Week 10 #23

The Finale---

The 23 things learning module was really much more difficult and more time consumming than we were led to believe it would be. I was a bit whiny during the process when I got bogged down on week 6 and thought I would never finish but now that I'm finished I can look on the bright side of the learning process.

I'm glad I learned about Flickr although I recently sign-up for a picassa account with google and like it better. I never would have tried that if I hadn't be exposed to a photo site through this process.

I am also glad that I found out about Zoho. I will be using this or something similar through google to help me with my ongoing projects for work. I suspect that I might find it useful with family projects as well.

This learning opportunity has exposed more staff to new technology and services provided by Harris County. I think that is a real positive feature. More staff will be comfortable helping customers with technology based questions.

The YouTube may provide us with a better way of teaching techniques for doing searches and other services available in Harris County.

All in all, I think the 23 things were valuable if not pain free.

Week 9 #22

Downloadable Media. I am a big fan of downloadable books. I always have something checked out from our Overdrive collection. I'm a big mystery fan but of course I listen to many children's books too.

Today we had someone who needed an audio book that we had in our downloadable collection so I was able to help them check it out and be a NEW user of a great service that we offer here. I love being able to introduce people to downloadable media.

I had not looked at any free or commercial sites before doing this exercise. I checked out LibriVox and found that there are many children's classics that I would like to try. I'm sure that I will be visiting that site often.

Week 9 #21

Podcasts. I looked at podcast.net. I searched knitting, Harry Potter, book reviews and generally browsed the available feeds. I was somewhat confused by the fact that the feeds listed on the site were from 2005 and 2006. When I finally subscribed to the feeds 2007 feeds were listed.

I ended up subscribing to feeds with book reviews in them. I also subscribed to NPR and a Harry Potter feed just for fun. I think if I had time to find the 1 or 2 "perfect" feeds I would enjoy the whole process. I do not think that I have found exactly what I want to spend time listening to yet. I will continue the search because I do enjoy learning through auditory content.

Week 9 #20

YouTube: I explored YouTube a bit. I frequently receive links to YouTube videos and was unable to find any that I liked more than those sent to me. I love the funny animal videos: the piano playing cat or the dancing dog they are always a "day brightener."

When I did a search on Knitting, I found lots of little videos about knitting techniques, types of yarn and equipment. It looks like there are also some silly videos about knitting for a little comedy relief when your knitting isn't going well.

I can visualize using this technique for teaching quick searching techniques or transmitting other information to library users when a short video would be a useful option.

Week 8 #19

Zoho. Wow! This is something I can really use. I have always e-mailed "work in progress" to myself or put it on a flashdrive to get to later. This will really help me with projects that take more time and thought than a single sitting can complete. I will also use this for projects that my assistant and I both need to work on.

Of all the things we have been exposed to in this project, this will be the most useful on a day to day basis.

Week 8 #18

Social networks. I visited a couple of social networking sites. I was surprised to "hear" from my sister-in-law in Ohio as I was setting up a facebook account. A couple of my sons friends have added me as a friend so I can keep up with them even when he's not around; that's kind of nice. The other network that I joined is ratemyspace. I'm really interested in decorating and love getting ideas from non-professionals. It will take a while before I will feel comfortable enough to comment or even "rate" a space but I'm really enjoying looking. I can see where really social people might spend lots of time at various sites keeping in touch. I think that you could get sucked in and not get anything else done.

I know that facebook has been a great way for my son to keep in contact with his cousins who are in college all over the country. We have never lived close to them but facebook has enable them to really get to know each other so that when we got together last summer they felt like they knew each other.

Week 7 #17

Technology: My favorite technology is the mp3 player. I love being able to download books and listen to them. My son is a big user of freeware so I have been exposed to a number of different programs that manage audio and video files. They all have their pros and cons. I'm finding that uploading and removing data from my device can be tricky. I just have to remind myself that it is a very small computer or LARGE storage device. I really enjoy the new technology that I am required to work with but it still can make me CRAZY.

Week 7 #16

Wikis. I looked at the wikis listed and visited the HCPL wiki. I kind of get it. I did find some interesting things while visiting the various wikis. I could again find information about my current relaxation hobby (knitting) and the Book lovers wiki had great reviews.

I could see using this format for programing and crafts within HCPL for children's services. Lots of people out there have great ideas and good "sites" for programming ideas that we could all benefit from. Actually, I'm thinking that my new assistant and I might set up something so that we can note new finds without having to create more clutter on our desks.

Week 6 #15

I read a number of the perspectives on library 2.0 and find that I can agree with parts of all the views. I really like the way Michael Stephens lays out his article: "Into a New World of Librarianship." I see his view of the Librarian as an innovative provider of "goods and services" in the world of information as positive view of our future as librarians. In his view, he sees librarians as informed providers of information and other services but also as frugal, preceptive, trailblazers for future changes in technology. We should not change for change sake neither should we spend money indiscriminately to purchase technologies without regard for future change. Librarians need to be leaders not followers of new trends.

I believe that Stephen's is right about being adaptive and innovative. We have gone through many changes in the last year, many of them very difficult emotionally. After reading these perspectives on 2.0 I have a better understanding of where we are going and why. I still have reservations about some changes but I agree with the need for many others.

Week 6 #14

I have looked at the advanced search on Technorati. I liked the video by Helene Blowers concerning the importance of learning 2.0 and how 23 things impacted her library system. It made more sense after I listened to her video. I appreciated her view that our "traditional customers" would continue to exist but that a new generation or library users are on our horizon and we need to learn new ways to interact with them.

I also explored my current interest (knitting) and was pleased with the resources that I found for this resurging craft.