Thing 23 - My View

I can't believe I'm actually doing the last of 23 Things! I was very skeptical at first as to whether or not I would have the ability to learn all the new technology; however, when I'm confronted with a new challenge, I will work until I've completed all that was asked. One challenge for me was time as I only work 25 hours a week and it was necessary for me to do some of this at home.

Some of the 23 Things I found of be of great value to me and in my work at Hudson Library such as GoogleDocs, GoodReads and NetLibrary. However, several of the "things" such as RSS feeds, Digg, and Del.icio.us were a waste of time in my opinion. I don't use a computer as a social or entertainment tool so those sites are not ones that I will continue to use. However, I do feel that it was advantageous for me to explore them just to be familiar.

Looking back, 23 Things overall was an enjoyable experience. I always felt great satisfaction when I accomplished a task that had been giving me problems. I'm always up for a challenge so if we ever do this type of thing again, just sign me up!

Thing 22 - NetLibrary

I was all excited when I first started to review NetLibrary; I thought it would be the perfect "new" technology for me to use with the new MP3 player I'm earning. It is setup nicely, with lots of help screens and demos. I first tried searching in e-audiobooks; unless you are searching for an exact title, NetLibrary doesn't do a very good job. I put in childrens fantasy as a subject and got one hit. I put in Narnia as a key word and got nothing. I then tried Chronicles of Narnia as a title and got nothing. Author search works well but NetLibrary doesn't seem have a great many of the popular authors that our patrons ask for, such as James Patterson. Once I found something of interest, the downloading instructions were simple and easy to understand. Even though basic searching is not the best, I still think this will be a useful site for our library patrons and one that I will use often.

Thing 21 - Podcasts

I tried to search Yahoo Podcasts but could never get it to load. Podcastalley.com was easy to navigate and searching can be done by subject or general terms but it is very imprecise. I did a search on book reviews and really hit pay dirt. I had no idea there would so many podcasts to choose from, boy, where have I been! I think Behind the Book, http://www.gbgpodcast.libsyn.com/rss would be usefull in our library world. I'm an avid movie goer so I added the follow podcasts to my RSS reader account; I'm hoping that I'll have time to actually view them!

http://www.feedcraft.com/feed/podnlinda/The+Popcorn+Chronicles
http://www.boxoffice.com/podcast/podreview.xml
http://feeds.feedburner.com/ThePopcornJournal

Thing 20 - YouTube

There are so many videos it was hard to choose one; the one I enjoyed was "the Super Librarian". I tried to upload it to my blog but it didn't work; guess I need more time to figure this out.

Success, kind of! I got "Super Librarian" uploaded but it looks like extra vidoes were uploaded as well. I tried to get rid of those added "treats", but I was not successful. I chose this video just because it was cute and funny and sometimes we are so busy at the end of the day, most of us probably feel like we're "Super Librarians"! I think YouTube would be a cute way to showcase our Summer Reading program or even the Reading Rover.

Thing 19 - Web 2.0

Wow, there is a lot of Web. 2.0 awards to choose from; I had a very hard time making up my mind which one to explore. I finally settled on Biblio.com which is a great site to find used old and rare books. This site is very user friendly; browsing can done by subject, title, genre or an advanced search can be done by title, country and can be further narrowed by the price you want to pay for a book. Book reviews and customer and staff suggestions are also included. I think Biblio would be a good site to add to our library favorites for when a patron comes in looking for some old and rare books.

Thing 18 - Google Docs

I created a daily meal diary using a spreadsheet in Google Docs to track what I eat every day. I am a Weight Watcher's member and tracking my daily food comsumption is very important. Being able to do it from any computer will allow me to record my meals promptly and keeping a food diary so much easier. I am also going to us Google Docs to help me in planning a future trip to Greece by keeping track of information I find online which will be a great help as I'll be able to access it from anywhere. I'm not sure how we could use this technology in our every day work as we don't normally work on the same projects so access to everyone isn't a necessity. I think perhaps some of the FRL committees might have use for this technology.

Thing 17 - Wiki Fun

Playing on the Fontana Learning Wiki was a blast and so easy. When I first read the instructions I thought I would lose my mind; I didn't even understand where to start. After looking around and working step by step, my first attemp to link my blog was a success. I added an entry to the Favorite Book page and Favorite Restaurant page; I had a lot of fun playing with fonts, sizes and color. Editing the pages was very easy to do. I can see Wikis as being a very useful tool in our library system.

