Thing 23

I'm done! Yippee. I did enjoy working on these things. I really got caught up in some of them like posting pictures to Flickr and I felt such a sense of accomplishment when things actually worked for me. My favorite things were the RSS aggregator, Library thing or Good reads, and some of the social networks. I definitely would partipate again if the a similar program was offered. It was fun, but informative.

Thing 22--Staying current

I will continue to try and use some of the items that I learned about. I consistently use my RSS aggregator, good reads account, and will try and check in with my facebook page to see if anything new has happened. I am always looking up new sites to use for reader's advisory and other topics such as list serves or social groups for topics I am interested in so that is another area I will continue to use.

Thing 15--Online games

I did watch the video's concerning second life and briefly visited the pirate game. I didn't actually play the games though because my computer has been so slow I was afraid it would be even slower if I downloaded the software. But I can understand how gaming can be fun and a good way to get kids in the library. In fact, I know of several kids who come in regularly to use the internet and all I have ever see them do is play some type of game. I seriously wonder if some of these kids have developed an addiction. They would probably be first in line if the library sponsered a gaming program which our library is going to do shortly.

Visit 23 Things on a Stick

Thing 21--Other social networks

I had fun looking through other social networks. I already belong to Good reads and plan on using that social network frequently. I am not using it to make friends though, it is more just a way to keep track of what I am reading and what I want to read in the future. I do look at people who have similar reading tastes though. I have also joined a social network called Cafe Moms. That is a site I go to everyday and I actually have interacted with other members. I find if you are interested enough or motivated enough social networks can be very beneficial to one's life. I also joined Ning, added a comment and tried to add the badge to my blog--that I am having trouble with though.

Thing 20--Facebook and Myspace

Well, I just checked my Facebook account. I had created one awhile back but never look at it. I found I actually had someone ask to be my friend about a month ago who probably thinks I dissed him because I never answered--oh well, I wasn't into wizarding games anyhow! Anyhow, I can see how kids would love these sites--it's so cool how you can meet people around the world nowdays with just a click of the mouse. Libraries could probably really connect with their teen users if they had a myspace page--it would give the library a bit of a cool factor. I did join a NewLib group in Facebook. I'll try to check back a little more frequently to see what's going on.

Thing 19--Podcasts

I spent about an hour searching for listening to various podcasts. I thought all of the podcast directories were fairly easy to use and I found several podcasts that were of interest to me. Once again, I found there was a lot of information and too little time to access it. I probably won't subscribe to a podcast at this time but I may use them if I am interested in a certain topic or if I missed a program on NPR and want to listen to it later. Podcasts could be very interesting to people who are doing research projects or who just have some spare time to listen to programs that interest them.

Thing 18--U-tube

I spent about an hour looking through the various videos on U-tube. To be honest what I have used it for in the past it to look up the American Idol's performances that I have missed the week before. Personally, I don't think I will use it much more than that except for watching various news items I may have missed. I can see how it could be useful for libraries to post tours or promotional info but there is so much extra stuff that one has be aware of or try to steer clear of. I thought the following college library tour was well done.

Thing 17--ELM productivity tools

I found that this tool had a lot of interesting information. It could be very helpful for anyone who is doing research. Like a lot of other people I was not able to set up the RSS feed for the Student InfoTrac. I did search a lot of the newspaper and information sites and signed up for an account in NET library. I know they offer NET library at our library but I have never looked into it. It was nice to learn a bit more about it so I can help patrons more if they have questions.

Thing 16--Student tools--Assignement Calculator

I am saving Thing 15 (Online games) for the end. But I did like thing 16, the U of M assignment calculator and the research project calculator are very interesting and could be very helpful for kids. I know some of the projects kids have assigned can be very daunting but these calculators really break it down so the assignment may not appear so intimidating and may help them realize that if they are really organized they can finish it. As my kids get older I may even use it with them. A link on the library's teen page would be very appropriate and very helpful for some kids.

