Lesson 2 Part 3 Challenge: Word

Use Microsoft Word 2010 to create an informational flyer for your location.  Email flyer to your designee.
In your blog entry talk a little about what features you used to create your flyer and what you like best about Word 2010.

 

 

The Igo Elderberries present:

                             Book Arts with Rose Harms

Rose Harms has taught fine arts at  San Antonio College, The University of    Texas at San Antonio, and the Southwest School of Art for seventeen years.  She has exhibited her artistic work in over 100 local and national exhibits.

                 Thursday, June 5, 2014    2 p.m

 

Lesson 11: Wrap Up

Go back to your thoughts/ideas about technology and mobile devices. Has anything changed as a result of this experience?

What were your favorite Cosas/Things and discoveries?

Did you connect with others doing the 11.5 Cosas?

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or content?

Describe your learning experience in one word or in one sentence. We may use your words to promote 11.5 Cosas learning activities to others.

Although I was already aware of the fact that technology is changing at an increasingly fast pace, the Cosas 11.5 illustrated this because much of the information presented is already obsolete, e.g. Overdrive is incorporating magazines, so  Zinio will no longer be used,  Microsoft Office 2010 is already out-of-date and has been replaced by the 2013 version. 

I enjoyed the exercises dealing with reference resources (search engines, databases, etc.) that had more intellectual content, rather than purely technology.  I have used blogs, but never created one, so that was a useful activity.

Because of the varied schedules of the staff, it was difficult to connect with others on many of the activities.  Our tech representative was very helpful in answering questions.

I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the ever-evolving technology, but at the same time some of the information presented was not as clear as it could have been.   A simplification of the main points to be learned would have been helpful.  Telegraph style is more beneficial to me for learning, rather than having to read through so much verbage.

Learning experience:  informative and frustrating at the same.

Please name this blog entry: Lesson 2 Part 2 Challenge 2

Millennium icon has been placed on the Task Bar.

Tech Ninja, Tech Savvy

 Moving along!

  
At loooooooooooooong last I'm now a technology NOVICE!

Lesson 10 Challenge

Please name this blog entry: Lesson 10 Challenge
On the Go, On Your Blog…
Now that you’ve explored the COSA website, the City and Library mobile apps, and our SAPL Government LibGuide, go to your blog and write a paragraph about one local and one state or federal government website you explored.  Will having government services and elected officials “on the go” make us more (or less) democratic as a society?

Since the Igo Branch is frequently an early voting site, and even an Elections Day voting site.
I explored in more depth the Bexar County Elections website, http://elections.bexar.org/.
This is a comprehensive website that gives information on voter ID, sample ballots, voting sites,
campaign finance reports, etc.--all very helpful for those patron questions.

irs.gov is a popular federal website at this time of year.  Because of budget cutbacks, libraries are receiving fewer irs forms and no instruction booklets.  Everything you need to know (but don't
really want to know) about federal taxes.

How do you think mobile technology will change people’s relationship to government access and services?

With the advent of mobile phones and tablets, the public is increasingly demanding immediate access to information.  People can quickly find information on government services (and new services they were unaware of, like the usa.gov site that includes the new Consumer Information Agency).  But
sometimes too much information can confuse the individual and if agencies' funding is cut back,
personal replies and answers to questions will be replaced by self-service through online devices.
This can be a problem for those age groups, who grew up before the "Digital Age".

Will having government services and elected officials “on the go” make us more (or less) democratic as a society?  It should legitimately make them more accessible to citizens, but, in fact, very often
our elected officials are unavailable by any means and are represented by aides, secretaries, and the like. Technology may speed up access theoretically, but how humans process that information has not
speeded up concomitantly.

Please name this blog entry: Lesson 9 Part 1 Hoopla

• On your device, go to Hoopla. Scroll down to Audiobooks and click or tap on the BROWSE ALL link. In your blog, list three AudioBook Titles which are in the FEATURED section.
• Tell us your thoughts on how services like Hoopla are changing libraries

Hoopla offers movies, television, audiobooks, and music.  Digital services such as Hoopla
means that libraries are becoming accessible from many off sites, not only in the physical library.
With mobile devices, the library travels with the individual.


Please name this blog entry: Lesson 9 Part 2- OverDrive Magazines

• Please visit SAPL’s OverDrive Magazines LibGuide and look at the “Initial OverDrive Collection” list of periodicals.  From the magazine collection list, select three magazine titles that interest you.
• From the LibGuide: what are the things you need in order to get started using the OverDrive Magazine collection?

AARP Bulletin, Dr. Oz The Good Life, Country Living

A SAPL Library Card (in good standing)

Access to OverDrive either by:

• OverDrive Web Site
• OverDrive App

A Nook OR The Nook App

• NOOK HD
• NOOK HD+
• NOOK Tablet
• NOOK Color
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK
• Nook App for iOS
• Nook App for Android
• Nook App for Windows 8

A Barnes & Noble Nook account (free)

Lesson 8 Part 1 Challenge Lesson 8 Part 2 Challenge

Lesson 8 Part 1 Challenge

Veronica Roth, Divergent

Number of copies: eBook 89
eBook Formats: Kindle, OverDrive Read, Adobe EPUB ebook
eBooks available 12


Nora Roberts, Chasing Fire

Edition-

Total number of copies: eBook 17
eBook Formats: Kindle, OverDrive Read, Adobe EPUB eBook and Adobe PDF eBook
eBooks available: 12

Please name this blog entry: Lesson 8 Part 2 Challenge
Find an eAudiobook from each collection: OverDrive and Hoopla. Record the titles in your blog then write about which platform you found to be the easiest to search.

