Thing #24 - Learning 2.0 Thoughts

Wow! That was a lot to learn in what seems like a very short period of time. I get excited thinking about all the possibilities of using what I've gleaned from these exercises. I knew from the beginning that I would enjoy the discoveries but was a bit apprehensive about the public blog. Despite originally initiating this as an anonymous blog, most of you fellow LPLS bloggers have determined my identity and that's fine. It just seemed less intimidating to begin behind a mask. I have found that I like blogging. The other exercises that I like and know that I will continue to access are:

• Flickr mashups and 3rd party sites, especially FD Toys
• Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) and the Nashville Public Library Digital Collection
• LibraryThing
• LPLS staff wiki
• Zoho Writer and Google Docs
• Facebook
• YouTube

Learning has always been something that I enjoy and these 24 Things have greatly accelerated my progress in becoming familiar with the tools available to us on the Internet. The greatest struggle throughout has been finding the time to explore everything and report my experience. That will be a continuing issue, but I am determined to pursue these Things further and incorporate their use into my routine.

Jerianne did a tremendous job in developing and administering this program. Thank you, Jerianne. I hope that we are able to do other similar ones in the future. If we do, I am all in.

Thing #23 - Podcasts

I checked out all of the podcast directories and they seemed fairly comparable. I can't get too excited about podcast- they just seem kind of boring to me. Like blogs, there are just so many out there that are amateurish and nonessential that it's difficult to find one that I think might be useful to me. I did add a movie review podcast to my Bloglines from NPR and I may actually listen to it occasionally. See the "Movie News" links on the right column Powered by Bloglines. There may be some value to podcast for library training or in providing patrons with needed information. I will have to reevaluate those aspects later.

Thing #22 - Audio & Video Downloads

I've always liked audiobooks but have not had any real oppotunity to listen to them for a couple of years now. When I traveled frequently for business, they were invaluable. I wish that I had been able to use something like R.E.A.D.S. (Regional eBook & Audiobook Download System) in preparing for those trips. I had an account with audible.com, which is a great service with thousands of books from which to choose. Their current platinum plan costs $22.95 per month for two audio downloads. I may have been more limited in my choices but I would have saved a bundle. I found a variety of boooks that I might be interested in downloading to my new MP3 player (assuming I finish in time to get one).

Here's my list of possibilities:

• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• The Sherlock Holmes Theatre by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• My Ántonia by Willa Cather
• Shiloh Shiloh Series, Book 1 by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
• Shiloh Season Shiloh Series, Book 2
• Saving Shiloh Shiloh Series, Book 3 by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

The first two classics were chosen because I've always meant to read them but have never made time - have you seen how long Moby Dick is? Sherlock Holmes has long been a favorite character of mine and the full cast narration of that recording sounds awesome- it won a 2006 Audie Award.

I'm interested in My Ántonia because nearly a dozen years ago, I picked the name Antonia for my chihuahua puppy when I saw an ad for the movie version of this book. I've always wondered what the story was about. For similar reasons the Shiloh series appeals to me- we have a mutt by the same name.

I'm glad that I have finally taken the time to look at the ebooks available through the R.E.A.D.S. site. There are a number of study guides that I will recommend to patrons when all of our print copies are checked out.

I explored MyLibraryDV around the time I applied to work at the library and enjoyed watching some of the Antiques Roadshow episodes. People interested in HGTV or TLC programming may find the Today' Homeowners and Simple Solutions videos very similar.

This was a fun exercise!

Thing #21 - YouTube

I love YouTube! There are thousands of unwatchable videos, but many more that are tremendously entertaining. There are talented amateur filmmakers all over the world.

I enjoyed perusing the blogs of other participants to see what variety of video interests there are in our group. Jerianne's pick was awesome. It appeals to my love of scary, old movies and the spoofs that came after- like Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Shaun of the Dead (2004). Rita's was great too for very different reasons. The video was nicely done with great audio and hundreds of remarkable images from the University of North Texas' Portal to Texas History Collection. I would also like to see the Linebaugh do something to make its old photos available to patrons on either the website or a wiki of some type.

I wanted to post something funny and I think this one from the library at Rutger's University is great. This is the first in a series of three on plagiarism.

Thing #20 - Web 2.0 Awards

Whew! There are so many to choose from and many very interesting sites.

I finally choose Netvibes. According to their About page:
Netvibes pioneered the personalized startpage, an alternative to traditional Web portals. Netvibes is about having web the way you want it. Exactly the way you want it.

Netvibes:
Helps you manage your digital life and share it with your friends
Brings all your favorite MySpace, Digg, YouTube, Gmail, Flickr, eBay, del.icio.us accounts – you name it (no, really, you can rename our entire site) – together on your own personal Netvibes page. 100% customizable – no ads, no logos, no corporate control.

It is everything that says and more. Most of us are accustomed to having Comcast, Yahoo, MSN, Google, or some other similar site as a home page. Each of them has some flexibility and customizable options, but this is different. It is completely adaptable to your preferences. I've just played with it for a short while, but I think I will use it as my regular home page. I can see my Facebook account, see blogs that I want to read, local weather, news tailored to my interests, and lots more.

Thing #19 - Social Networking

I've had a MySpace account for a while though there's been little time spent on it. There have been complaints about the lack of color (really nothing at all creative has been attempted). I don't really like MySpace. The format seems so chaotic which translates to annoying for me. I hate that the frequently busy background stays put while everything else scrolls over it. Facebook offers a format more conducive to my personality- neat and organized. I signed up for a Facebook account and have added several friends including David O'Flaherty. My nephew may have already considered me a cool (probably the wrong word) aunt, but I think telling him I had a Facebook account may have increased my coolness. He is one of my friends as well.

I thought the River Rouge Public Library did a great job with their MySpace account. I especially liked the music they choose- Librarian from the CD, Public Library by Jonathan Rundman. The Austin Public Library (Texas) had a fairly simple format which appeals to me, but the Birmingham Public Library used a busy brightly colored background. I didn't find that attractive, but then again they probably are not trying to interest a person in my age bracket.They each had useful tools on the site like: Ask a Librarian, search the catalog, and Search WorldCat . I'm sure that sites like these can be useful in making the library more appealing to teens and young adults. Attempting it would probably require having someone in one of those age categories managing it (or collaborating on it) in order to keep the look and content relevant to those age groups. It's easy to see how popular MySpace is just by walking past any group of internet users in the library. Sometimes that's the only site being browsed.

I looked at the site TeeBeeDee just because it is suppose to be for people my age, but I didn't find it all that appealing. Maybe another look when I have more time will change my mind.

Thing #18 - Web-based Applications

Here is yet another Internet tool that I'm wondering how I ever lived without. The number of times that I've created a document or spreadsheet at home (on one of my computers) or at work and needed it desperately on one of the other PCs is probably in the hundreds by now. I don't know how long Google Docs (or Zoho Writer, or Writeboard , or Backpack) has existed but I could kick myself for not finding one of these before now. I can imagine dozens of uses for myself and some for others. This seems like the obvious solution for so many patrons that come to the library to type their resume but don't think to bring anything to save it on. Oops! When they realize that they can't type a decent resume in an hour and need to finish it later, they panic. How can they save it? By using one of these great services, of course.

It took a few attempts, but I did finally get this to post from Google Docs. Awesome!