Thing 14--LibraryThing

I just created an account on LibraryThing and added my five books. I currently have an account with Goodreads.com which is similiar. I really like Good Reads and find that it is kind of like a myspace for people who read. It doesn't have the cataloging component that LibraryThing has but I mainly use it to keep track of what I read with a short review and a list of what I want to read in the future. I could see how libraries would like to use Librarything. It displayed quite nicely on my blog and I believe it would create interest in the titles which were listed. I don't think it would replace paper bookmarks but it would be a nice feature.

Thing 13--Productivity tools

I thought these productivity tools were kind of fun. I have both a google account and a yahoo account so I personalized my home page for both of them. I have an MSN account so I should try and personalize that also. I really like both the google and yahoo home pages--its nice to see news updates, new e-mails, weather etc. on one page. I did try some of the other tools. The countdown calendar was fun and I did create a ta-da list. But I really don't spend enough time on the computer to justify using some of these tools, at least personally. I am not going to make a grocery list on-line when I can just write one up. Then again, I could see how it would be helpful in a work environment if you have to share tasks with others--that's were backpack could come in handy.

Thing 12--Social Media Sites

I just spent some time looking through Digg, Reddit, Newsville etc. These sites can be really addicting. I like news sites anyway, I go to MSNBC many times a day, and these sites can be just as informative. Because people are promoting what they like I am seeing stories that I wouldn't probably notice on other news sites. The no editors rule makes it feel like the wild west of the internet to me. Most of the other groups I belong to have moderators and it is surprising the number of times they have to step in and settle down the participants from getting to personal, carried away with language etc. I am sure the conversations on these sites get very interesting to say the least.

Thing 11: Tagging and del.icio.us

Del.icio.us is a fun site. I cruised around and found some interesting sites--like a relatives web page and a list of really good Sci-fi to read. I don't read sci-fi but I found one from the list that I checked out. I have tried to export my favorites too so I will be curious to see if that worked. I don't know how many times I have lost favorites on my personal pc so it would be great to have them at another source where I could access them from different computers. I also tagged a few things so I can go look for them again if I wish.

Thing 10-Wiki's

Well what do I say, I don't like wiki's. I think they can be really helpful for an organization like our library. Our use of the wiki for our staff page appears to be working really well. That being said, I don't feel educated enough myself to change anything on it. It is probably something that if I worked with it more I would be more comfortable with it. But even the format doesn't appeal to me for some reason.

I have used Wikopedia quite frequently but I would never use it as my final source. It is just too hard to know if the information is truly factual.

Thing 9-Easy to Collaborate

I found this thing frustrating--not because the tools themselves were difficult but I had a hard time accessing them. I finally was able to edit the document in Google Docs which was kind of fun. I enjoyed seeing what others had written and it didn't seem to difficult to do. I never did find the sample document in Zoho Writer to edit but I played around with one of my own documents to see how it would work. I really do not have a need to use these types of programs in my work but I could see how they could be helpful to those who needed them.

Thing 8: share your creations

I can see how these tools would be both extremely helpful and addictive. In my job I don't have to give presentations or create posters/flyers but if I did you could really jazz them up using some of these programs. What is also nice is it seems like it can be done fairly inexpensively--one can even go to the library and use the internet there if they don't have their own computer at home!

Thing 7--Web 2 communication tools

I am one of the e-mail generation. I have used a hotmail account for many years now and now because of 23 three things on a stick I have a gmail and yahoo account also! I probably will stick with using mainly the hotmail account. It gets to be just too much information, passwords to remember etc. I belong to several list serves and my e-mail gets getting cluttered with a lot of interesting e-mails about revelent topics but I am finding I just don't have time to read them all.

I do enjoy IM once in a while on my personal computer but I don't think I would like it as much if I had to use it while working on desk. As it is, it can be complicated trying to juggle the phone and patrons at the desk, throw in IM and it really could get interesting.

I have a cell phone and I have no idea how to text message. I plan on keeping it that way for awhile. But I could see how all of these forms of communication could appeal to those who are younger or really computer savvy. I bet a lot of our patrons would love to contact us by any or all of these methods.

