Finish

My favorite discoveries were LibraryThing and Google Documents. I'd already been using Bloglines, but the ability to get podcast notices was a nice plus.

Overall, the program has encouraged me to more readily accept new technologies as possibly useful not only for me as a librarian, but for my colleagues and patrons, and for me as an individual who enjoys learning new things (even 23 new things!).

I don't think I was surprised by any of my findings, though I didn't know LibraryThing had a 200-item limit unless one pays for membership.

The only aspect of the program that might have helped me would have been a longer time period (one thing per week, perhaps?), though that could have made it feel like the program dragged and was interminable.

Regardless of the parameters, I would definitely participate again if we offered other learning programs.

Thanks!
Chris

Teaching

I met with Ramona and we actually taught each other about two of the 23 Things. I gave her a quick tour of Google Documents and compared the word processing and spreadsheet applications to Microsoft Word and Excel. While Google's versions are good, they're not especially powerful, so Microsoft's versions are still needed for power users. Google Documents is handy for producing a quick document while away from one's primary computer. After my lesson, she showed me her lesson, giving me a better look at Del.icio.us.

Podcasts

I tried the three podcast directories and while the first didn't load, the second two did. Using Podcast Alley, I found a Washington, DC travel guide. It will be *very* useful for me as that's one of my favorite destinations. As a Macintosh user both here and at home, I'd like to learn more about iTunes and how it interfaces with podcasts.

YouTube

YouTube is certainly a major player in today's technologies and it could easily be used for library purposes. From introductions to and tours of the building, to brief how-to films (could be good for self-check stations; see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6qCc44_yu0), YouTube offers the user a quick, simple way to find and view a video at the time of need.

Web 2.0 Awards

I like a few of the winning tools, Google Maps, Pandora, and Zillow in particular. Each has a user-friendly interface though Pandora's is almost too simple. Focusing on Google Maps, it has a lot of power and accuracy, can zoom in and out, slides to customize the location, can generate directions that are user-adjustable, and much more. I can easily see this converted to a library setting. Simply replace the map of the world with a library's floor plan. Call numbers could replace town names, and while the directions probably aren't needed, having the ability to see the location of a particular book in a collection would be sweet. Attach it to the on-line catalogue and one could find a book, see the call number, and click on it to get a map of the building with the location of the book marked. Nice.

Web Documents

I tried Google's word processing and spreadsheet applications. The spreadsheet was fairly straightforward, but I don't use spreadsheets for much fancy stuff. Rather, I usually use them as databases since I dislike Microsoft Access a lot. The word processing app was rudimentary, but could be useful to draft a quick document when away from one's regular computer. I vastly prefer Microsoft Word over every other word processing application I've ever used.

Sandbox Wiki

It's hard to comment on a sandbox--it's a place to experiment.