It's taken me a long time to post this because I feel that I should have more to say. In the end, this is all I have.

I enjoyed this course and extend thanks to the organizers and contributors. Participating in CPD 23 helped me think that I was doing something beneficial for my professional skills, even though I'm still looking for a paid position. Having something concrete to do was encouraging.

Many of the Things I already was somewhat familiar with, but I did learn a few new things, namely Prezi and Screencast-O-Matic. CPD 23 also gave me that final push into using Twitter. Even though I can take or leave the daily Twitter, I'm happy I found #libchat. Participating in #libchat is a highlight of my week.

The other most useful part of this program was reading the blogs. I don't follow many of the blogs I started with, primarily because they were seldom updated. If a blog isn't updated for a month and there is no post explaining why, I remove it from my reader. I don't do this to be harsh; it is simply my way of keeping my RSS feeds down to a manageable size.

RSS is another tool that CPD pushed me to use. I thought about using it before the program, but staying signed in to a reader doesn't fit well with how I work. Even now, I'm more likely to go directly to the website if I know it is updated several times a week. I use the reader for those sites that are updated sporadically or once a week or less.

As for what I need to learn now, I think that depends on what kind of position I get. Until that time, I will go as I have been, learning a little of this and that as it interests me.

Even though there weren't many completely new Things for me in this program, I think I learned by reading all the different perspectives and uses for the Things. I especially enjoyed when I had the time to browse through the recently updated blogs listed on the CPD site. I don't live in an area where I could meet with other participants, but so many of them sounded like they would be interesting to meet in person.

I'm a little sad this program is over, not only because I suspect many of the blogs will cease to be updated, but also because I liked having the structure of a new "project" each week.

Participating in CPD 23 upped the frequency of my blog posts. When I started this blog, I didn't expect people to read it and only planned to post once a week, preferably on the weekend. Now that the program is over, I will return to that once-a-week goal. Also, since more people know about the blog, I have more pressure to come up with quality posts because I don't know who will keep reading. That's a good thing. I think I write better with a little pressure.

In closing, I hope whoever knows the contributors and organizers gives them a big thank you and lots of chocolate for donating their time to make this program organized and beneficial.

If you've read previous posts, then you know that I volunteer at two different libraries. I wanted to volunteer partly because I wanted experience to help me get a paid position and partly because, quite simply, I feel better when I spend time working in a library. Underemployment, especially of the sort where you don't know if you will work from one week to the next, is exhausting, even more so when it is in a field that only marginally suits your personality and skills. Volunteering is a way for me to keep my soul healthy, which in turn keeps my body and mind healthy.

I came into my volunteer positions by asking. 

At the academic library, where I was never a patron, I asked the circulation desk person if the library accepted volunteers. He gave me the name and number for the director. I called her and was prepared to make a case for myself if she said no, but she was amenable to the idea.

Because I asked to volunteer, I didn't expect them to create projects for me; I assumed that would be my responsibility. For the first several weeks, the first thing I did was ask if there was anything they wanted me to work on. They gave me small projects here and there, but mostly all they wanted was for me to sit at the reference desk because no other staff was assigned there during those hours. After two months, I asked the director if I could organize write-ins for NaNoWriMo and she agreed. After that project was finished, I kept my eyes open for anything else I might be able to do and let people know that I was happy to lead the library introduction tours or similar professional tasks. The director and library staff are happy to let me do all kinds of things, but for some things (like teaching info lit classes or cataloging) they have to get permission from the library director's supervisor and we've run into a few "no's" because I'm a volunteer. Even so, I feel as if I've gotten good insight into what it is like to staff a small academic library's reference desk. That experience, combined with the scattered projects and interaction with long-time professionals makes volunteering worthwhile to me. 

At the public library, where I am a frequent patron, I asked one of the circulation staff that I know if there were volunteer opportunities for more than just shelving. I've written about that here and here. Again, I don't expect them to find work for me to do, but so far, they've kept me busy. Besides seeing the differences between an academic and public library's reference desk, volunteering here led to me teaching computer classes. Since I want to specialize in teaching information literacy, this is a good professional opportunity, as well as being personally satisfying. 

