Summary Suggestions

Would it have been possible to provide two (2) levels of exercises to address both the librarian and circulation groups? Perhaps there could have been 23 Things for the librarians, but only 12 Things for circulation staff. Most of the circulation staff will not return to the sites visited in this exercise. Perhaps some of the details could have been reduced for them so they would come away with a more general understanding that might stay with them longer.
If a similiar program were offered by the library in the future, I would be interested in participating because I would like to learn about new things. I must admit, however, that I would be very apprehensive about my ability to complete it on my own. I did need a good bit of help in getting this one done. My computer skills are not as good as they needed to be to get through this exercise.
This program had good intentions, but a lot of the information will not be used again by me. I found value in the sections I had referenced in my "Summary" post and do expect to return again to those sites. There is always something new to be learned and I hope to continue to educate myself in different areas. I would like to do this, though, in subject areas more useful to me. THE END

Summary

This was a rather strenous journey for me to make, but I must say that it was not without merit. I enjoyed learning about "Library Thing" where I could make a list of books that I would like to read someday. Personally, though, I think that both the Meez and Avatar populations should be made extinct. Those characters look demonic and scary to me. I think that a wiki can be a very useful tool for a group with a common goal or purpose. Mostly, I see a benefit for local communities to pool their resources. Libraries could take advantage of this as well when trying to promote library programs. Using "You Tube" to add a video feature to my blog was fun and I enjoyed the results. I must admit that the most pleasant part of the journey was in finding the Web 2.0 Award Winner sites and learning more about the "Cocktail Builder" section! I'll be going back to that one, especially after finishing this project!! The lifelong learning goals given in this effort were not really foreign to ideas of my own about how to progress in life for my benefit as well as for those with whom I come into contact. It was nice to see that others think the way that I do.
There are many worthwhile ideas covered in this program, but I think some of the participants may have found it hard to complete based on their skill levels. It would be nice if somehow the playing field could have been made more equal. The librarians should have found this exercise far more beneficial than the circulation staff would have. Perhaps it could have been tailored to suit each group's needs.

Audiobooks

The Overdrive Digital Media system seemed to be easy enough to use if you have access to it. You can search for books several different ways: topics, collections, authors or by a method called "Quick Search". You will need a library card, a Windows PC, a Windows media player and access to the internet. It was interesting to learn here how ODM implements a security system to discourage any unlawful use.

The Net Library site gave very detailed instructions about signing up for this service and helpful bits of information about downloading properly to a disk. It was also suggested that you try to download overnight with some additional hints about how to avoid problems.

Project Gutenberg gives you free access to audiobooks. This audiobook library was created by volunteers. It currently has 20,000 books in its collection and access to over 100,000 audiobooks at Project Gutenberg Partners, Affiliates & Resources. I found that more recent books (by authors Nicholas Sparks and James Patterson) did not seem to be available as much as older books (by Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy).

Podcasts

After looking at the podcast directories suggested, I found that I preferred "Podcast.net" over the others. I found it easy to maneuver in this site and I liked the topic choices available there. I enjoyed listening to live radio broadcasts by Rush Limbaugh and checking out "Hobbies & Recreation" also. I did find several listings for sites that would relate to the library: "Learning & Instruction", "Computer & the Internet" and "Kids & Teens". I can imagine that there are many more topics that could be used in a library setting. I found it rather difficult to add the RSS fee for a podcast to my bloglines account. I do believer, however, that I would find podcasts worthwhile to use at home and perhaps a preferable way to get current information.

Ducklings day 2 [P1]

Did you know that ducks always walk in a row?

You Tube

Although once again I'm not quite up to par on the technology side of this, I did enjoy playing with "You Tube". It wasn't as difficult to use as I expected. It provided me with a wide range of topics for videos and the possibility of adding more. I chose the video entitled "Ducklings Day 2" because it brings back memories from my childhood which was spent on Gladstone Alley. I had ducks and frequently saw exactly what you experience in the video. I can certainly see how this could be useful when applied to a library website. The videos make the site more appealing and attractive. Some sites would be made much more pertinent to the topic if, for example, you were listening to political figure comments and wanted to see how the politician portrayed himself as well-sincere or egotistical. These videos bring the technology age that we are in much closer to the individual viewer. The site becomes more interesting and, therefore, more likely to be used by the library patron.

Zoho Writer

Zoho Writer would be very helpful to those who might not have Microsoft Word on their computer. This is a free service that would offer word processing that could be used when creating documents.