Thing 16 - Wikis

Wikis is an interesting concept and one that I think could be put to use in our library system. I previously worked in the reference department of a university in Virginia and we did a lot of study guides and a wiki would have been a very useful tool for us. I can see FRL doing a wiki as a reader advisory; staff could put in their favorite books and our patrons could add theirs. It would be an excellent tool for books clubs to use. I also think a wiki for Readalikes would be useful especially if it could be liked to the OPAC. Patrons are always asking for new authors in their favorite genre and it would be so helpful if they could see immediately if we carried anything by those authors. We could also have a wiki for new book requests. The uses for wikis are endless. The only draw back I see to all this is having enough staff to maintain the wikis.

Thing 15 - Library 2.0

The concept of Library 2.0 is very interesting. Yes, all the technology that is purported to become the new "library"could be a good thing, however, technology costs money. Funding limits and customer demands will be putting added stress on libraries and their staffs especially in small town systems like ours. With the "new" WEB, our patrons will expect access to everything and expect the staff to train them in the use of the technology. Our patrons here in Highlands are older so I don't see us becoming a virtual library in the very near future. But we will have to change with the times once the new technology becomes the norm. As for me, I love going into a library and looking through the stacks for just the right book. And I enjoy talking to the staff about what's new and hearing their opinions. With everything digitized, there will be no personal touch. I can't imagine sitting at a computer for hours reading a "virtual" book or magazine.

Thing 14 - Google Books

Oh my, I love Google Books!!! What a great research tool; I can see it replacing our use of ILL which sometimes can be a bust as requested materials are not always sent. Searching Google Books was so easy and I love how the search terms are highlighted in the book. If Google Books only shows a snippet of the book, a link to WorldCat is provided that will give a listing of libraries where the book can be found (it even gave the milage from Highlands to the libraries, amazing!). Browsing through the full-text books was so easy and also doing a word search within the book was easily done. Google Books will be a great resource for our patrons looking for books that might be older or not carried in our system. Now, if they would only include Journal articles!

Thing 13 - Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us is an interesting site. I do stained glass so I looked at some links that were of interest but I didn't find anything that people had linked as new information. I also viewed some recipe sites which I found could be very useful and fun to have at my disposal. It is a nice feature being able to access links from any computer. I did not chose to register on Delicious as I already use "my favorites" and don't feel that I need to have another account. As for using Del.icio.us as a research tool, I'm not sure I would trust the information found. Its organization of information seems to be by popularity rather than reliability.

Thing 12

I've been reading about the Apple iPhone a lot in the business section of the newspaper so I decided it would be interesting to learn about this "new" technology. From my understanding, the iPhone is being touted as a "revolutionary mobile phone". It can play music, makes phone calls, plays movies and text messages, edits photos, and can even access the WEB. Sounds pretty amazing that something so small, can do so much. If it works as well as Apple is saying, it will eliminate the need for all those other devices. The iPhone is not new technology, Apple has just found a better way of doing things. As the 4GB iPhone costs about $499 and a two year service plan commitment, I don't guess I'll be getting one anytime soon. My two year old cell phone without text messaging or camera will do me just fine.

The incentative I am choosing is an MP3 player. I have wanted to buy one for a while for my husband. Not only is 23 things teaching me new ways of doing things, I'll get a gift for my husband as well.

Thing 11 - DIGG

Ok, I've toured Digg and my goodness, there is a lot of stuff. Maybe its just my age, but I'm having a really hard time understanding why people are so hooked on sites like this. I read books, newspapers, see the news on TV, etc. so why would I need to use Digg to get the latest news? I'm totally baffled by the amount of time some people spend surfing the net to find these sites and/or stuff! I guess I'm off a different generation and don't find sitting and looking at a computer screen for hours all that interesting. One item that caught my attention, "Cannibalism Is Healthy", turned out to be photos of food that was made to look like creatures. http://fabulously40.com/article/2293/Cannibolism-Is-Healthy/ Ok, this was cute but not something I can't do without in my life. Some of this technology seems to be a waste of our time.

Thing 10 - Good Reads

I love Goodreads!! Finally something in 23 Things that I think could be of use to the patrons at Hudson Library. Our patrons are an older group so most of the technology that we are learning about will not be of interest to them. Goodreads is an easy way to keep a book journal and could be a great resource; it's so easy to use. Our patrons are always asking us what they have read and of course, we don't have that information stored. I kept a handwritten book journal for two years and then lost it; I have started a new one and I will be using Goodreads as my backup journal.

