Walking Paper

When I used multiple computers throughout the day it made sense to use web apps to read RSS feeds and email. I’ve been working exclusively on my MacBook Pro for some time now and I never considered I was still using tools more appropriate for a bygone situaion. No longer!

It all started when I decided to do some Spring cleaning and organization of my RSS subscriptions. My feeds were organized by topic and, like many of you I’m sure, a few times every day I’d skim though all of the new content and then “Shift-A” to mark them all as read. I became unsatisfied doing this over and over. Not only could I devote a seemingly endless amount of time processing all of the new info arriving but I was paying less attention to feeds that happened to appear at the bottom of the new items. Would I miss something? Gasp! This routine became less interesting overall. It became more of a chore or compulsion than anything else.

Organizing my feeds by priority and then topic seemed like a nice solution my RSS doldrums. I’d be assured to keep up with important feeds by reading stuff in the “First” folder, and if I wanted to devote more time I could go on to the “Next” folder or even the one labeled “Last.”

Google Reader Fails

I tried to use Google Reader to do this, but reorganizing my large collection of feeds was painfully slow. I also discovered that the program doesn’t support folders within folders so my organizational scheme wasn’t a possibility. I use the Better Gmail 2 extension to make a small hierarchy of folders for my mail and there might be something like it for Reader but I didn’t bother looking.

I just exported my subscriptions, downloaded NetNewsWire and haven’t looked back. Its nice features include an ecto compatible “Blog This” tool that I’ve been using for work, not to mention standard desktop app features like offline reading. (I’m aware of Google Gears and Reader, yes, but it seemed to take forever and be buggy). There’s also a nice NNW iPhone application that lets me read some or all of my feeds and automatically syncs over the air to the desktop.

In the midst of this move I realized that while I’m good at keeping my email inbox empty I hadn’t really been doing so in the spirit of Inbox Zero. Having multiple instances of Firefox running, each with a Gmail tab somewhere amongst the many was an incredible distraction since I’d see email right as they arrived. Note: I’m not blaming the Interwebs for distracting me. It wasn’t Gmail’s fault that I felt compelled to immediately process incoming mail, it just gave me the option. I was reading email as they arrived to always be on top of things but sacrificing more time, effort and attention than it was worth.

Going Local

So not only am I using a desktop RSS reader for the first time, I’m also using a desktop mail program for the first time in ages. Mail.app is collecting my Gmail but set to only look for mail when I tell it to. Same with mail on my phone. I’ve also set NetNewsWire to update only manually. In the end I’m getting the same amount of information, but I’m getting it on my terms and when it is convenient for me. OS X has a feature called Spaces which provides multiple desktops. I’ve been using it increasingly to partition the different parts of my life on the web. A Firefox window with a bunch of tabs in a few Spaces is easier to handle than one instance with 40 tabs. (Browser tabs are another dragon to slay evidently.) I’ve sequestered Mail and NetNewsWire to their own Spaces and am left with a few distraction free zones for projects and hobbies.

What’s most interesting about all of this is the fact that my information habits were just that. Habits. My way of doing things had evolved over time and I hadn’t given that development much thought, mostly because I’ve never had trouble accomplishing what I need to accomplish. (Mostly!) But in the past few weeks I noticed that things were taking a little longer to accomplish. Working from home allows for many, many potential hours of screen time and left unchecked, distractions can turn those potential hours into actual hours. I like my work and my computer but spending more time on either isn’t a priority. If it isn’t a priority for you either, consider taking some time to make sure your tools are working for you and you’re not working for your them.

In addition to the UIE roadshow yesterday I have a bunch of fun speaking and learning opportunities coming up. I’m looking forward to it all!

2/25 : WebWise 2009
→ Social Media Iron Chef

2/17 : Drupal4Lib Camp
→ attending!

3/17 : Illinois State Library On The Front Lines: Agents of Change
→ Keynote, Creating the Usable Library

3/20 : IA Summit 2009
→ The Usable Library Website (poster session with Amanda Etches-Johnson)

3/22-27 : Gates Foundation Global Libraries Peer Learning Meeting
→ various sessions

3/28-4/2 : Computers in Libraries 2009
→ various sessions

More details and PDFs as it all unfolds.

