Hello MP3 Player!!!!!!

I'm getting an mp3 player.. na nanny boo boo... I suppose you are too though, if you're reading this. I enjoyed this series. I do feel like offering this as something that was not mandatory but had a great reward was a great approach. I have a unique outlook on this because at the beginning of the program I worked in a branch where I was allowed (even scheduled!!) time to work on Learning 2.0 each week. Then, about half way through I transferred into a position at a branch where NONE of the employees in the department could work on Learning 2.0 at work because the branch was so busy (and no computer availability, etc). I can see both sides of the coin now. It really isn't completely fair for those employees that did not have the opportunity not to participate because the logistics of doing this on "company time" weren't possible and doing the complete project after hours on company computers was also not possible. Yes, I enjoyed the program - I learned a few very useful things and spent a lot of time "meeting the requirements" doing tasks that I already knew or didn't like - but it was definitely worth it. I do feel like activities like this one will increase employee tech knowledge, and that's what it's all about.

NetLibrary

I've attempted to use Net Library before. Shortly after coming to work at PLCMC, I realized that I could get audiobooks from the site and was very excited because PLCMC does not own the complete series of my favorite author/narrator... I tried to use NetLibrary, but had no luck because we didn't own the titles, and I'm not going to pay to download the title from another site. I can see where this could be a benefit... but in my experience PLCMC had what I could easily get, and NL was useless for me.

Podcastally

Useless.

My search results included tons of junk that was everything EXCEPT what I was looking for.

Podcasts are useful in library settings - just take a look at The Loft, or other PLCMC sites. I generally get my podcasts from the site that produces the "show" rather than using a third-party host.

YOU TUBE

I love You Tube. I've been a fan since the Numa Numa Dance song came out with the kid lip sync-ing to it. I get lost in the site for hours sometimes.

Web 2.0 Awards

I got lucky here because one of the winners was slide.com, a photograph slide show application for blogs. The first day I got my blog here for this project, I stumbled across slide.com and added a slideshow to this blog (scroll waaaaay down). It's a great application that can be modified to include captions and to fit the width your blog style sheet permits. Whew, they're getting easier... I didn't think I would finish this for a while there...

Online Word Processing

Wow, if only this had been around when I was doing group projects in college. It would have cut down on the meeting time and helped make the projects more collaborative (and less choppy at the points where each person's section joined!). Just think of all you can do with this. I love the fact that it eliminates compatibility issues between Word and Word Perfect, for example. You could get online help much easier with paper writing, resume writing... heck, you could conceivably write a paper with someone half way across the world! This is one of those discovery exercises for me that is a "wow, I didn't know that existed" deal.

Sandbox

I've always liked sandboxes.... this was no exception. How much easier does it get. I can see where malicious intent could cause abuse - yep, you can edit the page - but, still very cool. It took about four seconds to add my blog to the list...

Wacky Wiki

I've been familiar with Wiki and Wikipedia for quite some time. I can remember as a student using Wikipedia for some general, quick-reference information and not being able to use it as a formal sorce because of its editing capability. It isn't considered a reliable source by most teachers. That being said, it's fun, quick, and easy to find quality information about a topic of interest. For the most part the people editing and writing the pages are true authorities on the topic and there is a cult respect that you leave something along unless you think you can truly improve upon its content.

In the last year I have used a few Wikis for organizations - mostly local - and have really appreciated having the resource available. It creates a forum for groups that otherwise wouldn't have one. It's extremely E A S Y to create and use. I have been keeping track of a few library related Wikis, and will probably one day figure out a reason to create my own.

Tag...

...you're it. I must admit that I didn't have to do much for this post because I'm already familiar with tags. Tags make searching for something specific (blog post, picture, article, etc) very easy - and they also increase the hits you get during a search. Tags are especially helpful if you're a part of an organization, like PLCMC, because you can include your own item in with the group and find all relevent items quickly. The only down side to tagging is that in most forums, there isn't much policing and people can spam tags. This means that searches will oftemtimes bring up hits that aren't related. But, all in all, tags are grrrrr-eat!

Web 2.0 Article - By Michael Stephens

I read the Web 2.0 article by Michael Stephens - well known in the PLCMC community. I enjoyed this perfect/ideal picture a web 2.0 librarian that was presented. I wish that it were reality, and I do feel like programs like this will help the future more closely parallel this vision. Having the time and resources to fulfill this goal are not always available for everyone, however. As a supervisor of a library staff, I know how important it is that we increase employee tech-saviness (is that a word, probably), but I also understand the harsh reality of the resistance faced when new technology is presented. It will be a constant struggle that most likely will not ever be completely won.

Programs like this are awesome and are doing their part to increase employees' awareness of technology, but are not entirely flawless. There is no possible way to offer this incentive to everyone simply because some locations are too busy to facilitate employee participation at work. Those employees also can't be expected to complete the steps at home (if they have access), or at the library's computer lab on their time off. This program is great - don't get me wrong - just not equally accessible to everyone.

Del.icio.us

This just proves that there is some solution to everything on the internet. I have a "problem" computer that requires that I reinstall Windows about every six months to make it work. When I do this it erases all of my bookmarks. I either have to start from scratch or write them all down and bookmark them all again. I can't tell you how useful this will be for me because I needed this solution. I can see how it might could help with research because you could follow the links deeper into a subject, but I don't currently have a need for that. It certainly could eat up an afternoon. I could get caught up exploring new sites that interest me by using other's suggested bookmarks. Overall, it's del.icio.us!

Well, now I've rolled my own search with Rollyo. I can see how this might be very useful for some people who search specific topics at the same sites on a regular basis. Perhaps if I were going to buy a house, or a car and needed to search reviews or properties on a regular basis for an extended period of time this would be helpful - but, I'm much better, faster, and am more pleased with the result I get when searching Google. This was a waste of precious time for me - nah, I learned something, just not something that cuts any time off my daily routine (like RSS feeds).

So, here's my Rollyo search. It centers around PLCMC's Learning 2.0 so that when I think back to something mentioned in the blog, I can more easily find it.

Library THING

Well, I found Library Thing a very easy application to use. Type in your search terms - and away you go. I added five items in the first three minutes. One of the easiest accounts to create as well. All in all, a very very very easy "thing" to complete!

Here's my "library"

Library Related Feeds

I didn't have to search far to find some interesting library-related blogs that I added to my RSS feed. Wow, I wouldn't have used that sentence a month ago. One is even in the "most popular" category at Bloglines, "The Shifted Librarian." The others include: "Pages Turned," and "Library Crunch."

Image Generator

I found a cool image generator. It's catch phrase is "everyone has a bullet with his name on it." So, it allows you the option of doing just that... I've put "Learning 2.0" on my bullet because at this moment, it feels like it will be the death of me. With all I've got going on in my work life - this is just added stress.... I hope this mp3 player is worth this investment!