I've volunteered at other libraries, too. My input to the volunteering question is that most of the places I've been are willing to let me volunteer, but aren't quite sure what to do with me. If I want to get profitable experience out of it, I need to look around, see something I want to do, and ask. I do see how it is possible that volunteers can replace paid workers and that is a huge no-no to me, but as far as I know, I haven't been in that situation. If I found out that I was, I would stop volunteering with an explanation as to why.

This Thing is what the past year has been for me: applications, applications, applications, applications, interview, applications, applications...

I feel good about the format of my résumé, which I started in college. I have a master copy on my computer (and flash drive) that I update every time I start a new job or get a new qualification. I also have a notebook with this information. I try to keep current with layout and content expectations, so once in a while I'll tweak a few things, but the information is always there for me to work with.

The first version of my résumé was a chronological list of jobs and the duties sounded like an abbreviated job description. This is how the career advisor at college helped me create my résumé. As I've read about current conventions and gotten feedback from employers, I changed things so that the duties read more as specific actions ("Lead groups of 10 -13 teenagers on adventure trips" instead of "Head counselor during trips"). I also changed from chronological to categorical-chronological organization. 

This way, if a hiring manager doesn't care about my experience teaching at camps, they can skip straight to the library section and see what I've done there. I've gotten mixed reviews for this format, but my work experience is so diverse, it makes the most sense to me and the feedback skews slightly towards favorable, so I'll keep this format until I change my mind or I have enough directly relevant experience that it doesn't matter.

Another thing I've changed is to make separate résumés for different positions and include only the experience that is relevant to the job posting. For example, if I'm applying for an instruction librarian position, I don't include the seven months I spent working on a guest ranch or the nine months I worked as a hotel housekeeper. These kinds of jobs are in my work history on the application. I use the résumé to help focus the hiring committee's attention on the relevant experience. Alternately, if I'm applying for concession work (yes, some seasonal places want a résumé), I put all the hotel, retail, and restaurant experience on the resume and leave off library and teaching experience.

My cover letters have gone through changes, too. When I first wrote cover letters, they were basically full sentence versions of parts of my résumé. As I've read and experimented and gotten more practice, they now (I hope) show some of my strengths and abilities that aren't listed on the résumé and point to the résumé as proof for what the cover letter says.

One thing I now believe about applications, cover letters, and résumés: there is alot of bad advice out there! If something feels weird or like a bad idea, it probably is. Telling myself that I need to do hard things to get what I want and since I'm not getting interviews, I should try another approach has caused me to do some things that I wish I hadn't. (Email a hiring manager every week to express continuing interest? No. Bad advice.) Also, career offices and employment agencies don't always know what they are talking about. It takes work to stay on top of current expectations. That work is something each person should do for himself; career coaches don't necessarily do that work.

Two people who I think offer solid advice on job searching and employment in general are Alison Green of Ask A Manager and Suzanne Lucas of Evil HR Lady. I like them because they are sensible and advocate avoiding coyness and games. I'm really bad at playing social games, so I appreciate anyone who makes suggestions for appropriately saying what you mean. Their work also helps take some of the mystery out of what is going on in an employer's mind.

Two of the most helpful things I found while job searching are statements Alison Green says in her free guide to preparing for an interview. Essentially, she says that if you are called for an interview, they have already decided that you meet their initial qualifications; no competent interviewer will interview someone they wouldn't even consider hiring. The other thing is that weird people get hired all the time. This encourages me that if nerves make me stutter while answering a hard question or if I blank for two seconds before understanding what a question means, maybe all is not lost.

Also, I'm starting more and more to be natural and avoid presenting the shiny-can't-keep-this-up-for-more-than-a-few-hours version. I think I always did this to some extent; it's hard for me to pretend to be different from who I am. The difference is that now I don't feel guilty illustrating all my answers with an example or analogy or giving a simple one sentence answer when that's all I have to say. This is how I am in real life and I have come to think that interviewers deserve to know the actuality of who they'll be working with, just as I want to go past the shiny truth and see the real truth of a prospective employer.