Thing 6--trading card

deck4663898
Originally uploaded by Bethb's pics

Here is my trading card. I did have trouble uploading this. I was trying to get to to my flickr account from the big huge labs site but I wasn't able to do that. So, I then saved it to my computer instead and uploaded it that way. I know it has to be easier than the way I am doing this--I must be doing something wrong. Anyway, it is a really cool tool. I really like the librarian's trading card's that I saw and I think some kids would think they were neat while others might think they are lame. Fun tool

Thing 5 mosaic

My creation
Originally uploaded by Bethb's pics

I took me a lot of time to figure this out and we'll see if I can add it to my blog. I can see how this would be a very useful feature for someone who was creating posters. There are a lot of really cool things one can do with all of the features on flickr. But personally I probably won't use it much. I still wrestle with the privacy issue. I just am not one to put my pictures out there and I can't say I would be too happy with friends and family who were posting my pictures without telling me. I had an ex-friend in college who took a really bad photo of me--not obscene-just really bad and when she got angry at me she showed it to all of my friends and even people I didn't know very well. Now she had to ask a mutual friend from California to send her the negative and then manually showed it to people. Can you imagine what she would have done it she had the ability to post it to flickr and share it with the world.

2007 Palzer Family Reunion0233

2007 Palzer Family Reunion0233
Originally uploaded by tapalz2006

Here's one of my family I found on Flickr

another frog

another frog
Originally uploaded by rainforest_harley

Here's another attempt to add a photo


Yeah, I did it--don't ask me how. I just kept pushing buttons and finally succeeded!

Frog by Rainforest-Harley

I am having a terrible time uploading a picture. I'll try to give it one more shot. Okay other people, what am I doing wrong. I can't get the picture to display. Help!

Thing 4-Flickr pt.1

Well, for the first part of this "thing" I just tried to familiarize myself with the site. I really haven't looked at it before, at least that I remember. Well, lo and behold, I found pictures of my husband and two kids on the site. Turns out that my husband's cousin uploaded all of the picture from last summer's family reunion to his flickr account and there my family was (I was sick that day so luckily I escaped having my picture posted!) I have told several people about this and I have gotten a very interesting response from everyone. First it is surprise and then they all mentioned they thought it was kind of creepy. I have to admit, I am a very private person and having pictures of my family on the internet that I wasn't aware of--or had forgotten about--is unsettling. Granted there were no names attached to the pictures but they were found just by searching my last name. It really is hard to retain one's privacy nowdays. That being said, I would have tried to upload a picture of my family to my blog but I couldn't find one I liked. Guess I'll try the frog picture instead!

Thing 3--RSS Feeds

I have just spent the last hour or so playing around with RSS feeds and I think it is a useful tool. If a patron did not have an internet connection at home and was using the libraries internet it could really cut down on the time he spent searching individual sites and could help him manage his internet time more wisely. On the other hand I am so used to going to individual sites that I am not sure how much I will use my RSS feed account.

On a side note, all of these passwords and e-mails I am using in different places are all starting to swirl around my head. I now have 3 different e-mail accounts and 3 times as many passwords. I really have to think about where I am before I enter my info!

Thing 2--Library 2.0

Does it ever feel like there is too much information and too little time to learn it? I have to admit I am starting to fell a little bit overwhelmed by Library 2.0. I can see how it can be useful to libraries whether it be drawing kids to the libraries with the lure of gaming and internet usage or for the librarians themselves using wikis to share information, but at times I just want to say the world is spinning too fast and I want to get off. I enjoy learning new things but I can't say I am the most speedy learner, especially with all things computer. Thus, when I created my avatar I thought this is pretty cool--I will just ignore the fact it took me about 2 hours to figure it out. Ok, maybe not that long but long enough!

Well, I will just keep plugging along and slowly but surely I will be drug into the information age!

Thing 1--Blog set up

I think I have done this correctly. This is my first attempt at blogging and it was an interesting experience. Now I have to see if I can get it registered.