Thing #23

Thing #23 is the finish of this project. I have enjoyed learning more about various tools on the internet. Most of what I learned was what I expected, but having the time to explore the different places on the internet and how they can be useful was very enjoyable.

Thing #22

Thing #22 is about what we plan to do to continue our learning now that we've reached the end of the 23 Things program. I am going to continue reading articles and trying to learn new ways of using the internet in my job. I will continue to read blogs and email lists and share the new ideas that I find there. I really enjoy Google Reader and find it very useful for gathering ideas into one place.

Thing #21

Thing #21 was about social networks other than Myspace and Facebook. I am a member a couple other social networks, WebJunction being the one that most relates to my job. I have taken some courses through WebJunction and found them to be very interesting. Again, I think that libraries should provide access to these internet functions. The library in society is the great equalizer of society and allowing access to these sites to everyone, not just the people able to afford an internet connection at home is part of that balancing of society.

Thing #20

Thing #20 is about social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook. I have an account at both sites, although I much prefer Facebook because of it's ease of use and clean look. I find Myspace to be very cluttered and unorganized and I find Facebook to be easier to deal with.

Thing #19

Thing #19 is Podcasts. It's probably the geeky fan girl in me coming out, but primarily most of my experience in podcasts has to do with television shows like Battlestar Galactica. The creator of that show does a podcast every week after the premier of that week's show and he talks about his thoughts and the behind the scenes stuff for that episode. I find them very interesting. I have also listened to a couple of podcasts done by authors that I read and I have found those very entertaining and amusing. I think that they are a very worthwhile tool that libraries should be providing access to.

Thing #18

Thing #18 was YouTube and other online video options. I've been using youtube for awhile now, I can't remember how long, but I use it regularly enough that it has become a tool that I can't imagine life without. I use it primarily to find music, I very much enjoy the creativity of fan made music videos. This is a tool that I can see libraries using for reference or allowing access to at the library, but I'm unsure of how it could be successfully used to market the library.

Thing #17

Thing #17 is about ELM tools. These are various databases that are paid for and available to the public with just a library card. I use these databases sometimes when I am doing authority work and trying to track down more information on who an author is. I have also used it to read articles in magazines like Consumer Reports. I find this tool to be very useful, although sadly probably not as well known as it should be.

Thing #16

Thing #16 was about tools for students that are available through libraries. The things are the Research Project Calculator and the University of Minnesota Assignment Calculator. They help you to plan out large projects like research papers so that you aren't up until 3am the night before a project is due.

I have never used a project calculator for myself, but I can see where they might be helpful for students and would be a good resource for having at a school library and in the children's and young adult sections of a library webpage.

Thing #15

Thing #15 was about online gaming and libraries. I've used several online games during my long love affair with the internet. I've played on Mu*s, then moved to yahoo games like Bejeweled, and finally ending up at mmorpg's like City of Heroes and World of Warcraft.

This part of the 23 Things focused primarily on Second Life and Puzzle Pirates. As SL is very graphics intensive, I chose to do the Puzzle Pirates part of the thing. Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of interaction with the other users of the site other than a couple random people hitting me up for money. The best luck that I've had with social interaction on the internet was at the very low tech Mu* sites. The text based gaming really encourages people to use easy to read English, full sentences and to form friendships, because there isn't any game play except for what you make up in your head. There are no missions that you can do solo, like in COH or WOW. It is an entirely interactive environment dependent on everyone else who logs in and plays.

I'm not sure how these games will translate to libraries. I suppose you could have LAN parties or game nights at the library, but I'm not sure how that will translate into people checking out more items or using the library for research.

Thing #14

Thing #14 was about an internet tool called Library Thing. Library Thing is a site that allows people to create their own library catalogs. I've been using LT for awhile now to manage different collections of books that I have. I've found it very handy and by looking in collections of people who have similar items it gives me ideas for ways to expand my collection.

Thing #13

Thing #13 is about online productivity tools. One of the tools mentioned in this Thing is online calendars. The one we use at our house is Google Calendars. This calendar makes it very easy to color coordinate my special events, my husband's special events and my daughter's special events. It also tracks birthdays and almost anything else that is needed. It's very handy because my husband and I can both edit it and see what the plans are for the week or month. Since I work days and he works nights, sometimes we can lose track of what events are going on with each other and this way we have a quick and easy way to check.

Thing #12

Thing #12 is about sites that allow you to rate them and recommend them to others using internet tools such as Digg. Digg is a site that I have used before that allows its users to rate participating sites. The more recommendations a site gets, the higher on the list it goes.

