Thing 22 - Staying Current

I've learned quite a bit during the past 21 Things. Some Things I will use everyday, some every so often, but others probably never again. But I don't feel like those Things that I didn't like as much were a waste of time. I'd like to hope that I will be able to pass along tools and tips along to patrons, coworkers, or friends. At the beginning of this, I had considered myself pretty knowledgeable when it came to the web, but I was wrong. I was surprised how many things I was missing out on. I am going to try and keep up with new things that will inevitably pop up on the web and pass it on. I'm definitely going to keep blogging; there's something almost therapeutic about it. I will probably make a new blog and really make it my own with all the new tools I've discovered. Our library district has already started incorporating many of the new tools which is awesome. We just launched a new website, and it really is amazing how great it looks and how many different things you can do on it. Everyone that I know who has been working along through these 23 Things has been very enthusiastic. It's great to know that others are excited about using these tools in our libraries and are willing to step out of their comfort zones and embrace Library 2.0. Like I said in my second post, the web is constantly changing and evolving, and Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 are not the end. My guess is we've already moved on to maybe Web 2.2. Let's keep it going!

Thing 21 - Student 2.0 Tools

The Assignment Calculator and the Research Project Calculator could be really helpful for students. Some students need to have a schedule and stick to it in order to finish a project or paper in a timely and well-done manner. I can't remember how many times I waited until the last minute to do a project and had to stay up late into the night to finish it because I didn't realize how long it was going to take me. I think I work best under pressure, but who knows maybe my work could have been a whole lot better if I had planned ahead. I really liked the teachers' guide section in the Research Project Calculator. It had tons of possible worksheets and ideas for how to approach an assignment. Links to these sites on our website and at our reference desks could really help out students as well as teachers. We could also give the links to the homework helpers that come to the libraries. I'm sure they get lots of questions about different research projects.

Thing 20 - Books 2.0

This was a long one! I started off reading the articles at the beginning. I had never heard of Kindle before so I was a little confused with the first one. So I Wikipedia-ed it and figured it out. I can't believe that I had never heard anything about Kindle before; it's kinda surprising. It would be nice to have if you hate carrying around lunky books, perfect for traveling. It's very interesting that libraries are technically allowed to check out Kindle books free of charge. I was very surprised at that. I'm sure Kindle will add a library fee once it starts catching on.

I really enjoyed the article Literacy Debate: Online R U Really Reading? I for one think that reading online is still reading. It's true that traditional grammar is often overlooked, and abbreviations and shortcuts are the way to go, but reading is much more than just helping grasp the grammatical concepts of the English language. I feel like this is the natural progression of things. We no longer speak or write like they did in Shakespeare's time, so why should we be so worried that our written language is evolving now? As for the tests that measure a student's reading comprehension and grammar skills, I think they are stupid. Standarized tests have always been crap. (On a side note, my boyfriend is in grad school for criminology and is currently doing research on university students' perceptions of delinquency and self control. In order to measure their self control, one of the questions on his survey asked if they thought getting good grades was very important. He asked me that same question, and I said they were very important. The thing is that I think the way we are graded is absolutely ridiculous, but I realize that in this society, those grades are important. So instead of thinking its very important to get good grades just because, I think its important in order to get ahead in this society. More opportunities are open to you if you are perceived as "smart" even though the actual tests and grading don't really accurately measure a person's intelligence. Sorry for the tangent...) Internet reading opens up whole other doors for people of all ages. You are able to be creative and add to the content. You have interaction among other internet users from all over the globe. Don't get me wrong, I love reading books, but for those that have trouble sitting down and reading, the internet can help provide some of the same things that books do.

I am just going to list the websites I went to in the Learn section and then touch on the ones I really enjoyed. It went to: BooksInMyPhone, ReadingTrails, BookLamp, BookStumpers, Overbooked, BookGlutton, Booksprouts, Librivox, BookBrowse, Facebook app Visual Bookshelf, SwapTree, and BookCrossing. Most of them were pretty good, but there were only a few I would go back to. ReadingTrails was neat. It's a nice place to go if you don't know what book to read next. BookStumpers was awesome! I read this book in middle school, and for the life of me I can't remember the title or the author. So I think I'm going to add it onto that site and see if anyone else knows it. Booksprouts would be great for a book club. I'm sure we could use it in our library. We could start one and have a link to it from our website. Librivox is pretty cool. I'm not much of an audiobook listener, but I know people who are and they would love it. I really want to look more at BookBrowse. It looked like it would be a great place to find really good books. If I had known about the Visual Bookshelf app for Facebook, I would have gotten it a long time ago. It's a perfect, condensed list of books that I'm reading, want to read, and have read. And last but not least BookCrossing was by far the neatest. It reminds me of the Where's George site for dollar bills, but much cooler. If I can part with one of my books, I'm going to release it into the wild!

