Thing #23---The End!!!

Well, I have finally completed all of my 23 Things exercises. All in all, it was a pretty positive experience. I did have a few problems with a few exercises, but the positive experiences outweighed the negatives. I can't say for sure whether I will keep up with all of the technology introduced in 23 Things. However, it certainly taught me about many of the technologies that are out there and that people are using on an everyday basis. I simply do not have the time for all of these kinds of technologies. But, continuing to use some of my favorites will be easy to do!

I especially liked Flickr, LibraryThing, Project Gutenberg, the web-based apps (very techie sounding :-) of Zoho and Google Docs. I do see Zoho and Google Docs being very useful to me. I also really liked the Flickr possibilities. As I said in my original blog post for Flickr---I now actually will have to buy a digital camera if I want to use this site for all of the creative and fun things one can do.

I would like to say that this was a very difficult several months at my branch to try to complete the entire 23 Things project. We were down several full-time staff members and finding time to even do some of the easiest exercises was very difficult. I worked on several of the more time-consuming activites at home on my own time because there just was not enough time to complete these at work---let alone concentrate on what needed to be done in the order some of the exercises needed to be done. I believe there could have been better directions for some of the exercises (and realize this was not HCPL's fault) because had you going back and forth trying to setup the free accounts, then searching, then posting to one account into another account, etc. I realize that for some this was not a problem whatsoever, but to the average person some directions could have been better.

I know I still have a floating blog post for the Sandbox 2.0 exercise. My blog name will not show up in the listing of Harford County Public Library's listings because this was one I just could not figure out.

All in all, I found this whole thing to be positive. I am glad I decided to stick with it all and complete everything. Thank you for the experience.

Thing #22

I chose to start with Project Gutenberg since I was not aware this site had downloadable audiobooks before this exercise. I did find several books I would want to download (favorite children's books from my childhood) and a collection of Christmas Stories by various authors. I decided to browse the listing of "human-read" e-audiobooks because I do not think I could enjoy listening to the "computer-read" e-audiobooks. I did not try to download any of the titles I found because it was a very busy time of day here at the branch and I was afraid it would really slow down the computer speed, etc.

Project Gutenberg is a wonderful free service/site for anyone who wants to find hard-to-find downloadable e-audiobooks or for anyone who just wants to browse what is available on the web.

Thing #21

Well, this whole exercise seemed to take quite a bit of time. I did get help from two staff members who have completed this exercise already. Once I completed and added my podcast to my Bloglines account, it made much more sense. I chose to add a podcast for Teen Librarians which will be very helpful, I'm sure, in the future.

Thing #20

I searched around on YouTube for a subject I know quite well. Since I seem to spend almost all of my free time outside of work either at swim practices or swim meets for both of my children, I thought I would search the subject of swim meets. I refined the search to "olympic swim meets" and came across the short video of "Coco the Wonder Dog" swimming in her backyard kiddie pool. I thought this was really cute and decided this would be the video clip to add to my bog post.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=Zw1_z5tTjZ8

Thing #19

I picked Zillow, a real estate site, because it has tons of information . I was familiar with Realtor.com before using Zillow.com. However, Zillow seems to have so much useful information. I liked just how exact you could get in your search. You could look for homes for sale by realtors, for-sale-by-owners, places to rent, etc. The information is very specific and very detailed. I can see this being quite useful for library patrons who are either thinking of moving to this area or who will be moving to another area and need to research housing prices and other information before deciding on a move. Really like this site!

Thing #18

I created a very simple document in Zoho and then posted it to my bog. However, when the blog post showed up in my blog it shows as "Untitled." (See blog post below)

Untitled

This is my introduction and test document to Zoho.  I like the fact that these web-based applications are available.  Not everyone has Microsoft Office installed on their personal pc's.  Many pc's come with Microsoft Works instead.  So, I think Zoho and Google Docs will be very useful.

Thing #17

I am having a bit of trouble adding my blog to the Sandbox 2.0 exercise. I logged in and created an account, but adding my blog to the list within Harford County's list is not proving to be easy. Of course, it could be because it is now just 5 am in the morning and I am here at home trying to finish up my 23 Things. There just is not enough time at work to be doing this whole project. I will enlist the help of somebody at my branch to see what I am doing wrong. The steps to follow seem to take you back and forth which is making it seem more difficult than it probably is. I would say that the directions for this exercise and the steps to follow need to be streamlined.

Thing #16

I took a look at the SJCPL Subject Guide Wiki, the Book Lovers Wiki provided by Princeton Public Library, and MERLIN. I liked the straightforward use of SJCPL's Subject Guide Wiki. It was very easy to navigate---very similar in look to a directory page from particular search engines (Yahoo, etc.). I noticed that there hasn't been much updating done to these pages or even many posts/discussions from their patrons, however. I can see a wiki such as this working well within a public library. Patrons, I believe, would like it. Although HCPL does not have a wiki with this information, we do have our Online Resources and Homework Help pages set up with this same kind of information.

The Book Lovers Wiki provided by Princeton Public Library seemed interesting. The various reader's advisory/book reviews seemed useful. There didn't appear to be a lot of information on this wiki though, unless I just didn't explore enough.

MERLIN explained a few of the terms I have heard in the Wiki's and File Sharing section, but didn't know enough about. So, I found this to be handy.

