#23 Summary Thoughts

As a measure of how fast technology is evolving, parts of this program seemed outdated already and it was frustrating that many of the links no longer worked. Programs like this in the future should probably have an online manager to check and update the material.
I did enjoy learning about some online tools that I had not yet ventured into - RSS feeds, newsreaders, and podcasts. The style of learning - self-paced personal exploration is effective but needs group follow-up. At Davis I am planning a staff meeting where we will share our experience of 23 Things, what we learned, what questions we may have, where to go from here in staying up to date with the fast pace of technological change.

#22

Here I tackled a topic I really haven't become adept at yet - I just prefer an actual book to a downloadable or audio book. It did give me an opportunity to explore the revised LibGuide to eBooks on the MCPL website - it is very well organized and has a lot of helpful information for late adapters like me. I feel better able to help patrons with their questions after reviewing this site. I found some very interesting choices on Project Gutenberg - because their titles have expired copyright there are many old titles and editions. I decided to download Costumes of the Middle Ages and Renaissance - I thought the illustrations would be interesting to see on the screen.

#21

I explored podcasts this evening, first a general podcast directory and then gravitating naturally to the NPR site where you can subscribe to podcasts of your favorite programs - talk or music. I don't think I am as excited about podcasts as I am by other online activities. I have iTunes on my Mac at home but I've never really got into it. Ah well, let she who is without a sense of humor cast the first pod!

#20

Exploring YouTube can really be a depressing business when there is so much stupidity to wade through! And cruelty - the main page today featured an obese teen singing very badly and was obviously there because people enjoy laughing at her. I've had the most experience using it to find authors reading from or discussing their work. I embed them in the Discussion Guides I create for the Readers' Cafe. I've also enjoyed finding video of singers and bands from my youth in England in the 60's. A very nostalgic experience! Today I decided to find video of my favorite opera aria - Purcell's Dido's Lament. It is very interesting to see different versions and compare the changing styles in staging and costume over the years. The best version I saw today is here:

Lulu

Of the listed award winning sites to explore I chose Lulu, an online publishing site, well - because my brother's books are available there. I wanted to learn more about the world of online publishing. I was impressed with the variety of services Lulu offers. Some are widely available elsewhere, for example photo books, but Lulu also offers full publishing services including editing and cover design, ebooks, and music CDs - just upload your music and design the case! Lulu prints on demand as site visitors purchase items. Services like this are challenging the business model of traditional publishers and also have implications for libraries. More books in the future will be downloaded to a portable device and many trees will be saved. Authors who self-publish at Lulu or similar sites market their own books and sometimes get picked up by traditional publishers. If you don't care about fame and fortune but just want to create a book of family history for your relatives Lulu is the perfect place.

#18

I'm already a user of googledocs which I find very useful for working on projects from home or office without having to email documents back and forth.

Kicked out of the Sandbox!

I feel like a little kid left out of the sandbox when all the other kids get to play! I am attempting #17 which is supposed to be fun - I could not sign in to the Maryland Libraries Sandbox. The link from the 23 Things page just asks for email address and gives a generic password. That didn't work so I clicked "help" and found a way to sign up for PB. Then when I tried to log in I was told I did not have access to the workspace. So I emailed a question to the "contact." Even that was fraught - I couldn't read two of the squiggley words. So now I have completed one of the web's frustrating sessions of spinning wheels pointlessly. Ah well, it is all a learning experience! I will await an answer to my email, if it hasn't disappeared into some black hole, so I can continue on the 23 Things track.

#16

All the links for this unit were working so I was able to get along today with fewer roadblocks! I visited several wikis, including the Princeton Library book wiki which was created for a summer reading program and allowed patrons to contribute their own book reviews. A good idea to engage patrons in the library web site, but the reviews themselves are a bit like reading those customer comments on amazon.com. More successful, in my view, is the Library Success wiki for sharing best practices. This demonstrates that if the community involved in creating a wiki have some professional interest and standards in common the end result is better quality. I think there are many potential uses for wikis in MCPL.

Library 2.0

I read all the referenced articles on web 2.0 and library 2.0 , finding most useful the discussion of library OPACs and how they are evolving in a 2.0 environment. The idea that all library services should be user driven is not new, but the technologies available to make that a reality are what is driving current change. I would just be happy to have a more user-friendly OPAC right now - the present catalog is the source of endless patron complaints and difficulties. Reading these conceptual articles is like looking through a glass at an idealized future world, one that may be hard to create in the current budget environment.

On a Roll

I am really on a roll today - stymied again at #14 by broken links and disappeared tutorials. I think the problem is that the 23 things training was written quite some time back and is not updated.
However, I did explore Technorati and found another resource to learn about tags:
http://www.wolf-howl.com/blogs/how-to-use-tagging/

13 spells doom

Well I'm definitely experiencing the web of doom today! And on unlucky #13 too! None of the links to resources for Delicious work, not even the "essential" 12 minute video. The message says it is no longer available.
Can I give myself a free pass for #13 because I use Delicious already to manage book discussion site bookmarks for the Readers' Cafe?

#12 delayed

Well I started on #12 today and encountered the dreaded site maintenance message - Rollyo is undergoing much needed maintenance and will be back soon. No definition of "soon." So it's on to #13 for me.

LibraryThing

This afternoon I explored LibraryThing and completed the assignment of adding five books. I started a project to add my Top Twenty favorite books. Here's a link to my catalog:

I was amazed at the variety of things you can do in addition to listing books. I went to the local page to see book related events in my area. I know why I haven't got into this much before - it is addictive - I could go on adding books all day!

#9

I'm on number 9, number 9, number 9..... and it's a really cool number. I especially enjoyed LetterJames - put your own wording on a variety of photographs, even trace your name in the sand or post it on a billboard over Times Square. I made this image of my grandsons' names on a London street sign.
OK now I've found this wonderful toy I'll never get back to work. But wait - this is work, I have to complete 23 Things. How lucky am I!

Merlin and more web wizardry

I explored Merlin and added it to my Google Reader newsfeed. The sites for finding feeds were new to me and wonderful to explore.

More RSS fun

So giving up on Blogspot I decided to try another RSS site: Google Reader which was recommended in one of the 23Things RSS tutorials. I successfully subscribed to two feeds only to find that I had actually subscribed to 287 feeds! I didn't notice that I was subscribing to "bundles" of feeds, not single sites. Now my reader is clogged with way too much information. Next task - learn to unsubscribe!

Technology glitches

Of course it would be impossible to get through 23 Things without any technical glitches and that is what I encountered this morning as I tried to complete Thing #8 RSS feeds. I dutifully signed up at Blogspot and waited for my confirmation email to activate the account. Nothing happening - huge waste of time! I'll just read blogs for a while!