these in the last few months so NOW I know where they come from. Found I can make a book with my own text and photos. Sure wish I'd known about this when my friend Pam was sick this spring. I made one for her on the Wal-Gren's website only to have my connection "time out" after spending about 2 hours working on it and having to start all over again. Probably would have been easier AND more expensive from here. Posters, calendars, postcards--we could make a few of those from our excellent postcard collection to sell......I FINALLY found the fun free tools - the group of librarians with librarian trading cards - - scrolled through and found a couple of OPL's very own librarian's with trading cards, and discovered that the "travelin librarian" at the Nebraska Library Commission is one of the leaders in number of librarian trading c...

I have heard a lot about Flikr but had never made an account so this was a first. One more account and password to remember - *$!&%#! I uploaded pictures from Carol Connor's retirement party at Spaghetti Works I'd taken last Friday night. She was director at Lincoln City Libraries for 30 years - I was an employee there for about six. I wanted to share with Lincoln City Libraries staff so this was an easy way to get started. I've yet to figure out how to invite those people to look. I copied and pasted my information about the party into all my uploads before I discovered there was a "batch" option so I'll have to try that next time. I mapped the location right down to the address of Spaghetti Works. (I love when I encounter maps with photos!) I made a set of the photos and I did tag one photo with owhatageek and am still in the process of seeing how to get it loaded here........It is one of the catalogers with a funky hat during the milliner portion of the...

7.5 Habits of Life Long Learners I think it is essential to be a life-long learner. The easiest habit by far is accepting responsibility for my own learning. I have always looked for opportunities to expand and learn. The hardest habit is using technology to my advantage - - I feel like a lot of the technologies require login names and passwords and some require numbers, letters, characters, but only 9 or 8 or 4, some in caps, etc., and that has always been frustrating when I can't remember! HOWEVER, I have found that with Delicious, a new technology, I now have a way to bookmark all my web based sites and to keep notes for my accounts and passwords (encrypted to give me enough hint to get in). I am also on the verge of a real cell phone - I have a Trac phone which I only use about 500 minutes a year and keep off except when I'm traveling - but I am reluctant to be tied to a technology and to be "findable" 24/7. I like quiet and silence in my life. I will procee...

Mike told me he had just reconciled with his former wife - they had been divorced for thirty years. He was wanting some reconciliation quotes. I found a couple he liked: "The worst reconciliation is better than the best divorce." - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616) "The practice of peace and reconciliation is one of the most vital and artistic of human actions." - Thich Nhat Hanh, (b 1926) Vietnamese monk, writer, activist Source: www.ThinkExist.com

This is what you get when you call Omaha Public Library now days - an enthusiastic and friendly greeting. In my instance, it is "Omaha Public Library-Downtown, This is Joanne, How May I Help You?" This year at our annual staff day we were had "Zing Train" training by Zingerman staff from Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the fine art of customer service. Immediately after staff day we implemented this greeting system wide. We started by attaching the greeting to each and every phone until we now have it (mostly) down pat. My goal with this blog is to relate how I have personally given great customer service to people who I have helped at Omaha Public Library. Source: http://zingtrain.com/home.php