Final Assignment

Final Paper:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AcXbxRejDX0wZGR0Z2pmcWhfOGZyanRoeGhk&hl=en

Presentation:

Analysis of Evergreen Software: Brittany N. Emge

View more webinars from Brittany N. Emge.

So long, farewell...

I am currently working on the paper/presentation, and I am very happy to have survived another technology class! It was great working with all of you, I've learned so much. Good luck to everyone in your next adventures!

End of Semester...AH!

Well I've spent a large portion of today trying to figure out Assignment 4. I have a good bit of it done, but I'm still not completely getting it. I feel like I'm walking around in the dark, feeling around and finding nothing! Hope everyone else is having better luck. I'm also confused as to how the class has been stretched into the next semester, where I will be taking 2 more classes...

Assignment 3: Interview with Robert Lindsey

I interviewed Robert Lindsey of the South Carolina State Library. He is the Web Administrator, and he was very helpful and happy to answer my questions! I was impressed with his initial answers to the basic questions, so I just responded with many thanks for his thoroughness. 

E-mail contact on June 1, 2010:

Hey, Brittany. I'll do my best to answer your questions. 

How and where did you hear about CMS?

The first time I can recall reading about content management systems 

was when I decide to move my personal blog away from a hosted blog on 

blogger.com to one on my own server. This was four or five years ago 

when the Wordpress blogging platform was rising to prominence. To this day, 

Wordpress offers both a hosted (on wordpress.com) and a downloadable 

version of their CMS for bloggers to use. As a result of my research into 

Wordpress, I discovered a plethora of other CMS  packages that were free 

and open source including Joomla and Drupal.

As for where I read about content management systems, I'm sure Googling 

played a part. Wikipedia has a fairly comprehensive list of CMSs 

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_content_management_systems) 

And Wordpress.org, Drupal.org, and Joomla.org have extensive knowledge 

bases and forums with all sorts of information about their products.

What were the library's motivations to adopt CMS for its current use (library 

website or any other purpose)?

At the SC State Library, we take advantage of the user management 

aspect of the Joomla CMS. Users are granted certain levels of rights to 

be able to add job listings or blog postings to our site. Also, Joomla 

comes in handy because we have so many pieces of content to manage on 

our site. Something like 500 pieces of content, I think. We wouldn't be 

able to provide as much content as we do without the help of the CMS 

software. 

What were the library's decision making criteria? What is the name of 

CMS you are using now?

Our library uses Joomla, but I was not involved in the decision to move 

the state library web site to Joomla. I inherited the site much as it 

exists now. In the future we will be exploring the possibility of 

migrating the site from Joomla to Drupal in order to take advantage of 

some of the library-specific modules the Drupal community has created. 

What are the important benefits or advantages of the CMS are you using 

now over the old system or another CMS system you've used in the past?

This one sort of ties into question 2. I think the advantage of Joomla 

is that it's a middle ground between the power of Drupal and the 

usability of Wordpress. Drupal can be pretty daunting because you have 

to build it all from the ground up adding the modules you need. And 

Wordpress can get kind of bloated if you start creating a ton of static 

pages and custom widgets. Joomla comes with a set of commonly used 

features built in to its base installation that should be enough for 

most users. And it also has a fairly good taxonomy system built in to 

help you organize your pages. I've found it to be a good 

middle-of-the-road solution.

How was the learning curve?

There is a learning curve with any new piece of software you try to 

use. Of the three CMSs I've talked about, out of the box Wordpress is 

probably the easiest to use. Then Joomla, then Drupal. But once you 

understand the concepts involved in operating a CMS, the curve is less 

daunting. And as I mentioned, there are large, active communities of 

users attached to each of these CMSs who have written amazing 

documentation and will help get you up to speed.

Hope this has helped! Feel free to follow up with me if you need. I can 

talk about this stuff all day. :)

My best,

Rob

Robert Lindsey

Web Administrator

Innovation and Technology Department

South Carolina State Library

POB 11469, 1500 Senate St., Columbia, SC 29211

Phone: 803-734-5831 | Fax: 803-732-4757

rlindsey@statelibrary.sc.gov | www.statelibrary.sc.gov

Assignment 2 Reflection

I just finished feeling my way around WordPress. The one question I still have is this: what exactly does installing WordPress mean? Would we all be able to mess with plugins and themes if we were to install it?

