23 Finale!

I'm finished with 23 things. I don't know that anything has changed, but I really enjoyed playing around with some of the things. I was aware of some of them, but had never bothered to look at or use them, and this gave me the incentive. (Or excuse, if you'd rather!)


My favorite things were Project Playlist, playing with the image makers, and I've actually enjoyed the blogging parts more than I thought I would. I may just keep that up. I enjoyed reading other participants blogs, and I hope some of them keep it up as well. I'll miss reading them!

Some of the links didn't work when I tried them, and some weren't available anymore because of time limits. That didn't bother me, but might be something to think about next time. I would participate in another program like this - I enjoyed it. 23 Things reinforced concepts I knew, and introduced me to a few sources I wasn't aware of.

Thing 22 Keeping up

I think I'll probably continue to do what I've been doing - I bookmark things of interest to look at later, and use a category "What's New" for blogs and sites that talk about new tools/things/ideas/technologies. I tend to look at things like this when I'm on the Ref Desk - I can interrupt it and come back to it later. I also like using bloglines for this purpose - I can read what I'm interested in and skip the rest, and save what I want to keep.

To be perfectly honest, I doubt that I'll do much with webinars - I can get more by reading and playing around with things on my own. I can see the value of them for long distance teaching, but I prefer other ways of picking things up if I have the choice. I already tend to keep up fairly well with what's going on, and intend to continue. It's always fun to find new toys.

Thing 21

I went ahead and joined Ning - I've been aware of it but haven't done anything with it. One thing I'd like to do is add/join different groups, and find people without having to email them. Maybe there is a way and I haven't figured it out yet. Maybe I won't bother...I did go ahead and upload a profile picture and add a badge to my blog.

I checked out Gather, and while I might not join, I do think I'll go back now and then and read what's going on there. I found a few interesting articles and read them.

So far I'm really enjoying Project Playlist. I've heard of it but never bothered to check it out. The first thing I did was read a few of the playlists, and was pretty..um...discouraged? irritated?? (How could someone put Madonna in the same playlist as Prince? What could they be thinking??) BUT - then I started looking for music that was available, and had a pretty good time. I have pretty eclectic taste, so I think I'll set up a few lists myself. Throw in some Prince to cheer me up if I'm crabby, Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55" to get me ready for the drive home, some Gordon Lightfoot just because...the possibilities are endless!! Oh my gosh - there's even some Brahms. I'm set.

Craftster looks like it could be fun, once I get time again to start crafting. I do have to teach myself to knit (long story) so could maybe find some projects to work on. Fuzzster is fun to look at, but I won't sign up. What the girls don't know won't hurt them. >^..^<

Thing 19 Podcasts

I've listened to Podcasts off and on for awhile. Usually if I'm listening to something, music is my first choice. :-) (Imagine that!) I don't care to download the software on my home computer, which is one reason I like Podcast Alley -some of them are streamed, so it's easy to just click and listen. I like using Bloglines for this reason, too. Since I already use Bloglines, I added a few casts to my account there to check out occasionally. I click on the Play button and I'm good to go. I think some of the more interesting ones are the language ones - very helpful to learn, brush up, or just get the flavor of a language. I found a great cast for one of my colleagues - unfortunately it's in Swedish.

I listened to an Italian language podcast, a few political ones, and a few comedy ones. I found Podcast Alley easy to use, and I liked Podcast.net, when I could get it to work. It was pretty slow to load, and I don't know if it was because of the site itself, or because I was going in through work. There are a lot of blogs to choose on ITunes, if you already use it. Many of those are free as well. I'll probably just keep using Bloglines, since it's easy.

I don't really have an interest in producing my own podcast, but I think it could be very handy for educators to assign casts for students to listen to, or even to put a lecture or two on a podcast for students to be able to listen to - to catch what they may have missed. (Of course, a student would NEVER skip a lecture in favor of a podcast, would they??)