This leads to my next change. In interviews, I have started asking the questions I want to know and asking them just as the interviewers ask me. For example, I used to think it was too direct to ask, "What is a typical work day like? Can you tell me about the culture here?" So I struggled to find out this information with sideways questions. It didn't work out so well. Now I ask these questions directly.

I haven't yet been hired, so who knows if I'm on the right track, but at least I am acting in a way that prevents me from cringing in embarrassment and does get me the information I want.

Skip to the previous post if you want the concise version. This post is nearly 28,000 words long.

To tell this story, we have to go back in time. You probably guessed that, but maybe based on how old you think me to be based on my picture, you weren't expecting to go back 23 years. But we do have to go back that far, back to the time I first remember discovering that place where hundreds of books are free to read, the wonder that is the public library.

So we've gone back to a sunny June afternoon. I'm six years old and Dad stayed home with us while Mom ran errands. As her car turns into the driveway, I rush out of the house to greet her. She shows me a large paper with a trail marked on it in blue, orange, yellow, and red rectangles. 

"I signed you up for the summer reading program at the library," she tells me.

Library? I'm not sure what a library is, but it sounds like it has something to do with books and I like books. Anyway, the program is something different from my daily routine and I'm game to try it out.

"You set a goal for how many books you want to read over the summer and keep track of what you read on this paper," she explains as she hands me the colorful sheet and several books.

After that, the library is my favorite place. The only downside is choosing which books to take and which to leave. I have a game with myself to see how many books I can read while waiting on Mom. If I read two books and take home seven, then really, that trip to the library resulted in nine books.

Even more exciting is when the bookmobile comes to our house. It comes right at the end of my nap time and I always hope I will be awake in time to go inside the dimly-lit van stuffed with books. As the years pass, the bookmobile no longer comes to our house, but weekly visits to the library are a staple of our routine.

Now we jump forward to when I am 12 years old.

For the past six years, I participated in the summer reading program. Now I get to be a library volunteer and help. I sign children up for the program, trying to get them as excited about it as I always was, but most of them look unhappy that they have to read over the summer.

I learn to shelve items. After so many years of finding books, I am familiar with the Dewey Decimal system, but now I am trusted to put items back in the correct place. Although I accurately perform this task, I fail to complete it quickly.

Shelving items means that I discover new books and topics that I didn't know existed. Look! There are books about holidays in China or Israel. Look! It's a collection of songs from the 1940s. Look! Look! Look!

It's a wonder the staff think I am such a good worker. It's so hard to work conscientiously when discoveries lie waiting all around you.

For several years I continue helping with the summer programs and shelving during the winter. Somewhere in high school, junior or senior year, maybe, other activities take over and I no longer regularly visit the library. I miss it, but since I don't have my driver's license and I don't want to ask Mom to drive me to yet another place, I keep busy with other things.

Now we arrive in September of 2000. I'm a freshman in college and my work-study assignment is in the library. Oh, how happy I am. Here, not only do I shelve items, but I also get to help with physical processing, inserting security strips and the like. I help other students fill out interlibrary loan forms and explain to them how the process works. I help people figure out how to use the internet and library catalogue. I love it.

In my senior year, part of my work-study hours are spent in the music library. There, I begin to repair books. I learn to attach a spine to the book block. I learn to fix a torn page. One day, as I am repairing books, I say to the music librarian, "I think I would like to do this for a job."

She lights up and exclaims, "You should go to library school!"

I'm not sure what library school is, but it's a masters degree, which I want, so I ask, "Where should I go?"

"The University of South Carolina has a good program," she answers.

Later I get online and email the library school at USC. They respond and ask me if I am interested in the University of South Carolina or SC State University. Oh, I thought they were the same thing. Dismayed at my mistake, I reply that I typed the wrong thing and do want to apply to USC.

At this point, I am in the spring semester and feel as if I need to play catch up. All these deadlines are looming and most of them require things I have to wait on others to do. Somehow, as awkward as it is to ask for recommendations, I get professors to write what I need, send in my application, and register to take the GRE.

