Diary 06/30

Thank goodness I chose to participate in DimDim on Sunday. Dr. Tomer happened to mention that there were over 80 ePrints were incompletely done. I got the horrible feeling that I was one of those who may have uploaded the references incompletely. Lo and behold I was right. I knew that all of my articles said "under review" but I assumed (you know what assuming does) that meant Dr. Tomer had to review them. I requested that Dr. Tomer check the repository and he very graciously did (he is really growing on me). He then sent me an email letting me know I had to make all of my references "live" by moving them to the repository. I clicked every link I could find in ePrints until I found the correct link. Phew! I beat the assignment deadline. I then had to contact two people who I called myself helping with ePrints to tell them what to do to get their assignment done correctly. I would have felt horrible if they had gotten a bad grade because of me... I am now a bit nervous about my Koha. I arrogantly assumed on Sunday that I was done but now I'm not so sure. My Koha looks good, to me, but I'm hoping that Dr. Tomer, my favorite professor thus far, will give us feedback prior to the July 5th deadline.

I hope you are reading this Dr. Tomer ;oD

Diary 06/28

In an effort to have the 4th of July free and clear of school work I started on my Koha assignment. Initially I was stumped as I tried to toggle through Koha and figure out how to add bibliographic items of my subject choice. BTW, I chose fashion which I adore. Finally, I had the brilliant idea to go to Blackboard. In the lis2600 folder I found a link to a tutorial for Koha. I could have kissed Dr. Tomer. He spelled out step by step what to do and I AM DONE! I am done with five minutes left to join tonights DimDim discussion if I so choose. I feel as though 1/2 a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Only half because I have the anchor of LIS 2000 holding me down with the latest three books we have to read and review by July 6th. I've already started on The Meaning of Everything which I will hopefully finish tonight prior to bed so I'm hopeful that I can get this review churned out before the holiday too.

Wish me luck! I'm off to DimDim.

Diary 06/25

Here comes ePrints! I try so hard, sigh..., to stay ahead of my assignments. I have been working on ePrints since the 13th (the Sunday prior to the last DimDim meeting). During the DimDim meeting, I asked what I thought were all the pertinent questions necessary to get me off on the right track. I helped another fellow student get her assignment done and all was great. Until yesterday after a long day of job training and social activism, I started my ePrints assignment. only 2 of 10 downloads were original, the rest kept saying they were duplications. After over an hour of this frustration, I stopped and emailed the 2600 DB to see what to do about duplications and emailed Dr. Tomer too. Timothy said not to worry about duplications. Dr. Tomer said he did not want duplications. I am now struggling to find 23 more original pieces of research to download. I've already spent over two more hours this evening and am up to 7. I am whipped. I hope I can find the rest Friday before the rest of the class take all of the articles. I know I won't get anything accomplished Saturday becauseI have to work and have a wedding/reception to attend. If I can't find 25 original articles by Sunday, here come the duplications (which is of course okay, per Timothy)

:oD

Diary 06/24

**** Update ****

The Govenor of Ohio plans to take 227 million dollars from public library funding from the 251 public libraries across the state of Ohio. A budget decision made by the state legislators is due by June 30th.

Today the libraries in Cuyahoga County got together in downtown Cleveland and held an extremely well attended rally supporting libraries and against the proposed budget cuts.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/06/hundreds_of_people_mostly_libr.html

Over 20 Library Directors from across Ohio spoke. The media was out in full force, print and television. It was a beautiful thing to see all of the community support and hear all of the stories citing how the library helped and still helps them during this crazy economy. How can they even think about cutting libraries when attendance and circulation are up?

To help stop the governor of Ohio, log on to http://www.saveohiolibraries.com

Call the governor of Ohio: 614-466-3555 or 614-644-4357.

Fax the governor of Ohio: 614-466-9354.

email the governor of Ohio:

http://www.governor.ohio.gov/Assistance/ContacttheGovernor/tabid/150/Default.aspx

Today our local paper, The Plain Dealer, was chock full of commentaries, Editorials and Letters to the Editor about the proposed cuts and their across the board displeasure with our Govenor. I hope all of our voices are heard.

Stay tuned...

Diary 06/23

* * * U R G E N T * * * M E S S A G E * * *

Late Friday evening, the Ohio's Governor proposed a state budget which would cut the Public Library Fund by 50% from the previous budget. This funding cut would be devastating to libraries around the state.