Thing 19 - Other Social Networks

Social networks are great if you're looking to share a common interest with others. I haven't joined any before, so I tried to look at a few. I went to WebJunction, Ning, and Gather. They were ok, but nothing too special. So then I tried the book ones, but I still really love LibraryThing so they weren't too exciting. Then I went to Fuzzster. I love my cat and am a animal lover in general, but I'm not THAT crazy about them. Some people were posting as if they were their animal. That's great for them, but it's just not for me. It didn't have too much networking abilities or gadgets. Someone even made a post that asked what the whole point of the website was, and he had been a member for awhile. Then I went to Bake Space, and that was more like it. I'm not a big cook or baker, but I do like trying. It was totally packed with recipes, comments, and networking abilities. Now that's what I call a social network! I will probably go back to Bake Space again, and maybe I'll try to find some more social networks that really speak to my interests.

Thing 18 - Facebook and MySpace

I've had Facebook for over 5 years, so I pretty much know everything about it. I tried MySpace out once. I created my page, added friends, but never really got into it. I never looked at it so I decided just to delete my account. I'm much more of a Facebook girl. I used to be addicted to it, checking it at least 10 times a day, but now that I'm out of college, I'm lucky if I check it once a month. It definitely has great advantages, so I won't be deleting my profile anytime soon.

I checked out some of the listed libraries' MySpace pages. ACLD's seems to be lacking a little bit. It could be updated more often and have more apps added to it for sure. I know that with our new website, we are going to have a lot more gadgets and info available for the public, and I hope they spread that onto the MySpace page as well.

Anyway, not much more to add. This Thing was easy.

Thing 17 - Podcasts

I have tried listening to podcasts before, but found them boring. They are kinda like books on CD/tape; you wouldn't want to listen to them while you're just sitting around doing nothing. They are better if you are doing something, like driving or folding laundry. I don't like to be tied to the computer (my computer at home is in an office away from everything else that we have to keep closed so my cat doesn't chew through all the wires), so probably if I downloaded some podcasts onto my iPod, I could get into them more. I listened to Mugglecast very briefly. I think I could enjoy it if it were portable. I also went to Gcast and looked around. If I had anything I wanted to say, I would definitely make a podcast through them. It's amazing how you just have to phone in. I hate the sound of my voice though, so I probably won't make one anytime soon. Maybe I'll make my boyfriend do one...

Thing 16 - YouTube

Thing 15 - Rollyo

Rollyo is a pretty cool idea if you want to create your own search engine. I thought you would have to know all this HTML to create one yourself, so its nice there's a site that does it for you. I really wasn't sure what engine I would want or need to create, so I looked through some of their examples. I was an Anthropology major as an undergrad, so I decided to do one that fits my interests there. I just did a really quick one and added National Geographic, Smithsosian, and The Discovery Channel sites. I called it popular science because that's what they are, a version of science that is presented by popular demand. Here is the link to it: My Popular Science. Rollyo could definitely be used in the library. It would be nice to create search engines that we could put on our new website for different categories of books, government sites, or local sites. There are definitely some possibilities that could be explored.

Thing 14 - Online Productivity Tools

I started off with the customized homepage. I really liked the look of iGoogle, but I have a Yahoo email account so I figured that I should make one through My Yahoo. I wasn't really a fan. Then I noticed you could have a widget for GMail and hoped that iGoogle did the same and made a widget for Yahoo Mail. It did! So I ended up making a homepage through iGoogle and really liked it. As far as the calendars are concerned, I like having a hard copy of my caledar. I tend to look at it more it I have it handwritten posted up on the wall. I can see how it would be handy though. Same thing with Ta Da List and Remeber the Milk. I don't make lists that often, but when I do I have either handwritten it out, or if its a really big list for a trip or something, I will type it up in Microsoft Word. Online lists could be helpful for some people though. The Backpack tool would be great for small businesses. For ALCD, we already have an intranet and department share files, so I don't think we could benefit that much from Backpack. The PDF Converters are really nice though. I always hated not being able to change text on a PDF. So I definitely could use those in the future. All in all, I don't think most of these online productivity tools are right for me. I'm already productive enough haha :)