Thing 20 Social Networks

(I'll come back to 19 Podcasts) I joined both Facebook and MySpace some time ago. I check both daily, but if I had to choose, I think I like Facebook better - easier to use, and I like the applications you can add. I've mentioned before that I use Iread, and I also like one of the cd applications. I keep in touch with old friends, family and have made some new friends. And as they join, I've friended classmates from high school and college. With some of my younger family members, I generally either facebook or text them first when I want to get ahold of them. They like it, and I do too. It seems to me that Facebook is growing rapidly; I'm finding "new" people on it all the time. It's probably growing because it's fun and easy, and a nice way to reconnect. Besides, where else can you throw a cow at someone, and not go to jail??

I also have a MySpace account. More of my friends seem to be on Facebook than MySpace, but it's kind of fun to noodle around with the html, although there are tons of sites out there with codes you can use to bling out your page. I do check it often, but I mostly use it to send funny pictures to my friends in the comments field. (LOL cats are good for this!)

It's a good way for libraries to have a presence for teens to see - (facebook doesn't let "organizations" have a page, but they can form a group.) There are fewer limitations on what you can post on MySpace, which can be a reason for concern sometimes. As one of my teen customers said, "there are more cooties on MySpace." One is supposed to be 14 to have a MySpace account, but we all know that is easily sidestepped.

Libraries are using it to promote the library, programs, materials, and anything else the organization wants to promote. When users "friend" a library, the library is able to send bulletins to its friends alerting them to what's going on, or what's new in the library. If nothing else, it can raise awareness for the library. People like to have lots of friends, so they'll probably add the library to their list, accidentally finding out about what's going on there. :-) I will continue to use my own page as I have - to communicate and goof around with my friends and family.

Online Videos

I think YouTube is a lot of fun, and can waste a lot of time looking for/at things that are posted. There are even some Library Training videos to be found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3Jud4b9ik0&feature=PlayList&p=2D6285151E99F565&index=2 I think this one should be required viewing for all library staff. Seriously, though, I did see various training materials on YouTube that could be used at work.

The library system I work for has used YouTube with Teens, and posted some of them.

I didn't see anyone from Minnesota, but I may have caught a glimpse of a librarian I knew in CA. At least it looked like her...Does that count? :-)

I'll use the next video as my "official" uploaded video - I've liked Aimee Mann a long time. This song is by Til Tuesday, (of "Voices Carry" fame ) and this is one of my favs of theirs. I also have her solo cds.



I find YouTube easy to use, and it's a fun way to noodle around. Joking around with my boss, I said that I would look for some Zombie cat videos. I was surprised at how many there are.... I was just kidding! I didn't watch any of them, but some of them looked interesting. Obviously, there's a lot of stupid stuff on YT, but I don't have to watch it, so I don't mind. Since there is so much to find, you could probably find nearly any topic you wished to share.

Making a video might be fun, but that would involve getting a camera. Being a librarian, I'd have to research all the options first, and then I'd miss the deadline for finishing, and not get my prize. What fun is that???

Thing 17 ELM

I've been aware of the extra things you can do here, but hadn't done them very much. I would use the "Folder" functions to save searches I"m doing for customers, and then send the whole thing to them. The webpage idea in Academic Search is fun, but not so useful for me at this time. I didn't see a way to send the whole webpage to anyone - when I emailed it, there was the "content" part and the "page background" part, so it didn't function as a regular webpage. Any additions would have to be saved again, rather than as you're doing it. Saving it to my harddrive was easy, but it's only available within the library I'm at. I think I'm more likely to send a folder full of articles rather than construct a webpage.

The RSS function is nice for someone who is starting research more than a day in advance...:-) We do actually get some kids like that, and if they have a reader they use I'd recommend this to them. I'm not sure how many of our kids do that, though. They always are pleasantly surprised that they can find articles online....

Proquests "My Research" is very handy,(you have to click on marked items to see it) but again, I would most likely send the links in an email, or create a bibliography, rather than creating a webpage. I think the webpages would be very useful in a school setting, where students would have access to the webpage within the building. This could also be used in the work setting to share articles and information.

I've used NetLibrary, and like it. The book in the example doesn't seem to be there anymore, but I find the notes function to be pretty handy.

Thing 16 Student Tools

These could come in very handy. One of my friends is in Nursing School, so I sent these to her to see what she thinks. Generally when we help students at the public library, they're more interested in the materials that they need to write their papers, rather than a time line or planning help, but I do like the explanations and further helps for each stage, and may use those. I could use them as handouts, or adapt them as handouts. I have a feeling college students may find these more useful.

