Number 23!!!!

1. What were my favorite discoveries or exercises on this journey?
The online productivity was my favorite. I think that was the one that had the biggest "Ah-ha" moment. The application fits exactly in what I am doing at the moment.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I definitely feel more comfortable talking to my middle schooler about Web 2.0 issues. Kids don't realize there is a difference. He wants to set up a myspace and has settled with a blog. Last year, I didn't know what that was. With the Web 2.0 discussion, I have come into the know a little better.

3. Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I didn't expect it to be as intensive as it was. Most of the beginning finishers did theirs at home, which wasn't an option for me. With the advent of the summer and other personal obligations, it became an obstacle I wasn't sure it I could complete.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program's format or concept?
Start a program like this over the winter when things are a little slower. I am sure there isn't a best time but it felt like a lot of stuff hit around a few month period. Other than that, I thought the program worked well.

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
Yes!!! We all need to continue to learn something new every day and what better way than through programs like this.

6. How would you describe your learning experience in a few words or a few sentences, so we can share our successes and promote this program?
We have to work hard for the things that are worth the most and this program certainly fits that. It is time consuming and sometimes completely frustrating but well worth all of it in the long run.

Next to the last

Here it is... Almost done.

Podcasts. What is there to say. It feels like the radio through your computer and headphones. I love that there are sermans and lectures on the web that we can find and tap into. This certainly allows one to sit in the comfort of their home. No more fighting traffic, masses of people, early mornings or late nights. Simply find the podcast and you are set.

I listened to two seperate sermons. One was quite dull and the other was half in Japanese. While this affords users to exert less physical energy on their parts, the information out there is so wide and varied that it may take longer to initially get started. I found it overwhleming to try to find something I was interested in. I used Podcast.net. It would be very easy for someone to become addicted to trying all of these out. The same with YouTube. How easy for someone to just sit down and get lost in this new cyberworld.

Overdrive

This is a cool resource. I always here patrons telling us they are very happy with this service. I don't find it helpful on my own personal level. Most of the materials are "checked out" and require a hold. I think the beauty of something like this is getting when you want. You don't have to get in your vehicle and go to the library. If it is 1 in the morning, you can get the material. Not on Overdrive. I tried to use the search function to look for books by Avi. It returned 193 hits and none of them were by Avi. I looked up a title of his. (Crispin, the Newbery Award winner. Nothing. A book by Crispin was found. When I did find something I thought I might like to check out, I put in my system and my card. Nothing. Maybe, the fact that items are overdue affects it. So I tried my son's card. Nope. Maybe the small fine (under $2) affects it. Success! I finally found a card that it would accept. (Don't worry, this is a member of my family)Maybe I am just tired and couldn't figure this out sooner.

Bottom line: I like the service just not for me.

Sandbox

I am not sure what the point of this was. I probably have been so goal oriented while doing this assignment that I have forgotten hoe to have fun. Is that possible? It looking like everyone had their blog info up there. How awesome is Harford County? We rock!!! Look at our humoungous list and then go to some other counties. WOW. What a difference in participation.

Web 2.0

After reading the Web 2.0 pieces, I can't say that there is a lot of surprises. Are they teaching Library 2.0 in library school? Is this something that our next generation of trained librarians are bringing with them? In this changing age, I hold to the tenent that we are going to be irreplacible for the amount of information filtering we will do. Everywhere you go, it is information all the time. With so much coming at us, it is going to be our responsibility to help people filter through the bad and poor quality information. This almost beggs another questions for me. (I was a history major.) In this age of free information, will we ever see a rise of dictatorships again? Most violent leaders would destroy information to keep people ignorant. Interesting? The fact that Web 2.0 can have such broad scope ramifications is completely unprecidented. Probably hasn't happened since the creating of the American Constitution and the security of democracy in the World.

Wikis abound

Wiki's are cool concepts. Recently, I tried to get my cousins to work with me on a weight loss wiki I set up. I couldn't get them to work with me but it was cool nonetheless. I think for libraries it becomes a little more disorganized. I liked the book review site. That worked well but the library catalog wiki seemed disjointed. I couldn't follow where I was supposed to go or what I was supposed to do. I think it would work well for internal groups to minimize meeting time. Very interactive.

Technorati

I had a blast with this activity and plan to play with it even more. I searched a few of the top sites. I had never heard of Boing Boing but found it facinating. Very cool for ecclectic information. I decided to search for blogs on Harford County. Boy, there was a lot of interesting pieces out there. For anyone wanting to know the local low-down, I think this has potential. All those times we just want to scream at the Aegis for getting it wrong, this allows you to make the comments immediatley and get the satisfaction of getting things off your chest. HarfordNow is looking for bloggers to add to their site. Maybe.. Nah.

Del.icio.us

This seems like a better use of software than Rollyo. At first, I didn't think I would like it. First searching the library sites, the rag-tag assembly of the sites threw me of. When I started playing with the tags, I found a lot of sites that I had not idea existed. It was very fun to just play with these sites and tags. The more you can say about a site, the more beneficial. I can see the library doing this or at least having a branch set of favorites. I also liked that you can see who else has added this site and check their list. I found a couple of interesting sites that way as well. It was very easy to set up an account. Most likely, I will use that rather than bookmark. The TAG button is easy and totally accessible on my taskbar.

