Wrap-up

Much to my surprise, I did enjoy this learning journey! I must confess to moving more quickly through the last half of the 23 Things than I would have liked, so I have promised myself to go back and explore more deeply in the upcoming weeks. Available time is the biggest hindrance I have with this type of project and have done much of it at home. I am a contemplative learner and also one who isn't intuitive when it comes to all things Internet. However, when pushed, things like this help me make great personal strides which I do appreciate in the long run. I would sign on for more experiences like this again :-)
Happy Techno Trails, Everybody!

Amy

Audiobooks

I have had a good deal of exposure to this technology as have many librarians beginning when HCPL became part of the consortium subscribing to Overdrive a couple of years ago. My personal preference is to hold and read a book, but I have used Overdrive and downloaded a handful of books. If we had to lose one of our audiobook subscription databases, I am pleased that it wasn't Overdrive. Patrons find it easy to use and, if they have difficulty, the online help through the site is top notch!

Podcasts

I love NPR and got carried away listening to some of the many book and author related podcasts they offer. In my Bloglines account I subscribed to the podcasts NPR: Books. It was easy to do with just a few clicks, and now I'll be more knowledgeable about the new books patrons come in the library asking for.

MMM hearts Pat McHenry You Tube

An NC friend created Mad Miss Maddie to lampoon local North Carolina politics. What a hoot! She and I were in theater productions together in high school. Watching her takes me back!

These are a few of my favorite things !

I really love Library Thing and Google Docs! They are my favorites so far! I've created a list of books I've loved or books I want to read in Library Thing and find it to be a great site for that. And I've already gushed about Google Docs in a previous post. I am glad to have discovered these "Things", so , thanks Maryland 23 Things!

Great Google Docs!

Well, ding dang and hot dog!!! This is one of my new favorites of the 23 Things! This makes sharing documents and files between systems soooooo EASY! And before you think "Wow! Amy must be more networked than I thought!" relax. To start, I just put some of the things I use both at home and at work on Google Docs instead of emailing myself an attachment or saving stuff to my zip drive to carry back and forth. And since I am working on the 23 Things at home and at work, my tracking log was the 1st Google Doc entry. I wish I had explored this first!

Play time!

It's time to go for now but, like a child, I look forward to more fun in the sandbox!

It's a wiki wonderland!

Library 2.0 in 15 Minutes a Day was the first page that I explored. Wow! Would that it only took me 15 minutes a day! But, perhaps after the exposure to the 23 things that I am in the midst of now, some day that will be a reasonable goal. However, I bookmarked the site because I like many of the concise explanations of different Library 2.0 technologies.
The SJCPL Subject Guides created by the St. Joseph County Public Library system were really interesting! How innovative it was to take all library services and resources and organize them by subject in a wiki! I wonder how their library customers like it and how frequently they use it first when searching the library! In conjunction to that library wiki, I next went to The Bull Run Library wiki which we have identified as “a public library wiki.” It is very different from what the St. Joseph County Public Library system developed! And not developed by that library or even anyone on staff. In fact, it states that “this wiki is not sponsored by nor associated with the library system, it is maintained by one library patron.” There is a potential library volunteer that needs to be grabbed to work with that library system! That being said, I didn’t find the wiki itself extremely worthwhile, but given direction by the library, who knows? Here is the link http://bullrunlibrary.pbwiki.com/

Perspectives on 2.0 and the future of libraries

Rick Anderson states in his article “Away from the ‘Icebergs’” that “as a Web 2.0 reality continues to emerge and develop, our patrons will expect access to everything…” My experience is that they already do. They expect that we should have it all including that obscure book published in 1985. I think that one of the library’s biggest challenges will be to change public perception of what a library is and what we can provide both instantly and over time. And a second challenge will be to continue to serve those behind the 2.0 curve even as we move forward. You know them – they are the ones looking for that obscure book published in 1985 who still want to hold that book in their hands as they read it and don’t mind waiting for it either.

Technorati 'n tags

Wow! Everything blogged and more! I found it really easy to spend lots of time just seeing what people are talking about (or more literally blogging about) but I look at blogs as more entertainment than anything else. I still haven't found a useful application as far as my day to day work goes. I do see how valuable tags can be - the best way to easily find what you are looking for.

This is simply del ici ous

Wow! A co-worker and I are working up a program and this will be a great way to share all the sites we each find individually. This really merits further exploration!

Hey Rollyo me over!

This tool has great potential for AskUsNow service and the reference desk! Sometimes it takes quite a bit of searching to stumble on sites perfect for one thing or another. But not anymore because we can create lists of those sites with Rollyo! A great tool!
http://rollyo.com/createroll.html?sid=317556

LibraryThing

I can see an immediate use for this. As I go through various professional journals, I now have a way to create an immediate list of what I want to read!

Image generators

Well, I've made myself over as fine Delft dinnerware and gotten myself a Blues moniker! When I am down, Baby, and singin' the blues you can call me `BB´ Althea Curtis! Don't ask me how they came up with that, but there are days when I should only answer to Althea even though there is never a day when you will want to hear me sing. Don't ask me what the 'BB' stands for, although we can both be creative and come up with quite a bit! Here's the link for your own Blues name...http://www2.capitalgold.com/staticweb/EdFeatures/goldblues/.



Now if elegance is what you're after, check me out as Royal Delft china at the top of my blog.

http://www.royaldelft.com/flash/maakjebord_en.html

Feeds...You've Gotta Love 'em

I think that this is going to be the "thing" that I appreciate the most! I chose 10 different feeds, but am already thinking of others that I might like to add. The key, I guess is the perfect # for regular checking that won't suck up all my free minutes. I'll keep you posted!

My son had his SS# sold by an employee of a check certification company. We closed the appropriate accounts, etc., but all this has me thinking about how vulnerable we all are. I am looking into companies that offer further protection or help should my identity be stolen. Here are two...

www.LifeLock.com

www.IdentityGuard.com

Okay, so Flickr is funnr (more fun) than I realized - the heck with posting pix, I get carried away just enjoying everyone else's! I enjoyed the librarian trading cards and found a photo of myself at our Technology Fair!

Flickr picture

Found this cute cute cute miniature schnauzer photo. This looks remarkably like my own dog, Trudy. Plus, this cutie has snow balls hanging off her legs which I find very refreshing to look at on this 100 degree day!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dippybiscuit/383857158/

The photograph was posted by dippybiscuit (see above link).

Consumerism Run Amuck

I know that the practice of lining up hours or even days in advance for the latest, greatest product is nothing new, but it disturbs me anew each and every time it happens. And, as if you didn't know, today's line is for the iPhone. Is it that important to have it first?! One young man interviewed on Channel 11 this morning said the iPhone is his "early Christmas present". Right. This young man will have nothing under the tree 6 months from now because of a $600 purchase in June. (Yes, he's buying the more costly version.) Instead of Christmas decorations we need a year-round set of specialty lights on our homes that proclaim our rampant consumerism! Perhaps they could come with the latest, greatest product at no additional charge.

My 18 year old son let me view his Facebook page - wow! He just created it in the last few days and has over 120 "friends", 2 albums of pix and gosh knows what all else. So that's a bit of what sucks up all of a teenager's time! Now I know that they type, text, click, connect, upload, post, create drag, drop, etc. much faster than I, but even so it sucks up more time than most of us realize.

Seashore Serenity

Well, hello blogging world! I took a week off for a lovely, low-tech beach vacation - we had no Internet connection :-( but now I am back and raring to go!

Off and Running!

Well, that wasn't so hard! So now I am ready to post all kinds of things as I learn!