Thing #7

I'm pretty good at using scanners. I have scanned and cropped and helped customers do it, too. The most challenging was scanning pictures for a couple entering the Green Card Lottery. The pictures had to be exactly the right size to the pixel before the government website would accept it. Figuring that out was tricky. I've used Optical Character Recognition software before, too. Years ago it was almost not worth it because you had to do so much editing. Now if the page is in a standard font without tables or fancy formatting or scribbles in pen or pencil, it works quite well.

I scanned an old postcard of the Nathaniel Holmes Bishop Memorial Library that I bought on Ebay several years ago. When I bought it my office was temporarily in the Bishop basement during the renovation of the Main Library. You can just see the two little windows that brought a little sunlight down by my chair. Actually, the basement was fixed up very nicely for us as a work area. Except for the running back and forth to be on time to the reference desk, there were many advantages to not being in the Main building during construction.

Thing # 6 - Princess Ann and the white thing

Princess Ann white thing
Originally uploaded by Infojots

The "Veil of History" is growing on me. I still wish that the Barnegat Lighthouse was the proper color. This panel with Princess Ann is special as what I now know about it just tickles my sense of humor. We have information on all the images used in the panels from the Attack on the Toms River Blockhouse to the Hindenburg explosion at Lakehurst. The problem was the information didn't include that white squiggly thing in the panel next to Princess Ann. Staff looked hard, (especially Ann G.) trying to find what seemed to be some sort of Native American maybe Lenni Lenape symbol. No luck. Then on the evening of the dedication, a staff member asked the artist for the symbol's meaning or history. Well, he made it up. He needed something white in that panel and he thought this looked good. We wrote down what he said and we're keeping it in our files. No librarian 5, 10 or even 20 years from now will have to spend time tracking down the mystery of Princess Ann and that white squiggly thing!

Thing #5

Ann Gurka 1
Originally uploaded by Infojots

This is actually not the first digital picture I ever took but very close. I think people have handed me cameras before and said press this but today was the first time I set out to take a digital picture.

I have a special fondness for local history and the Bishop Collection in the Wheeler Room so when I spotted Ann working away on a file, I had to take her picture.

Oops, I think I just did Thing #6. For Thing #5, here's a link to a picture on Flickr of a beautiful theatre in NYC. http://www.flickr.com/photos/doubletee/166293261/

Thing #3 and Thing #4

Since you're reading the blog and it is happily linked on the OCLWebthings list, I have completed Things 3 and 4. I first created a blog on another blog hosting site (LiveJournal). It has some nice features but doesn't work as well with some of the other sites the challenge requires like Google Docs. I really liked the look of my LiveJournal and I may go back to using it personally.

Thing #1 and Thing #2

Okay, it is a little embarassing to be so far behind in my blog posts. I'm chairing the committee, Things #18 and #19 are posted in the committee blog, and I'm only writing my second post. Well, I have actually done a lot of the things and actually rewritten and edited some of them without posting about them.


I first became excited by Library 2.0 and the Public Library of Charlotte-Meckenberg County nearly two years ago when I read an online article about the 43 Things I want to do this year. This is an article about a website where you can set and track your goals. This article about 43 Web 2.0 things to learn served as an inspiration for Helene Blowers at PLCMC and the 23 things. Then I had a chance along with quite a few others to hear Ms. Blowers speak at NJLA. Everyone who heard her wanted to bring 23 things to OCL.


As for the 7 1/2 Habits, beginning with the end in mind is not something I always do. Sometimes I just enjoy learning something new so much that I dive in immediately without thinking about what happens next. I love to learn what each button or tab does in a program. I'm one of those odd people who like to read manuals and instructions. I've even read the instructions for my toaster -- which honestly wasn't necessary.


I think my favorite habit is teaching and mentoring. I love to share a tip or a hint or a shortcut. I must admit I also love to show off something new I've learned and sometimes must be annoying about it. I must try harder to understand that not everyone is as excited as me in the discovery and use of TinyURL. I'll just have to be satisfied posting the TinyUrl hint on the wiki Tips Page.