Week 8 # 19

Okay, you can tell that it has been a stressful couple of weeks. What did I research and play with? www.cocktailbuilder.com. It won the top award for Fun Stuff under Web 2.0 awards. I don't think there is any library application with this site, unless you count the blowing off steam after work. I put in a couple of liquors that I have at home and don't know quite what to do with. Voila! I got several drinks that I could make. I haven't had the opportunity to try any that I found but hope to this weekend.

Week 8 # 18 Jumping around again

I really like doing the assignments when I have real life applications. This time, I used Google Docs to create the Librarian's Meeting Agenda for today's meeting. I can see a create application with this for that purpose. In the share settings, I can send the agenda out to all the librarians and they can add and upload the information from anywhere. If one of us is out sick and happen to be working from home or even from another branch, this function allows us to work without having the work saved on a file at the branch. Very cool.

I can see it having very positive applications for our patrons, who often forget a disc and can't save to the computers. What happens when the printer is acting up? Just upload this to another networked computer and print from there.

Week 5 # 12

I created a Rollyo on alternative medicine. I included 5 sites that I might want to use. I can see the potential for this but I think Google is just as easy. There is a search box on IE and it makes the steps so much shorter to find things. I might use Rollyo to remember my favorites versus leaving them on one computer so I can have access anywhere.

http://www.rollyo.com/betiread/alternative_medicine/

Rolling on week 5 #11

I cataloged what I could remember. I have been getting rid of a lot of stuff with the house transitions. From what I added, you can tell what I have been doing recently. :)

http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=betiread

Jumping Ahead week 9 # 20

This was e-mailed to me and is so hysterical. I love this show anyway. My kids get on Youtube constantly to find old cartoons or just the newest funny thing.

Week 5 # 10 Pics and all things new

I have uploaded my avatar. I enjoyed playing with the Garbage Pail Kid generator but I couldn't figure out a way to upload my card to the blog. It was so much fun that I sent the URL to two friends to share with their kids. Doing this inspired me to dress up my Myspace page with my avatar as well.

Week 4 # 9 More on feeds

I did it. I have searched Technorati and hated it. I didn't find releveant information easily. On the other hand, what I did find helped to point me in the direction of some really cool sites. I will be exploring a new Integrative Pediatric Council, created to promote holistic medicine in pediatric use. This is awesome!!! They have a blog, The Whole Child, that I am trying to add the feed to my blog without much success at the moment. For those of you who know me, you know that alternative medicine is my thing. The more and more I read about the disintegration of our health system, or lack there of, the more sure I am that big changes need to happen. I have deleted a bunch of news feeds off of bloglines and added a few of the alternative medicine feeds. Now I am excited.

Bloglines

I set up the bloglines account. I can't quite figure our how to attache the bloglines into the my blog. I guess I will need to get help on Monday.

On the other hand, I don't anticipate the necessity of using bloglines. I don't sit on the Internet. I look for what I specifically need not simply browse to see what is out there. It was tough to come up with 10 RSS that I would be interested in.

Saying it techie

For number 7, we have to write about anything technological.

Last night, I went to my high school reunion. This is the first one that I have gone to and I had a great time. It was funny to see technology at work here though. People were bopping about with their digital cameras, taking pictures of everyone. When it came time to share pictures of their kids, a fair amount were ready with their camera phones. Why bring real pics when you can have them virtually?

Another non-philosophical post

I have been reading some of the other posts and they are quite profound. You can tell that people are not doing this at work with the thought of undone tasks looming around the corner. I can hear librarians talking about programs. Blogs can fell a little lonely. I am talking the computer from my office.

I played with the pictures on FD toys and had some fun. This is a picture of Addison's room that my parents and I painted last year. It is something that I am very proud of. I used the framer option. A very cool idea especially when you don't have to spend all that money at the photo studio. Imagine all of the money I could have saved. This is something that I will definitely be using in the future.

My Cute Kid

I couldn't resist putting this picture of Addison on my blog. I brought him to work one day and he fell asleep under my desk. I always new library work was tough but I want everyone to know, I have never fallen asleep on the job. (Not physically at least) :)

Flickr Experience - Week 3 #5

Wow, my brave return. I picked this picture after searching the Flickr website. I can't tell you how many photos I looked at. (This picture just makes me grin when I see it.) By the way, I hate those 1001 books. You know them... The 1001 (movies, photos, places, flowers...) you must see before you die. As my days fill up with more and more things to do, those books tell me, "nope, sorry, you still have 3003 things to see before you are dead." How does that bring me fulfillment?

It has been a while since I last worked on this. It seems like so much has happened. As I thought, it is difficult for me to find time to do the blog. I can't wait to get my camera from home and upload pictures to the blog. I tried to capture a picture from my e-mail but my computer conked out on me. After several attempts to load different pictures, Annette and I found discovered that they just didn't have the permissions for it. You live... You learn.

Can't wait for tonight (get to go out with some gals from Edgewood) and this weekend when the younger crowd from my family gets together for a rip-roaring time. I'll take pictures. :)

Week 1: First steps

they say that the first step is the hardest. I don't think that is the case. The first step was very easy with Tech 2.0 (or whatever we are calling it). I have a feeling that the worst part of this for me will be dedicated time. Being a single mom, only daughter, ABM... Things begin to pile up and before you know it, time has flown. Not so much flown, maybe devoured by some other demension. Well, either way, in baby steps, I will attack 2.0 and complete this program. MP3 player, here I come!!!

It is the start of something beautiful!!!

My first post about Library 2.0 and other miscellaneous things. Getting a slow start due to summer reading but I am bound and determined to finish! Happy learning to everyone doing this same adventure.