Thing 23- One Last Thing

Yay, I did it this time!!!
I learned a lot. I'm glad I stuck with it, even though I had to do almost all the work at home. In my current online class there was a survey to see how much we knew about 2.0 tools, and because of this course I knew about all of the mentioned tools. If I hadn't done this, I think I only would have been familiar with Facebook.
I really enjoyed some of the Things, especially YouTube. I think I will continue to use, or at least look at, most of the Things. I don't currently have the kind of job where I would use them much, but I'm sure I can find other ways to use them.

Thing 22- Staying Current

After all the time I've already spent on this blog, I'd better add something occasionally! I just wanted to add one thing to keep me up-to-date, and I like Web Junction Minnesota. I had seen information about that site already at work. I tried to put a feed for it in my aggregator but it didn't seem to have one, so I put the link for the site in this blog.
It looks like I'll be using some of the 2.0 tools in the class I'm taking now, so I can practice them that way at this time, and when the class is over I'll have to use more initiative.

Thing 21- Other Networks

Well, I joined the 23 things on a Stick ning, and I put a link to it in this blog. I also joined another network called Linked In, which is supposed to help with my career. I like the idea of being part of a network that has a common interest.

Thing 20- Facebook

Well, I've been on Facebook for about 4 months already, so I didn't have any homework to do this time! I've seen other people's MySpace pages, and I just like Facebook better, and I like how people can't see my profile unless I add them as a friend. I have also heard that MySpace is more difficult to use.
Why is Facebook such a fast-growing social network? Probably because it's fun. It's fun to add a new friend, look at other people's photos, read about what they're doing and thinking, and send messages, gifts, and gestures to them.
Facebook is "free", but not really. Every time I look at it, there are little ads that I never succumb to. I remember a while ago when I tried to get the results of an IQ test that I took on Facebook. I was hurtled through dozens of online offers, and I finally quit before I ever saw my IQ. The biggest deterrent for me was how I started receiving unsavory emails and ads all the time since the IQ test experience. It was becoming maddening, but I started using Thunderbird email, and it's wonderful.
It gets rid of the junk!

Thing 19- Podcasts

I found this Thing to be interesting and useful. I haven't checked all the Podcast directories yet, but I thought that some of the Minnesota Public Radio podcasts looked intriguing. I can especially use their political podcasts, since I am not up-to-date with what'shappening there like I should be.
I put two RSS feeds from such podcasts into my bloglines account.

Thing 18- You Tube

I really enjoyed learning about this Thing. I thought that many of the library-related videos were pretty amusing. For putting into my blog, I chose a site that starts out with a "funny library commercial", because I like the idea of getting silly about libraries sometimes. We library employees work hard and we can use some stress relievers. I had a lot of trouble getting the video into my blog, though, because the instructions in the Things site didn't work.

Thing 17- ELM Productivity Tools

This Thing appeared to be useful, since I do use Academic Search Premier a lot. I created a personal account in there and looked in my folder. However, I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do with a web page after I had created it. What's the web page for?

Thing 16- Assignment and Project Calculators

I'm support staff in a public library now, and I'm not in the position of advising students about their work, so I won't be using these tools at work in that way at this time. I might use the project one for myself at work, if I have a project that's lengthy enough. I take classes, so I might use the tools to help me with my classes. So I'm saving the links in case I need them.

http://www.lib.umn.edu/help/calculator/

http://rpc.elm4you.org/

Thing 15- Gaming in Libraries

Well, I am a female who isn't a gamer yet, but I really tried to keep an open mind as I read about this topic and looked at Pirates and Second Life. I thought it was interesting that the game The Sims was meant to attract more females to game playing. Both of my daughters enjoy playing Sim games. If I was going to play games, it would be Sims, not Second Life. The pirate game didn't interest me at all. Second Life seems kind of eerie to me, with the realistic-looking characters flying around in the dreamlike world. I'm more comfortable with Sims because it just seems more obviously silly, like a game, with goofy characters.
I suppose gaming in the libraries has its place. If libraries have often provided board games, then the idea of providing the type of game that's currently popular makes some sense to me. There's one big difference, though. It's in the B word, budget. Having games like this available all the time must cost a lot more than keeping some old board games around.
I did think that the idea of using Second Life for educational purposes really had some possibilities. I thought that was the most appropriate use of the game in a library.

Thing 14- Library Thing

I found Library Thing to be pretty interesting, although confusing. I'm sure the confusion would lessen if I used it more. I think that this would be especially helpful for librarians who select material and are asked to recommend reading to people. I recently read two new books and I put them in my library. The other readers had rated them a little more highly than I did. I also joined a couple of groups and that was kind of fun.

