Windows Vista

If you can get your hand on the March 2007 issue of Computer Power User, there’s some great articles on Vista in there. I was hoping to link to “The Final Word,” but as a non-suscriber you can’t read it all so that plan was foiled. I printed it for our Head of Reference/Adult Services, who was very happy to see it, as he has a hard time staying in the loop. Most SMARTies are probably much more in the loop, but I find myself wanting to read as much about Vista as possible. And this issue of this magazine is one of the better looks into the new OS that I’ve seen yet. From installation to setup to Vista and Hardware, it’s all there.

Speaking of Feeds

One thing I can do for you all is link you to some OPML files (lists of feeds) that I have. If you’re not familiar with opml files, you can use them to import a bunch of feeds at once. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, and don’t like Google, leave me a comment and I’ll help you out.

• Library – this includes things for Reference, Cataloging, and general Librarianship
• Librar* Blogs – the term coined by Stephen Cohen at Library Stuff, which is not actually in any of these OPML files, but which is a blog to follow, if you don’t.
• Web 2.0 – the sites I like to follow to see what’s up in the realm. There are some missing, which I keep in a different category and will list below.
• What’s Hot – top bookmarked sites at del.icio.us and things of that ilk

Sites that are listed in my “Favorites” category:

• MoMB: Museum of Modern Betas – If you like Web 2.0, or just the web in general, and you don’t know about this one, it’s a must-follow
• TechCrunch – where I go when I’m about to delve into something new and want to know what’s good.
• Sites & Soundbytes – Technically a Librar* Blog I suppose, but its focus is on the Web/Web 2.0

Greetings!

Hello SMARTies. I’ve just come on board as an author for our blog here and thought I’d give you a little blurb about me.

I’m a Library Computer Geek. I work at the Goshen Public Library in Goshen, NY, where I’ve worked on and off since 1993 when I started at a page. I bounced around a few libraries within the [RCLS] system, but this has always been my library of choice. Currently I’m the Network Administrator and the Web Designer. And the trend-spotter.

I’m also the Web Wizard for the YSS section of the NYLA website, a job I landed while working at RCLS Headquarters, beacuse someone there new I was geeky, and passed my name along to a YSS Board person. It’s a fun little gig, but as someone who has learned web design, it’s also taught me to dislike the downsides of CMS.

I read a lot of RSS feeds–well, I’m subscried to a lot of RSS feeds…I read as many as I have time for. I love Web 2.0 goodies, and have actually now participated in enough closed betas that I’ve lost count. I also like gadgets. On the flip side, I like all things crafty. And of course, books.

I joined SMART because it seemed to be the only place in NYLA where I sort of belonged, but I still don’t feel like I fit in. While I’ve done collection management (I was a YA Librarian once), and Cataloging (was also a Tech Services person once), and Circ duties, none of them really apply to what I do now. After attending last year’s NYLA conference, I grew even stronger feelings on the subject. While there were program offerings that I did enjoy and which I did feel applied to me, a lot of them were at conflicting times. And there could have been more of them. If there were, say, a “geek” section of NYLA, we could have our own track of programs, outside of the ones that also need to cater to people like Tech Services. I can tell you, our Tech services person and I would never end up in the same programs. We’re worlds apart. Which isn’t a bad thing. It just is.

And maybe an entire other section of NYLA isn’t feasible. In which case I feel that SMART needs to maybe expand a little. A lot of what I read about daily are all the great things libraries are doing with their websites, libraries blogging, libraries on MySpace (yes, ours is), Libraries and Wikis. None of these quite seem to fit into SMART as it is and yet I think they’re things we should be paying close attention to.

I also think that at this point I’m probably not the only Library Computer Geek who feels slightly lost in the organization and the section.