Sent to Webmaster

I have officially sent the first set of documents to be put on the webpage to the County Webmaster. I am excited and the library Director - Phalbe is also excited. They turned out very well and I hope they are all up on the 2 websites before the presentation day of class. She said she called him today and he said they should be, but who knows? I am going to continue this project after class though because I have gained such a connection with the library that I just can't leave the project until it is completed the way we all see it being completed. Phalbe said she has ideas of other documents that deal with Alexander County history that we don't even have in the library being put up - because they have no copyright - but we have to go to some different libraries to get them because they won't give her an ILL. Which is the reason I decided to do this project in the beginning, because Alexander County Library wouldn't give these out on ILL - for good reason though and the same with these other documents that we don't currently have. I was really anxious about how this would turn out in the beginning. It seemed so big and daunting and I felt that every glitch somehow put me behind everyone else. But even with glitches, this project has helped me grow, as a professional, librarian, and as an action learner. I am now in the process of just waiting to hear back when everything is online and also getting together information to put on my board for presentation in class. So, almost one semmester down for MLS classes!!! I can't wait to be in a library!!!

New Scan

Friday I got a phone call from the librarian I am working with saying that she had just recovered a "much better" copy of the documents that I had already scanned. She thinks that they will be much easier to edit and enhance and wants me to use them instead...if time permits. So I told her yes, I could do that. I know the editing phase will take the longest...scanning is a no brainer really, but I want to have a really great copy when I get finished...so my project looks top notch. The editing I am using isn't going to make everything perfect, at least not in the way I know how to use it, if I were a computer guru maybe I could find ways to better enhance it but with my limited knowledge of Adobe Photoshop I am just going to do the best I can. I could have tried to take a class or something on Adobe but then I would have probably never gotten the project done. I am going to look and see if I can find any online training that will help me any or if just my basic skills will do. I think it is cool to still see that the documents are old so I don't want to take away too much of that character. This just goes to show that in all projects in life there is always a setback...I mean I have already edited some of the pages, however, I see this more as a way to help my project. Also, the librarian and I have debated putting the documents in a continual scrolling page with a PDF merge...I told her I wasn't sure then how the documentation would go and I thought it would be better for us to do seperate pages. If it is one continuous scrolling I would think it would be easier to miscitate something, but I have found many documents online that do this...just with the faded page numbers and some not even having numbers that are readable, I think this would be the best way to make citation easier for patrons.

Learning Sets

My learning set has been able to meet on a regular basis but I feel that the learning sets were more helpful in the preperation phase of the project. Now we are just kinda telling eachother the same types of things and most of the time, since this is a somewhat slow and comprehensive process, it seems like we just do it to log hours. The learning set has been valuable and I enjoyed so much working with my group. I am greatful for this experience but I also think the last few meetings have been redundant and just time consuming. At least now we are all doing what we are doing and we don't necessarily need too much help. If we do we are so used to email we just email.

From the Library

Today I was able to catelog the scandisk I have been using to scan all the pages I am going to be putting up on the libraries website and bring it home with me to do some edits. Actually I am not sure that I can do the edits here because I am using Adobe Photoshop and I have 7.0 here at home and they have 5.0. I don't want to do something that won't open when I get back to the library. We have chosen to just do one book right now because a teacher in Alexander County, Elizabeth Davis - Sugarloaf Elementary is wanting to use this in her classroom and so it will serve two purposes. We definately don't want tons of elementary school kids handling the pages. I am excited that I am actually getting to do some things now rather than being in the planning and then waiting phases of my project.

In other news...AL Project

Finally I have been able to start my AL project. Last Thursday the scanner I needed came in and I was able to go and do some scanning on Friday. I am so glad that I am doing my project in a public library or else I would never get in the Library before it closed. I am struggling to get what I can now done since the library closes shortly after I get off work. I talked to Chelsea Meade at the Historical Society here in Taylorsville about how to preserve the documents I am handeling. Since they are handled by so many she didn't think I in particular needed to wear any protective gloves or anything but did suggest I be very careful loading and unloading them in the scanner. Regardless, I didn't want lotion or oil to get on my hands and harm the documents further so I wore some white cotton gloves. I went to ask.com to find out information on how to handle documents properly and this is what it said to do. Sometimes in Taylorsville people don't give you the best of answers :) Today I am going back in to complete the scanning (what I can of it) and make some edits (where the documents are torn or smuged). I am also waiting on a software system to put these in PDF so then we can upload them to the internet. A lady named Berenda Samples does the website so this will be her job I will just work with her on how I want it to look. I am hoping to get all of this done before the class ends but if it doesn't get finished before then it is something I must complete because it is a need the library sees is huge and I can't let them down.

Sat with the Librarian

Last week the board of directors for my agency (Alexander County Partnership for Children) had a board retreat at the Hollifield Center in Hickory. I got to sit beside one of our memebers, Melissa Hagar who just so happens to be the Children's Librarian for Alexander County Public Library. It was great to sit with her at lunch and at her table during the retreat...I actually talked more library than work during this time. We discussed the transformation of libraries to this technology age and she is on board with the transformation but like me hates to see the personel side of the job diminish. She said it is so gratifying to see a young child light up as she reads a story to them and she cherishes that. She asked me if I ever thougth a library wouldn't actually be a place at any point in the near future...I hate to think about that! It was great though to get to sit down and discuss with someone real issues dealing with the library.

Active Learning Helps Here and Now

I think the active learning principal that Appalachian has is so helpful in learning and persuing a degree but also helpful in every day life. I have learned alot about technology and am able to use some of what I am learning in my role as Program Coordinator at Smart Start. I like that this can be something I can apply outside of the library. Now, of coarse not all classes will be this way but during research and exploration for my project I have learned that many things can help me in my current job. I am still in the exploration phase right now with my project. I have not been able to get the scanner in at the library that I will be using. I am in the process of asking the historial foundation about preserving the materials I will be handleing and in constant communication with the director. I think it may take longer to do this than I thought but it will be worth it in the end.

Recently I learned that I should be commenting more on the discussion boards. I have stepped up my game and began to do this.

This degree is so involved. I knew it would be more involved than undergrad but it seriously is tough getting everything and living an active life. It would have been easier going straigh through like my mom suggested but I wanted to get married and make some money before I began taking out more loans. I will complete this program...that's not a question, but I am just feeling the heat now that we are getting closer to the end of the semmester.