CJRLC Tech Mtg. Reflections

I learned so much from attending the tech meeting yesterday. It was so cool to know what is happening out in the world of the Internet and how we can keep up with the information using RSS feeds. I'll definitely be back on Bloglines adding more feeds from some of the places Robert Lackie suggested. Since I am a total believer in libraries as equalizers, I really liked knowing how much of what we saw yesterday can be located for free using JerseyClicks and other databases that are provided for free through the state library. I need to really evaluate the periodicals that we get in paper form and will be cutting back on many of the ones that don't seem to be read. We (hopefully) will be subscribing to Gale's Elite 500 package also next year, which will give us access to many of the periodicals that we receive in print form now plus many that aren't included in EBSCO. One idea that has worked well, that I took from the middle school, was to circulate our magazines out of the library to the staff, which has increased our readership a great deal. At least 15 teachers/staff have participated in this program.

Since it could possible take me all day just to write this one entry in between helping staff and students, I will just end it with the links to the websites that Robert Lackie gave us yesterday. His website wwww.robertlackie.com contains many interesting articles on Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and educational resources. The PPT presentation can be found at the following link: http://leto.rider.edu/~rlackie/exploring/webtoolbox5-2007.ppt. In a nutshell, the things that I am going to put my time into learning more about are Zuula, Exalead, Clusty, and especially the Wayback Machine, which is part of the Internet Archive, the group that is spearheading the universal digital library project. Information on all of these tools is available via the power point.

I was too shy to take any photos of the presentation or of Robert Lackie; I guess no one feels they need to ask permission anymore at these gatherings, but I still feel funny just taking the pictures. So after the presentation finished, I headed out into the library and went to the Children's Section. It is phenomenal--beautifully designed with scenery indicative of the shores of Monmouth County. While the library itself wasn't, in my opinion, as visually interesting as the Mercer County branches are, they do have some features at Monmouth County headquarters, like a snack bar and tables where people can meet and talk outside in the lobby that I am sure add a "bookstore" feel to the library. So it is taking me some time to text the pics to the blog. So there will be more as the day goes on.