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.