Thing 13- Online Productivity Tools

Before I get started writing about Thing 13, I want to comment that I really like an earlier Thing, using Del.ici.ous. It is efficient! I tried using it last week when I was sitting with my husband's laptop in a hotel room. Yes, I did forget my password, but it wasn't too difficult to access my email from a Web email site and fix things.
On to Thing 13. Well, sorry guys, I looked at nearly all the sites that were presented, and I am just not interested. I don't want a "customized home page." When I bring up my home computer, I immediately get a weather forecast, and I wouldn't waste time by looking at all those other things that a home page has, and this is even more true for me at work.
I don't want a Calendar or a List tool. At home, I have a calendar a few feet away from my compter, and I would use Outlook at work if I wanted to use a calendar, since my email is already there. As for making lists, I like the old-fashioned jotting down on paper method. At least that way I can grab my list and throw it in my purse.

Thing 12- Social Media Sites

Hmm, interesting. Digg, Newsvine, Mixx, Reddit...I haven't heard of these sites before. I looked at each one and I liked the appearance of Newsvine the best. I liked how many of the news items were organized by topic. I didn't want to have an account in it at this time, but I put the link in my blog. I'm not sure how I would use Newsvine at work or home except maybe to have stimulating conversations with people.

Thing 11- Del.icio.us and Tagging

I think the idea of storing my bookmarks in one place so I can access them from any computer is great, except for one thing. What if I'm using an unfamiliar computer, go to the del.icio.us site, and I forget the password for my account? I added the link to my other web links at work so at least I would be okay there.
I looked at the bookmarks that were presented, and I haven't seen any that I wanted to add to my small collection yet. I can see how sharing bookmarks on a library site might be fun, though.
I think I grasp the concept of tagging, but I haven't seen the need to tag my tiny bookmark collection yet.

Thing 10- Wikis

I've been away from my blog for seven weeks! It feels good to be back in it again. Maybe I can finish the 23 things this round.
Learning about wikis was fun. Last fall, the teacher of my online class started a wiki for us. I didn't even know what a wiki was. I looked at it and had no idea what to do with it. Now I would have a clue what to do. I looked at all the library wikis. I thought Booklovers Wiki was creative and fun,
Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki was very informative, and it was awesome to see all the libraries listed in The Blogging Libraries Wiki. I read some of the stuff in the 23 Things on a Stick
Wiki and I added something to it.

Thing 9-Online Collaboration Tools

I quickly edited the document in Zoho Writer, and I checked out the document in Google Docs. I thought Zoho Writer had more editing tools and looked like it was more fun to use. I'll keep it in mind for if I need it at work. I can think of an immediate use for it. My husband is taking classes and he has me edit his papers.

Thing 8- Share Your Creations

I thought the name of this Thing seemed repetitious, because I had already been sharing a couple of creations in the blog. I was happy to find something new to make and put in the blog in Lazybase. My blog now has a link to a database of books that I like and would recommend. There's only one book in there at the moment, but I'll add more. Lazybase has almost no instructions and it took a lot of clicking to figure out how to put the book in there.

Thing 7- Web 2.0 Communication Tools

I have three email accounts; one at home, one at work, and the one that I started with this blog. If I checked my email constantly, it would be a time drain, but I check it once or twice a day.
Our library offers computer classes for seniors where they can learn about email, and our customers have the option of using email notification for their fines and reserves. I think that using email to give reference service is a really good idea, although I don't do it because I'm not a librarian.
I have an IM account at home that I've been using for a while. I read the Library Journal article about IMing. I don't know if any of the librarians at our library do IM reference service.
I'm not too interested in doing text messaging, so I'm not part of the revolution.

Thing 6- Online Image Generators

I was really impressed by all the fun things that could be done using Big Huge Labs. I made a trading card to immortalize my husband and put it in the blog, but the process was not easy. First I
misstakenly uploaded the photo alone and not the card. Then I got the card into the blog, but I had forgotten to use the small size. When I had the small size, Flickr wouldn't let me "grab the photo's URL". I finally got it into the blog. I was supposed to make another image, so I approached Image Chef with dread. I was pleasantly surprised that it was amazingly easy to upload the beating heart into my blog.
Now that I've done 6 Things, I realize that I'm 1/4 done, which encourages me to persevere.

Thing 5- More Flickr Fun

I looked through the other Flickr mash-ups and tools. I tried out 2 different ways of presenting the few photos that I have, but they didn't really excite me. I was intrigued with the idea of making a slideshow, but I don't have enough good pictures yet. I thought that some of the things were silly, for example, why would anyone want to show the time using photos? Well, I'll get back to this when I accumulate more photos.

Thing 4- Using Flickr

This really was the first time I have used Flickr. I enjoyed taking pictures of our daughter competing at the college horse show, and it was fun to share them using Flickr. I wouldn't use Flickr at work in my current job, but I'm sure I'll use it for personal photos.

Thing 3- RSS Feeds

This was a good experience for me because we had recently touched on RSS feeds in my current online class, and I had no idea what they were. Now I know! I think this tool would be valuable to anyone who spends a lot of time on his or her computer.

Thing 2- About 2.0

To me, Web 2.0 tools seem inevitable. People are fascinated by the Web, and they want to communicate with others. Creating stuff like this was bound to happen.
I recognize a few things that my kids use in the list of Things. Oo, maybe now I'll be able to do what they're doing!

Thing 1-Creating My Blog

I started my first blog! Designing the avatar was the most fun. I had trouble getting the avatar into the blog.