Drats, I thought standardized testing disappeared into the past when I entered college! Somehow, I pass the GRE, scoring just as high above average in the verbal section as I do below average in the math section. It's a bit embarrassing how low my math score is, but USC accepts me. That's good, because it never occurred to me that I might want to apply somewhere else.

In January 2006, I move into a campus apartment and begin graduate school. In an orientation session, the advisors meet with their advisees. We have to go around the circle and tell why we want an MLIS. Most people say sensible things.

"I need it for  my job."

"I want to be a school librarian at such-and-such a school, where I substitute teach."

"I want to work reference at such-and-such a public library."

I really dislike these go-around-the-circle introductions and feel immature because I'm getting a masters because, well, I want to. I don't have a grown-up sensible reason like the others. I feel petulant and don't want to tell the real reason (that I want to specialize in archives and special libraries because I like doing the work), so when it is my turn, I say, "I like to cut and paste."

"Sounds like you should be a kindergarten teacher," someone comments before the next person introduces herself with a sensible reason for wanting to spend two years writing papers and accruing thousands in debt.

Once the formalities are over and classes begin, I discover that the subject matter naturally holds my interest. Moreover, I like reading journal articles and writing papers on them. Even better, the classes generally focus on things that promote academic learning.

In undergrad, I felt like some of the assignments were meant to teach us how to play nicely with others, which meant that what we already knew was reinforced. Assign a group project and slackers get just as much credit as conscientious students; popular students are publicly praised and the masses get notes on their papers. There is no reason to work hard unless it's for your own satisfaction. 

Things are different in graduate school. I thrive on all the independent work. I can think of few things better than online classes. Even the physical classes have far less busy work and enforce socialization than undergraduate classes did.

After the first semester, I start wishing I am working in a library again. I am nervous. I don't like talking to strangers, especially when asking for something, but I walk to the music library and asked if they are hiring students. They are. Let me tell you, shelving music scores 1/8-inch thick is much more difficult that shelving regularly sized books. And shelf reading? Excruciating.

I want to keep working in the music library until graduation, but I am offered a better paying job with Distance Education and there is some kind of rule about not being able to work in two departments or something, so I have to drop the library work. I know, I know. A library student should work in the library, no matter what. But you know what? A library student also needs to eat and pay rent.

At this point I am taking an overload of classes because I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I had less. I also work 30+ hours a week and volunteer at the zoo. I don't know why it never occurred to me to volunteer at the public library. Or what about volunteering at the music library? Would they have rules against volunteering in another department? These questions only occurred to me after I graduated.

Then there was the matter of internships. I didn't fully understand what an internship was. I thought only people who had independent income or a cousin who works at the Library of Congress could do internships. I didn't understand that there are affordable ways to intern, so I didn't look for more information.

As for my reason for entering the program, to learn preservation and archival skills? Well, the only class was in rare books. It was offered upon request and I didn't learn about a group requesting it until the middle of the semester when I overheard students talking about their class activities. It became clear that learning about preservation and archives wasn't going to happen during this degree.

Then our required introduction to cataloguing class made me want to take a dedicated cataloguing class. Guess what? It wasn't offered until two semesters after I was due to graduate. Scratch that.

In the end, I took as many special libraries classes as I could, including a music bibliography & research class that was approved for library students. Since ultimately I wanted to work in preserving music scores, special libraries sounded like a relevant specialization and as a musician, I wanted to take as many classes related to music information as possible.

I graduate in May 2006, sad that my academic career is over for the moment. If I could afford it, I would be a professional student and degree collector. Looking back, I probably didn't make the best career choices on how to spend my time in grad school, but I thoroughly enjoyed my 18 months there.

After graduation, I travel in the United States for four years, living Wyoming, Montana, Washington, New Mexico, and Maine. This journey is something I had wanted to do for a long time, and graduation seemed like a natural break and a good time to go.

In August 2010, I start focusing on brushing up my library skills. To that end, I begin volunteering at a community college library. I staff the reference desk and work on other projects that come up.