I started out by skimming through other teams pages, reading through the discussion board postings and the help pages, and seeing what my team had already done. I commented on some of my team member's posts. From here, I studied the dashboard, looking at all of my options. I made my profile in my account setup, then I added a page for my actual bio page. I saw that others had pictures, so I added a self-portrait, my portfolio website, and my individual blog. It was all pretty easy to catch on to, but the site was very slow (not sure if that was my connection's fault). 

I created a post, and then I changed the theme, adding or subtracting widgets. I liked having the sidebar to the left, so I moved that. I was a little confused on the themes though, I wasn't sure how to add a new theme, (one of my team members did, but I wasn't as successful) so I just added one already listed. I did try to install a new theme, but it wasn't successful.

I then created another post, linking to a video (I did not figure out to embed it) and posting a captioned image. I noticed that the image was automatically added to the media library. 


I played with tags a little bit, adding a tag cloud to our sidebar. If we had more time, I think that this feature would prove to be useful (and fun) in the long run. The categories were nice, too. I didn't add any, but I did label each of my posts according to the ones that had already been created.

Overall, I felt like I learned pretty quickly, but only because I had so many examples to look at. The Dashboard feature is really nice, I'd like to learn more about WordPress in the future, starting from scratch. I felt like a lot was done for us, and maybe that was what created a gap in understanding a few things. I also wish I had started earlier, but time was not on my side this week.

Time to find a librarian to interview!

End of Module 1

Although I was forced to put it off until the last minute, I thoroughly enjoyed reading through Module 1's discussions. My experience working in libraries is minimal, so it is really interesting to read about everyone else's encounters/experiences. I think my favorite topic was everyone's responses to how they saw their libraries using Web 2.0, if they were embracing or not, etc.

I was reading blog updates and came across this. I know I'll be in this boat soon enough, and I'd like to get as much advice as possible on how to navigate through the job search process...

http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2010/05/18/tips-for-library-job-applicants-in-a-tight-market/

Hope everyone had a good weekend, it was beautiful here in Powder Springs!

Things to look forward to...

It is very late, I am very tired, but tomorrow is my last day working part-time at a toy store, and I am ecstatic. In a couple of weeks, I will be starting my first real library experience as the art library intern at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida. I am hoping things will only get better from there! I read the calendar, and there is a sculpture cleaning day. They have a replica of the Statue of David, which happens to be my favorite piece of art. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to clean that!! I've seen the real thing, but I doubt I'll be any less excited that morning...

On another note, I'm a little overwhelmed with how much commenting I have to do this weekend. Posting 2 comments sounded so much better.

Finding a wiki for a library.

I do not work at a library, but I did attempt to analyze the public library I visit often.

The West Cobb Regional Library, located in Kennesaw, GA, is a public library that serves users from a large portion of Cobb County. I visit frequently, brought by my own personal needs and school needs. If this library were to create a wiki, it would need to be focused on really getting the community involved, giving many different types of age groups attention. Budget cuts are sure to be an issue, so the wiki would need to be efficient as far as maintenance. A strong web presence would be crucial to getting information out to users without being overwhelming or confusing. Anything from tutoring for teenagers to computer classes for adults could be support via video archives or announcements. It would be used as a place for sharing knowledge between user and librarian, allowing for suggestions and making information about the library more accessible. After searching through WikiMatrix, I narrowed it down to Wikia and Wikispaces, ultimately choosing Wikispaces because it seemed affordable and it also offered 8 interface languages.  It seemed to have a lot of great features to give the library a great web presence.

Happy Thursday!

So I work at a toy stored called Learning Express (in West Cobb), thought I'd share the website for those who have kiddies. It's a really fun store! http://www.learningexpress.com/

Now on to finishing this assignment...I think I'm getting the hang of this RSS feed stuff!

And we're off!

This is my first-ever attempt at creating a blog, and the next technology adventure of my MLIS experience. A couple of weeks ago, it was Google Sites for an online portfolio. I can't say I have much experience with Web 2.0 in terms of library technologies, but I am familiar with social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter, etc. (I use Facebook, and I have a feeling I'll cave into Twitter very soon). I have played with LibraryThing, I've seen Second Life demonstrations, and I've read blogs. I know I have a lot to learn, and I'm confident that this will be worth every frustrating second. I'm open-minded and ready to explore, and I hope to walk away with a better understanding of not just how libraries use Web 2.0 technologies, but also how I can better prepare myself for the transition into the profession.