Although I must say, most of the kids that come in need something, like, um, yesterday, so I don't think they would appreciate me mentioning an assignment calculator. Maybe I could stick a printout with the websites inside one of the books they get so they could keep it for future reference!

Thing 15 Gaming

Hmph. I read/looked at the Second Life and Pirates stuff, and one thing that struck me right away, is that to have the full experience of a "fake" life you have to pay "real" money. As one of my colleagues says, "you have to pay real money for fake stuff." I watched Visit to Info Island, and while it was probably fun to create, it did nothing for me. (And why do they always have to use such boring music? Have they ever heard of Modulation??) I see no reason that my library should have a presence, at quite a cost, on Second Life, when they can't seem to come up with enough to pay us a decent salary, or to support a decent collection. The Pirate Puzzle might be interesting, but I prefer puzzles just for their own sake. I can't see myself paying to advance beyond cabin mate, so probably wouldn't stick around there long. This topic kind of annoys me so I'll stop here.


We don't seem to have any demand for Second Life at my library - in fact, I've never even been asked about it. We do have a lot of kids playing Runescape, and lots of the games on Nick and Disney. While they may teach some hand eye co-ordination, the jury still is out on what benefit there really is. One can find all sorts of research to support either position. We have kids here all day playing Runescape, and our internet service really slows down when school is out. I have no problem with kids using the computers, but I do have a problem with the behavior that seems to accompany a lot of the online games. "yes, you do need to let someone else have a computer now" "No, you can't call me a B...." Who knows whether it's because of the game, or just the person?

Our library has had gaming afternoons, and those have been kind of fun. Kids I know have been impressed with how good I am at Guitar Hero - (after all, I'm a music major!) and DDR looks like it would be fun, too. I haven't seen that it brings in kids that don't already come, but that may not be the case everywhere.

I do enjoy online games such as Bookworm, TriPeaks, Bejeweled, and 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, although I'm stuck on the building that looks like an anchor. And I keep wanting to organize the little Egyptian guys into their own local. I think they work too hard. :-)

Thing 14 Things about Thing

I already have an account set up on LibraryThing, but I tend to use IRead on Facebook more, mainly because I use FB daily, and also because I like it. I also still like to jot down what I'd like to read in a notebook - I still like the feel of pen on paper. In fact, I just like pens and paper - I have more than I'll ever use.

I do find LT handy to use, but I'm going to have to upgrade to a paid membership soon if I keep this up. I like the tagging and headings functionality, and the ability to see reviews. I especially like the Librarians who LibraryThing messageboards - they're always fun to read.

LT would be a lot of fun to use for sharing booklists, displaying new books, and the like. Our customers here love the paper booklists I create, and it would be fun to have duplicates online as well. (It certainly would be easier to update them in a timely fashion!) I do some of the online booklists and blogs for my library and think it's a great way to highlight something I just read, or different categories within a genre. LT could be used this way as well. Then a smaller library might not have to cut a librarian position for coders. (That was something in the 2.0 readings that I thought was really silly. I mean REALLY silly. But, just wait until I post about Second Life...)

Thing 13 Productivity is me!

I set up my page in igoogle and yahoo. I didn't do anything with pageflakes since I wouldn't be likely to go back to it. With yahoo or google you can do more from the page, so it seems more useful to me. I preferred igoogle, and will probably use that more. I 'm having fun looking through the gadgets you can add, and have put a few in. Quite a few, actually....I found igoogle easier to use, and I liked the functionality of setting up the tabs. This is the one I'm most likely to use.

I looked quickly at Backpack and some of the other calendars in the article. Backpack had a lot of functionality that I probably wouldn't use - and, of course, a fee if one wanted the interesting stuff. :-) One of them looked like it was pay-only now. So, I looked at google and yahoo calendars. I use Outlook extensively at work - I'll put things I want to remember to do in, and it pops up to remind me. I also make lists of tasks to complete, etc. I probably won't use the online calendars much, since I mostly use that type of thing at work, and I can do it in Outlook. I also use the calendar in my cellphone to remind me of things - appointments, something I want to remember to do tomorrow, etc.

