More Things on a Stick: Thing 37-Photo Tales

Which of the services did you use? Did it work smoothly?
I have used a few of these tools before (Picnik, Flickr, Flickr Mosaics), so I decided to try the ones I haven't. I liked the Image Mosaic Generator, but on some level, it's kinda creepy...if zoomed in on, there's lots of rather odd images going on. I uploaded a few different pictures to see what it could do, and thought that the results were pretty cool. It reminds me of paintings by Georges Seurat (or as my kid called him, "The Dot Guy")in that the minute details are interesting in and of themselves.

Here's the original:







And here's the mosaic:














I also made this on Collagr:



Can you see a use for this in your library? At home?
Yes, there are soooo many uses for these kinds of tools for both the library and home. The trick is to not lose oneself in tweaking the finer details of the photos. Not that I'm speaking from personal experience...well, yes, actually I am. :)

LIS 768: Social Networking

OK, I admit, I'm one of the people that Beth talked about in her post...you know, the ones who aren't sure how social networking is really going to have a place in my life, especially since I have friends IRL. But, the more I dink around with some of the parts, the more I can see how relevant they really are to my life.

I have a friend who lives in Connecticut. We don't talk on the phone very much, but do share pictures of what our families are up to via Kodak EasyShare (could do the same with Flickr, now that I have an account set up). She also sends YouTube videos every so often, which is way cool. It's a quick and easy way to stay in touch, and works for us. E-mail is another way that I communicate with some of my other friends, even though I do see them during the week-I keep really different hours from them, but e-mail is a way to touch base with them. Again, it works for what we need. Other than those, I really can't say that I use many of the other tools...but, the more I learn about them, the more I am embracing some of them. I don't know too many people who use Twitter (I'm still trying to figure out an efficient way to find people on it, myself).

I've known about many of these various social applications for a few years, and one of my hugest regrets is not figuring out how to use them sooner, before my parents both died. Some of these, like Flickr and YouTube, would have been excellent ways for my parents to get to 'know' their granddaughter better. They were in Oregon, and we are here, so obviously it wasn't like I could take the kid for a visit just whenever. I sent pictures whenever I could, but it's not the same. Ironically enough, when I figured out the Yahoo! Games thing, and how a private room could be set up, my mom and the kid would play Go Fish together online...and be able to chat while they played. It was surreal for me to watch, because I remember that when I would go to my own grandparents' houses during the summer, we would play Go Fish and other games while sitting at the same table, in the same room.

I admit to having mixed feelings about social networking. On the one hand, it is a really good way to bridge physical distances. On the other, it's one more thing I feel like I have to 'keep up with'. But, like I've said, I'm at least willing to give them a whirl.

LIS 768: Fun with Flickr-Librarian Trading Card

Librarian Trading Card
Originally uploaded by le2442

I did this at South Park Character creating site, then uploaded it to Flickr.


I replaced my other avatar picture with this new one-it's way more me.

23 Things: Thing #6 Using an Online Image Generator

Here's my mosaic using pictures I took around the Winsted Library.





Although creating this mosaic was frustrating, it's pretty neat. I'm still not sure why the mosaic creator couldn't pick up my photos from Flickr right away, but it all worked out in the end. This would just be neat to do to capture the highlights of a program or storytime, instead of having a whole bunch of pictures or sets to sort through. The mosaic maker could also be used to put together something like a "Top-Ten Photo List of Patron Favorites for the year 20XX". I also can see using it when creating lists of subject-related material for patrons.

Using it for family photos would also be great-instead of having a whole shelf full of little pictures, one mosaic could be created instead. I may have to come back to this Thing!