The End!

I can't believe it's over! What a great experience this has been. Some of the "things" I had used before, and others were brand new to me. Google Reader has totally changed the way I read blogs (and saves me sooo much time). I'm completely addicted to Twitter...it was a lifesaver during the power outage since I was able to use it on my phone!

Things that I don't think I'll use as much are MOLDI (since I really don't listen to audiobooks) and online image generators (fun but who has the time?). Overall though, I'm glad I had the chance to play around with everything that we covered.

If we offer the program again, I think it would be a good idea to either (a)have fewer "things", (b)make it a longer program, or (c)break it up into two parts. A lot of staff became frustrated with the amount of time that was involved. Also, if staff are expected to work on this on their own time, that needs to be more clear. No one seemed to be very comfortable with that idea!

I would definitely participate in any future discovery programs like this. I love how staff are now communicating using the tools that we've learned about, and I'm become friends with staff members that I didn't know before via Twitter and their blogs.

Digital Media

MOLDI is a great service for our customers, but one that I probably won't use too much. I'm just not a fan of audiobooks and I don't watch movies on my computer. I will definitely give it a try when the content is available for iPods, so that I can better help customers use it.

Podcasts

I've been watching video podcasts for quite a while on my iPod...iTunes is a great source for finding them. One I really like is ModTV for fashion shows. I added the feeds to some to my Google Reader. Podcasts can be a fantastic tool for libraries, as well. I like how the Lansing Public Library in Illinois is using a podcast to promote their teen programming! CML could definitely do something similar.

YouTube

I could spend way too much time on YouTube. Here is a video of one of my favorite songs- "Into My Arms" by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.

CML's Power Tools Page

I hadn't taken advantage of CML's Power Tools Page before, so I was excited to find the Tool Box! So far I've spent waaaay too much time playing with StumbleUpon. To use it you have to download a toolbar, but it only takes a minute- then I chose some categories of web sites that I'd be interested in seeing. Now when I click on the "Stumble" icon on the toolbar, it takes me to sites that it thinks I would like! Most of them have been great- like Play With Spider, Jackson Pollack, and Librarian Chick Wiki. As you look at sites you can give them the thumbs up or thumbs down, so StumbleUpon learns more about your preferences as you go. Warning- it's very addictive!

Web 2.0 Tools

The site I chose to play with is Cocktail Builder, for obvious reasons. You can enter a list of ingedients that you have, and it comes up with drinks that you can make with them. Genius!!

Unfortunately, I doubt that it would be useful in a library setting. Well, most days, anyway.

Google Docs

I've been using Google Documents for quite a while. It's great for sharing documents with others...for example, I went on vacation with several friends from out of state this summer, and we made a schedule of what we wanted to do when using Google Docs. That way we were all able to edit it. I also use it for spreadsheets since I don't have Excel on my computers at home. And it's FREE!!

Playing Around With Wikis

I had fun with CML's Learn & Play Wiki...both reading what others have added and adding my own favorites. I see so many ways that CML could benefit from using wikis- what a great way for groups and committees to communicate!

Wikis

For this exercise I looked at the Grand Rapids Public Library's Wiki called GRPLpedia. It's a collection of articles put together by librarians there, covering a broad range of subjects, including research guides, special event information, reader resources, community information, and Hispanic language resources. I like the fact that wikis can be updated and edited quickly, so the information is up to the minute. I see lots of uses for wikis in a library environment, both for staff and customers. Book reviews, staff training, pathfinders, and local information would all make great topics for library wikis.

Library 2.0

To me, the key ideas behind Library 2.0 are (a)today's libraries must be able to change constantly in order to meet the needs of users, and (b)today's users want to play an active role and customize their library experience. Many libraries are using blogs, Twitter, instant messaging and other tools to reach their customers rather than waiting for customers to come to them.

The Ann Arbor District Library's catalog is a great example of how we can let the users participate. Users can add tags, review books, share photos and add comments to old-school library cards!

Delicious

I wasn't sure if Delicious would be something I'd use much, but now I use it all the time!

I find it useful when I’m away from home, using another computer. Using Delicious, my bookmarks travel with me! I also love being able to tag all of my favorite sites…that way I can go straight to sites related to work, or recipes, or whatever.

It’s also fun to see what sites other people have tagged. For example, I searched for sites tagged “vegetarian” and here are the results I got. I was able to discover some great new sites on the topic.

Twitter

I just signed up for Twitter last week and now I'm officially addicted! I'm following a lot of library people and it's a great way to exchange information. Here's my profile!

And I'm also following Henry Rollins, which is cool.

Library Thing (or something similar)

I haven't used Library Thing, but I do use both Goodreads and Shelfari. So I hope those are OK for this exercise! I've been using Goodreads the most lately. Sites like this are great for me because I tend to forget what I've already read, and what I've seen that I want to read in the future. This way I can keep track! Here's my profile and bookshelf.

Image Generators

Well, these are fun! I used the ALA Mini READ Poster Generator to create this one.

The Generator Blog could turn into a big time waster if I'm not careful! I have already spent way too much time on the Sick Clown Name Generator and I have discovered that my Glitter and Glam Rock Name
is Sharryn Sprinkles.

Finding Feeds

For finding blogs, I felt that I got the best results from Technorati, and I found Topix.net and Syndic8.com to be less efficient. One very useful feed that I found is ResourceShelf. Every day this site features web-based resources of interest to information professionals, including databases, lists and rankings, real-time sources, and multimedia. They also post comments and observations about news in the information and web industry. For fun, I'm glad I found The Sewing Divas...it's great for sewing tips and ideas.

Fun With RSS Feeds

I'd used RSS feeds a bit in the past, but not very efficiently! I really like Bloglines...it'll really help me to keep things organized. Using it will also be a big timesaver since I do read a quite a few blogs.

What I DON'T like is trying to find the RSS icon/link/whatever on a lot of blogs, because they're often (a)the size of a breadcrumb or (b) completely buried somewhere at the bottom or side of the page!

Technology meets Fashion

Hussein Chalayan is a designer known for mixing technology and fashion. The dresses above display time-lapse videos with the help of 15,000 LEDs that are embedded in the fabric. The one on the left is a sequence of a rose opening and closing...I'm not sure about the other. He's also made animatronic dresses that move and wooden skirts that could double as coffee tables.






Here's some more info about the technology behind some of the fashion.

Thing #6: More Flickr Fun

It seems like a lot of the mashups and third party tools available on Flickr are useful for manipulating your own photos that you've uploaded..and I haven't uploaded any. I did like this one called Flickr Color Picker, where you can click on a color and up pop Flickr images that match that color. Pretty cool!

Thing #5- Discovering Flickr!

Johnny Weir
Originally uploaded by dinkus30

I'm supposed to take a look around Flickr and find an interesting image that I want to blog about. Well, guess whose image I chose!

This is Johnny right after winning the short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships this past January...and I was there to see it!

7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners

I think the habit that I find the easiest is #7- teaching and mentoring others. I really enjoy sharing what I've learned. As far as the hardest, that may be #1- beginning with the end in mind- even if I set a goal, I tend to get distracted by other things that I want to learn!