I looked at the Stickies, and since I can't download at work, didn't try them. I did run across another similar site, Diigo.com that looked interesting. I think one can do a lot of the same things in google notebook, so I may download that at home. It would be interesting to see how the stickies work on a webpage, especially since I tend to bookmark a lot of interesting things. I have been known to change the name in a bookmark to something more descriptive of what I want to do there....

Zamzar and PDF converter and nice to use - didn't try CutePDF since I can't download anything like that at work. We get a lot of people who need to open a document that isn't supported - WP, or different versions of Word, and Excel, mainly. Zamzar could really help with this.

I don't think I'd use most of these applications much - but they're handy to be aware of to recommend them to someone who asks. The list applications are nice in theory, but it's a lot quicker to stick a note in my pocket, or write it on my hand than to bother with going online.

Thing 12 I can Digg it

I've been reading on Digg and Reddit for quite awhile. I also like Fark just for the funny titles and interesting, offbeat things that turn up there. I looked at Mixx and might check that again, but I don't know that I'll use Newsvine much. I've never bothered to register for any of them, because I just like reading the submissions, but am not interested in voting up or down, etc. I've definitely read a lot of things that I might not have otherwise seen, which is both good and bad, I suppose. I tend to just copy and paste urls to send articles on via email, since most of the people I would send things to find this easier. I'd rather do that than sign up for yet another service to remember - especially since I can get what I want out of them without signing up.

It could be useful to save articles and/or websites for customers and students that are doing research - a library could set up one or more reference accounts, and students could then check the reference profile(s) to see what they've saved. Some of the services allow for blogging, and that would be useful as well.

Depending on the day, these services can be both productive and distracting. Some days there are many articles or postings I want to check out, some days none. They don't always have much to do with work, but since librarians are supposed to know what's going on, that's my excuse. :-) Let's call it cultural literacy, ok??

Thing 11 Tags!

I've been using del.icio.us for quite awhile - although it's taken me almost as long to type the address properly. De.lici.ous and various combinations don't work. It seems to me that my computer(s) should realize what I MEANT to type after all this time, instead of what I did type, but no such luck. This is why book marks are so great - if I can't type that one, just think what I'd do with something REALLY complicated! I'm not always at my own computer when I want to show someone something - so I appreciate being able to log into Del. etc. and get to my links.

I use de. to keep track of things that I'm interested in, or things I come across at work that I may want to look at at home. Librarians and teachers could use it for projects - for example, a teacher could use de., furl, etc to save links and research they want their students to see and/or use. Librarians could do this as well for subject and research guides. (pathfinders, anyone?) Some of the libraries we saw link by general topic, others by Dewey categories. Personally I prefer Dewey, but it works either way.

Thing 10 Wikis

I'm pretty familiar with Wikis - I'll occasionally use wikipedia as a starting point, and have seen quite a few wikis on a variety of topics - some better than others, of course. I did find some of the readings interesting, and enjoyed checking out some of the wikis mentioned. The idea of anyone being able to contribute is fun - everyone has their own expertise and it can be valuable to see more than one viewpoint about a topic. That being said, the age old question remains though - authority. This isn't such an issue for every wiki, but of course librarians are concerned about this, and rightly so. There is a lot of bad information out there, and I can understand a teacher's concern about using Wikipedia as a source. I use it as a starting point, but don't rely on its information without double checking.

It seems to me that a teacher has to be careful about limiting sources, but we are all well aware that information found out on the web sometimes must be taken with a grain of salt - if at all. That's where authority control can be important.

Wikis can be very useful for many different organizations - libraries, schools, families....One of my friends set up a wiki for family pictures, and we even taught her grandma to log in. A great way for her to be able to keep up with those grandkids! Those working on group projects might find a wiki very useful as well. Class assignments could even be done as a wiki since modifications are tracked. Each person/group could work on an aspect of a topic, and the information can be shared. The teacher could be the moderator, and update/correct as needed.