Exploring the groups was interesting. Some book groups are more relevant that others and could be useful. One group that I reviewed wrote dribble and I never did find a comment that related to a book or to the book group. Reading what other people have read and their reviews is a great way of being introducted to new authors. Widget was really easy to use! I wish I could figure out how to position it on my blog where I want it. Looks like I have more things to learn!!!

Thing 9 - Online Image Generator

Wow, this is so neat!!! My first attempt at creating a jigsaw puzzle was nerve wracking; I did all the steps and then I couldn't find the picture I uploaded. I tried again and couldn't remember the picture I had originally upload so I had to find a different one which I actually like better. Finally, success!!!! The process is fairly easy; I just think that today my brain is working at half its capacity. I would love to use image generator to make a calendar, which would make a great gift, but I have yet to teach myself how to upload the pictures from my camera to my home computer. Its not that I don't think I could do it, I'm just too busy reading books to take the time to read the instructions that came with my camera.

THING 8 - MASHUPS

I've really had a good time learning about mashups; there is so much content and fairly easy to navigate. The only problems I have had is finding enough time to look at all that is available. I did find two sites that I had fun playing around with. My husband was in the Navy for 20 years and we've moved around a lot so I had a lot of fun at www.EarthAlbum.com. I searched all the places we've lived and it was like going down memory lane. I wish I could take pictures like that!!! Another fun site that I spent a good amount of time visiting was www.FlickrSoduko.com . I've been an avid Soduko player for a long time so it was a nice surprise finding this site. A player can choose from different levels of difficulty so anyone can play with little prior experience. One down side is the layout because of the pictures used as puzzle numbers. I enjoyed playing several games and will probably go this site in the future.

Thing 7 - Flickr

Wow! This is my first uploaded picture from Flickr. It was fun searching around; I love dogs and my son has played soccer since he was five years old so I decided it would be fun to see if I could combine the two. I searched "everyone's uploads" and put in soccer as the search term. Of course it gave me a zillion hits; what a bonanza!! I upload the picture to my computer and then posted it to my blog. It was so easy but I'm not sure if its a legal picture for uploading. This is a part of Flickr I'm having trouble with, knowing what's in the public domain and what's not. After looking at the explore page,I discovered photostream and learned about tags and then found that my chosen photo is in the public domain. Interestingness is a wonderful addition to Flickr. I've never seen so many fascinating photo's in one place, this could be very useful for doing posters and flyers. Flickr has so much information and things one can do with it, that I will continue to explore.

Things 5 & 6 RSS

Ok, so now I'm officially signed up with Google Reader. I read the suggested tutorials twice for understanding, but I found that creating a Google Reader account was a pretty simple task to complete and fairly easy to navigate. I looked at several feeds that could be of interest to me and added them to my account; however I am not one that spends a great deal of time at home searching the Internet so I doubt that having access to feeds will become that important to me down the road. I do think it is important to have some knowledge about such technology as it could be used to help educate patrons and a useful tool for finding book reviews as a reader advisory.

I played around with Bloglines.com and set up an account. I found Bloglines to be easy to use and found several sites of interest that are related to my work at the library and added them to my account. I also checked out Technorati and found it to be rather busy looking and not that user friendly. I noticed that we will be covering it in Week 6 so I'll spend more time with it then and perhaps I will be pleasantly surprised at its ease of use and/or usefulness.

Even though I might not feel the need to use Google Reader and feeds in the future, I have certainly enjoyed exploring the technology.

7 1/2 HABITS

The hardest habit for me would be using and learning technology. I didn't grow up with computers so I don't always understand the terminology. I've always been a fast learner and have confidence in myself that with enough effort and some support from co-workers, I'll be successful completing the 23 Things. I'm looking forward to the challenge!! I may not ever blog again, but I will at least have some comprehension of what our young patrons are talking about.

Whew! I think things are beginning to make sense!

This is my second post, just to see if I've got this figured out. Setting up my blog wasn't the easiest thing to do; it took lots of attemps and help from friends. After playing around and trying different "buttons", I can actually figure out what I should be doing and how to do it. I'm still wondering why blogging is so popular. Perhaps after I've completed the 23 Things, I will have the answer.

This is my first attemp at "blogging" ! I'm still not quite sure what I'm doing, but hopefully in the next few weeks I'll become some what proficient or at least a little less intimidated. I have to admit, its been rather fun setting up my blog after lots of help from my co-workers. I look forward to learning more things in the next few weeks and hopefully the exercises will be easier.
Why is technology so easy for the young? I will try my darndest to dispel the myth that "you can't teach old dogs new tricks"!