Thing # 23-The End Summary

So this is the end! And here are the answers to the questions posed!

1. I had many favorite exercises on this learning journey! These include Flickr, FlickrMashups, Last. fm (Web 2.0 Awards), online image generators, Bloglines, Rollyo, online productivity tools, YouTube, podcasts, and audio ebooks!
2. This program has made me realize the importance of these tools, how fun and useful they can be. It has made me want to learn these tools better as well as learn even more Internet tools that are out there that I don't know about. I want to work more with my digital camera and maybe even build my own website.
3. The unexpected outcome was how much I really enjoyed learning and playing with these new tools! Playing with technology is apparently fun! Also I am better with technology than I realize and just because something doesn't work once is no reason to give up!
4. I thought the concept and format was great. It was nice to be able to work at my own pace. The only problem was that sometimes some of the links were broken. For #17 I couldn't figure out how to log in so I couldn't do it. There were also a number of accounts that needed to be created but that was the only way to really learn about those tools.
5. Defintely I would do another discovery program like this in the future!
6. The program was wonderfully fun :) I really enjoyed it and learned a lot:) It got me excited about all the new technologies out there and the application of Web 2.0 technologies for libraries :) It makes me want to learn even more and play with new technology :)

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Thing # 22-NetLibrary

Well it has been awhile but I have used NetLibrary before to download audio ebooks to my computer to listen to at home. I downloaded two of the Sisters Grimm series books by Michael Buckley to listen to. They are very funny and can be appreciated by both children and adults. Mostly I find what I want to download when I do a search for an item in the MCPL catalog instead of just going directly to NetLibrary to search. But I searched using their search feature and browsed through their categories (both are great) and found some things that might be fun to listen to. Callio Captive (I really enjoyed her other work The Witch of BlackBird Pond), Drowned Madien's Hair (mentioned at one of our J Books to Know),the Jodi Picoult books listed that I haven't read (Mercy, Plain Truth, Salem Falls), and 44 Scotland Street (recommended by a friend).

Thing # 21-Podcasts

I had fun with this exercise as well. I explored Podcast Alley as one site that you can search the web for podcasts that interest you.

http://www.podcastalley.com/

I really enjoyed the site as it was very helpful and user friendly. A user can either browse by categories listed or search for something specific. I found a surprisingly large number(163)of library related podcasts when I typed in the word "library." When you see a title that looks intersting you can click it on and see a descrption of the site. There's also a good link on the site that explains what a podcast is.

For fun I searched for "Harry Potter" related web sites. There were 200 to choose from. The one I selected for my Bloglines accout is called MuggleCast which is a podcast from one of my favorite Harry Potter websites-Mugglenet.com. Once I added it to my account I was able to listen to a podcast about the latest Harry Potter news-the new Harry Potter Orlando theme park which is supposed to open in Spring 2010. I really see the appeal of putting your favorite podcasts in one spot. In this case, Bloglines. Therefore you only have to go to one spot on the Internet and see if there is any news you want to listen to. I think this is a great time saver for people trying to keep up with current events! I think podcasts are also a great way of connecting people running the website to listeners/users!

It's also neat to see how, now that I'm adding tags to my blogs, it puts them in categories to be searched by me!

Thing #20-YouTube

This is one of my favorite exercises because I love YouTube:) I use it all the time to watch movie trailers and music videos (either official ones or fan made ones of tv shows I like). Sometimes I even use it like a radio just playing the songs I like to hear or see funny homemade videos by people of real life events. Also it's great to catch a clip of something I missed on tv. There is a lot I like about the site. Pretty much everything I named above! But I also like that it is user friendly and that I can sort by relevance, upload date, and type (important to find High Quality videos!). If I signed up for an account (apparently Google is the universal account!) I can make a favorites list as well as playlists. Very cool! What I dislike is sometimes the quality of videos is not always that great and sometimes it is hard to find what I am looking for (sometimes because it's not on the site!). Also the comment feature leads to a lot of negative feedback from people.

I choose this video to blog about because it is one of my favorite fan made music videos of one of my favorite tv couples: Pam and Jim from The Office :) If you haven't seen this show you must! It's hysterically funny :)



There are features on YouTube that can be used for library applications. Trainings can be done to be viewed remotely by librarians (as exampled in this training session). Storytimes, booktalks, and library events could be recorded to be viewed by patrons unable to attend. Or they could be used to train other librarians. Maybe patrons talking about their favorite books could be done as well.

BTW...I am so proud of myself that I figured out how to embed this video!!! :) And I just discovered you can tag your blog!

Thing # 17-Sandbox Wiki

Well I attempted the exercise and have decided to abandon it. At first I wasn't able to login. Then with Kate's help I was able to create a login but then it said I wasn't allowed to access the site. So unfortuantely I wasn't able to complete the assignment. But if this has been my only bump in the road I'm doing pretty good :) Although I did read this article from Wiki about Sandboxes :) And sorry the numbers are out of order as I started it and then came back to try it again.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About_the_Sandbox

Thing # 19-Web 2.0 Awards

I choose Last for my site to blog about. The site won a Web 2.0 Award in the category of music.
http://www.last.fm/

I really enjoyed this site which I am calling the YouTube of music. I liked a lot of the features on this site. Very user friendly to search for music artists which includes biography, videos, pictures, albums, tracks to listen to, events/tours, news, and they also rate them on the charts by the users. The site also includes great social features by allowing users to form social groups, rate music, link to blogs, leave comments, and, perhaps most important, allow users to find similar artists. It's what I like to call m.a.-music advisory. The one thing I didn't like was a clearly defined advanced search. The advanced search is reached by typing a search term in the upper right hand search box. But one doesn't know that as it's not clearly labeled. The most useful features of the site are the biographies, pictures, videos, news, as well as the social aspect of finding similar music. I think that last part is the most useful application for libraries. The biograhy section is not very extensive for research but I think patrons would find it good for videos and pictures. I think it is a good tool for librarians (especially public or music librarians) to give good music advisory help to patrons.

Thing #18-Google Docs

For this exercise I explored online productivity tools by signing up for a Google Docs account. It was very exciting to see how easy it is to use! I can see the major advantages of it. Ie. you can access it from any computer with an Internet connection and don't have to worry about floppy disks or USB sticks etc. It had pretty much all the options you have when using Microsoft Word. Very easy to organize, rename files etc. You can upload and share documents on the Web. Also there is a wonderful supply of templates one can choose from. It includes a search feature if you are looking for a file that you created. I can see this as a definte advantage for when the library computers do not have floppy disk drives anymore and a patron forgets, or doesn't own, a memory stick for a USB port.