Thing 23. Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed learning about all of the things. I had already used several of them but had never looked at them close enough to see what they could really do. Now I can see so many new possibilities for both private and professional uses. My favorite discoveries were the Flickr tools because there are so many options for marketing library events or creating displays. I am looking forward to putting Flickr to use. I would defiantly participate in another 23 Things program. This program has opened my eyes to how much is really out there. Thank You!

Thing 22. What Did I Learn Today?

I plan to continue exploring a few of the tools we went through in 23 Things so that I will have had enough practice when a practical use for them comes up. I have so many ideas already and I am excited to put them to work. I will keep an eye out for new tools that pop up and make the effort to try them and work my way through them and not just have somebody show me how.

Thing 21. Beyond MySpace: Other Social Networks

I joined the 23 Things Group on Ning and it seems to be a good way to communicate with others but I do not think that it would be my first choice for a social networking site. I do not think I will use Ning in the future. I do have a Flixster account from awhile ago that I have not looked at for a long time. I never did much with the account so maybe it is time to go back in and take a second look. That is the type of information that I would be interested in receiving anyway. I like to look at what other movies or books other people have recommended. I can usually get a good idea about whether or not I will like something based on other people’s recommendations.

Thing 20. Libraries and Social Networks

I do not completely understand why Facebook is so popular. I agree that that it is fun to see what your friends are doing and that it is a great way to share photos, send out event information etc. I especially like the event notification because I end up being notified of events that I otherwise might not know about. I think that this feature would be a great tool for library events. However, I just don’t get spending so much time on it. It seems like time might be better spent actually talking to or doing something with friends. I have had a Facebook account for awhile and I look at it every now and then but not everyday. Maybe part of it is that the friends that I would enjoy communicating in this manner with do not have a Facebook profile yet. We’ll see what happens as more and more people join.

Thing 19. Podcasts

I listened to a podcast from a Swedish radio station. It is pretty cool that one can connect with current events in other countries so easily. I found this podcast through Podcast.com which seemed very easy to use. At this point I do not think that I will subscribe to a podcast to listen to regularly. However, I wouldn’t rule it out for the future.

Thing 18. YouTube & Other Online Video

I selected this video because it is from my hometown of Jerome, Idaho. Both the public and the high school libraries were willed a fairly large sum of money by a member of the community to make improvements. They have come a long way since I left. While I was in high school the public library was more like a facility to hold meetings or a place for small ensembles to perform at. This video was produced by YAC, which I believe stands for Youth Advisory Committee. It is great to see that teens are working to promote the public library. Judging by the high school's website YAC is a deceit sized group. It looks like about 10 - 15 people belong, which is pretty good for Jerome.

Thing 17. ELM Productivity Tools

I do not usually have the need to look at databases in my particular job so all of these database tools were new to me. These tools are very cool and working on this thing was exciting. All of these tools would be useful to our faculty and students. The RSS feeds would be a great way to keep up to date on a specific topic. Saving information in a webpage would and easy way to keep information all in one spot. I think that if faculty were shown some of these tools, most of them would be very excited. Next time I do have a need to use these databases for work I will defiantly be using these tools. I may even look up a few things I’m interested in just for fun.

Thing 16. Student 2.0 Tools

RPC and Assignment Calculator is an easy way keep to assignments on track. It gives the student a clear plan to complete the assignment on time without it becoming overwhelming. RPC could also be a great way to stay on top of library projects as well. If we need to create a presentation or planning some other event, RPC could help keep everyone on schedule.

Thing 15. Online Games and Libraries

I played puzzle pirates. I found it difficult to talk to other pirates and do the job I was supposed to be doing. If I tried to talk to anyone I would fall behind on the job and the other pirates would get upset. Maybe I am antisocial when it comes to online gaming but I would rather just the play game and not worry about trying to chat at the same time.

Thing 14. LibraryThing

LibraryThing could be used to create list of staff recommendations. I do not see too many other ways we would use it in our library at the present time, however, it will definitely be something we should keep in mind in case something comes up. Right now we have created a recommended reading list using Shelfari and we have used Flickr in the past as well. We like Shelfari because it still looks like a book display even though it is online. LibraryThing could maybe be something we use in the future for our recommended reading lists. Here is the link to my LibraryThing catalog http://www.librarything.com/catalog/vikingp_2000 I used books from a series that I really enjoy reading.

Thing 13. Online Productivity Tools

Start Page
I chose to use My Yahoo as my start page. I chose My Yahoo because I use Yahoo for my personal email. It was fun personalizing the page but I am not sure if I will like using it as my start page. I will give it a go for awhile and see what happens from there.

Calendars
I looked a little at Yahoo calendars. They seem to be very similar to Google Calendars which our library currently uses for room scheduling. These calendars would also be very good for staff scheduling which our library does some of on Google Calendars as well. However, I do not think that I will use these for personal things. I seem to remember things a lot better when I physically write them down on a piece of paper. So I think that I will stick to my paper copy.

To-do lists
The to-do list sites, for me, would be helpful for things that I would be doing around the computer. Like things that I need to get done at work or maybe things that need to be done around the house before company visits. For things that I need to get at the store I think it would be easier for me to just write it down on a piece of paper.

Thing 12. Do You Digg?

I have always wondered what the point of these tools was and, to be honest I am still wondering. This seems to be a huge productivity detractor to me. I do not know why I would want to go to another site to read articles just to find out what other people have to say about it when most of these same websites have comments sections on their pages. It just seems like an extra step that doesn’t really get me where useful.