Thing 13 - Library Thing

I LOVE LibraryThing!!! It's the best thing ever! I could spend hours and hours on it (and I probably will). I've already found 6 books through recommendations that I'm going to go check out during my lunch break. I've been wanting to create a list of books I've read/want to read but haven't really had the time to. So needless to say, I have about a million little post-it notes or pieces of paper with random books I've run across but haven't had the time to read. I had attempted to keep track of my favorite books on my Facebook page, but you have to type in the whole title and author and for some reason I have an awful time trying to remember authors' names (pretty bad especially since I work in a library :P) . LibraryThing makes it so easy to add books. Now I can list all the books I've read and just tag all the want-to-reads in one section! The LibraryThing Local shows venues and events going on in whatever location you want to look up. I looked up Gainesville, it showed a program being offered HQ. I wonder if there is a way to post each of the branches as well. Patrons could easily use it. ACLD could add a profile on which staff could make recommendations or tag books. LibraryThing has lots of possibilities; I'm going to go explore it more!

Thing 12 - Wikis

I had heard the term wiki floating around a lot at Millhopper and Tower, but I was never sure what it meant. Of course, I knew what Wikipedia was, but I didn't know what the "wiki" part meant. I use Wikipedia all the time. It's usually just trivial things I can't remember or something I've always wondered about, like who was that guy in that movie? or how do I take care of this type of plant? or would a piranha really eat a human? I used it just the other day to try and find out more about an author and what other books she has written. Even my hometown has its own Wikipedia page. It was neat to learn about all the random facts I had never known before. I see Wikipedia as a general information site, a starting point. Because every time I use Wikipedia, I always keep in the back of my mind that some of the info may not be true. It's monitored fairly well, but a wiki by definition means that anyone can create or change its content. I was watching tv one night, I think it was the Colbert Report or Conan O'Brian, and he was able to get his viewing audience to change content on one of the Wikipedia pages to something completely false. So you always have to be careful. But I still think it's a good starting point, and there are usually credible links at the bottom of each page providing you with more information. Wikipedia was always banned from my high school and college reference lists. But that didn't stop me from using it as a jumping off point. One of my Political Science professors during my senior year of college actually allowed us to use it, saying it was credible.

As for using wikis in the library, I wish I had asked more questions about them. I don't know what they are being used for presently, so I'm not sure where they will be in the future. Maybe wikis could be created on our website so patrons, staff, and the public could add info to it. In schools, it would be a neat project if students were given a topic and told to create their own wiki. It would not only teach them research skills, but also help with typing and general computer skills (even though kids are waaaaayyy ahead of all of us when it comes to computers).

I tried my skills at adding to a wiki by going to the Neflin 23 Things Wiki. I just added some comments about Wikipedia, nothing fancy. You could spend lots of time on a page, organizing and adding. If I have time in the future, I would love to create my own site. Maybe someday...

Thing 11 - Social Media

I went to all of the social media sites listed and really liked Digg. So I got an article from the BBC and added it. Someone had already added it, so I just "digged" it. I really like these social media sites because every news site is biased in some way. Whether it's liberal, conservative, entetainment, or just going for the sensational, those who run the network/newspaper/website choose what news is going to be presented. So it's nice to have articles from a wide variety of news sites all in one place. It makes for a much more diverse view of the world. And plus, there would be no way I could keep up with all the news stories from all the different sites out there. Word of mouth (or in this case digging) is much better at spreading news that people are interested in than going to all those different sites. I'm not sure exactly how these social media sites can be used in the library though. Maybe they can be used for research purposes or just for general knowledge. I think maybe the best way to use it would be to keep up with what patrons are interested in so we can tailor our programs and collection to their needs and interests. Hmmm...