I just noodled around a little on the front page of the 23 Things wiki to see how it works. Didn't have much of interest to say! :-)

Thing 8 again

I played around with Lazy Base and Zoho. Zoho's database looked familiar to me, so it was fairly easy to use. When I was going to LazyBase, I thought to myself, "oh, no - not another login and password to remember!" I was very pleased to see that there wasn't one. That in itself makes it worth recommending. I found that one a little more cumbersome, but certainly easy enough.
For most of my recordkeeping, I find it just as easy to use Excel to keep track of things vs setting up a database and entering information there. I can just re-sort the spreadsheet to see what I want rather than having to query a DB. For example, I've done some of our CDs on a spreadsheet - mainly to have something to take along if I go to Cheapo's or somewhere like that. Having the spreadsheet (many pages, now) helps keep me from buying something I already have. When you have well over 2000 (at last count) CDs it's hard to remember what you have. Perhaps I should weed! Now - there's a novel idea. :-)
I certainly would use Zoho or lazybase for customers. I think since Zoho has more functionality, I would recommend that first, since there generally is more need for word processing, etc, than databases here.
I think Efolio could be very useful, especially for jobseekers or artists seeking work. It's easy to just refer someone to a website so they can see what you've posted for your portfolio, resume, etc. I think some of our customers might find it too challenging. but those with a little tech savvy will feel right at home. A library could even use it to show customers what they can do there.

Cats Picture Trail

Thing 8 Pic Trail

I used Picture Trail to create a "peel" and will post it above. It's too large to comfortably fit on the side of my blog - that might work better on one with only two columns. Again, I used the cats. I like the result, but getting it done was a pain in the neck. When you sign up, you have to go through at least three "Offers" (which of course is why this is free, but it's still annoying). I didn't find PT particularly user friendly at first - to look at or do something in the album you save, you would think to click on albums, but it's manage pictures. Little things like that. You make an album first, and it wasn't immediately obvious to me how to just move the album over to use for the effects. Once I saw it, though, it was pretty straightforward.

Thing 8 Girlz in the House

I did a quick slideshow using Zoho - of course, I used the cats. They don't need releases, for one thing! I found Zoho quite easy to use, especially for a quick presentation like this. I was able to figure out how to upload it fairly quickly, too, after I figured out that I couldn't seem to just plop it into the body of the post. I put it at the bottom, and made it a little smaller by changing the settings in the html. I was careful to keep them proportional so it wouldn't get skewed. Perhaps I'll use the same pictures and try them in Picture trail - I like the look of it on 23 Things, but am dreading the ads!

Thing 7 part 1

For this one, I didn't have to do much extra reading, since I've had email for over 10 years, and at present have - let's see - 4 various email accounts. I only use two for "everyday" and the Yahoo and Google basically came with the package of what else I'm doing with Yahoo and Google. I love email and use it all the time. We use it now to keep in touch with far-flung family and friends. I also use my work email to keep up on some of the listservs I belong to, and to communicate back and forth with colleagues both in my building and in other branches of my library system. My library uses email reference extensively and customers love it. We answer questions from all over the world. It saves customers time, but limits do need to be put on how many requests/questions etc can be submitted in a day.
I've been using IM for years too, and still use it almost daily. It's a great way to keep in touch with family and friends, again. We have the capability here at work, but sometimes it's easier to just shoot off an email, so I can remember what we were talking about - especially if it's planning something. Some of my library school classmates and I im regularly to keep up with each other (we also use facebook for that...) IM for reference is good for quick questions, but usually ends up being quite cumbersome for involved or lengthy questions. It also may depend on the customer's computer skills and capabilities. I haven't installed Meebo yet but probably will.
I use text messaging every day. In fact, I had to go with the 500 message option on my phone plan since I often ended up going over my initial "allotment." I use it for family and friends, but haven't used it for work.

Thing 6

Well - that's what I get for not reading ahead. I created a "trading card" in step 5. Oops.

I'm having fun fooling around with these - via Big Huge Labs, I made a magazine cover using my nephew, and discovered you have to use a fairly big picture or it won't work. I suppose the cats will want their own cover now, too - and my nieces, and....

I also made a bumper sticker - and it actually looks like it could be on my car, since that's the color of my car. (Can you guess what I drive?)

These generators could come in very handy for doing presentations, handouts and the like. I do a lot of various handouts for classes, tutorials, bookmarks, and various other printed materials, and I can see myself using some of these. I do a lot of powerpoint as well and might incorporate some of these in presentations. We could make some of the badges for volunteers just for fun. I really need to stop this and get on to the next thing!