Thing #18: PBwikis

Thing #18 is done! It was one of the easiest to do so far. I checked out the wiki, read comments posted by other people, then added a few of my favorite things. It wasn't hard or time consuming, so I guess it was one of my favorite "things"!

Thing #17: Wikis

Wikis are an interesting concept and it seems like everyone is using them these days. I think they're okay as long as users remember that not everything presented is 100% factual. That's why I think they work best with information that is already based on thoughts and opinions. The Book Lovers Wiki was my favorite. It was fun to read other people's interpretations of the books they have read and it was a great source for recommendations.

Thing #16: Library 2.0

I read two of the articles all the way through and skimmed the rest. Some of them were a bit difficult to digest. I consider myself fairly new to the library profession, so a lot of these issues have never really occurred to me. It's obvious to everyone that the world of information is constantly changing, so libraries have to change too. However, there will always be goals and services that need to remain the same, and we shouldn't lose sight of these just because we get excited about certain new technologies that are available to us. Change is only good when done for the right reasons and with a certain amount of caution. Small libraries like ours need to be careful about change just for the sake of change.

Thing #15

Once again I have discovered something that seems very interesting, but really wouldn't be very helpful to me at this point. I can see that someone who uses powerpoint a lot might have a lot of use for this, but I am not that someone. I haven't created a powerpoint presentation in years, and I don't see me creating one anytime in the near future. However, I did enjoy learning about slideshare and actually created an account just for fun. Some of the slideshows are very interesting and it seems like you can find one for just about anything you might be looking for.

My slideshare account is slideshare.net/sarahjesse , but I wouldn't recommend going there because there's not much to see.

Thing #14

Although I can't really see myself using Delicious at this point, I did think that it was interesting and could be very useful. The example given in the video about teachers using it caught my attention. As a former teacher, I think that this would be very useful for educational purposes, especially if you taught in a larger school and were part of a department (when I was teaching, I was the only one in my "department" and would have had no one to share links with). I also enjoyed seeing how the Holdrege Public Library is using Delicious on their website. A very interesting idea that we should probably copy. Because I don't have a computer at home and I don't visit very many websites on a regular basis, I don't think Delicious is for me, but I enjoyed learning about it and knowing it is there for future reference.

Thing #13

My only question is . . . who in the world has time for this? I cannot imagine sitting down to the computer or holding my phone and typing in every little thought or movement that I make. I was reading some of the stuff people post about themselves and I just can't believe it. Who in their right mind cares if I'm running late for work or what I'm listening to on the radio right now? I like to keep in touch with my friends who don't live close by, but I don't need to know every little thing that they do every second of the day. If they want to tell me something about themselves, they send an email or they call. It seems like these days people have a real obsession of recording and sharing every thought that crosses their minds. Do they have a practical or legitimate reason for using this technology or is it just for fun? I don't mean to be overly negative or have a bad attitude, but this one is especially hard for me to understand.

Thing #12

www.librarything.com/home/paperbackqueen

I'm not really sure why anyone would want to go to my LibraryThing account, but here's the address just in case.

I thought it was fun and I spent a lot of time adding books to my library, but there's no way I would ever be able to keep up with it. The part I liked the best was seeing other readers' recommendations based on the books I've already read.

Thing #11

When it comes to technology, I'm torn. Sometimes I really love it and find it so useful and helpful. Other times, it drives me nuts. The things we are learning about through 2.0 are interesting, but time-consuming. I just don't have the time to sit in front of the computer and work with flickr because I have so much else to accomplish throughout the day. I don't really appreciate the bloglines because I don't feel that it's necessary for up-to-date information be sent to me at every moment. If I want something, I go looking for it. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. I'm not very fond of blogs either. A lot of people are worried about sharing personal information, but I don't worry about that because I don't think that many people are going to be very interested in what I have to say. My problem is that because I don't think I have anything interesting to say, a blog seems like a waste of time. However, when it comes to technology I do not want to be left behind. I want to know what's out there and wish I had to the time to figure it out so that I wouldn't feel like such an old woman who can't keep up with the advancing world!!

Thing #10

This stuff is a lot of fun and very intersting. I just wish I had more time to play around with it. I don't have a computer at home and my time in front of the computer at work is very limited. I'm also getting interrupted a lot, so I will often start something, but I have to leave it and when I get back to it I've forgotten what I've learned up to that point. Time is and always will be an issue for me!

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Thing #9

I have really enjoyed learning about Flickr. I could waste a good portion of my day with this stuff. Currently, the only practical use I see for it in the library is for creating displays. I'm not in charge of creating any displays, so I wouldn't be using it, but I think the people who do might find it very helpful for creating unique and creative displays around the library.

10-17-07.6

10-17-07.6
Originally uploaded by sarahjesse82

AWESOME!!! It only took two hours, but I have finally figured this out. I really don't know how I would use this in the library, but on a personal level I think this would be very cool to have access to. I am very excited that I was able to figure it out. Hopefully when someone asks me how I did it I will be able to remember.

Thing #6 and #7: Bloglines

Setting up my bloglines and subscribing to different sites was fairly easy. Unfortunately, I accidentally subscribed to an entire bunch of sites that turned out to be full of junk news, so I had to spend some time cleaning up that mess. While I think that people who tend to spend a lot of time on the web searching and reading may find bloglines very useful, I really do not. I don't have any "favorite" sites and don't feel the need for information to come directly to me. I don't spend a lot of time at the computer and if I do it's for a specific purpose. Again, I don't see this as being something that would be very useful to me in either my personal or professional life, but I did think it was interesting to learn about it and know that it is available.

Thing 5: Instant Messaging

I got my first taste of IM today. I've done something very similar to it before. Many, many years ago my sister and I figured out a way to "talk" in real time using our email. It wasn't called instant messaging at the time and I can't remember how we figured out how to do it. It was fun, but we soon discovered that it was just as easy to call one another on the phone or email back and forth. I feel the same way about it today. I had a short conversation with Allana via IM, but I could have just as easily had the same conversation over the phone or through email. And try as I might, I really don't see any practical applications for IM here in our library. The only example anyone has given me for how to use IM in a practical manner is with reference questions. I'm sure patrons would like this, as they would feel they were getting instant feedback. However, many of the reference questions that we currently get over the phone or through email require some research in other parts of the library, so we would have to step away from the computer for some time anyway. I don't think IM would be much more useful to us than email. It's fun and I know that kids love to use it to talk to their friends, but it's not something that I think would be a big help to me.

Things 1, 2, 3 and 4

I think that I have successfully completed the first four Things. I have had to ask for help several times, but I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of this. Luckily, I'm not the only one here who is somewhat confused and needs extra help. I'm in good company here. It also helps me to help others, so as soon as I figure out what I'm doing, I try and help someone else who might be stuck.

The only goal I have at this time is to keep up with everyone else. I don't want to fall behind and end up doing more than two Things in one week. Time and attitude are my two main obstacles. I must try not to get so frustrated or negative when I'm confused or not understanding something. Problems must be viewed as challenges!! In addition, I need to have more confidence in myself as a competent and effective learner.

1st Blog

This is my first / test blog for Learning 2.0. I'm not really sure what I'm doing. Hopefully I'm not messing everything up.