Learn & Play Lifelong Learning

Okay, so I move fast. I completely skipped the part about writing about lifelong learning. So, back to the basics.

Learning is fun! Learning is fundamental! Learning is life changing! Learning until the end is one of my mantras. As a child, Child Craft was my friend. As a youth, I used to read the entire almanac, peruse encyclopedias and randomly pick words in the dictionary to develop my vocabulary. In other posts on this blog, I mentioned how much I like computers and things related to them. Learning enrichs my life.

People often say to me that it must be fun to work at the library and read all the time. They are surprised to when I respond that reading is not why I like being a librarian. Yes, I do read, but not hour after hour, day after day, book after book. I am not a fiction reader. I love to read to learn, hence my love of non-fiction. It is the reason I find reference so intriguing and so much fun. I learn something every day I work information. Sometimes this new knowledge is very simple; other times it is more detailed and complex. Regardless of the level, I like learning.

I like learning about so many different things, from cooking to cars, from music to make-up, from biography to technology. The subjects could go on and on. I recently learned, for example, how the valve lifters work on an automobile. This will be good to know when I take my vehicle in to the dealer.)

As I looked at the '7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners', I thought about how I can apply these habits to my own learning behaviors. The easiest habit is to view problems as challenges. Just as with difficult reference questions, I like the challange of 'passing the test', or finding the answer. I start with the premise that there is an answer, the job is to find it. This requires creative thinking and more than one stragegy. The payoff, however, is great! I haven't quite figured out which habit is most challenging. In different situations it could either #1 - Begin with the end in mind, or # 7 -teach/mentor others.

Learn & Play Thing 7

Shirley's computers
Originally uploaded by mspman51

I combined Thing 7 and learning more about Flickr. The comments were actually done on Flickr, then uploaded, which was an interesting process.

If I would give this photo and comments a title, it might be 'We've come a long way, baby.'

Click on the photo to see my comments.