While there, I realize that it is very hard for me not to explain things to people. If a student asks me to help her find a book, I take the LOC call number and tell her, "The letters and numbers on the end of the bookshelves tell which books are located there. We are looking for PN." And then I talk through the process as I do the work, hoping that I'm being helpful and not overwhelming.

When someone at a computer comes to the desk and asks me for help finding a journal article, I find it, then ask if he is in a hurry. If he has time, we go back to his computer and I ask if he wants me to walk him through finding the article or to find it for him. If he says he wants to do it, I tell him the steps as we go.

When I meet with friends and they complain about not having a way to keep track of all their websites, I tell them about Diigo. Then I learn that they are more comfortable being frustrated with a familiar tool than with learning a new tool.

But I can't help it. Sharing new ideas or explaining things comes out of my mouth before I can stop it. When I think about helping someone discover something new, my fingers start to tingle. Don't laugh; it's the only way I can describe it. Few things can keep me in a good mood or pull me out of a funk quicker than teaching people how to find, access, and evaluate information. Well, except for those days when students can't seem to understand that if 1 + 2 = 3, then 2 + 1 = 3. But then I get a good night's sleep and the next day, I'm happy to teach again.

I thought that I liked to teach people how to find, access, and evaluate information. Then I learned that this processes is often called "information literacy." Well, that's a nice tidy label, but what does it mean? I'm not convinced that the average person would immediately understand the possibilities of that term. But, it's much easier to say, "I want to specialize in information literacy" than to say "I want to teach people how to find, access, and evaluate information," so I tend to use the term "information literacy" because it is easy and any time I'm explaining more than "I want to work as a librarian," I'm usually talking to people who are familiar with the vocabulary of the profession.

I've written previously on how I came to like computers. A partial result of those experiences, combined with my natural tendency to teach, is that I want to provide new information in a way that makes sense and shows how this new tool will make the student's life easier. I see no point in delivering information if I'm not explaining how this will benefit the student or taking the time to fully explain how to get from A to B and why this will save time when going from A to B, C, and D simultaneously is more familiar.

I know it's not always possible, but I don't ever want to be responsible for a student having the same frustrating and confusing first experiences using new technology as I did. I want to teach information literacy in a way that shows how each tool can make life easier. I want to be open to helping students one-on-one if they need extra help, or at the very least, sending them to the people who can help, assuring the student that everyone has to learn, it just takes time and effort. I want to be kind and approachable. I want to let students know that they aren't stupid or backwards because they aren't comfortable with a technology. I want to teach classes that explain away the confusion and frustration and offer the possibilities that will lead the student to his own discoveries.

Now I'm realistic; I know that each class can't be perfect for each student. I know that life isn't perfect and novices and experts are mixed into one information literacy class and the classes are too short. I know that sometimes I make people uncomfortable, despite my best efforts. I know that sometimes, no matter what I do, a student will not understand what I'm trying to teach. But, knowing the reality doesn't mean that I have to settle for mediocre. I can aim for the best while understanding that average is bound to happen. So then, I aim to be an approachable teacher who works to present material as a conversation rather than a lecture, with the hope that by doing so more students will feel successful learning new ways to find, access, and evaluate information.

Here we are, back in the present. Besides volunteering at a community college reference desk, am I doing anything else? Well, by being brave and talking to people about what I want to do, I started teaching beginning computer classes at the public library. I'm not teaching people how to search EBSCO or the difference between keywords and subject headings, but I am teaching them things that will help them find and access information in a different way. I am, hopefully, teaching them things that will give them confidence and help them evaluate the information they find. So, sure, I'm not yet a paid teacher of finding, accessing, and evaluating information, but I am doing what I enjoy. For that, I am thankful.

June 1988: Mom signs me up for my first summer reading program at the public library. I discover a favorite place.

June 1994: I begin over five years of volunteering at the public library. The atmosphere is comfortable and energizing.

September 2000: My college work-study assignment is in the library. I'm thrilled to learn more of the details of running a library.

September 2003: Part of my library work-study is spent in the music library. Here I learn about library school.

January 2005: I begin grad school at the University of South Carolina.

May 2006: I graduate with an MLIS.