Thing 10 - Tagging and Delicious

I know it's been awhile since I posted, but I have been trying to keep up with my 23 Things. I went through Thing 10 awhile ago, but when it came to setting up a Delicious account, I wanted to do it on my own computer so I could set up my Delicious buttons in my own browser. So of course, I kept forgetting to do it when I got home. So while at work, I just moved on to Thing 11 before finishing Thing 10. I also just started a new job in the District this week. I'm now the new Staff Assistant I in Administration yay! And now I have my own desk and computer at work so to make a long story short, I can finally blog about Delicious because I set up my account yesterday on my new computer. It's really great! I don't know how many times I used a computer somewhere else (library, work, home desktop, boyfriend's laptop, parents' desktop, friend's computer) and needed a page that I had bookmarked on my laptop. It's great to be able to access my bookmarks from anywhere! I wish I had known about this while I was in college! It would have made life so much easier with all the websites I had to remember and papers I had to write! Ugh!! At least I now have it when I finally decide to start grad school. Tagging is also very helpful. Right now, I don't have too much need for it because I don't have a ton of bookmarks. But for people in school or those that use a lot of websites for their jobs, it is definitely helpful. Ok now I can finally blog about Thing 11!

Thing 9 - Sharing Slides, Photos, and Databases

Yay it worked! This thing started off annoying me to no end. I kept avoiding it. First, I wanted to make a database because it was something I had never done before, but the website wouldn't let me (it wasn't just me, others couldn't do it either). I didn't want to make a photo slideshow because I had already done that in Flickr. So that left me with a slideshow. I didn't realize slideshow meant Power Point (I was thinking it was just another version of a photo slideshow), so I didn't want to do that either. But eventually I went to the websites just to get it over with. I signed up for Slideshare, and I realized that it only uploads slideshows you have already created with another program that you had to buy (i.e. Microsost Power Point). So that was a bust. Then I went to Zoho Show, and it actually let you make a slideshow right there on the website. It turned out to be pretty cool. It's nice to know that you don't have to buy a program in order to make a slideshow. I have used Power Point many times for school projects, so I knew generally how to use Zoho Show. Things are in different places, but you can do a lot of the same stuff. Above is the result. So now I am finally past Thing 9!!

Thing 8 - Communication - Web 2.0 Style

There really wasn't much for me to do with this Thing because I already know everything about instant messaging and text messaging. I have had AIM and Yahoo! Messenger for years. And texting is an everyday occurrence. But I've never been in a web conference before. I do know generally what it is and how it works, but I just have never been in the position to need to use it. It's a great idea though. In my other part-time job, the managers always get together for conference calls. I think they could benefit from web conferencing. And I could see how the library managers from different branches could meet together in a web conference. Also I'm sure Administration could definitely use it as well. They deal with different boards and the public, and I'm sure at times, a web conference could be useful.

I did try the challenge though and signed up for Twitter and Meebo. Meebo is really cool. I love having all of my IM accounts in one place. Twitter is neat too, but none of my friends have it so I need to get them to join so I have someone to Tweet to. But I do like it. It is kind of similar to updating your status on Facebook but a little more versatile.

I always have felt that communication is the key to any relationship (coworker/coworker, bf/gf, parent/child, patron/staff, branch/branch, county/county, etc, etc, etc). So if there is something out there that increases the amount of communication among people, I'm all for it.

Thing 7 - Online Image Generators

This Thing was a lot of fun. I could spend hours surfing around those few sites. I especially loved Toon Doo. I tried to make a cartoon to post here, but all of my jokes are too lame lol. All of the sites were really easy to navigate and figure out, and they can definitely be used in the library. I really liked the idea of making trading cards. They were pretty neat. A lot of the images could be used for posters, bulletin boards, or for different programs. There are a lot of things the online image generators could be used for.

Thing 6 - Flickr Mashups

Most of the mashups, weba apps, and tools I searched through were pretty neat. Some of them were kind of confusing though. I could not figure out Clockr for the life of me. I just clicked on the link, and it took me to this completely black site with the time at the top. But the time was in normal numbers, and I couldn't figure out how to get them to change to random photos. Oh well. Anyways, I did get the Spell with Flickr to work out as seen in my previous post. It took me a couple of tries to figure out how to actually post it on my blog, but I worked it out in the end. The Neflin blog said each site would have easy instructions on how to put each mashup on your blog, but they didn't. Ok you copy the code, but then what? Paste it where? They should be more explicit. I also found a cool Flickr tool that let me make a slideshow of my photos. It is now playing at the left of my blog. Sifting through all the apps and tools can be challenging, especially because there are so many of them and it seems like there are many that are very similar. But once you find ones that you can use, they are great. Any website can be spiced up with a variety of mashups.

