I had a presentation last week at the Kentucky Library Association Academic and Special Sections / Special Library Association Kentucky Chapter Joint Spring Conference. From Abstraction to Reality: The Opening of UK's Information Commons, presented with my supervisor, Stacey Greenwell, went well, and I think our audience was pleased. We even got a nice write-up on Citegeist. However, all I can now think of is all the things I wish I'd done differently.
Ending slide: I really wanted to avoid the ubiquitous and obvious "Any Questions?" slide, so we had a collage of photos from The Hub. However, in hindsight, I wish we'd had a slide with links. I think librarians would have made a note of The Hub's website, or Facebook page and visited later.
Better seen than heard: I'm now thinking of things I referred to in the presentation but didn't represent visually. I mentioned all the cool things that students write on the whiteboards, so why did I put a slide of a bare board? I could have had Chinese grammar, chemistry or math equations, or something equally cool. I could have also taken a screen capture of our LexGo page on Kentucky.com instead of just mentioning that we have publicity there.
And speaking of visual images, why didn't I think to ask someone to take photos of us presenting? This was my first professional library conference presentation, and now I have no photos to post on this blog or elsewhere, unfortunately.
These are all good lessons learned, and next time (when I'll be brave enough to present by myself), I'll make sure I remember them.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
What kind of bike do I have?
Now that Blue 2.0 is over, (Hey, don't I get a certificate or something?) I am returning to this blog's roots. Motorcycling!
A frequent question I've been getting from colleagues who have seen this blog is: What kind of bike do you have? Well, to clarify, *I* don't really have a bike. Yes, I passed a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course, and yes, I have a license, but generally, I've been learning to ride as a passenger; it's harder than you might think.
Sitting on the back of a motorized vehicle might not seem like something that would make you tired, but it does, and quickly. Some of it is the mental stress of the danger of speeding along (relatively) unprotected on the roadway. Some of it is the physical stress of sitting up straight without moving for long periods of time.
There are some things you can do to help this, though. One is frequent breaks. I couple of minutes walking around will refresh you more than you might think. Another is having the proper equipment. I've been riding on the back of a bike with footpegs for my feet. Before starting to ride, I wouldn't have thought this would be a problem. After all, I'm not standing on the pegs. However, a peg digging into the sole of your unmoving boot for an hour is really uncomfortable. Now, thanks to Brian's recent purchase, we are both going to have floorboards. I am really, really looking forward to using them during this gorgeous Kentucky spring.
A frequent question I've been getting from colleagues who have seen this blog is: What kind of bike do you have? Well, to clarify, *I* don't really have a bike. Yes, I passed a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course, and yes, I have a license, but generally, I've been learning to ride as a passenger; it's harder than you might think.
Sitting on the back of a motorized vehicle might not seem like something that would make you tired, but it does, and quickly. Some of it is the mental stress of the danger of speeding along (relatively) unprotected on the roadway. Some of it is the physical stress of sitting up straight without moving for long periods of time.
There are some things you can do to help this, though. One is frequent breaks. I couple of minutes walking around will refresh you more than you might think. Another is having the proper equipment. I've been riding on the back of a bike with footpegs for my feet. Before starting to ride, I wouldn't have thought this would be a problem. After all, I'm not standing on the pegs. However, a peg digging into the sole of your unmoving boot for an hour is really uncomfortable. Now, thanks to Brian's recent purchase, we are both going to have floorboards. I am really, really looking forward to using them during this gorgeous Kentucky spring.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Podcasting
Hey Daddy-O. I just caught a righteous riff waxed my hip pal, Fifty. Dig if you will: The Fifty Mix Podcast is 18 karat, baby. You will flip your wig when you hear this smokin' ride laid down in the groove. Far out.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Social Networking
You can check out my MySpace profile. I'm not a huge fan of MySpace. I guess people like the fact that you can modify and personalize the pages, but I think that just makes them illegible most of the time.
I use my profile on Facebook much more often. I find the interface much more user-friendly, and some of the applications are fun. I also find that most of the librarians I know use Facebook much more often than any of the other social networking sites, so it's better for staying in touch with colleagues. I've also founds some great groups on Facebook like Congress for the New Urbanism.
My Friendster profile was actually the first one I ever used. I hardly ever look at it anymore because most of my friends and acquaintances are on Facebook instead.
One of my thoughts in general about social networking sites is that people should be careful about privacy issues. I try to make sure my privacy settings are fairly high, and I try not to post anything that I might someday find embarrassing.
I use my profile on Facebook much more often. I find the interface much more user-friendly, and some of the applications are fun. I also find that most of the librarians I know use Facebook much more often than any of the other social networking sites, so it's better for staying in touch with colleagues. I've also founds some great groups on Facebook like Congress for the New Urbanism.
My Friendster profile was actually the first one I ever used. I hardly ever look at it anymore because most of my friends and acquaintances are on Facebook instead.
One of my thoughts in general about social networking sites is that people should be careful about privacy issues. I try to make sure my privacy settings are fairly high, and I try not to post anything that I might someday find embarrassing.
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