July 2006: I travel in the United States.

August 2010: I stop traveling and focus on library work.

September 2010: I begin volunteering at CV community college library. Here I discover I like providing reference services and teaching people how to find information.

August 2011: I start volunteering at a public library in addition to the academic library. A conversation about what I want to do in libraries leads to me teaching a beginner's computer class.

Present: I enjoy teaching and am happy to do something I like while I apply for paid positions.

Yippee! A Thing with a tool that I can use.

I was happy to see that not only is there a free version of Prezi, but also that it works with my technology. And... I had a reason to make a Prezi!

Now, my reason was that the next day I wanted to talk to my computer class about creating safe passwords. Learning to use a new program and creating a presentation to use the next day probably wasn't the best goal I could have set for myself to accomplish in one afternoon, but I wasn't working and didn't have any other appointments, and once the idea was in my head, it wouldn't wait for a more convenient time.

Because of the time constraints, I didn't do as much learning and exploring other presentations as I would like, but I did watch the Prezi beginning tutorial videos. I already had the information I wanted to put in the presentation, but it still took me at least four hours to create a novice presentation. It is so clearly unpolished, that I considered not using it, but then decided visuals would be better than me yammering at the class for 10 minutes, so I told them that they were my guinea pigs while I learned this new program and used the rough presentation anyway.

• Visualizing how large/small to make the entire presentation. When I first made it, it was way too small. Then it was way too large. Even now, it doesn't feel right, but maybe that's part of getting used to a new program.
• Scrolling across the screen. Maybe this is because I have a touch pad, but once I started scrolling to another part of the canvas, the canvas would start moving and keep going, and going, and going, and going. The only way I could figure out how to get where I wanted was to start the canvas movement with the slightest scrolling motion then click frantically until a text box appeared and hope the canvas had stopped somewhere near what I wanted to edit. Most of my time was spent chasing down the item I wanted to edit. 
• Zooming makes it hard to edit. First, I couldn't get it to zoom on the specific part I wanted to edit in a click-on-that-part-and-click-zoom kind of way. I had to zoom out, scroll so that what I wanted was more or less near the center of the screen, then zoom in and hope what I wanted would still be in the screen. Also, overall, I found it difficult to visualize how all the parts looked as a whole unless I kept switching to the presentation view after a few edits. And trying to get the small parts to look correct on the screen in zoomed and unzoomed views is something I'm still figuring out.
• If an item is tiny, you can't click on it to move or edit it until you zoom in more. This lead to more frustrating scrolling. If I can see it, I want to be able to click on it! Don't punish me just because I have good vision for seeing tiny things. I can't think of a good reason for not being able to click and edit something you can see. Who cares how small it is?
• I couldn't figure out how to delete things from the template. Because of time constraints, I used a pre-set template. I wanted to delete some graphics, but all I could do was move them around and resize them.
  

• I learned something new.
  
• Paths. I see how this could be useful for revisiting a topic without having to click back a bunch of screens.
  
• Being able to (usually) have the most important parts fill the screen, even if they start off as tiny print.
  

It will take some getting used to, but I like the concept. 

Not yet being in a professional position and having an old computer, there is only so much integrating that I can do. I am, however, happy to have multiple things in my back pocket, ready to be pulled out and further explored as needed.

I've already written about my progress with RSS and Twitter, so I won't repeat myself.

The only other change is that I made a screencast with Screencast-o-matic. The program was easy to use, but it took me half an hour to get a decent two-minute recording. Syllables of words kept getting dropped, so by my sixth or so recording, I was speaking... one... word... at... a... time. I know some of it is that I'm not trained in enunciating, but when recording, I do try to be certain to sound my final consonants. When I tried to record a podcast, my recorded voice had the words smoothly connected, but still understandable. When I listened to a Screencast-o-matic tutorial, the man's words also had syllables dropped, so I wonder if this is simply a part of the software.

After the 30 minutes of recording, it took almost an hour to save the file to my computer. Then I tried to load it into my other blog on WordPress. Oh, right. You can't load video with a free account. Wish I had remembered that earlier.

