Try again

After a long absence I am trying to practice blogging again.

We are starting to use the Koha open source program to do our library work. This week is our first week using it. Koha looks very different from the Sirsi Dynix program that we used for more than ten years. It will take a little time to be comfortable with the new system, however the first four days with Koha have gone quite good. I am hoping it will be a program that we can stay with for many years. Time will tell.

Panama City Gem & Mineral Show

The Panama City Gem & Mineral Show was held at the Bay County Fairgrounds on January 30 and 31, 2010. There were a lot of people on Saturday but Sunday had a lot less. The children could select a free rock from a jar at the the welcome table, just inside the front door, to take home with them. There were door prizes donated by the vendors and one beautiful carved jade piece too. The vendors had a variety of things available for sale.

School starts this week

School starts this week in Bonifay. School buses are back on the roads and classes are back in session. August is going past quickly. It will soon be Labor Day weekend. We have had severe thunderstorms the last two weekends in a row. Lots of rain fell, accompanied by a lot of lightning and thunder. We saw some hail and high winds too. We have not had any hurricanes in this part of Florida so far this year, but we have seen trees blown over, broken off, and branches down, along with some damaged roofs. At least the drought from earlier this summer is over and the grass is growing great. I'm looking forward to when it cools down more outside. The high 90's are just too hot outside for me. The days are getting noticably shorter and it will be getting cooler.

Busy Weekend

We went on a field trip with the Dothan Gem and Mineral Society to a river near Andalusia Alabama to look for sharks teeth. Everyone in the group found a lot of sharks teeth there. Some people found allegator teeth too. Then we went to the Lacy Black Rushing Museum in Andalusia. They have an amazing collection of rocks and minerals and fossils. It was a fun day spent with friends even though it was a very hot day.

August is getting off to a good start

I was able to participate in a class on Windows server 2003 at PLAN on the first day of August. The class was very good, interesting and informative. The labs were good hands-on practice. I think John Miller did a good job on the class. Thanks John and PLAN for continuing to help us learn more and be more capable at our work.

I've reached the 23rd thing - Reflect on the learning journey

Exercise #23 completing this learning journey. Reflecting on some new doors opened and planning to revisit several of the places this learning journey has taken me. I have attempted to answer the questions you pose for the finale of this opportunity.

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
My favorite discoveries were the websites that work with pictures. They were a lot of fun to work/play with. All of the exercises gave me things to think about. This was a worthwhile learning journey for me.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
The primary affect on my lifelong learning goals is the encouragement to learn that this program and the people involved supplied. Thanks for the opportunity and encouragement.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
There were not any unexpected outcomes from this program for me. There were a lot of take-a-ways. I won't take time to list all of them here. I do want to say that all of the assistance that Alicia and Carol gave so willingly is greatly appreciated. I have a lot of respect for you and your knowledge and skills and patience.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I think the website layout looks beautiful, the program is challenging and fun. There isn't anything I can think of to improve in this program. You did a great job!

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate? Yes! I would enjoy another discovery opportunity like this. Thanks PLAN for helping us learn new things and making it so much fun. I am looking forward to more learning journeys.

Exercise #22, eBooks. I went to Net Library and read about them and about OCLC. Then I went to the Project Gutenberg site and looked at a lot of ebooks. I found a copy of Roget's Thesaurus to download free. It did not take very long to download the thesaurus as an MS Word document and it was easy to do the ebook download to my computer.