Wordle wordle.

Do you Wordle?
Now you and your buddies can make free and pretty word clouds with a quick ctrl+c and ctrl+v. Paste the text of your choice into Wordle, and boom! you've got a cool and customizable word cloud.

Here's a cloud I made from the words on this very blog:














Tip: if you're a mac user, use the selection tool in Grab to make a quick .tiff of your word cloud. You can do something similar with Print Screen on a PC, but be prepared to do some editing in PhotoShop or the like. Instead, you might try SnagIt.

I used Wordle for my M.L.S. portfolio, to showcase how my school projects match up my school's MLS outcomes and professional values statements. At Douglas County Libraries, we also plan to use it to map patron opinion. For example, what would you learn if you asked patrons to tell you what "library" means to them, and then mapped their responses in Wordle? What would emerge if you wordled recent keyword searches?

We're currently using FaceBook, Twitter and email to poll patrons about their individual understanding of the word "literacy." I can't wait to see what emerges from the cloud of words.

I'm a 2009 Shover & Maker

Check it out.

M.L.S. Portfolio Goes Live

It's true. Check it out here.

iWeb, Hostgator & AspenWalker.info

Mac users take note... if you've created a website using Mac's iWeb, and you want to get your site to upload successfully to your non-Mac web hosting service (I use Hostgator), be certain to use the CyberDuck FTP uploader. Avoid the WebDisk upload, it's not your friend.

You only need to upload two files, and two files alone to CyberDuck: the folder you published your iWeb site to, and the file called "index.html".

After gnashing my teeth for a while trying to get my iWeb pages to work with Hostgator, I discovered this article. It was a big help.

Anyhoodle, my new website is in the works at AspenWalker.info.

Winding Down & Gearing Up

For me, library school is winding down. This finds me all wound-up with lots of last semester work.

Homework has filled my life for the past 2+ years. Here are a few of the things I look forward to doing once my coursework ends:

1. Spend more time with my family. This will include camping, music-making, wii gaming, website building (they've been after me to help, and I keep saying, "let's wait until school ends"), and "just" enjoying the moment.
2. Having more time for my work at Douglas County Libraries.
   
3. Presenting more at library workshops, conferences and in my community.
4. Explore the vast reaches of the Interwebtubes.
   
5. Community volunteer work for the Douglas County History Research Center, as well as the Indian Park School House Association.
6. Learn how to cook a dependably good meal (it's hit or miss right now).
7. Wander around in the out-of-doors again, ogling nature and breathing deep. I am tired of spending nearly every waking moment staring at a screen or a book (though I do love books and screens).
8. Paint. Oils, acrylics, water colors, gouache...
9. Write. Stories, lyrics, articles...
10. Yoga (writing papers and studying has a way of leaching your limber flexibility).
11. Ride horses (my equine-full childhood is calling out to me. I need to smell horse sweat, feel the wind in my face as we break into a good canter, and walk quietly through the woods on the back of a good horse friend).
12. Make up words (like equine-full).