So I tried, but once again am thwarted by technology and economics. 

Boo, hoo, my computer's too old. I can't use the screen capture programs. There have been posts I thought about writing, but they wouldn't make any sense without screen captures. One day I'll be gainfully employed...

As for Screencast-o-matic, I don't have Java and since I'm more interested in still frames than video, I didn't look into getting it, but I'll keep it in mind.

I prefer videos to podcasts, but figured I better do something besides complain about my old computer. Getting Audacity was easy, once I figured out which Mac link I needed to follow. Recording with my computer's microphone was easy once I read the relevant Audacity tutorial. Getting the MP3 conversion program took some experimenting and tutorial perusing, but I got it downloaded and installed. Then it didn't work. 

Audacity couldn't find it on my computer. I had sent it to the Audacity folder so everything would be in one place. I found it, but it was greyed out. I changed the search from the default LamLib only to all files and was able to choose LAME, but Audacity didn't recognize it. 

So, because I love throwing things away, I deleted LAME as much as I know how (move to Trash, empty Trash).

Then I downloaded LAME again, letting the computer decide where to put it (lib). That seemed to work, but Audacity still couldn't find it. I, too, couldn't find it, no matter what I searched for or where I searched. 

To check, I tried to install it again. Usually, my computer will tell me if a program is already installed so that I don't have two copies. Not this time. So now I think I have two copies of LAME somewhere on my computer, uselessly taking up space.

I tried one more time to install the program, not for any good reason, just to try again. Again, even though I received a successful installation message before, the computer let me install the program for a third time. This time I sent it to the Audacity folder thinking that at least I would be able to find it. Nope. 

So if my computer is giving me the correct messages, I have three copies of this program wasting space on my computer, but the computer can't find them. Even when I use the search box and type in the long file name or the short title, the computer says the program isn't there. 

At that point, I ran out of ideas and time. Plus, I'm annoyed by the perceived clutter. If I'm not using it or it's not working, I don't want it on my computer!

I've never been to a conference and I can't think of any that I'm burning to attend. But, I think I would like the informal meet-ups, as long as people took care of business before they devoted themselves to strict socializing.

(But if I had a free way to attend a conference, I bet I would learn alot and enjoy the experience. Maybe a music librarians' conference?)

What I do think would be useful is if  there were a presentation or exhibit that showed appropriate clothing for interviews at various types of libraries in different regions and in different seasons. A comparison of what is excellent with what is good, but a little off, would add to the benefit. Even better, maybe some people active in hiring could offer critiques of (voluntary) participants' choices. I think this would be especially useful for the temperature extremes. Spring is easier to dress for than 100 degree humid summer and autumn is easier than -20 degree windy winter.

Most of all, if I were to attend a conference, I would be interested in the hands-on topics more than the theory. Theory is important, but I would enjoy most learning how to improve my fliers or displays or sharing ideas for promoting the library at local fairs, that sort of thing.

Remember when I told how I blurted out that I wanted to be a librarian because I like to cut and paste? Maybe there is a tiny bit of truth there. I would rather do something than debate something.

I'm not a blatant advocate. I don't give speeches or ask everyone I meet to donate to the library or create petitions. I guess those methods are useful, because that's what people do, but they annoy me when I'm on the receiving end. Just give me the information and leave me alone. 

I read somewhere that it takes seven viewings before someone remembers something. Well, I would fail as an advertiser because I think the material should be present, but I won't throw it in a person's face every time he turns around. But, I would be lost without my public library, so I'm happy there are people willing to be pests in order to get the funding.

As for me, I prefer less invasive "advocacy." I don't even know if what I do can be considered true advocacy. My method is to be natural. 

If someone complains about the cost of books, I suggest they go to the library. If they say they don't want to use the library because of overdue fees, I remind them that they can renew books online or over the phone and they can set up a notification for when items are due. When someone complains about being bored but not having enough money to go to the movies, I tell them about the movies the library plays every Saturday. When someone is upset that they don't know how to use the internet to find a job, I tell them about the classes that take place in the library. When people ask where I want to meet, I tell them "at the library." 

