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.

Wikis

I love the idea that multiple persons can contribute to a topic, much in the way of a blog, but that it removes the date aspect and makes it more a dynamic page. Being searchable helps, too!

Library 2.0

I liked "Away from the 'Icebergs'", though I'm not sure I agree with all his points. I totally agree that educating our users is less effective and less important than improving our interfaces, but I also think bringing our services and content to our patrons is a bit intrusive. If they want it or need it, we should make it easy for them, but we don't necessarily have to force it down their throats. I completely agree with "To Better bibliographic Services" and hope OCLC improves WorldCat in the directions he recommends. To me, Library 2.0 is simply adding the ability to accept user input into our on-line services, most notably (but hopefully not limited to) tagging of our catalogue records.

Technorati

My searches for "learning 2.0" in posts yielded 2,769 hits, 1,553 in tags, and 1,054 in the blog directory. It makes sense that these numbers decrease, with the first showing how many times the keyword is mentioned, the second how many times it's used as a tag in any blog, and third which are classed by the blogger with the search term.

The popular searches weren't surprising (mostly technology related), but I did find a nifty video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo).

Del.icio.us

I understand the folksonomy aspect and how that can be helpful to a novice in finding appropriate Websites, but I find it more useful as a mobile bookmark tool. I also prefer to use a taxonomy since I know the changes will be less frequent. The ability to access my favorite sites from any browser is nice.

Rollyo

I created a simple search tool for films, but I find it less useful than simply going to the sites myself. Perhaps a better use will come to me in the future. Here's my link: http://rollyo.com/csdunham/films.

LibraryThing

I may have found a new friend to help my home library's organization!  Oh, I have many of the shelves designated by topic, but this may be the first step to actually cataloguing my collection and shelving it in an order.  Here's the link to my early catalogue: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/csdunham.

Generators

Using Generator Blog & FD Toys, I found two generators that I liked.  First, using Generator Blog is the Blackadder Quote Generator (http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/blackadder/quotes/index.shtml).  Second, using FD Toys, the Sunset Generator (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/sunset.php), providing sunset times for the location of your choice.

RSS Feeds

I found Technorati's page the easiest to use, though two of the four (Feedster and Syndic8) opened a blank window that never finished loading.  I found a feed for the Smithsonian Institution's traveling exhibition service, which will let me know of exhibits I can visit outside of Washington, Dc and exhibits that we may want to have here.

RSS Feeds

I like RSS feeds and newsreaders because they filter out the articles that don't interest me, leaving me with only the topics I want to read.  Both personally and professionally, this can save time.  One no longer has to read an entire newspaper to find the two stories of interest!  Libraries can use this to their advantage, too.  Rather than forcing people to visit the library's site and browse for any new developments, RSS feeds could send users things like snow closing information, new titles added this month, event announcements, or a "resource of the week" message.

Technology

I'm having technology issues at home. First, I got a digital TiVo for Christmas (thank you, Maggie!).  Then we found that it needed a wireless receiver to talk with our router (instead of using the phone line, which wasn't nearby).  Once it became operational, we next found that images were pixelating, so we switched televisions.  Now there's no picture, so we figure we need a card from the cable company to process the signal before it's passed on to the television. When we called the cable company, the agent said we needed digital service to use the digital card in the digital TiVo! Now I'm investigating whether to switch our television service to Verizon Fios and cancel our Comcast cable service. I'm getting tired just thinking about the whole process! -Chris

Flickr Mashups

I visited Mappr and found it to be a great idea and completely non-functional.  Then I tried Colr Pickr and was fascinated by the color matching capabilities, though repeated tests make it seem that it's drawing from a limited collection of photos.  Next perhaps Home Depot or Lowe's will connect Colr Pickr to its custom paint system, enabling users to select from someone else's photo rather than a physical object brought to the store. -Chris

Flickr

I toured the Flickr site and searched for photos taken near Neskowin, Oregon (where I vacationed in April 2006).  There are some very pretty images of a very pretty place!  I also searched for "owl" and found this fun photo (http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldphotography/352065409) of a "laughing" snowy ow. Nifty! -Chris