The Ohio legislature will vote on the budget bill this month (June), we are making a concerted effort with local libraries and libraries across the state of Ohio to convince legislators that reducing library funding is not the answer.

We need your help. If the Governor’s budget is accepted, over 250 public libraries across the state will have to cut hours, reduce staff and, in some cases, close libraries.

Contact Ohio's Governor Strickland at
http://capwiz.com/ala/utr/1/ETNDKSNPWA/HUILKSNPWD/3524622246 and Ohio legislators at
http://capwiz.com/ala/utr/1/ETNDKSNPWA/JGPLKSNPWE/3524622246.

Again, please help us. If this budget passes, the next time it could be you (your state)...

Diary 06/21

I have not had internet since Wednesday evening. I am so stressed! I wanted to add on to my Jing presentation but I can't. I am working on a paper for 2000 that I'm having to do completely at work. Right now I hate AT&T. My wireless modem went down and no one carries them but Best Buy who had sold out. All day today, Sunday, I ran around trying to find the one available modem and I did. I was so happy! I got home hooked it up. Got the green light. My computer said I have limited to no connectivity and I STILL CANNOT GET ON THE INTERNET. My computer claims I have no IP address. I'm too dispirited to cry and too tired to scream. I have so much to do above and beyond U of Pitt work all of it involving use of the internet. I am very unhappy right now. I do not know what to do...

Diary 06/15

I really like DimDim. Sunday (06/14) I had the opportunity to use my microphone and be heard by the other participants. I was giddy :oD Now I want a web cam.

I'm still overwhelmed with work but I really like the challenge of learning new technology (writing papers, not so much). I always thought that I was pretty computer savvy but I now see that I never even scratched the surface. Though I knitch and moan, I am going to take more of Dr. Tomers technology classes.

Speaking of technology, I haven't had television since Friday when the world went digital. I have a box hooked up to one television but have not bothered to program it. I had to throw away two perfectly good televisions because they were too old (1969 and 1988) to have the proper attachments for the box. I tried to give them away but no one wanted them. Such a shame, they were very nice tv's passed down from my great uncle. Oh well...

Final note. I've recently found an interesting area on Blackboard while clicking links. Its called MLIS Distance Learning Support. I definitely need support so I went in... I first went to groups and found my entire cohort and then I went to my major. I was very pleased to find everyone currently enrolled at U of Pitt with my major listed, there are 47 of us, with the ability to email them all simultaneously. I have so many questions for the seasoned students...

I'll let you know if they tell me anything good.

Diary 06/10

By god I've done it! I have made my Jing presentation on how to install and configure the Firefox extension for Zotero fit my blog.

I may be bald with jagged nail beds but I'm victorious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is how its done.

1. Get your HTML/javascript code from your Jing presentation.

2. Go to your blog.

a. Find layout.

b. Add a gadget.

c. Paste your HTML/Javascript.

d. Title it.

e. Save it.

Now comes the most important part!

1. In your "navbar" grab the gadget with the html and drag it to the bottom of your template.

a. Save your work.

b. View blog.

Your full presentation will be on the bottom of the screen under all of your blogs for everyone to view.

Blessing all around! I'm off to my LIS 2000 reading.

Diary 06/09

To preface this blog, I am feeling very frustrated today and it's not even noon...

I have been working for a week trying to write a coherent answer for the DB question due Thursday in my LIS 2000 class. I am having a hard time understanding the concept of Bradfords Law of Scattering even after reading two comprehensive reviews.

I just looked at my grades in Tomers class and found an 8 out of 10 for the first assignment graded. U N A C C E P T A B L E!!!!! I expected a 10. There was no indication as to why I received the 8 or directions on how to correct the error. I need to know what I did wrong so I can correct it. Am I anal? Yes! Am I unreasonable? No!

To top off this thus far joyous day, I am unable to make my Jing presentation fit onto my blog. I asked Dr. Tomer about this in Sundays Blackboard "chat session" he said that Blogger should resize the video presentation automatically. Sigh... It doesn't and I am not alone in finding this out.

A birdy tells me that I shouldn't be so out spoken on this blog about certain things because it could negatively affect my grade... I thought this is what the blog was for so I'm going for broke.

I'm taking my cranky self off my blog now. I'll be back hopefully with some happy views and news soon...

Diary 06/08

It's Monday and back to the old grind! After a beautiful weekend, the weather in Cleveland is rainy and muggy. Good for my garden but heck on my hair.