Thing 5 - Flickr

Flickr is not too new for me. I used to have a Webshots account a few years back where I posted my pictures, but now I usually just post them on Facebook. Same type of thing. The organization on Flickr is a little different with the use of tags. The tags are kind of nice because you can take photos months apart that have something in common but that would normally be put in different albums. Picnik is pretty cool too. Webshots and Facebook don't let you edit your pictures right there, so I really like that. Flickr would be great for the library. There are plenty of pictures that can be shared with our patrons through a Flickr account. With the Alachua and Millhopper renovations, it would be nice to keep the patrons involved with the processes. I have seen quite a few pictures sent over email, but it would be great for the public to see not just staff. Pictures from the Homecoming parade, the Friends of the Library booksale, different events and programs that have been offered at each library, events around the community, even pictures of the library staff. Anything to get the patrons involved and asking for more. Two thumbs up for Flickr!

Thing 4 - RSS and Newsreaders

I have always seen those little symbols on websites, but never paid much attention to them. RSS is pretty cool. It's nice to have all of these different websites in one place. I have always used bookmarks and favorites to one click my favorite websites. In some respects it's not that much different. I only have to open one screen to get to either my bookmarks or to the RSS aggregator. And many different websites are just a click away. The differences: bookmarks allow you to mark any website not just those with RSS feeds (for instance, my email, my work schedule for my other job, etc.) but the RSS aggregator tells you when a website has been updated. For different blogs that you always check, I think the aggregator would be great, but for things like news websites that are constantly updated bookmarks work just as well. I set up my Bloglines aggregator a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't gone to it since. I think I'm just in the habit of using bookmarks. A new website, username, and password is just too much to remember. Maybe I'll bookmark Bloglines! That will definitely help my apathy towards using it!

Thing 3 - Blog Search Tools

I didn't know that there were such things as blog search tools. Whenever I have found blogs in the past, it has been either through friends or just a simple google search. Technorati is pretty neat; all those blogs in one place! But I found it a little difficult to use the right keywords. All blogs are usually not about just one thing. So if you're looking for a blog about the Middle East for instance, any and every blog that has the words "Middle East" come up, whether it's relevant or not. I did search for "libraries" and got some good hits, but for certain subjects I think it takes quite a bit of sifting through. I guess it's a good resource to know, but I don't know if I will use it much in my everyday life. Maybe if I was just surfing the web, looking for something to do, I might get on Technorati. Also I don't know how many times I've broken some electronic device that I threw the directions for away, and found someone in the blogging world that knows exactly how to fix it. There's a lot of information out there on blogs that can be tapped into, if only we can find it. So in that way, I definitely see the possibilities to use Technorati in the library.

Thing 2 - Web 2.0

I'm just going to admit it: I had never even heard of Web 2.0. The web has always just been the Web to me. Maybe it's because I grew up on computers. I do remember a time when we didn't have the internet, and the computer was in my eyes solely for games (and for stats that my track coach dad used to type up). But once I hit high school, I had already begun IMing and using the internet for school reports. Then as I entered college, Facebook, blogging, Webshots, and MySpace eventually entered the picture. So I guess I uderstand the idea of Web 2.0 and Library 2.0, but I think its just the natural evolution of the web. Why does it need a name? When did the Web become the Web 2.0? There's no clear delineation. The Web is clearly different from when it first begun, and libraries are not the libraries of my childhood. But it was more of a progressive change that occurred over years. Libraries are slowly using new technology, and I think that in order to keep up with our patrons, this will only continue. Just look at 23 Things; we're already starting. I just wonder when Web 3.0 will come around...

Thing 1

So here's the start of my 23 Things for Neflin. I have had a couple of blogs in the past so nothing too new or hard. The hardest part was probably coming up with a name; I'm never very good at that. When I have a bit of time, I'm going to play around with the settings and such to make this blog more my own. But in the meantime, I am excited to learn more Things. I consider myself a bit knowledgeable when it comes to the internet and computers, but I would love to learn more. 22 more Things to go...