Week 9, Thing 23: Summary

I have really enjoyed participating in 23 Things and have learned a lot about web2.0. 23 Things has reminded me how true it is that you learn by doing. You had to actually had to do the activites yourself. In a workshop, (even in a good hands-on workshop) if you get stuck, there is just not time to figure it out or stop for help, so you end up faking it or just watching others. Reading and learning about a topic is just not the same as putting it to use. There is that sense of accomplishment when you figure out how to do something that you've struggled with for a while. It was fun talking with other staff members about 23 Things and I feel an excitment about putting some of tools to work for our library. This was a great way to learn. I would definitely like to participate in another similar program.

Week 9, Thing 22: Downloadabel Audiobooks

I got an MP3 player for Christmas last year and wondered why I waited so long. I love listening to books while I'm exercising or cleaning the house. I have a cheap one without a bookmarking feature so it is easier to listen to Overdrive titles that download in parts in case I push the wrong button and lose my place. But, I do download NetLibrary titles if it's something I really want to listen to. I am hoping that Recorded Books works something out with Apple, so that we can listen to their books on Ipods (not for me, but for all those Ipod owners).

Week 9, Thing 21: Locating Podcasts

I was not able to listen to the podcasts found in Podcast.net without downloading a plugin. I had no trouble in Podcast Alley and Yahoo Podcasts. When I worked part-time I used to be able to listen to NPR's Fresh Air on the way home from work. Now that I am full-time I miss it, especially the book reviews and interviews with authors. I found NPR: Books in Podcast Alley and Yahoo Podcasts which includes interviews on Fresh Air and subscribed to it. I went to the NPR site and also subscribed to NPR: Book Tour, NPR: Selected Shorts (story time for adults) and NPR: Technology. There are so many ways libraries could use Podcasts, from staff training to programming for patrons.

Week 9, Thing 20: YouTube

Labuto Library Project
This is a very touching video about a library for homeless AIDS orphans in Lusaka, Zambia. I lived in Zambia for a year as a teenager and would like to go back some day.

I can think of many applications for videos on our website. I don't think we need YouTube to do this. Would the advantage of putting it on YouTube be a larger audience?

Week 8, Thing 19: Web 2.0 Awards List

I had fun playing around with several Web 2.0 sites on the "short list." I would like to try mailemotion at home with my webcam to e-mail a video. I also want to use BackPack more to see if it would be helpful with my "to do lists." I created a FaceBook account so I could see if I could get Kristin and Sarah to be my friends so that I could see their facebook page. I didn't get very far with it.

Week 8, Thing 18: Online Productivity Tools

I opened my Google Doc account and found 2 documents already there. They were Word attachments that were sent to me in my gmail. Maybe I opened them in Google Doc? Other word attachments were not there. I have seen this other Google stuff in my gmail account but have not paid much attention to it. I'm glad to know more about it. I think I will start using the Google Calendar. I never really wanted to use the Microsoft Office Calendar because I couldn't get to it from home, but I can get to this Google one at home or work. (Do I still need my paper planner/calendar for when I'm other places? I think so.) I wonder why the list of productivity tools didn't include OpenOffice. Or is OpenOffice just a name for all these web based tools? If you know, let me know. I also wonder if college kids can use these tools in college rather than buying Office for their laptop. Would the professors have trouble opening the docs? Would there be any complications? This has been fun. I wrote this post in Google Doc and posted it to my blog.

Week 7, Thing 17: Learning 2.0 Sandbox Wikis

In the Maryland Library Sandbox Wiki I added a favorite book on the page "What I'm Reading." I doesn't really seem right to make changes to a page another person wrote. For example, My Favorite Places in Ohio is no longer her list of favorites if other people add to it. I was interested to read that someone made a Wiki that is a list of things to do. I know you can keep the Wiki private, but why would you put your list of things to do in a Wiki? Is it easier to get to, edit??

Week 7, Thing 16: Wikis

In the focus groups that FCPL conducted several teens suggested that patrons should be able to add book reviews to the catalog - like Amazon. I didn't know how this could be done until I read about Wikis in 23 things. It said you could use Wikis to annotate the catalog. How do we "add wiki functionality to the catalog?"

I found there was not a lot of information in the Library Success best practices Wiki under Materials Selections. I guess that's up to us to change that.

Week 6, Thing 15: Web 2.0, Library 2.0

The readings on Library 2.0 provided a lot to thing about. The dicussion of doing away with "just in case collections" can really help to illuminate selecion and weeding decisions. It makes a lot of sense. The idea that users should be able to customize services to suit their needs, add tags, comment, and be involved in the planning process is an good way to guarantee customer satisfaction. I liked Dr. Wendy Schultz's description of a new library mode: "a knowledge spa: meditation, relaxation, immersion in luxuary of ideas and thought." In other places she lost me.

Week 6, Thing 14: Technorati

There were many more results for Learnging 2.0 when searching blogposts than blog tags or the blog directory (of course). The results were about the same in blog tags and blog directory - do they use the tags to create the directory? I liked searching by blog tag the best. It's a great way to find blogs about your hobbies. I liked looking at the top 100 most popular blogs. When you read a blog it often seems like you are coming in on the middle of a conversation and it doesn't quite make sense.

Week 6, Thing 13: Del.icio.us

I really think Del.icio.us will be useful for finding information on a professional topic you need to research. I signed up for an account and plan to start using it. I often find useful websites that I would like to keep and categorize. I like that seeing what other people have bookmarked under the same tag will help you find useful information.

Week 5, Thing 12: Roll your own search tool

Here is the url to my Rollyo search I created: http://www.rollyo.com/tvorce/book_reviews/
I made a search tool for book review websites that we don't normally think to search.

Week 5, Thing 11: LibraryThing

Here is the link to my LibraryThing Library: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/tvorce
These are books that I recently read and enjoyed, not books that I own. I wanted to use the widget to put a side bar on my blog, and I found where you could edit the html to paste the url, but I didn't know where to put it.

Week 5, Thing 10: Online Image Generator

I wanted to make a header for my blog and here it is. I used www.headerbar.com. I don't know why it's not long enough, but I'm tired of playing with it. Also Blogger made me keep the Blog name in that ugly text (it said field required when I edited it). It looked better the way I made it in the generator.

James, this is fun but it is not "short." Between playing around with different generators, deciding what you want to do and doing it, this takes a long time.