In late October I wrote a semi-cryptic Facebook status update telling people that I gave notice at my job. Then a few weeks later a few people emailed me when they saw my job at the NPPL listed on the PNLA Jobs website. Sorry that I haven’t been able to say anything until now, but Ts were getting crossed and all of that.

I’m super excited to let interested parties know that I’m now the Digital Initiatives Librarian for the District of Columbia Public Library. Not quite sure what a Digital Initiatives Librarian does? Well, it is vague on purpose but I can tell you that I’m going to be doing website visioning, usability testing, web presence development and planning all sorts of fun projects. Much of this stuff is going to fall under a subdivision of the DCPL Information Technology Services department that we’re calling DCPL Labs (still in beta so expect to find some lorem ipsum). You can visit the DCPL Labs Projects page for some details of what we’ll be starting with, but I’m most excited about:

• Our iPhone application. This is probably the simplest way I’ve seen to search for and place holds on library items. It is built and is in the process of being submitted to Apple for inclusion in the iTunes application store. The current version is about .8 and we have an exciting roadmap for future functionality.
• Content Creation Stations. We’re giving DCPL Neighborhood Libraries some great hardware and training to help people produce digital content and put it online. We’re going to aggregate this content somewhere on the DCPL site.
• We’ve got a nice looking and usable design for a new library website that is in the process of being built.
• DCPL staff education. I’m going to be helping write modules for a learning program, hosting a Library 2.0 interest group for DCPL employees, and writing a tech awareness blog called The Dish. Writing a different style blog, something much more general and link-bloggy than walking paper should be fun and challenging.

Another aspect of the job that is fun and challenging is that I’m not moving to DC. I’ll be telecommuting from Portland and visiting DC as needed. In our estimation this might be for a few days monthly or every other month. I’ll be working from home (which probably means I’ll get back to posting more pics of Mao on the green couch to flickr) and my local haunt, Red Square Cafe. This flexibility also means that I’ll still be doing some traveling for neat presentation and workshop opportunities.

The DCPL is implementing a big transition, including some major construction projects. It is encouraging that the library is considering their digital presence in this transition, and I’m honored to help with the task.

I have a confession. The gradient theme in Apple’s sideshow software Keynote and I had a passionate love affair. But like many bright lights, it burnt fast. I can’t really tell if the breakup was all about me or the theme’s fault. Whatever the case, I’m through with it. I think it has something to do with the time that it let me down in the big, bright rooms with somewhat anemic projectors at Internet Librarian last year.

It isn’t entirely obvious how to design a new theme in Keynote so I’ll report what I learned from a post on MacTips. There’s a small divider directly underneath the “View” button in Keynote’s menu. Pull this down to reveal master slides.

You can design the slides to spark a new flame, then choose “File, Save Theme” to move the relationship along. You even get to give it a pet name. I’m sure I’ll fuss over it for a few days, but I’m aiming for a new theme with white letters on a grey background with light blue highlights. It might remind you of the design on walkingpaper.org, should you ever click through from your feed reader. Once I get it squared away I’ll upload it here in case it is good and you ever want a minimalist Keynote theme. *sigh*

Here’s where my new love and I have planned for the Spring:

26 Feb
National Federation of Abstracting and Information Services Annual, Philladelphia
The New Information Economy: The Changing Value of Content

3 Apr
Multonomah County Library Staff Day Keynote, Portland (!)
The Read/Write Web Opportunity

4 Apr
Margaret Chisholm Lecture, University of Washington iSchool, Seattle
Work on This, Please: Facing Current Challenges in Librarianship

6-11 Apr
Computers in Libraries, Crystal City
Various sessions and workshops

22 Apr
Suffolk County Handheld Libraries Conference Keynote, Bellport
Library in your Pocket

7 May
Massachusetts Library Association Annual, Falmouth
Having a Phone: IM Reference

8 May
Medical Library Association Annual, Chicago
Web 2.0 Panel

22 May
Catalan Library Association, Barcelona
The Read/Write Web Opportunity

27 May
ProBiblio, Amsterdam
Transatlantic Tech Librarianship

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