As 2011 draws to a close, I've been reflecting on the last year.  My resolutions for 2011 were:

1. Finish things
2. Take better care of myself
3. Do more and do less

I can't say that I was hugely successful, but I wasn't a complete failure either.  I had hoped that I would update the blog with how I was feeling and accomplishing these goals, but I didn't.  This is my first update since my orginal post on Janauary 7, 2011.

Finish Things

This is still a work in progress.  In January, I started a self portrait project which I had good intentions about, but when I began to do out of obligation rather then the love of creating photographs I stopped.  It wasn't meant to be an obligation.  It was supposed to be something fun to document my life.  I have started a 365 project multiple times, but I have yet to finish.  At the moment I am considering options for next year, but not making any commitments... yet. 

I participated in three Virtual Quilting Bees this year.  One started in October 2010 and the second in January 2011.  The third one ran for three months, January 2010 - March 2010.  I have completed them all or I will once I get the instructions for the last month in December.  I have had a lot of fun with it.  I've been challenged and realized something about my sewing style.  I like to sew things that are less precise.  I do like hand sewing better then machine sewing.  Part of me wants to sign up for another bee for 2012, but I am hesitant because towards the end it began to feel more like a chore then fun.  Now that I have finished what I have commited to through the bees, I need to finish some of my started projects.  Last fall I took a beginning quilting class and have the pieces ready to be sewn together for a finished quilt.  I also have the blocks form when it was my month for the virtual quilting bees to sew together.  For now I think I need to focus on these.

This semester has been particular tough for multiple reasons, but I am not going to go into detail on that topic.  One of the things I have struggled with is whether it is worth it for me to finish my degree in a time when libraries are closing and cutting back on staff.  I knew when I started in 2009 that the job outlook wasn't great, but it seems to be getting worse as time progresses.  In the tough times quiting, sounds so much more appealing then working through tough projects and exams only to move on to the next much bigger test of a finding a job.  I am not quiting!  I am going to finish this degree, if for no other reason to be able to say I have a Masters Degree.  I think I am becoming more realistic that my dream job may no longer exist and that I will have to settle, but I will finish and get a job!  I am not whining; I am reflecting on the state of my life and how those choices are playing out in the larger arena of life.  At the moment it looks like I will graduate in May of 2013.

This blog has been devoted to my musings and sharing what is happening in our life.  Lately, I have not been posting here because I have been busy working on a blog project for school.  I need to create a blog database of materials I would want to collect in a teen library of my choosing.  I have done a lot of reading for the project and now need to get writing and posting.  It is due on December 14 which is taking up a lot of my time and energy.  If you would like to take a peak, check it out here.  By the way it will be a work in progress until December 14 unless I finish early which is unlikely!

You can watch for follow-ups to my resolutions here in the upcoming weeks.

I am finally finished with school for the semester.  This semester has been the biggest challenge yet of my grad school career because I had 10 units (4 classes) to juggle.  I enjoyed it, but I am looking forward to time off over the summer. 

Two of my final projects for the semester actually had products that I can share with you.  For my Reference and Information Services class I had to create a pathfinder.  For those of you who are not from library land, a pathfinder is a document that helps a person interested in a certain topic get started learning and researching that topic.  I chose to do mine on Online Photo Sharing.  If you would like the PDF of it, feel free leave me your email address in the comments.  Otherwise if you just want to take a look here it is...

For my class, Information and Technology Tools and Applications, I had to create a website from scratch.  I was required to create at least one graphic and do all the code by hand.  I now am intimately familiar with HTML and CSS.  I even messed with Javascript, PHP and some other stuff.  While I found it to be a challenge and often sought out a second pair of eyes (Joel) to figure out what typo (for the record using a capital "S" instead of a small "s" can create huge problems when making a form) I had made that was breaking my website, I am glad I took the class.  I feel like it has given me a new set of skills and I understand a bit more of what Joel does at work as well; although what he does is so much more complex then what I did.  I created a website on using social media for readers' advisory, called Reading 2.0.  I am not sure how long the link will be active, so if it doesn't work I have included a screen shot of the home page so you can get a taste of what it looked like.  I feel great about the tech side of it; meaning the code is good and I like the layout, but the content is a little weak and could use some work.  At the moment I am just glad to be done!

Now, I have no excuse for not posting here more often and working on some of those personal goals I set for the beginning of the year.  Watch out world, I have some free time!

As you might have guessed by the amount of posting over the last two months, school is keeping me very busy, so I thought since I could share this assignment I would.  This week one of my assignments was to use digital storytelling to tell a story.  This was probably one of my favorite assignments this semester... so far.

I chose to tell the story of our move using still photos, music and iMovie.  I was introduced to a great resource called Dig CC Mixter which has a variety of music that can be used without having to pay royalties.  Each poster can choose how there music can be used, but most have broad permissions for using the music for non-comercial purposes.  I will use Dig CC Mixter, again I am sure.

Music used by permission:

On The Beach (At Night) by Pitx is licensed under a Attribution Noncommercial (3.0).

The week seems to have flown by.  The last time I blogged on Rech Reads was Sunday.  I am not sure what happened this week except that I seemed to be busy and tired.

My class this semester, Web 2.0 with a focus on social media software in libraries, is getting a bit more intense.  I enjoy the content and have learned lots.  I can't wait to have the opportunity to use it in a "real" library setting.  Until then I  have been working on a group project that is due in early May.  I am finding the group project fun and am enjoying the other students I am working with (thanks PJ, Carol and Chelka!).  We are using a variety of social software tools to connect including Google Wave, Google Documents, Skype and email.  We each live in a different state (Wisconsin, Oregon, Illinois and California) and two different time zones.  For our project we must create a proprosal for a library to implement social media software.  Currently, our group is starting with Facebook and Blogger.  Our library, Fauxbrary, is a small library with four professional staff, no web presence (until now) and no budget for social media software.  If you are a Facebook user and would like to help us out we would love some fans who are willing to comment and participate.  We are currently generating content and ideas, so keep visiting and checking out what we are up to!