Lesson 8 Challenge

On-line Skype and Google Hang Out meetings have been around for a long time. My granddaughter and I Skype all the time--sometimes she forgets I'm there and sets me on the counter and engages in long conversations with her mother--it's quite funny.

Meeting on-line saves travel time. It also allows both people to be near their resources. I think there's a tendency to get down to work where in person there's more time spent getting to know the person or discussing things other than the work at hand. Just a personal observation.

All the advantages can be disadvantages--not meeting someone and not going to their branch is a disservice. It's a good thing to see other places and make human connections. Sometimes brainstorming needs to be more organic than an on-line meeting allows.

If people collaborated on-line initially then met to discuss the practical nuts and bolts of a project--a follow up meeting is a great way to check on how things are working. The children's librarians collaborated via Pinterest and email--then met to present our work. I think a combination is always a good idea.

Who would I meet on-line? I would love a three way collaboration between me and my two sons. We can't get together very often and that would be the next best thing---I think I'll arrange that!

I'm old--traditional meetings are always better in my opinion--but using our on-line capabilities to touch bases--work out kinks and further understanding between two people instead of making a group listen to you hash things out is great. I did all my upper grad work on-line. It was a great thing.

Lesson 7 Challenge

It may be Google that has the one where the page crashes and a little frowning face says, "I think she's dead, captain." Not really a 404--but funny enough.

Lesson Five Challenge

I have explored this database a number of times because of a patron who insisted we had the Real Estate practice test--and lo and behold--we do! Since then I've sent patrons there for several different reasons--and I don't understand why there isn't more professional development offered showing librarians what's available through these valuable resources.

Lesson 3 Challenge

I've used different vehicles to create posters and flyers. I like using Google Slides, but I appreciate Canva-it's pretty slick. I prefer less versus more and marketing seems to want to put too much information on their flyers for my taste-but I'm learning. Sometimes more is required when you're dealing with the public.

Lesson 2 Challenge

• A customer shows you a “too good to be true” email about getting free money from Nigeria, and asks you to help them seal the deal with their banking information.

Explain the the patron about phishing and how hackers pose as legitimate companies requesting money or making promised. The old adage, "If it's too good to be true; it probably isn't true," holds true. Advise them not to open any attachments, to delete the email, and to dump their trash.

Lesson 11: Wrap Up

Wrapping it up.
 Okay-there were things I wouldn't have looked at if you hadn't made me. I wouldn't have explored those particular lib-guides if you hadn't pointed them out--I wouldn't have known where to send people who want to know about municipal codes or the fact that you need Nooks to view magazines on-line. So, in that respect the whole thing was helpful. All-in-all, it was kind of fun and informative.

I have to give you guys kudos for developing such an engaging way to get us to check out COSA's offerings. It was especially helpful for this new employee. You might want to consider doing a newcomer orientation Web COSA 101!

One sentence: Time well spent!

All done!

Lesson 10 Challenge

There's nothing like going to work for a government agency to make you check out their website. I've spent a lot of time perusing the COSA website, and I'm glad I did. I've been asked questions about election information, recycling, and various other San Antoniocentric questions. It's good to be more familiar with the website, so I can guide people there. The most exciting entry for me was the event calendar. Some of the events that go on in San Antonio aren't advertised as much as they could be, so it's nice to be able to see what's happening and to direct people there.

I briefly browsed the State of Texas website--(http://www.texas.gov/) the one that opens up with a big building painted like the Texas Flag---not so sure that's the way I want people to see Texas--how about they update that a little bit. Rusty old pick-ups? Really? The information about San Antonio was a little lacking-not much depth.

For fun--you can go see what everyone makes---hummmm if I'd been thinking, I would have been a coach at UT. I love the "Texas Tribune." I always find it amusing in a Jon Stewart kind of way!

I don't think the majority of the general public has the COSA mobile app on their phones or devices. There are those who are very concerned with local politics and they vote-you can probably get a pretty good idea of how many might use the app by looking at your voter stats. However, the immediacy of social media--Twitter, for example, makes our elected officials a little more accountable and open to the voice of the people than in the past. Does it have an impact on the outcomes? I'd say it has minimal impact today, but I believe that impact will grow as our society becomes more and more digital. When the digital natives take over-then we'll see.