Thing 23 - YouTube

I realy enjoyed viewing some of the videos that were posted on YouTube. Some of them were really pretty good. I found YouTube to be pretty easy to use and search for videos that interest me. One of the things that I disliked about YouTube is that I found the website to be a little busy for me. There was way too much to look at the same time. I chose the video that I did because I love humor and I wanted something that related to work.

I can see the library possibly using YouTube as a way of advertising programs by including a small portion of a video from say a program. This can be a great way to advertise for future programs. It may be a way for patrons to see what we do for booktalks, storytimes, etc. It can be great for publicity too for storytime providers that we hire out for special programs and events.

Thing 22 - Flickr Fun

I did some exploring with one of Flickr's mashups called FD Toys (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/). I had a great time exploring and learning how to use some of the utilities that it has to offer. There were so many different great utilities on this site that you could almost do anything with your photos. I enjoyed making a magazine cover, and a photo collage with hockneyizer. The letter from Santa is adorable. It is so cute! I really enjoy pictures and taking photos on a personal level so it was fun to be able to play with them and be creative in different ways then I am normally able to do so. I would like to come back to this again later and explore some more.

Thing 21 - Flickr Tags

Flickr is different in several ways from the traditonal photosharing web sites because it has many features to offer. Flickr allows its users to organize their photos by using tags. The tags allow users to find photos taken about a particular topic or subject matter. The tags are great for photos that are shared with everyone. Individuals can also organize their photos into sets or groups that fall under the same heading. The sets can then be organized again into collections. The user can set up their photos in a way that they can be stored for either private or public viewing. You can control who (family and friends) is allowed to view your photos. Flickr also allows you to browse for your photos by folksonomy.

Thing 20 - Exploring Flickr

I chose option 1 for this assignment. This one took a lot longer than it really should have. I had originally chosen one that did not give me the option to download it. This current picture was very easy to add into my blog. This picture was taken by Vantes.

Flickr is a great website for sharing pictures with family and friends. It has a lot of great options for organizing and sorting through your photos. I love the option of printing them out and picking them up at Target.

I found Flickr to be very easy to use and I thought the tutorial was very informative. I didn't realize that if you had a Yahoo account that your same account information could be used for a new Flickr account.

Thing 19 - Web 2.0 Awards List

I really enjoyed checking out some of the websites on the awards list. There were several great sites that I was not familiar with. I came across a site (sorry not library related) called minti (http://www.minti.com/). I am a first time mom and so I love to check out new information about parenting, etc. This is a pretty good site for people to ask questions about their kids or just get some information from other parents. They had posted several great tips, advice, and tricks of the trade. I really enjoyed learning about what others have gone through with their children.

This site was pretty busy to look at and had a lot going on with its homepage but it is a site worth exploring. This site allows you to read and write advice, check out groups and become a member of one if you like. Its a great site for parents looking for a support group on various topics. I can't really see this application being useful in a library setting unless you have a customer looking for this type of information. For me and possibly some other parents out there it could be useful to them in a personal setting.

Thing 18 - Technorati

I enjoyed exploring around a little more with Technorati. It was kind of interesting to see what others are reading and searching for. I would like to explore some more and create an account later when I have a little more time to play.

I did do the keyword, the tag, and the blog directory searches. My results were different from each one. Let me share with you:

Search results after doing a keyword search, show all results that show an exact phase, search in all blogs (2805 results):
http://technorati.com/search/%22learning+2.0%22



Search results after doing a tag search (1,121 results):
http://technorati.com/tag/Learning+2.0


Search results after doing a blog directory search (1,009 results):
http://technorati.com/blogs/learning+2.0


I did have a little bit of trouble figuring out how to do the keyword search. I think that I have done it right. Overall though it was pretty easy to do the searches and get results.

Thing 17 - Folksonomy & Del.icio.us

I love the idea behind the bookmarking on the del.icio.us website. What a great idea!!!! It has always been a pain having to save over and over again the same website addresses in your favorites on each computer that you use. This is a much more efficient way of accessing the website URL from any computer. I can definately see this as a tool that I can use both professionally and personally in my daily life.

I did not create an account yet with del.icio.us but I will certainly do so later. I did enjoy playing around with the account already created. It seemed like it was very easy to use. I can't wait to create my account and start saving my URL's to it.

I can definately see the potential of this tool for research. Is is so much easier then having to remember where I saw an article or what the website address is. Of course on the simplier side of things, yes it is a very easy way to create bookmarks. Using the favorites feature will be a thing of the past!