Thing #15

I read through all of the perspectives and will comment on "Away from Icebergs." I believe HCPL has always tried to be ahead of the curve when it comes to new technology. Maryland libraries in general are more progressive than may other states and we hear this from many of our patrons who come to us from other states. If libraries are to survive, we must not sit idly still and watch as the technology and our patrons pass us by. Our patrons demand and should have access to the most up-to-date technologies and changes available in the library-world. Since so much information is out on the web, we can't expect to compete with this information if we don't keep our libraries on the cutting edge.

I do believe that the whole Library 2.0/23 Things exercise is a great way for librarians to see what is out there and to become familiar with all that is happening. Even though one or two of the exercises have been a bit challenging/confusing, I still find them of use in just being aware of what the things are or what they can do.

Thing #14---Technorati

I browsed around Technorati and searched for Learning 2.0 (Library 2.0) and 23 Things and saw the differences in the amount of hits that came up in the blog posts, 100 top blogs, etc. Yes, there are millions of blogs out there and only so much time! I can see why people are so into their blogs and blogging, but it isn't something I feel the need to do on a regular basis. Having a blog tagged does make it that much easier to search for favorite topics or interests or whatever you might be looking for, but having to tag it to be found doesn't seem quite right either. I guess doing a keyword search would just bring up too many results and this is why the tagging of blogs makes the search process so much more accurate?!

I will put more time into the searching of Technorati and its benefits after I complete the rest of 23 Things.

Thing #13---Del.icio.us

I viewed the alternative video tutorial (8 min. 50 sec.) since the original video tutorial was disabled back in July 2007. Although the video tutorial seemed straightforward in its explanations, I do not see, at this point in time, when I would use del.icio.us. To be quite honest, it seemed too confusing. I did look around the PLCMCL2 site to try to get a better understanding of how this might be useful.

Thing #12---Rollyo

I created my Rollyo account. I have also created a rollyo of some of my favorite websites on one particular subject. When creating my account I chose to keep my profile private, so I do not think my rollyo list will show.

As for creating the list and the exercise in general, it was not difficult. I really don't know if I will continue adding to my Rollyo profile or not. I find it just as easy to have my favorite websites in my "Favorites" and to go there directly rather than signing in to yet another account to access my information. It just seems too redundant to me.

Thing #11

I've created my LibraryThing account and have added 27 titles of either recently read books or favorite titles throughout the years. I haven't added any childrens books yet, but will be adding my favorites at a later time. I couldn't figure out how to link from LibraryThing to my blog, so this part of the exercise is not complete. If I am able to figure this out later, I will go back in and do the linking at another time.

I really like the capabilities of LibraryThing and the way each user can create their own library catalog of books read or even of books I would like to read at some point. I do plan on using this site even after completing Library 2.0/23 Things.

Thing #9 & 10

I browsed around in MERLIN and looked at many of the different blogs hilighted on this blog. I pasted a few into my Blogline account. I also created an avatar through Yahoo! Avatars. I did a copy and paste of my avatar onto my blog---take a look! I can see this as a really fun thing to do when updating a blog or whenever your mood needs a change. Fun!!

My Avatar

Thing #8---RSS Feeds

Setting up the blogline account was simple enough. And, choosing a variety of blogs and/or RSS feeds to subscribe to was also simple enough. However, trying to subscribe to other rss feeds, etc. did not seem to go as well. I guess I can see why people would like to have all of their favorite kinds of things on one site to catch up on updated information. But, I honestly do not know how people have so much time to spend reading through all of the updated posts. I'm hoping that by going through these exercises, I'll become more aware of the usefulness of these items.

Thing #7---New Technology

I decided to search the subject "latest library technology" to see what we can look forward to in the future in the library world. I found a link to the ALA TechSource page that is discussing "Next-Generation Library Catalogs." This article is discussing how cutting edge libraries are moving toward a more web-based automated catalog to better fill the needs of their web-savvy patrons. Aquabrowser was listed as one of several next-generation interfaces. It looks like HCPL is offering patrons the kinds of technology that are wanted and needed!

Thing #6---Mash-Ups and 3rd Party Sites

There are so many different kinds of applications that can be done with mash-ups, etc. I really liked exploring what can be done in Mosaic Maker and Random Photo Browser. I tried linking to Montagr but I needed the latest "Flash" update in order to view this site. I wasn't able to install the latest update due to the security on the pc. It would be a lot of fun to create a special calendar or wallpaper with the editing tools found on the Calendar and Wallpaper Maker sites. I guess I'll have to get a digital camera now to start using all of these great tools!

Thing #5--- Flickr

Well, I have spent quite a bit of time exploring Flickr. I can see why it is so popular. However, I had problems getting a picture from Flickr to load on my blog. I'm not sure whether it will show or not. I hope it does because it is a beautiful picture of pink flowers in bloom.

Things 1, 2, 3 & 4

I have completed steps 1-4 of the Library 2.0 project. Thing #2 asks for each of us to pick one habit that is easiest for us to follow and one habit that is most difficult for us to follow. The habit I find easiest to follow as a lifelong learner is to accept responsibility for my own learning. The habit I find most difficult is viewing problems as challenges. After I complete all 23 Things, I'm sure I'll have come through many challenges but with a much better understanding of all of the technologies we are being introduced to in this project!

Test Post #1

I just created my blog and am hoping it is working.