I can see where a library could choose to have links off of their site to sites like Digg, to give their patrons the opportunity to see popular web items. Other than that, I'm not sure how useful it will be to libraries.

Thing #11

Thing 11 was about tagging and how it can be used to direct yourself to what you're looking for. I am used to using LoC subject headings but this is user added subject heading and isn't controlled vocabulary.

I have added tags to my blog posts for 23 things, I have also tagged the posts that include pictures of my daughter and another tag that lets me easily separate out my Flickr posts. I also have a del.icio.us account and I have been using that to keep track of web pages that interest me.

Thing #10

Thing 10 was to learn about wikis. I have used Wikipedia before and found it very interesting. It is occasionally helpful for authority work when you are trying to determine what works an author has done, and also birth and death dates. I think that wikis are very useful when they are updated frequently, and I can see them being used locally to help keep track of local cataloging decisions and for quick FAQs.

Thing #9

Thing #9 was to explore web collaboration tools. I signed up and helped to edit the Google Docs option. I can definitely see where it would be a useful tool for collaboration with someone who isn't in the same building. It allows each person to make suggested changes at their leisure.

I don't see myself using them in my job, or even in my personal life, but I can see the potential for their use in business and in the library world.

Thing #8

My creation
Originally uploaded by mrowpurr

Thing #8 was to use various internet tools to manipulate pictures you have into slide shows or various fun things that you can do with pictures. Of course, I took this opportunity to play with some pictures of my daughter in her new medieval outfit.

Thing #7

Thing #7 is about different types of internet communication and how they can be useful in a library setting. I've used many different programs for internet communication and my two favorites are email and instant messaging (IM). I use both of these tools daily, both at work and at home.

I find that for asking a quick question, IM is very handy. Email is better for communicating lengthy ideas or documents. Most of my family uses the internet, which is handy since they live 2000 miles away and it's much less expensive to have a daily IM conversation than it is to have a daily phone call. I think that is the part of internet communication that is most valuable to libraries, the ability to communicate quickly and inexpensively.

Thing #6 - Part 2

My creation
Originally uploaded by mrowpurr

Thing #6

My creation
Originally uploaded by mrowpurr

Thing #6 was to play around with various online image generators and to use some pictures that we have uploaded to our flickr accounts and play with them. I've done two, both pictures of my daughter. We take a lot of pictures of her, so I had a lot to play with.

These could be useful for libraries to use as a way to introduce themselves to the patrons and also for other promotions.

Thing #5

Thing #5 is about playing with Flickr and learning how to use different tools that people have created to enhance your blog or website using Flickr. I chose to do the Spell with Flickr option and made a cute ransom note version of my name.

Thing #4

BlueSophia
Originally uploaded by mrowpurr

This is a picture of my daughter. She's wearing one of her Christmas dresses that her grandmother is making her for her present. I think she's got blue eyes of doom in this photo, which was taken at the little kids play area at Apache Mall in Rochester.

Thing #3

Thing #3 was to set up an RSS account and add various feeds to it. This particular thing was very easy for me to complete, because I have had a Google Reader account for a year now. I love having all the blogs that I enjoy reading collected in one place. I have 121 different RSS feeds in my account right now, and any time I come up with a new blog that looks interesting, I toss it into my account.

One of the things I enjoy about Google Reader is the ability to organize my feeds into categories. I have separate folders for library blogs, food blogs and hobby blogs. I would never be able to visit 121 different sites in a day, but since they are all collected and only the updates are posted, I only have to visit one site.

Thing #2

Library 2.0 seems to be all about the interconnectedness of the internet and how it can be interactive and all about communicating between people from all over the world. This relates to libraries in how we serve our patrons, and in job how we communicate with our member libraries.

Blogs are becoming one of the new ways that companies are communicating with their customers, I have over 20 blogs that I read daily as a way to get news and recipes and just to find out what is going on with my friends. As a communication tool, blogs are very user friendly and not intimidating at all. With this 23 things program, I'm looking forward to exploring different web tools that I'm not familiar with, or looking further into the tools that I am familiar with and learning how to use them more effectively.

23 things.. a start (Thing #1)

23 Things on a Stick is a program that is designed to help people who work in libraries or with libraries to get comfortable with various types of Web 2.0 tools. I'm fairly familiar with various types of blogging, since I've had a blog since 1999 or 2000, I'm not sure which. But there are some other things on the list that I'm not so familiar with, so it should be an interesting learning process.