23 things wrap up

Well, I finally finished, Yippee!

I know I will continue to use LibraryThing, wikis, and the downloadable audio books. I also think the online word processing is great. I don't share others' enthusiasm for YouTube, Flickr, avatars, etc. because I tend to use computers for work only; I'm not one who ever "plays" in front of a screen - I've never even played online card games or any other kind of game on a computer, for example.

I'm glad I had to do this (well, I guess I didn't actually HAVE to, but I felt like I should), because many of these 23 things I woudn't have learned about on my own, or at least not as soon, and these are definitely things I should be familiar with. I did get a little frustrated initially, but it seemed to get easier as I went along, probably because I was becoming more familiar with the process. So, while some days I might have cursed you (silently!), thank you Irmgarde and Maurice for putting this training together. I did learn a lot.

downloadable audiobooks

As much as I listen to books on tape, I know I should have explored this option long before now, but now that I have, I'm going to be hooked. I especially liked Project Gutenberg because I love the idea of preserving classic literature on this format. I even read over the requirements for becoming a volunteer proofreader, and I just might do it.

podcasts

I was most interested in seeing how libraries are using podcasts. I listened to a poetry slam, since a few of the libraries in our system are having one. I also started to listen to a book talk which I liked a lot. I also plan to use this to catch up on some news shows like "Meet the Press", which I used to have time to watch religiously, and now never get to. I liked this a lot better than Youtube because I can just turn this and listen while I go about my business, rather than having to sit in front of my computer screen, which I never do when I don't have to!

You tube

The only videos I was interested in seeing were dressage videos (of course). After I'd watched a bunch of them, I honestly couldn't think of anything else I was even remotely curious to see. I'm sure this is very useful for people buying or selling things (e.g. a house or a horse), as this gives you the opportunity to see the thing you want to buy without having to actually get out of your chair. It's not anything that I think I'd actually use for any other purpose, buy, hey, people love it.

Zillow.com - great for BRAC

I browsed the 2.0 awards list andI decided to look at a real estate site called "Zillow" because I used to work for a real estate magazine and out of habit, I still follow the real estate market. WOW - this is far, far superior to any other real estate site I've ever looked at. Homes.com and Realtor.com can't come close. This lists "For Sale by Owner" properties in addition to the ones listed by realtors, it offers aerial views, it is extremely current (unlike the others which never seem to get updated frequently enough), it has a "zestimate" feature which acts as an unofficial appraisal (when the "zestimate" is way out of whack with the selling price, it's kind of a red flag), and it's very interactive - you can leave comments/questions, etc. It offers general helpful information about the local and national real estate markets, too. It has other great features, too, which I won't go on and on about, but suffice it to say, I'm going to suggest this to patrons who ask me about the real estate market in Harford County, like BRAC people, for example.

Online Productivity Tools

I definitely see the value in this, especially for library patrons, and I can see how it might eventually replace Microsoft Office altogether. I created my account, typed a short document, and learned how to save it, import it, share it with others, and export stuff.

added my entry to Learning 2.0 sandbox

Okay, did that...moving right along.

wikis

I think wikis are really handy for providing quick information for someone like me, who may just need a simple fact. The idea of using it for collaborative research that people can keep adding to is great. But it seems to me that potential for disaster is great, too. What if someone changes something critical? I just read an article about the one of the European royal families changing facts and falsifying information about themselves in a wiki.

Heady stuff

I read all the perspectives and my first thought was that these people are all smarter than I am!! Help!
Some parts of this sound postitive to me - of course, being innovative and keeping relevant are critical. It's also truly amazing to think of how easily connected we all are (meaning, the whole world, not just libraries), and how information is so easily accessible. The world truly is flat, to quote my favorite columnist, Tom Friedman.
But I was also struck by the fact that until the last article (I think), no one had even mentioned the word book, and these people were writing about libraries, after all. I realize that they were discussing technology and information, but they were also commenting on the future of libraries in general. I'm thinking there will be books involved...

technorati

I explored technorati and learned about tagging blogs, which as I understand it, is kind of the same thing as del.icio.us, you're just tagging blogs instead of everything else.
I went to some of the top blogs and top favorited blogs and as usual, I'm stunned at what's popular out there in the world. I felt compelled to read the very first thing that showed up on "Boing Boing" - a ridiculous article about a massive fossilized part of a walrus bone that had just been discovered.
I'm thinking "technorati" is a little less applicable (for me, at least) than del.icio.us...

Del.icio.us

First I have to say I hate the name - I can't help thinking that it sounds slightly obscene, especially because it's a "social networking" site. ButI know I can't possibly be the first person who's made that observation.
I watched the tutorial, and I can see that it does have good applications, especially for research. It's a good way to connect with other people doing the same research, or having the same interests as you. I clicked on different bookmarks and read the comments.
I wasn't inspired enough to set up my own account at this time (mostly because I don't have the time right now), but maybe I will in the future.