Dr. Tomer said that he will be grading our papers and posting grades this week. I was happy to see that in writing! I have no idea if I've been on the right track so far and we are already in week five.

Sunday there was an online chat session using Blackboard. I prefer DimDim. I like the chats though because we get direct access to the instructor. During the chat, we received a bit of information on the Jing assignment, signing in to Koha and downloading anti-virus hardware onto our computer. Tomer suggested we download SpyBot and that we run it weekly. He said in his experience SpyBot can solve some "serious problems". Serious problems ?!?!?!? What type of sites are we being sent to? I hope I'm not downloading any viruses! My computer is barely functioning as it is. I'm trying to get these final two years out of it before it crumbles to dust.

During the chat the class starting talking about the Penguins, hotels, FastTrack weekend ect. We never really got to the part of the Jing assignment that I need help with. Dr. Tomer's dog(s) started barking and that was the beginning to the end of our session. I'll come to the next sessions scheduled for Thursday. I hope the next one is longer. I have plenty of questions.

On another note, I've just sent an email to my assigned advisor to be registered for Fall classes. (Fall you guys! That means that summer is almost over). He emailed me back and did not know anything about me! Imagine my surprise. I always thought your advisor was given information like what program you're in, the classes you are currently enrolled in/have taken, your major in the subject area etc. prior to the student being given their information. My have times changed since I was in college a mere decade ago...

Well enough of my Kavitchin'. I must go back to working on my LIS 2000 DB assignment.

Diary 06/05

Big sigh of relief everyone, S I G H , I finished my book review for LIS 2000 and my WorldCat assignment for LIS 2600 with 48 hours left. I am king of the world!!!!! LOL :o)

I guess I shouldn't be so joyous, but I am, since next week will be another strenuous week of me trying to work my jobs, have a life and complete assignments simultaneously.

I've already begun looking at the Jing/Zotero assignment. Looks like a doozy. A doozy that I am going to need a microphone for since my laptop does not have an internal one. ARG! Oh well, I have this weekend to purchase one in between reading more Discovering Computers 2010.

On another note my garden, that I have never referenced here before, is growing beautifully. My corn, broccoli, lettuce, cucumbers and garlic are thriving. I'm still waiting for my peppers, tomatoes and parsley to sprout. The weather this weekend in Cleveland is calling for sunny and mild so I'll be able to sit in my garden, soak up the sun (necessary vitamin D) and talk to my veggies.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Diary 06/02

So, here I am dutifully working on my book review for LIS 2000. While writing the review I had an epiphany. Since I have a number of references I thought, why don't I use RefWorks like we learned in LIS 2600. I mean the write-n-cite logo is right there in the upper right hand corner of the Word document, so why not? What could be easier and save me the time and aggravation of painstakingly typing out sources? Obviously NOT write-n-cite!  I clicked on the link, typed the first author in the RefWorks search engine and got nothing but information on open source computing. "WTF" I said, out loud (thankfully no students were around), shouldn't I be getting the specific articles I'm requesting? I tried again, this time using the article name and sorting by relevancy. Guess what? Still nothing but open source computing information. Open source information is what I searched for weeks ago! Should it be there in perpetuity? I'm giving up for the moment and going back to perfecting my book review but I'll be back. I will not be defeated by RefWorks of all things!

I'm back... It was a battle that neither I nor RefWorks won. I'll call it a draw. I could not for the life of me get RefWorks to place my references into my book review but I did get it to import my references from various areas and import them into a blank Word document. I then cut and pasted the information into my book review. This was an extra step I should not have had to take but time was a wastin'. I've not given up on getting RefWorks to work as promised but I need time to lick my wounds and prepare for the next battle.

Talk with you soon...

Diary 06/01

I went looking for my grades in LIS 2600 today. I notice that Dr. Tomer does not have our grades by assignment but accumulated numbers. This leads me to assume (I know no one should do that) that we will not know our grades until the very end of the semester. This concerns me because we are not receiving feedback to let us know if we are doing individual assignments correctly. I am , unfortunately, a bit of a perfectionist. I need to know if I'm doing things correctly so I can make the necessary changes to do it right the next time!

We have eight (8) weeks left. I am counting down. I already need a break. Who knew that taking two classes would drain me they way they have.

I'm a glutton for punishment though because I've already registered using U of Pitts Course Agent. I've thus far I've decided not to claim a specialization. I really like the technical part of 2600 so maybe I'll go with Information Technology.

We'll see...