Thing 11. Tagging and Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us is obviously a wonderful resource for people who are using multiple computers. It is nice having your bookmarks accessible on every computer you may be working. I can see that this may be useful for research purposes providing the sites are tagged in ways our library patrons are able to find them. For example, I added a Norwegian newspaper to my list and tagged it Norway news. There are 536 other people who have tagged this site and none of them did it the same way I did. Tags that make perfect sense to me may not make sense to other people at all.

Thing 10. Wikis

I think that wikis, if they are kept up and monitored, are fantastic tools. This would be a great way of keeping track of everyday work issues like a departmental manual and figuring out shifts for our student workers. It would be great if library users could add comments about materials or services to a wiki. They are a simple easy tool to use. I edited the wiki sandbox and had no problem. However, I can also see the drawbacks of wikis. There is always a chance of somebody adding incorrect or inappropriate content to them. For this reason, it is understandable to the teachers/faculty would not want their students to Wikipedia as a source.

Thing 9. Online Collaboration Tools

Online collaboration tools would be great for a group of people to edit a document without worrying about if everyone has the right software on their machines. Once I received permission to edit the documents, it was easy to edit. Goggle Docs will be something that I keep in mind the next time the need for something like this comes along.

Thing 8. Share Your Creations

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These tools have a lot of possibilities for library and personal use. The PictureTrial presentations and other slideshow programs are a fun way of showing photos from library events and/or an additional tool for marketing upcoming events. These presentations paired with the database makers would be a great way to do online book displays and staff recommendations. Both PictureTrial and Lazybase were very easy to use. Here is the link to my very short movie database http://lazybase.com/dbhome?a=212447786

Thing 7. Web 2.0 Communication Tools

Email

I love email. As our library’s secretary do a lot of room scheduling, supply ordering, sending work orders to the physical plant, and anything else that a staff member or patron might need. Email is quick way for me to receive information about these needs and usually the best and easiest way for me to respond to them. However, I agree with most of the productivity hints. I like to deal with the quick, easy to answer emails right away and get them off my plate. I do not like to write long emails so unless I need to inform several people about something I will usually just go and talk to the person or call. I personally like to have my auto check look for messages frequently. I believe that I am pretty good at determining if a message is important enough that it would need an immediate response. If it doesn’t I will just ignore it until I am able to look it.

IM

Our librarians here have an IM reference service. It seems to go well for them. I do not use IM at work but I do use it home on occasion. I used it a lot more when I was in college. I guess the novelty of IMing the person across hall has worn off.

Text Messaging

I do text message some with my teenage nieces and nephews. It is a great way to stay in touch with them. It is much easier to text them then to get them to talk to their aunt or uncle on the phone. While I know what I am doing when I text, I am always amazed at how fast my nieces and nephews can type away and send their message. In the time it takes me to send one message they have sent five.

I spent a semester in Norway about 5 years ago. Texting is king there. Their cell phones are basically purchased for texting purposes. On any form of public transportation you would see people, young and old, texting. It was very rare to see someone actually talk on their cell phone. This is because all of their cell phones are prepaid and it uses less minutes to text than to talk.

Texting is already important in everyday life of college and high school students. I can see how text messaging reference service may become something that is very important to library users.

Web Conference

I have attended several webinars for training in the different ALEPH modules. While I think that these are a wonderful tool and it is great to not have to travel somewhere to attend training, webinars are not favorite. I have a hard time focusing on what is being discussed. This may just be that I am more of a hands on learner.

Thing 6. Online Image Generators

My creation,
originally uploaded by vikingp_2000.

In the past, our library has handed reminder cards to patrons who have brought in meals (mostly pizza) or whose noise level is out of control. The cards simply remind them that their actions need to be respectful of other library patrons and library materials. We could maybe recreate these cards in a fun way using the trading card feature.

Thing 5. More Flickr Fun

My creation,
originally uploaded by vikingp_2000.

Wow, the warning is correct; it is very easy to spend a lot of time playing with the many different features in Flickr. Our library could probably use the movie poster and trading cards to advertise events. We might possibly use a few other applications as a creative way to show photos from prior events or creating any temporary signage needed around library.

Thing 4. Photosharing with Flickr

Pay it Forward photos 002,
originally uploaded by vikingp_2000.

This is a photo of a display that is up in our library. Our library already uses Flickr for online book displays and I have used Flickr for personal use on several occasions. My husband and I live far away from most of our family so Flickr has been a good way to share photos with them. I think photos that are put on Flickr for the library are okay being marked public. I would assume that most photos a library would put up would be for marketing proposes so you would want people to look at them. However, for personal use I almost always mark them private.

Thing 3. Set Up an RSS Account & Add Feeds

I have often considered setting up a RSS reader but have not ventured outside of my comfort zone to do it. I think that I will enjoy only going to one place instead of looking at several sites. The difficult part will be not adding so many websites that I end up getting overloaded with stuff that I don’t really care about. I really liked the “Sub with Bloglines” feature. If I find site that I would like to add all I have to do is click on the “Sub with Bloglines” button in my favorites and it adds the feed. It’s great!

Thing 2. What is Library 2.0?

I am looking forward to learning how to use Web 2.0 tools more effectively. I believe that I have a general knowledge of most of things, or at the very least, heard of them. However, I just have not taken the time to truly explore what they can do. I know that these tools can be applied in a variety of different ways in our library. More specifically, they can be used in the way we market events, new resources, and anything else we may want to advertise.

I will find the time to work on 23 things between projects or during those times when I just need to work on something different for few minutes.

Thing 1. Set Up Your Blog

Setting up the blog was fun. Creating the blog itself was simple but the "important " things like, choosing a background and dressing my avatar proved to more difficult. Sometimes there are just too many choices. I can see how how a blog could be useful in a vareity of situations. For me, a blog may be a good way to communicate with our student workers.