17th Thing: On the Road Again with Online Productivity Tools

I can see where Google Docs could be extremely helpful if one wishes to share tables, presentations, files, forms and folders online. Using a snowflake template, I created a ficticious MAD (movie and a dinner) invitation for one of our movie night gatherings we hold from time to time with our friends. Were it an actual invitation, I could send it out online to our friends and they could open the invitation and/or save it to their computer for future reference. I also explored the spreadsheet window and the presentation window, both of which would be very helpful to the business sector. Like in Wikipedia, the ability to change words and figures would be very helpful in forwarding up-to-date information to persons involved in a group project.

16th Thing: It's a Wiki, Wiki, Wiki, Wiki World

It was great learning about Wikis. I listened to a podcast by Meredith Farcus, a distance learning librarian at a college in Vermont. She explained that Wikis are wonderful for gathering information from a diverse group of people who may or may not know each other. She stated that Wikis are easy to use and are limited only by the participants' imagination. Unlike a blog, no one person owns the content--it is owned by the community of participants. It is a constant work in progress.

After attending her first ALA conference and feeling totally overwhelmed, Ms. Farcus decided to enter the WIKI world by creating a WIKI about Chicago, the site of the next year's ALA conference. She enjoyed learning about Chicago and it attractions, restaurants, etc. from natives and from librarians who had attended previous trainings in Chicago. The WIKI was hugely popular and very helpful to the attendees.

Looking at the library WIKIs provided in the 16th Thing, I can see how patrons might enjoy giving feedback on books, music, dvds and other resources and services. A WIKI could be helpful in communicating to library stafff working on a library project. It would cut down on emails and the time required to read them. It would also be helpful when updating the policy manual.

I have a feeling that we will be utilizing WIKIs a lot more in the future.

15th Thing: Second Life

Wow--where do I begin? Words fail me. I am trying to keep an open mind about the exciting world of technology but Second Life definitely stretched me far beyond my comfort level. In a word, it makes me sad. Sad that for some people, real life is so pointless and meaningless that they must turn to a computer to create a virtual life rather than finding ways to enrich the life they live in the real world. I watched a virtual life where an incredibly obese man created a second life to hook up with the girl of his dreams. He sings a song about how he really should go out in the real world and meet some friends and maybe go to a show. However, the song ends with his lamenting that when the sun comes up, he will "right back here again." (at his computer) What a waste of a life. How very, very sad.

I can see that there could be some benefit in the business and academic world. As far as for the library, the whole concept is so foreign to me that I cannot conceive of a use for our patrons at present.

14th Thing: Library 2.0

Thisexercise was one of the more interesting for me. I enjoyed reading about the ever-changing library world and the employment of technology to plan and meet patrons needs. In the future, it appears that libraries will look to their increased participation from their patrons in helping to create and utilize a greater variety of services, particularly those found on the web. I love a quote from the movie Shawshank Redemption in which Tim Robbins says, "Geat busy livin' or get busy dyin'." This seems to sum up the attitude of the bloggers whose blogs were posted on the 14th thing. Though change is tough, it seems that libraries must change and adopt technologies that will benefit their patrons in locating and utilizing a variety resources found in the library and beyond. As for this library aide, I hope I am up to the task. I don't plan on dyin' anytime soon!

13th Thing: More Ways to Search Blogs

Technorati is a great site for getting up-to-the-minute news on politics, film music, books and a host of other topics. Both the "channel" and "popular" features supplu current information on the previous topics and many more. I searched "jewelry making" and again found some helpful videos on making beaded jewelry. All of this technology is wonderful and also exasperating--wonderful because there is so much useful information at your fingertips and exasperating because of the lack of time to explore it all. I now understand how people can spend hours upon hours searching the web. It can also be a bit overwhelming!

I searched "Learning 2.0" and found the following results:

Blog Directory: 5,893 entries

Tags: 5,893 entries

Blogs: 1,465 entries

12th Thing-Tag, You're It!

I enjoyed going on Del.icio.us and exploring the PRL account. I was impressed by the variety of the bookmarks and especially enjoyed Internet Public Library, the first internet-based library. It is full of useful information and warrents exploration by library staff.

11th Thing: Rolling Along with Rollyo

Rollyo is a fun site. What a great way to view lots of websites about a favorite subject!

By now you have probably guessed that I am bead-obsessed! So I searched "beads" and discovered a myriad of cool bead sites that could keep me busy for days on end, if only I had the time to explore them all. You may view my rollyo at http://rollyo.com/editroll.html?sid=500894.

I also typed in "library" and found a listing of several homepages of libraries around the country. It might be helpful to visit these sites and see what kind of events and services various libraries are offering. We might just get some good ideas for things to offer at our own branches.