Thing #23

It has been an interesting journey. Sometimes interesting and educational, sometimes very frustrating! At the beginning, I was very frustrated. I felt like some of the instructions weren't very clear and I had some difficulty finding the purpose in some of these types of technology. There are still a few that I will never use and could not be convinced of their necessity (TWITTER!!) In other cases, there were some things that I could use on a personal level or if I had a different type of job, but couldn't find a use for them in my current position. I feel okay admitting this because after discussion with my co-workers I know that a lot of them feel the same way. I think the best part of this exercise was simply learning about things that are out there so that I don't feel like a complete moron if someone asks me about it. Perhaps I won't be able to remember everything that I learned or how to use all of these different types of available technology, but at the very least I know they exist. Would I take this journey again if given the choice? That's a hard question to answer. Part of me says "yes" because it's good for me to learn new things. Another part says "no" because this was just one more stressor added to my life. I guess it's a good thing I wasn't actually given a choice at the beginning. Sometimes being forced to do something is good for me.

Thing #22

I found a lot of interesting and informative podcasts to sit and listen to. This is just another "thing" that can help me ignore my responsibilities and "waste" time at the computer. I added the NETV podcasts to my bloglines because I love the informative programs that they have. Always something new and interesting to learn about.

Thing #21

I love Youtube. I could waste hours of my life watching the different videos I found. I'm including a cute video of some laughing babies. It has nothing to do with library work, but I liked it.

Thing #20: Web 2.0

This was pretty interesting and I found some different sites to explore that I might not have discovered on my own. I didn't really see any that would be helpful with my job, but that's because a lot of what I do around here doesn't really involve a lot of technology. I thought maybe the geneology sites might be helpful when I have to do obituary searches, but they weren't. Those sites were more about creating your own family tree, not helping someone else search for family members or information. I think the best thing about Learning 2.0 is that it has made me aware of technology that exists and is available so that if I hear people talking about it I will know a little bit about what they are saying. Otherwise, there hasn't been a lot of stuff that I could really say would help me be a better librarian. Either way, I'm almost done, and that's great news!!

Thing #19: Apps

I had fun looking at all the possibilities on Google Docs. At first I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do, but then I found the templates and realized I could do just about anything I wanted. Address labels, photo albums, book reports . . . so much to help you get started. I'm not really sure how I could use any of this here at the library, but I'm sure a time will come that I will think of something. Maybe I could use one of the spreadsheets to help me track my tax forms -- although I can't think of a reason that I necessarily need that to be available on the web. Anyway, I did enjoy looking at all the templates and I'm really glad that I'm almost done with all of my 23 Things!!

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.