Rollyo

I explored the Rollyo, including the PLCMC family of websites.
When setting up my own account, I decided to go back to horse stuff, as I am getting a little tired of librarian stuff today. Miraculously, I managed to set up my account without too much trouble, and then I added all the horse websites that I visit - which is frankly, not that many. After I finished, I read some other people's blogs about it and realized that naturally, they had all set theirs up with librarian-related interests. I probably look like a slacker.
http://www.rollyo.com/kmnhagerman/horse_searcher/

LibraryThing - much easier...

I decided that I might as well try a useful purpose for this exercise (rather than just creating never-to-be used name badges for my dog, for instance), so I've decided to start cataloging all the Y and J books I've been reading since I became a children's librarian. The minimum required is 5 books, and lucky for me, I've read a grand total of 5 (I just took the job a month ago, so that's not as lame as it sounds!) So I created the list and tagged them all, and hopefully, I'll remember to keep adding as I read them. This seems as good a place as any to keep track of them, plus, I do have the added benefit of reading other people's lists as well.

Karen's puggle - online image generated!

What do you know, I finally figured out how to get an image on this blog. Gee, that only took half a day!
I fooled around on FD toys and made this badge of my beloved puggle (pug/beagle mix) that I got from the pound a year and a half ago. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love my dogs/cats/horses (oh, yes, and children) so they won't be surprised to see this ridiculous badge.

These things are getting harder and harder if you ask me, although I believe I've just hit the halfway mark...

frustrating

This exercise was frustrating for me. I took me so long to find what I wanted using the search tools provided. No matter how broad or how narrow a topic I typed in, it turned up nothing that I wanted to read about, and seemingly nothing about the topic I'd searched for. Finally I tried technorati, the blogger search, and located some stuff to read. So far, this is my least favorite thing of the 23 things!

RSS Feeds

I managed to set up my account and add my ten feeds. Everything I added was of interest to me, so that part is good. Whether I ever get a chance to use this or not remains to be seen. On paper it sounds great - I can just check and see what's new and interesting out there. The question is - will I have time to? I already have so many things to do each day (and I know I'm not alone in this) - I just can't imagine adding one more thing.

And by the way, I forgot to add my flickr photo to my former blog. Now I can't figure out how to add the photo (please, please Maurice, don't fail me on my 23 things) so I added the link, just to prove I actually did it!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/azhure_nz/419699372/

Carrie Bryniak comes through

Just when I was wondering what on earth to blog about that's technology related that also interests me (not that easy for me, I'm sorry to confess), I got an email from Carrie Bryniak inviting me to visit flickr and see the pictures of her new home while it's under construction. Since I'm interested in how our Carrie is doing, I was happy to visit the site and see the pictures (or am I supposed to call them "images"?) for myself. I plan to check periodically to see how the new Bryniak home is coming along. Voila - something technology related that interests me! Thank you, Carrie.

Flickr Mashups

I spent a good deal of time this evening looking through all the options on Flickr. While I do appreciate all that Flickr has to offer (the postcards were kind of fun), I don't think I have any desire to use any of the more involved applications - just posting or viewing pictures that have been posted is about all that interests me. The good news is, I've figured out how to actually put pictures on it, and how to locate other peoples' pictures - if I were inclined to, that is. But all in all, I learned something, which is after all, what this is all about.

flickr photo

Of course I spent the evening looking at pictures of horses. I'm amazed at how many possibilities come up when I type in "dressage". It's addicting - I've spent much longer than I thought I would exploring all the photographs. I settled on a horse called "Squirt". He's cute and he's being ridden by a not-so-fancy rider in a not-so-fancy arena. He makes me want to get up from the computer and ride!

lifelong learners

Having completed LATI not too long ago, I felt like I was having a deja vu when I watched the lifelong learners video. Many concepts/ideas are exactly the same.
I view it as a little pep talk (which I definitely need!) before I begin this experience. It never hurts to have someone remind you to be confident, because although I am pretty confident in most areas of life, learning new technology would not be one of them! Anyway, the point was not lost on me, and I will keep the advice in mind as I go through these 23 things (3 of which are already completed - yippee).

Better late than never...

Well, I have officially begun; so far so good. Since setting up this blog was surprisingly easy, it's given me hope that maybe the rest of it won't be so hard? Even though I'm in a bit of a panic at starting so much later (I think!) than everyone else, I think I may have the advantage of having the major kinks in the instructions worked out.
I've been trying to keep up with at least some of the other HCPL blogs but when everyone is blogging about the same thing, it does get a tad boring. So I've been exploring other blogs out there that are on subjects that I'm interested in. I actually found a great one by a woman who is working on the same things with her horse (lower level dressage) that I am with mine, so I've been reading (and commenting!) on her blog. I've seen her pictures on flickr and her videos on utube, etc. so maybe I'll do the same thing when I get farther along in this process...