Don't have internet connection? Go to the library. Want a book that will interest your teenage boy? Go to the library. Want to check out a book before you buy it? Go to the library. Want to read a magazine, but can't afford the subscription? Go to the library. Think the circulation staff are scary? I'll tell you something about them and who you can ask for the best chance of getting the help you want. 

So maybe none of this directly contributes to funding or even gets extra people in the doors, but it's the way I would want to learn about a service I don't currently value.

The biggest objections I've heard about the library come back to people wanting what they want when they want it and because they want it, they should have it, never mind that someone else might also want it. So people will say they won't use the library because they can only keep a book out for three months (check out and two renewals). Or they won't go back because the one time they went, the library didn't have a copy of the newest history of Albania, therefore the library doesn't have anything useful. Or there's a two-hour time limit on the computers and it doesn't matter if there's a line, I should be able to stay on the computer for as long as I want.

Honestly, I don't know how to answer these objections. They seem so selfish to me. I'm of the opinion that if I should have something, so should everyone else, and because there is a limited number of things that can be in one place, sometimes we have to share or wait our turn. I have a difficult time relating to people who think that they are Number 1, no exceptions. The best I can do is explain the reason for the policy and suggest any available alternatives. 

That was a bit of a tangent off of advocacy, but it's what I have experienced as the biggest challenge in getting people to use the library. I'm thinking that we need users to prove that we need funding. And maybe some of those users might become motivated enough to help us secure funding. To that end, I try to show people how the library can meet their needs.

Does that count as advocacy?

I really wanted to try Zotero (hadn't heard of Mendeley before this Thing). Two weeks ago I tried to download it, but they didn't have an option for browsers other than Firefox. When I saw a comment on this Thing that other browsers are now supported, I was excited. Then I looked at the operating system requirements. Not compatible; my computer is too old.

I can't use Zotero and Mendeley because they aren't compatible with my operating system. I think they sound like good tools. Since I can't use them, I can't comment on which I prefer or the similarities and differences between them. I'm sad. I wanted to explore these tools.

CiteULike sounds interesting, but right now it's hard to give it it's fair consideration. I'm still bummed I can't explore Zotero and Mendeley. I think CiteULike would be useful for a specific project, but not for general use. Unlike many people, I don't like to have tons of bookmarks, I always clear my passwords, and otherwise generally force myself to remember the information I think is important. If an article is interesting, I will memorize the URL, or at least enough of it to find it again. Collecting sites/articles just to have them because "maybe someday I'll need this" feels like clutter. I don't feel comfortable around clutter, even the virtual kind.

That said, I can see CiteULike being useful for gathering sites on a general topic of interest. For example, maybe I want to compare techniques for making a swayback alteration on a pattern. I could collect all the sites and then compare the articles, but I have my brain or in a pinch, Diigo, to do this for me, and since I'm not interested in citing these websites or sharing them or seeing what others are reading or, especially, getting article recommendations, I don't see what value CiteULike has for me now, but I'll keep it in the mental toolbox. I can see myself returning to explore this tool on a slow afternoon.

The advertised article recommendation feature bugs me. I don't want some program scanning my saved articles and suggesting other ones. Anytime a program looks at my searches or saved content and makes recommendations, it really, really, really makes me stabby. (And if the site uses my name, as in "Hi, Jack, You might be interested in...," I'm likely to avoid that site at all costs). I can manage this annoyance a little on shopping sites by finding what I want and then logging in to order, but for a service such as CiteULike or Mendeley, that method would be ineffective.

Also, what does the title "CiteULike" mean?  Is it short for "citations you like"? Is it a misspelling of "site," in which case, wouldn't it make more sense to be in the plural, unless of course, they mean you like the gathering site, not that you like all the sites you have gathered? They need to have a title explanation in their FAQ section.

All in all, the two programs I most want to explore, I can't access and the one I can access annoys me. In fairness, though, if I were writing a paper or otherwise needing to collect articles and citations, I would give CiteULike a try. For now, though, it doesn't interest me enough to inspire me to create a project, but I think I might return to it later.