Week 9 - Thing 23

Well, here I am at the end of the 23 Things. I feel like I have at least touched on some of the new "Things" that are out there. Names like Blogs, Blogger, Flickr, RSS Feeds, Rollyo, Tags, Wiki's, and Avatars are now familiar to me.

I enjoyed Week 6 lots, because of the information on Web 2.0 and Library 2.0. That was a wake-up call for me about how fast things are changing. I think I had become complacent with the technology I use the most, and haven't been willing to reach out and grab the new technologies that have become available to us. I just wasn't interested in leaving my comfort zone.

However, the ever changing Internet and new advances in technology will leave me in the dust of the past if I'm not careful.

There was one unexpected outcome of this program for me. A customer showed up at the Information Desk one day and informed me that we had been in the same 3rd grade class. He had pulled out the old class photo, plugged some names into Google, and my Blog popped up. He said he was in the area and decided to stop by and see me.

This was all very innocent, however, we changed some of my Blog's settings and now my Blog doesn't pop up in a Google search anymore. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to add "security options" to one of the exercises in the future.

Previously I saw things like blogs as being useful for other people, but not me. I'll be more curious now about new "Things" I find on the Internet, and realize they may be for me too.

Thanks for all the work that went into making the 23 Things avilable to us, and for making it a priority for library staff. I learned a lot and feel good about having completed the program.

Week 1 - Thing 1

OK, I'm ready. Here we go.

Week 3 - Thing 5

I signed up for a free Flickr account, and maybe one day I'll add some pictures from my digital camera. I am realizing how my slow, dial-up computer is holding me back from using the new things that are available to us. I found Flickr easy to use and added a picture to my Blog. I have actually gone back to Flickr several times during these exercises and added more pictures to the Blog, and changed some old ones. I also figured out how to use Blogger's photo upload tool, which is pretty easy once you do it once. Then the pictures don't disappear as you add more entries to the Blog.

Week 9 - Thing 22

Recorded Books is a great option for the library to offer customers. I've noticed this summer we've had more and more questions about them, and whether they can be downloaded to an MP3 player. I looked into OverDrive and, of course, we can't use it on a library computer. But you can browse through the collection. I found a book "Can't Wait to Get to Heaven" by Fanny Flagg that looks like it would be a real hoot. However, my home computer has a dial-up connection, so forget about even trying to download it.

Week 9 - Thing 21

I found Podcast.net pretty slow on our computers. I liked Yahoo Podcasts, but had trouble finding one that had an RSS feed. I added the Business Week Cover Stories Podcast to my Bloglines account. It's a good site that provides interviews with the writers and editors and they offer their impressions and insights about the print story.

I did find some Podcasts that I would like to investigate, such as learning Spanish. For library purposes, there are multitudes of podcasts that are useful. I could see BCPL adding them as a link from the Home Page. There were several children's book radio podcasts and a "Storynory" podcast that offers free audio stories for children. "English as a Second Language" is a useful podcast also. There were lots of sites for learning languages. There is a world of opportunity out there!

Week 9 - Thing 20

I explored YouTube and found a great video called "Women in Art". It shows famous portraits of women and the faces slowly change from one to the other. I tried unsuccessfully to place the video in my blog. I also looked at some of the suggested videos like the library dominoes. I think someone had way too much time on their hands!

Week 8, Thing 19

I explored the Web 2.0 award sites for travel. All 3 sites were on the list of winning sites. Farecast.com was a 1st place winner, while Kayak and Real Travel were 2nd and 3rd place winners.

I used Farecast.com to investigate a trip I'm planning. It actually gave me slightly better fares than expedia, travelocity and cheap air. Kayak gave me similar fares. Both sites were easy to use. Real Travel provides different information with itineraries, attractions and links. People can share their experiences on this site as well. It also provides "travel deals", although there weren't any for my destination (Costa Rica), of course. All 3 of these sites are great.