Saturday, March 19, 2011

Finished at last!

I have now FINALLY and almost a year late, finished 23 Things!!!!! OK, I've learned quite a bit and see the point of doing this exercise. I think it could have been improved by breaking it up into thirds, so you could still earn some of the CEUs if you just couldn't finish.

I think my blog is now done. Will I blog again? I'm not sure. I've never been a diary or journal writer. I like the idea of pulling blogs you like to follow into one central place. But I'm still not so sure.

Thing 12: Rollyo

I have played with this in the past and did again today. It just doesn't do it for me. I can see it's upside: search only from sites you want and not just the entire web, which will bring you gobs and gobs of stuff you don't want.

Thing 20: You Tube



This is from a rehersal at my synagogue of the 2011 Purim Spiel (play) NPR: National Purim Radio. My husband and kids are in the production and it is sure to be full of laughs.

Just today I gave some books to a child doing a report on the career of movie maker. The books talked about how to do digital movie making, such as seen on You Tube. Like other aspects of the web, there is a lot to sift through to find quality! Some things bring news events to your desktop, such as the Japanese tsunami videos. Others bring laughs.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Thing 19

I looked at the Web 2.0 awards list link, which is several years old and saw many popular things, like Google docs, Twitter, Flickr.

I decided to see what else was out there, making comments on Web 2.0. Discovery Education has an easy to use and easy to explore site on Web 2.0:
http://web2011.discoveryeducation.com/web20tools.cfm

Thing 18

Google docs, a great way to not be tied to MS Word!

Thing 6

http://www.flickr.com/photos/george/23754/

Thing 2, done late

Thing 2 has to do with Learning 2.0 and the 7 1/2 habits of productive learners. I thing sticking with a learning goal is probably my hardest thing, since it often can take a long time and a lot of interruptions.

As for the easiest, I think teaching and mentoring others. When I have learned something that I think others will benefit from, I often share it. For example, I took an Overdrive webinar last fall and learned a lot. I told my coworkers about it as well as shared with the public.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Thing 23, my summary

I think this was, overall, a good learning experience. Some of it was beyond my personal comfort zone and interest, like Rollyo. Others, like Library Thing, are useful and might actually get more use from me.

I think was worth the time.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Thing 17, the Sandbox

A dead link, so I explored what "Cloud Computing" is.

http://www.20thingsilearned.com/ offers a concise, humorously illustrated e-book-like explanation of many web things, such as cloud computing, web apps, and javascript.

I still don't really understand it all, and probably won't but I do understand that Gmail and google documents are ways of doing cloud computing. I am not tied to a single computer, rather can access my email and docs anywhere.

Thing 15

I think everyone should read "Away from the Icebergs". It is true. We can't hold on to all of our old ways of doing things, every print reference book, expect people to come to us in our buildings during our open hours if they don't fit people's info need hours BUT we are also a business and must remind the public of that.

I never cease to be amazed by people who are regular, life-long library users, who are just in awe of our resources when I show them the databases we have and how they work. We have to find a way to promote this more, not just by having them available, but through demos, on the website (highlights), or even through outreach PSAs ( in better financial times).

Thing 13

Del.icio.us

Some of the links no longer work, so I played a bit on the Del.icio.us
site itself and also went to some of the featured libraries using tags. The Thomas Ford Memorial Library (Illinois) offers a nice, simple layout and way to use tags. I know that we (MCPL) also have tags on the Teen Site and have explored that, too.

I can see how using tags instead of "official" subject headings or terminology is so much more user friendly. But can also give the user some overload at first.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Thing 5

http://www.flickr.com/photos/annarussell0713/2950419830/in/gallery-terriek-72157622468701648/


A beautifully composed photo from Flickr. My former next door neighbor is a fan of photography and would love the use of color in this one.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Thing 14

Technorati is a huge time sink! It's purpose is to index blogs and posts, through searching tags (words, subjects). I have to say, I'm not so sure how someone would use it, unless they are just toodling around looking for a blog to follow. The info on the site about the site is great--easy to find, read, understand.

I know I have done some of the "Things" but not blogged about them. Like Thing 10, I know my kids had a blast goofing around with the image that is supposed to be me.

Trying to finish this up and get my CEUs!

Yes, I am back and determined to earn my 18 or so credits. Having been away so long, I have forgotten how to do things and I've also seen how bland my blog looks, compared to some fabulous ones I've been reading lately.

I love Nancy Pearl's blog and her monthly appearances on KUOW, which I listen to on podcast. (Thing 21)

I know I have done many of the "things".Here are some comments:

Thing 7: I enjoy David Pogue's podcasts, columns, and blog. He's terrific at making the technical understandable. The Nova series "Making Stuff" was another great display of his communication talents.

Thing 8: I thought I did this awhile back and now I see that Bloglines is no more. The following link from Mashable was good to read for an alternative:
http://mashable.com/2010/01/25/google-reader-custom-feeds/#

I can see that for people who have their internet access going nonstop, this kind of a thing is good. The Mashable article on the demise of Bloglines cited the popularity of Twitter and Facebook as reasons to take Bloglines down. I guess that is the thing about social media and instant access: it changes and starts and ends when superceded.

Thing 9: I thought I did this, too. Mel's Desk
http://melissa.depperfamily.net/blog/ is a nice children's services site and linked me to a flannelboard wiki that I signed up for. I have to explore that a bit more. That is Thing 16.


I am a regular podcast listener (Thing 21) and find most of mine either by browsing by subject on iTunes, or from NPR.

Thing 22: I have been showing patrons how to access Overdrive and NetLibrary both for audio and e-books. There is growing interest and demand. Unfortunately, the selection is still spotty. I have discovered that DCPL has a different subscription to Overdrive, as does Arlington Co. PL and you can get cards online from both (although DC's is a temp number and expires in 30 days unless you go in to a branch and get a physical card. Arlington mailed me mine.)