Overdrive - eAudiobook, Chris Bohjalian, Light in the Ruins

Hoopla - eAudiobooks, Bruce Fife, Coconut Oil Miracle

When I searched Hoopla for the Light in the Ruins, I did a title search for eAudiobooks and this title, and got 11 titles, none of them this title.  Evidently it was searching only keywords.

                                    Yep, that's me--up against the wall--in the Igo Library!

Lesson 6 Part 1 Challenge

         While I understand the value of connecting with other people via electronic means, I still say it is no substitute for actual, real, in person, connections.   I started a Facebook page, but rarely use it, as I don't want to take the time away from other, more important activities.  I have used it to follow a few close friends and former classmates.  One of my son's friends was actually able to reconnect with a high school sweetheart many years later, and it resulted in their marriage.  I can see the value of social media websites, like Twitter, which many news stations now use to get feedback on their programs and to have a global conversation about certain topics.

Lesson 6 Part 2 Challenge

        Social media can "put it all out there".  A high school teacher friend of mine who had a student who refused to do anything in class except disrupt it, was given an "F" grade. Whereupon he went on Facebook and lambasted the teacher.  People tend to believe what they read, even if it is not true, so social media can harm innocent people.  Some teenagers have no sense of privacy and post about drug usage, etc.   Years later, when interviewing for a job, prospective employers often use social media sites like Facebook, to learn about the applicant.  This can have a negative effect on their job seeking.

Lesson 5 Challenge
I found this challenge somewhat--no very-- annoying!

Keyword searches need only the KEY words, not intermediate, little effect, or stop words (which the computer automatically ignores anyway.)
The buffalo challenge does not even list buffalo as a key word??? Just North America??

China's Great Wall
Keywords are Great Wall Space, NOT China's Great Wall.  I would guess that somewhere
in the world there are other walls named Great Wall, so, in my view,  China should be a keyword instead of space.  Space is not defined, so does it mean "outer" space, visible
from an airplane or a hot-air balloon?

I got the message, "You correctly identified 1 of 3 words that are probably not effective"  when I didn't enter any words at all.   The wizard needs to return to Harry Potter land for more training!

Lesson 4 Part 2

While there is no challenge for this lesson, I did find it interesting how Google Chrome
can be used to search the internet directly and how, by creating an account for Google Chrome, personal information, like bookmarks, will transfer to whatever computer is using.

Lesson 3 Part 2 Challenge:

3 LibGuides for the public    
      1.  e-reader information.  
            This is one of the most useful LibGuides, as it has specific information for using,
             downloading, etc. for each different device.
      2.  Seniors
             This LibGuide is especially useful to me, since I coordinate programs and
              activities for Seniors.  I try to make it known to Seniors.  
              Unfortunately, many do not know how to use the SAPL catalog or that
              LibGuides are contained under the rubric of "Resources".
       3.    Travel
              Since many Seniors travel frequently, this is a useful LibGuide.  It is also
              kept up-to-date (unlike some others), which is critical for travel information.
              I also have prepared a handout with travel information for Seniors, including 
              additional websites.


  2 staff LibGuides
        1.  Live Smart, Learn Well
             Since I am Igo's representative to this Committee, this LibGuide is essential
             for keeping abreast of committee activities and information.
        2.  Reference
             Since much of my time is spent doing Reference, this is a handy guide to many of the                resources and tools of the "trade".

Lesson 3 Part 1 Challenge

Sometimes we receive Reference questions from members of the Igo Genealogy Club, who are researching their family histories.  Ancestry is a great database to start with, since it is free for library users when used in the library, and contains a lot of different kinds of records.  If they are interested in DNA testing for genealogical purposes, Academic Search Complete, as well as the Science and Technology Collection databases, are helpful for finding relevant articles, especially if they need to know the difference between the different companies offering the DNA testing services.  Aside from the databases, the web-based Cyndislist is perhaps the best reference for genealogical topics, as it contains over 300,000 categorized & cross-referenced links of genealogical information.

Lesson 1 Part 3 Challenge

Lesson 1 Part 3 Challenge

          After adding the cosas blog address and the Igo techie's blog address, I am ready to read and
follow their wise and enlightening advice.

Lesson 2 Part 2 Challenge 1

Lesson 2 Part 2 Challenge 1

I captured the snipping tool after clicking on the Start icon and then snipped the snipping tool.
Here it is!

News from the Igo Library

Hi,
I work at the John Igo Branch Library of the San Antonio Public Library System.
I help patrons with their information needs and questions, and also coordinate
programs and activities for our Seniors group, the Igo Elderberries.