Week 3: Things 5, 6, and 7

Flickr, like blogging, is not new to me. Unlike blogging, I haven't had the time or desire to delve into Flickr, other than trying to keep up the photos and links of a single prolific poster to Flickr, who is a rising star in librarianship and whose photos and blog entries blur the lines between professional and personal interest. Simply to be able to occasionally comment on his photos, I created my own bare-bones Flickr account but rarely use it. The major problem with all this technology is how time-consuming it can be, and how much restraint and discipline is required to maintain a distinction between the professional and the personal. It's a balancing act that I've learned to hone since way back in 1995, but I think a full explanation requires a separate post. Suffice it to say for now that I'm grateful to be granted time at work to explore technology for professional purposes, and I continue to make some time at home to do the same for personal purposes. So much technology, so little time!

Week 2: 4 of 23 "things" completed

This blog represents the completion of Week 2's tasks #3 (set up blog/add first post) and #4 (register blog).

Prior to creating the blog I completed Week 1's tasks #1 (read introductory blog/learn about program) and #2 (discover pointers from lifelong learners). Last week I jotted down notes about #2, including my hardest listed habit to break as that of not viewing problems as challenges. It seems to me that the most resilient people do view problems as challenges, whereas the rest of us view problems as obstacles, some of which all too often seem unsurmountable. My easiest habit to embrace is playing! - that is, when I allow myself the freedom to do so.

What I like most so far about "The 23 Things" is that I'm allowed to play with technology for the sake of professional growth. Although I think we're a little behind the game in this endeavor, I'm glad to be allowed to catch up and learn.

Welcome to my library blog

This is an interesting adventure for me because I've had a personal blog on LiveJournal since 2000 (making me an "Early Adopter" there). I contemplated putting my library blog on LJ as well, but this will help keep the two completely separate, and I'll get a chance to compare Blogger with LJ. I feel a bit of a traitor, but LJ is quite robust and healthy and I'm loyal to it. In fact, here's a chance to market LJ to more people! I highly recommend it for personal blogs and will gladly reply to any/all questions or comments about it.

So, here I am. Most likely I'll keep this blog as simple and straightforward as my LJ blog. And I'll try to remember to distinguish between LJ (LiveJournal) the blog and LJ (Library Journal) the traditional journal!