Thing 23 - Wrapping Up

Well, I have to say the 23 Things was quite challenging. My favorite part of the Web 2.0 Challenge was learning about podcasts and putting one on my blog. That was fun. My least favorite thing to learn about was Technorati. I found it not too user friendly and I'm not that into the "blogosphere" of public opinion. I'd rather have the hard facts.
I think the employees of the library would benefit from using wikis and web applications, especially for committee-type projects. Having so many branches, some quite far from others, would not be an obstacle when communication of ideas can be shared online as easily as if the people involved were all in the same room.
The Web 2.0 services that I shared with my friends and family were the ones that were fun and entertaining - Flickr, Scanning pictures, YouTube, and Podcasts (Odeo). Adding pictures and sound is more enjoyable than looking at words when it comes to learning something new. I think you are more apt to remember something when multiple senses are involved at the time the incident takes place or new learning material is introduced.

Thing 22 - ListenNJ

My experience with ListenNJ was very positive. I chose the children's book, "Tikki Tikki Tembo" by Arlene Mosel. The narrator was Peter Thomas. It took about ten minutes to install Over-drive audio book software and download the book. I decided to do this task on my home computer because others from my branch were encountering problems on our workroom computers and had not been able to successfully download an audio book. I enjoyed listening to the story and its background music that added to its appeal. I hope to download more books, hopefully to an MP3 player (hint, hint).

Thing 21 - Finding & Listening to Podcasts

ODEO is the way to go! With a little help, I found Odeo to be much easier to use than Podcast.com to select my "Happy Music" podcast. This adds a new dimension to my blog - sound!

Thing 20 - You Tube

My favorite video clip on YouTube is Mom Singing to William Tell Overture.
This reminds me so much of my mother. YouTube is a riot. I did enjoy searching this site.

Thing 19 - Web 2.0 Awards

My favorite Web 2.0 Award was in the Health Category. Peertrainer is a great service for losing weight by finding a support group and a wealth of information for helping you to reach your goal. What I like best about it is it's free. I really enjoyed searching this website and hope to use it myself in the near future.

Thing 18 - Web Apps

It's great that you can get free office applications software online through Google Docs and Zoho and even better that these allow you to work together with others on the same project. At the Lacey Branch I help coordinate the librarians' input for the monthly brochure. Now that all program types (adult, children, teen, etc.) have been blended to display chronologically, using a Google Docs word processing software would save me time. Instead of the librarians giving me separate input, they could enter their programs in date order into an online document that we send to P&G.

Thing 17 - Playing in the Sandbox

The Sandbox was a fun place to be. Editing the OCL wiki was easier than I thought it would be. Using a wiki would work great for committees at work, especially when the members are from different branches.

Thing 16 - Wikis

Wikis are a great way of organizing input from a group. The Library Success wiki had plenty of useful ideas for recycling weeded materials. I enjoyed looking at the OCL wiki and found the history of our library very interesting.

Thing 15 - Library 2.0

I believe that Library 2.0 is when libraries keep up with the current technology by meeting the whims of a technological society.
Rick Anderson, who writes, "Away From the Icebergs" gives off panicked vibes concerning libraries possibly not being able to keep up in the future because of their difficulty "letting go". These futuristic thoughts that are valid and forthcoming will also contribute to our society becoming lazier physically as well as mentally. The enjoyment of reading a tangible book for fun, walking to the library for the book, and knowing where to find it, helps to keep us more active, as opposed to pressing a few buttons to achieve results without working for them.

Thing 14 - Technorati

I watched the video of Technorati's new features and did quite a bit of searching, but I have to say that this blogging tool did not appeal to me. I found the ads to be "in the way" of some of the information that I was trying to read. The constant motion of some of them was distracting.
Searching blogs discussing "Learning 2.0" using Technorati reinforced my ideas about how lifelong learning in technology, education, and business has always been necessary for personal growth and new discoveries in these fields. Libraries are a great help for the resources of lifetime learning.
I viewed the popular blog and used tags to find information about the presidential candidates. There were some interesting articles, but no websites that I wish to revisit at this time. I don't think that I will be visiting Technorati in the near future.

Thing 13 - del.icio.us

When I first went to the del.icio.us site, I was not too impressed, but as I spent more time exploring different bookmarks I could see more of its potential. It does save a lot of time following tags already set up by others who have already been to sites that could be useful to your research and I came across additional sites that interested me that had nothing to do with my original topic. Now I believe it to be a useful tool for information gathering. I enjoyed using staffordbranchlinks from our oclwebthings account.

Thing 12 - NetLibrary and WorldCat

I think that NetLibrary is fairly easy to use. You do have to wait a little longer changing pages than if you manually did it. I could show a customer how to use it. It seems to be a good source for non-fiction books. WorldCat was also easy to use. It gave me an idea of what the employees in the Inter Library Loan Dept. go through to find books. This would be a good help in filling out the ILL form.

Thing 11 - LibraryThing

Here's a link my LibraryThing catalog - . http://www.librarything.com/catalog/outdoorzygirl I would like to keep track of what I read and can always use suggestions recommendations for new reading material. My favorite author is Harlen Coben and he appears to be very well-liked. I found interesting reviews on his books.

Thing 10 - Technology Blogging

I believe that GPS (Global Positioning System) is one of the most useful technological discoveries of our time. It is fascinating that satellites that are so far away can help in determining our location through electronic devices. Getting to your destination by car, boat, etc. without getting lost is valuable in a world where time is a luxury. Lives have been saved by rescue teams where GPS made all the difference in finding someone in distress quickly.

Thing 9 - Finding Feeds

I explored the different search tools for finding feeds listed in Thing 9. The one that I liked the best was Topix.net because it was easiest for me to find the feeds that I was interested in. I liked that it focused on the news and media, rather than weblogs. I'd rather deal with the facts than opinions of people I don't know. I also liked the way it starts out with local news and works its way up to world news on the main page.
Technorati was more confusing for me for finding feeds, mainly because it was so opinion based, that I didn't find feeds that I wanted to use.

Thing 8 - Make life really simple with RSS & a Newsreader

I found it easy to sign up with Bloglines. It is a good thing to be able to choose what you want to read from the top headlines. I would use this account mostly in my personal life to keep up with current events. Click on this link to access my Bloglines Account:
http://www.bloglines.com/public/Outdoorzygirl

Thing 7 - Using the Scanner

This is a 320 lb. Mako Shark that Dave, his father, and uncle caught some time ago. This picture of Dave, Scott, and David was taken around 1990.

This pheasant weather vane is a nice touch to our library building in Lacey Township.

Thing 6 - More Photo Fun

This picture of the Lacey Branch's Friends' Garden was added to Flickr.

Thing 5 - Here is a picture of the Barnegat Lighthouse from Flickr. When I go in the Bay, this monument always catches my eye.

Thing 4 - Register Your Blog

My Blog is officially registered with OCL.

Thing 3 - Grab Yourself a Blog in 3 Steps

It was a little tricky finding a unique name, but after a few tries I figured it out.

Thing 2 - 7 1/2 Habits of Lifetime Learners

The hardest habit for me is #6 - Use technology to your advantage. Sometimes I feel that I am not using technology in the most efficient way and I take too long to do certain computer tasks.

The easiest habit is #7 1/2 - I have plenty of practice at playing!

Thing 1 - Introduction

I'm ready for the challenge. I need to improve my technology skills.