Thing 16 - MySpace Profile

After playing with MySpace for a while I decided not to create an account. I did however take the tour which made it look like joining was very easy. The application online looked like it was very short and painless. I may consider joining later on but for now I didn't think that I would use it very much.

I think MySpace is a great concept for kids to get to know each other and become a part of something (like a group). I like that it has a lot to offer from adding friends to your page to adding music that interests you. I looked at several people's profiles and it was very interesting to learn and see what MySpace has to offer but it was also interesting to see what people had to say. I was a little leary about putting my personal information up onto the website. There are just too many predators out there.

I think my opinion of MySpace has not changed. I think that it is popular with the kids because it gives them a place where they can "hang out" and talk with their friends. It gives them a place to meet new and old friends. It also allows them to meet new partners to date and get to know. I may at a later point decide to create an account but for now I am just not interested at this time.

Thing 15 - Social Networking

I have mixed feels as to whether VBPL should use a social networking site to connect with teens. I think that the concept is excellent and can provide for many teens a great way to stay out of trouble. There are several great opportunities for libraries to utilize online social networking sites to their advantages. It would be a perfect opportunity to set up clubs and online book talks for the teens.

This may be a great way for libraries to educate their youth about the dangers of using online social networking websites. It is important for teens to know and understand that these websites are all public places for anyone to meet. For everyone's safety it is important that we educate the teens on how to use these types of web sites so everyone is safe. Raising awareness about these sites is extremely important. Many web sites out there look like trusting sites but it is very important that every person protect their personal information (profile) and keep it private. It is always important not to share personal screen names, email address, and other personal information about yourself with strangers whom you don't know.

For libraries as a whole if we use a social networking site it could be a great social space for teens to meet new friends. They could get to know each other and talk about things they have in common (reading, and books). If libraries did create/use a site for teens to socialize it would need to be a safe place for not only teens but also for their parents as well. There are many online predators out there harassing innocent kids.

Thing 14 - Reader's Advisory Wiki

For Thing 14 we had to post a brief summary about a favorite book of ours into the Reader's Advisory wiki. I found that this wiki was really easy to use. It was pretty self explanatory on how to use it. It was just as easy to input as it has been for our blog posts that we have been doing now for several months.

This is an excellent way for all libraries to use wiki's in their systems. It is also a great way to promote the collection from all aspects (author, title, subject, etc....). Book clubs could also benefit from wiki's by posting information about their book club on the Internet. There are so many ways that libraries could use wiki's to promote the library.

Thing 13 - Wikis

I had not played with a Wikis before until our training on Library 2.0 started. I thought it was a pretty in genius way for everyone to add and change information. What a great way for communities to come together and share information at their leisure. I had created a wikis several weeks ago shortly after our training got underway. I really enjoyed playing with it and discovering new things. As a matter of fact one of my co-workers created a great wikis for us to use to promote our collection to see what is checked out and what isn't. I have enjoyed adding entries. This is a great way for internal staff within a branch to communicate with each other. This leads to how can libraries use wikis.

Libraries can use wikis in many different ways. They can use wikis for book clubs to share information about a book that they are reading. It would be perfect for both internal and external customers to use for readers advisories. What a great way to share your favorite book or author with everyone. Wikis can also be used for committees whether it is for the minutes or for working on a project together. It could also be used as a way of doing a survey to gather information or ideas. It seems the ideas for wikis are endless.......

Thing 12 - VBPL and IM

I am from a branch where IM is not a task that we are responsible for. It was though very interesting to hear what others had to say about how it is going. It sounds like it is a lot of fun going back and forth with patrons about questions that they might have. It sounds like business is very slow right now but we are hopeful that it's popularity will really soar once word gets out. I think that it is another great way for our libraries to reach out to the public and help them out with their questions.

I think that IMing and reference at the library are a pretty good mix as long as the questions don't get too involved. If the questions are too involved then the customer will not have the immediate response/answer that they have been seeking. People who use IM expect an immediate response and sometimes those are pretty hard shoes to fill. Ah.... the pressure on the librarian to quickly find the answer and send it back to them. The clock keeps ticking. Tick, tick, tick.......

Thing 11 - IM (Instant Messaging)

Discovery Exercise

Why should libraries use IM?
How is IM different that traditional communication channels?
How many of the IM population are our customers and why should we care?



