Week 9: Podcasts, etc.

Sorry, I just don't see the attraction in the videos and podcasts. The content of many of them is questionable, to say the least, and some of the comments were rude, crude, and socially unacceptable.
I'll always prefer boards and paper over downloadable books, but Project Gutenberg seems to have many titles that might be hard to locate elsewhere, plus many of the classics. Where else could I find "Lameness of the horse" by John Victor Lacroix or "Modern Spanish lyrics"?
I still feel, as I did at the beginning of this project, that it is an imposition upon the staff to expect them to complete the 23 things in addition to their other responsibilites (most of the staff, that is). It was suggested to me about two months ago that supervisors should survey their staff and see how many of them had already completed or almost completed the 23 things. Then they would know which of their staff didn't have enough to do. I wish that suggestion could have been acted upon. The workload is unevenly distributed among the library staff, and if participation is a similar future program were voluntary, I would probably opt out. However, I did find a few sites that will be helpful to me in my work and at home, such as Zoho Writer and Del.icio.us. The 23 Things program is a good one, in theory, but in practice it needs much work.

Week 8: Online applications

Zoho Writer is great. It's easy to use and one can avoid the vagaries of Open Office and the expense of Microsoft products. It's not something to use on a regular basis, but there are times when it could really come in handy.
I really enjoy playing games, so liked the game sites that were nominated for Web 2.0 awards. Guess-the-Google stumped me almost every time.

Week 7: Wikis

I might use a wiki to share information about schedules, conference plans, or services. Perhaps an online book discussion group could share their thoughts with others. I would not use a wiki for information or facts when the validity or accuracy are important. The creation of a library wiki would be a great project with which to involve teens in the library.

Week 6: Tagging, etc.

Rick Anderson's comments really struck a chord with me. I can't agree more that we must let go of "remnants of a bygone information age, practices and attitudes that no longer make sense but which we have difficulty letting go. " As he also said, we no longer have a monopoly in the information marketplace. We must reevaluate our priorities and adapt to changes in the population and their needs as well as to the technological advances that threaten our relevance.

Week 5: Play Week

Oops, I seem to have gotten ahead of myself. I created an avatar in Week 3. LibraryThing is great, but I would have to pay to keep track of the hundreds of books I read per year. I was happy to find something I can really use. Rollyo is a convenient place to save the websites I use regularly for VR.

Week 4: RSS & Newsreaders

If I wished to be inundated with news, opinions, and minutiae, I would probably subscribe to Merlin. At least it would be job-related. I have already found a useful tidbit on their website: how to use citebite.com for Virtual Reference.

Week 3: Items 6 and 7

I loved the flickr site "bighugelabs." It allows you to create posters, calendars, billboards and cartoon captions. I just have to figure out how to do it! On the brighter side, my blog now has an avatar. Anyone who knows me well should recognize me.

Weeks 2 and 3: Blogs and Flickr

The one thing that stands out in my mind about these websites is how attractive they would be to our young adult customers. I think they would love to see pictures of our teen programs on Flickr, and I'm sure some of them are technologically advanced enough to create mashups and montages as a library-related project. Let them blog about the library! On second thought, ...

Viewing problems as challenges

"Viewing problems as challenges." Sounds good, doesn't it? But how does one acquire that mindset while learning other new systems, working the desk, meeting the needs of others, and trying to manage one's own workload? To be determined.