Thing 23

Well, I did the best I could but it would be nice to have had more and better time to work on these things. It's easy to say, take a couple of hours a week to do them but when the hours are so jammed with urgent tasks it's hard to actually do it.

Thing 22 - What did I learn today?

I will try to post to this blog at times, just to keep up one skill anyway. There is a lot to learn in 23 things and I hope I can take more time in the future to learn them but at least I know they're out there.

The only way I learn is to use tools/sites daily. Whether I'll be able to use most of these tools is doubtful but I'll try to incorporate at least a couple into daily work life.

Thing 21 - Beyond MySpace: other social networks

View my page on 23 Things on a Stick


As mentioned in previous posts I see a lot of use for social networking in the library world since many, many people are comfortable with this new technology but it's not something that has a place in my personal life.

I took a look at another social networking site on collies. Lots of information and content but I have to wonder whether people realize that the information isn't necessarily correct. If I am researching a breed for my family I would certainly want to look at a source that I know to be expert. I guess that's the big danger I see with these sites: inexperienced people take the information found there as gospel when it probably isn't so.

Thing 20 - Libraries & social networks - Facebook

Well I invited a couple of friends and looked at some of the postings on the group I joined.

Again, I can see the use for library applications but don't feel a need for it in my personal life.

Thing 19 - Podcasts

I thought that Podcast.net and the Educational Podcast Network directories were the most intriguing. They were pretty easy to navigate.

I listened to several Grammar Grater podcasts and a JetStreaming podcast. They were really interesting. If I had a portable device I think this is a piece of technology that I would use in my personal life.

There are lots of uses for podcasts to promote libraries and library service. Since this is a technology that lots of people use we should probably take advantage of it.

Here's a Grammar Grater to listen to:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/podcasts/grammar_grater/

Thing 18 - YouTube and other sites

YouTube baffles me. Most of the video is grainy and unsteady. I can see the attraction for families if they have video of family interest to share but I don't think I would use it.

I think YouTube and its ilk do have fun library potential, especially for kids and teens. If we can get patrons to talk about programs, books, media, reading programs, etc. and encourage others to use the library and its technology I think that would be great.

In the meantime here's a cute sketch from the Muppets (featuring a possum of course):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSs4lSYVCKE

Thing 17: ELM productivity tools

1. I couldn't find the instructions to create a search alert.

2. I enjoyed creating a folder with interesting articles and then creating a Web page. It saved to my computer the second time I tried.

3. I skipped this one. I've already created a web page in #2 and I don't have a flash drive so it seemed a waste of time.

4. Adding notes in NetLibrary is a very handy way to compile usefule bits of information. I plan to use this in the future for work as well as recreational topics.

If we all had a bit more time I think the articles folder and the NetLibrary information and notes could be useful at work. It's definitely something we should share with our student patrons. I need to explore the web page part in more depth so I hope I'll be able to do that at some point.