Week 9 things 20/21/22/23

I spent a little time on YouTube and had the most fun I've had through all of this. I found a couple of short videos of impersonators. They were really good and funny. It was a nice break from trying to get through so much during a very busy summer with several staff taking vacation. I also spent some time on podcasts and downloadable audio sources. So, I've finally made it through the 23 things. I must say that, while I know it's merely a small tip of a gigantic iceberg, I've learned a lot. I believe the "23 things" process was a good opportunity for me to see a lot of available tools of which I had little or no knowledge.

Week 8 thing 19

I explored a health site that was listed in the Web 2.0 awards list. It does seem that there is helpful information there that would be useful to me personally and could also help researchers at the library.

Week 8 thing 18

It's a good thing Gates has already made his billions. It is so convenient to have a tool that is common and accessible. It would have been really nice when I was taking some history and literature classes to have a word processing tool that was the same, regardless of whether I was in the computer lab at GC, or at the REL writing papers.

Week 7 thing 17

I've played in the sandbox and edited the page to include the link to my blog.

Week 7 thing 16

It seems that wikis are indeed useful. Two of the uses I read about and liked are using them for book reviews and for communicating "best practices". I also like the idea of wikis for intranets. But, it seems to me it may be best to have an "official" intranet wherein one would find documents such as policies and procedures, and then another that would be more for sharing ideas and informal information.

Week 6 thing 15

I've read some of the information on Web 2.0 and Library 2.0. Life always involves change and it's likely that the libraries of the future will be quite different than they are today. I agree with especially one of the viewpoints that I read. While change will happen and we must be prepared to serve customers in new ways, I believe we will need to continue to serve a group of our customers who will for some years continue to expect library service in what they recognize as the more traditional sense.

Week 6 things 13/14

I have trekked to Del.icio.us. I do believe this is something I can use, but I will need to become more familiar with it. I did create an account and had some difficulties installing the buttons. However, I looked around until I found a very helpful video type instruction tool that did the trick for me. I also took a look around Technorati.

Week 5 thing 3

I do see where Rollyo could in fact be useful to me personally and for work as well. It's pretty easy to create and could save time in the future.

http://www.rollyo.com/search.html?q=white+blouses&sid=309186

Above is the link for my shopping search for white blouses.

Week 5 thing 2

I found the Library Thing interesting. It was neat to see how many others had included my books in their catalog and to read some of the reviews. I believe this could be a tool I'll continue to use.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php

Week 5 thing 1

http://12.UploadMirror.com/uploaded/1/115/glitter-bubble-gum_07_24_2007_15_45_16_20090.gif

Week 4 thing 2

It was interesting to look at blogs and the variety of feeds available. When I first heard of RSS feeds my first reaction was that they would be a timesaver. However, like a lot of other things, all this available information could also be a time user. Time is very valuable to me. My goal for the use of feeds is to save time by not having to go to different sites to look at the information I want to see. Though it is tempting to create a lot of feeds, I believe a person could very soon be spending MORE time looking at information. So, one of my conclusions is that unless an individual can afford the time, discipline must be used to limit the feeds created.

Week 4 thing 1

I must say that the last three or four feeds that I added to my bloglines site went much smoother and faster than the feeds I did earlier. Practice does indeed help. While I haven't really yet had a chance to use my bloglines site much, it does seem that it surely will be a useful tool to stay in touch with news, weather, etc.

Week 3 thing 3

This picture illustrates the pony express. In the background men are putting up poles for telegraph wires, which of course was a huge step forward. Now here we are blogging, sending pictures over the internet, taking pictures with cell phones... I'm amazed. Can you imagine what the pony express riders and their customers would think if they were here?

Week 3 thing 2

I found this picture as I was playing with Flickr Color Pickr. It reminded me of the bush in my front yard. I love to watch the butterflies play on it in the spring. However, all too soon the bloom is gone.

Week 3

This is the kind of white water I have not been through in a kayak. I think I'd be willing in a raft with a guide. However, in a kayak by myself I think I'd feel quite inadequate. In fact, that pretty accurately describes how I'm feeling as I wade through these new technologies. However, I do like to learn by doing. I'm much more likely to learn that way. Just watching someone else do something doesn't help me much.

Week 2

I'm in catch up mode since I started late. I've obviously managed to create a blog and post to it. It's really basic so far. Maybe there will be more time for some creativity somewhere between vacationing staff, summer reading club and training some new employees. At least I found a background color I really like.

Week 1

I'm just getting started with the 23 things. As I consider habits for life long learners, I believe that one of the easiest steps for me is taking responsibility for my own learning. I enjoy reading mystery fiction. And yet, when I have a chance to read I find myself almost always reading nonfiction. I love to learn. On the other hand, I think the hardest step in the learning process is seeing problems as challenges. I don't like problems. I'd rather avoid them. However, since that is impossible in this world, it makes good sense to view them as challenges and chances to learn.