Why should libraries use IM?
IM is great for libraries to use because it offers an open line of communication for people who live a great distance from a library. It is a way for them to quickly get answers to their questions. It is also perfect for people who can’t get to the library to find the information themselves whether it be a transportation problem or a medical problem.


How is IM different than traditional communication channels?
IM is great too because it doesn’t leave you wondering if and when you will be getting a response back. IM allows for a much faster, speedier response over the traditional communication channels. Many individuals prefer IM over traditional emailing. On the flip side of things IM lacks security and authentication, and a sense of recording the conversation.


How many of the IM population are our customers and why should we care?
I don’t know the exact figure as to how many of our customers are IM users but I did read that a little over 50 million adults use IM. We as library staff care because this can (and is) be another service that we can provide to our customers on our Internet computers. It will allow them to IM the library staff about a question they have right from the computer if they prefer. It opens the doors to people who like to IM instead of using other means of communication.

Thing 10 - Useful Library Blogs

I found that a few of the search tools were a little too busy for me. They seemed to have a lot going on each page. It become a little overwhelming with so much content to look at. I did like Technorati. The layout was pretty good and didn't seem to be as overwhelming to look at. I liked that you could quickly access popular searches or popular search categories. On the website www.topix.com it had some great searches that you could quickly access too. I liked that you could access local information to our area quickly. I found it interesting to see what topics other people are interested in. It is perfect for accessing the latest information on breaking news.

I found that the website www.syndic8.com was a little confusing to me. It didn't seem very clear to me as to where to begin. The layout was not very inviting. Needless to say I did not spend very much time on this website. All of these sites can be helpful in finding information/blogs on particular subjects.

Learning about RSS Feeds - Thing 9

Discovery Exercise (Option 2):

1. Follow the discovery resources above to learn more about RSS and newsreaders.
2. Create a Google Reader account for yourself and subscribe to at least 10 newsfeeds using your reader.Here are some possible RSS feeds for you to choose from:The L2 Chronicles blog feed
VBPL Talks blog feed
RSS Feed availalbe from Wavy TV
Hampton Roads news from WVEC
Unshelved blog feed
The Shifted Librarian blog feed
3. Create a blog post about this exercise. Here are some questions to get you started:

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
How do you think that you might be able to use this technology in your work or your personal life?
How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?




For this assignment I chose option # 2 to create a Google Reader account. I have prior to the start of Learning 2.0 already created an account with Bloglines. I wanted to compare the two of them and see just how different they are. I have really enjoyed the benefits of having all my RSS feeds all in one location. It saves me a lot of time being able to keep up with the news and the latest information from one central location. I really like that they are very fast and efficient at keeping me posted on the latest and greatest news. I have enjoyed working with both Bloglines and Google Reader. They are both very similar to each other.

This technology can be extremely useful in both my work and my personal life. In my career it is helpful in accessing information quickly from several different sites. It will allow me to save time and to efficiently get the information that I need for customers. It is the perfect tool for both work and my personal life to keep up with current events all in one organized fashion.

I think that libraries can explode with the ideas of using RSS feeds from both an internal and an external view point. It will allow all of the internal customers to access information quickly and easily as opposed to searching through lots of paperwork. Our customers would be able to use this as a way of communicating with us about what kind of information they are seeking. As technology continues to advance, ideas become endless.....

7 1/2 Habits - Easiest/Hardest

There are a lot of great habits to use when learning new material. One of the easiest habits that I try to apply to whenever possible is to use technology to my advantage. I really enjoy working with new technology. It is fascinating to me to learn about how something works or how to accomplish a task much quicker and more efficient. Technology certainly has come along way!

The hardest habit for me to do is to play. I am not sure why what should be one of the easiest seems to be my hardest. I think for me time seems to be an issue. There doesn't seem to be enough time for me to really sit down and "play" with concepts that are new. It seems to be all about getting the assignment done and then moving on to the next one without really stopping to look into it a little further and explore to see what else it has to offer.

Library 2.0 - Thing 5

I think that Library 2.0 will be a positive change for the libraries as a whole. I think it's great that the library recognizes that there is an evolving change in technology and how people access the information that they need. It allows us to take advantage of new service points to help people all over in our community in ways that we would never have been able to do so before. I think that as a whole we will and are able to reach out to more people through the Internet and new service points then ever before without having them step foot into a library. We are not just about "books" anymore. We are now about providing access to information in many means.