Quest 4: RSS Feeds,Newsreaders, and Bloglines

It wasn't too hard subscribing to the feeds once I understood the screen. A staff member showed me how to do a "quick" feed subscription and once I really understood how to select the subject and then actually click on the subscription button I was on my way. That's what I get for being so overly zealous and trying to "jump into" things before taking the time to actually read and comprehend what I have read. I was actually checking subjects from one side of the quick subscription chart and checking feeds on the other side of the chart. When I tried to execute the transaction, it didn't work. It wasn't until I selected one subject and clicked the subscribe button that it actually worked. Clicking on a subject yields several feeds that fall under that topic. There was some further confusion when I went under "blog settings"; that is, not understanding if the public should be able to see certain things under my bloglines or should I have only made the "feeds" accessible to the public?. I opted for the latter and decided to provide a link to my feeds only. I hope that I am completing these tasks correctly. Some feedback from the Techtreks 2.0 committee is needed. I can still see the "end in sight"; however, "using the technology available to me to get there" is sometimes like waddling through muddy-colored water.

Quest 3: Instant Messaging

This portion of the program was easy. I went in and immediately made a contact list that consisted of my library staff members. I had a staff member that "I'M'ed" me right away as sort of a test. She told me to check out her background on IM; however, I haven't figured out how to do it yet. When she looked at the messenger screen compared to the messenger screen on the computer that she was on, we discovered that the screens had some differences. Was this a difference in the version of Yahoo Messenger that was downloaded? The verdict is still out on that. While in messenger, she showed me how to create an image in Avatar that will appear in my email and messenger post when people receive messages from me. That was interesting and fun to create. The next thing that I did was to add the library's IM id to my contact list. I took a page from Vickie's blog experience with the next step. I emailed them a question and in a few minutes they responded with a helpful answer. Wow! Welcome to a new dimension of technology. It's amazing to actually use and experience the technology out there. I have a lot of friends that talk about instant messaging all the time. I've been a little relunctant and slow to gravitate to the process. I see why people communicate this way now versus emailing or just emailing and then waiting on a response. You are being connected to them in real time and it is just so much faster. This Techtreck 2.0 process is really pushing me forward into a new millenium of possibilities and that is of great benefit to me!

Quest 1& 2: 7 and 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners

I completed this quest on yesterday evening; however, I am just now making a post. That in itself was an learning adventure. You see, I didn't realize that each time you make a new post you have to go to blogger.com to do it. Dumb silly me, I know? Am I a lifelong learner? How about lifelong catcher-upper! LOL! I think that the easiest habit to achieve will be for me to "begin with the end in mind". I am a long-term thinker and keeping my eyes on the prize will be my daily motivation. Keeping the "end in sight" will keep me motivated to complete this adventure. The hardest habit for me will be "using technology to my advantage". Right now, I know that there are probably easier ways to do all of these things that we are learning. Sometimes I have to take the long way to actually catch on and get the point. I'm sure after "learning the hard way" I will discover how to "use technology to my advantage" and actually complete these processes in a quick, more efficient manner.

On Blogging

I took a class on Blogging last winter in the year of 2006. I haven't had much time to actually refer back to it or even check on the status of it. I'd have to look for the address and such. I am really interested in learning how all of this can positively enhance my library career. Right now I'm a bit skeptical of all of this because I can't see the "forest for the trees." Maybe in time I'll understand it all "by and by".