The End

Is there anything at the end of the tunnel?
Originally uploaded by innoxiuss

My absolute favorite exercise was Flickr and learning how to blog with photos. I really enjoyed all the amazing pictures people have posted. I'm looking forward to sharing my own pictures now that I have a digital camera.

I thought this program's format was conducive to my learning style. I find it easier to learn and finish things when I have other people helping and learning along with me.

I probably would sign up again if SPL offered another program in the future particularly if my coworkers signed up as well. We had fun reading and commenting on each other's blogs. I'm glad I completed all 23 things as I doubt I would have discovered them on my own.

LibriVox

Zousan Edits
Originally uploaded by mediatinker

I had never heard of LibriVox before but I think their goal is admirable. Using volunteers to read books is smart although you would have to have the time and inclination for it. I don't really listen to audiobooks myself, in the car is too distracting for me and elsewhere I would just read a book. For the few audiobooks I have listened to the voice of the narrator really made a difference in my enjoyment of them. This seems like a temporary solution for our patrons until we can subscribe to a site that has new audiobooks.

Firefly Podcast

fireflies in a jar
Originally uploaded by jamelah

Using the library's headphones I managed to listen to part of a podcast. The one I picked was called Firefly Talk. The podcast was all about Joss Whedon's canceled show Firefly and his movie Serenity. I admit to watching the show when it was on and liking it. However the people who do this podcast are on an unparrelled level of obsession. All they talked about was getting the show back on the air and whether there is going to be a sequel to the movie. I know a fair amount of people who enjoy podcasts so I should probably go back and explore more. I would probably enjoy an NPR podcast or something similiar.

This machine kills fascists

How do they pick the artists that are on these sites? Cause I couldn't find one musician I'd heard of on the Smithsonian website. Oh wait, Woody Guthrie is on there. Okay one artist I'm vaguely familiar with. I listened to House of the Rising Sun and I have to say I think The Animals did it better.

I turned the volume up completely but still had to press my ear to the speaker on my LCD screen to hear. Apart from that, the quality and ease of use was good. I'll have to try this from my home computer and see if that doesn't fix the volume issue. I guess these websites are a safe alternative for the library to invest in, as we don't allow our patrons to download music.

I don't think most of my family has the technical savvy to start listening to music on the net. My dad hasn't figured out mp3 players yet and still uses a cassette Walkman. But then he also refers to my brother's Blackberry as a raspberry. My honest assessment is I would listen to music this way if I could find a site that catered to my sophisticated taste in music.

19 down 4 to go!

Hooray for LOLcats
Originally uploaded by mherzber

I explored the 43 things website which was the original inspiration for all of these learning 2.0 exercises. People post their goals on the site, then other people can cheer them on and offer encouragement. You can search for goals by keyword or even by city.

It was fun to see all the different goals people made. Also it was interesting to see what people in Spokane had to say. The one that made me laugh said that we get angry if you call Spokane a town instead of a city.

The top 3 most popular goals completed were: to fall in love, get a tattoo and to kiss in the rain. I tried to search out library related goals and found quite a few. People want to leave poems, love letters, jokes and secrets in library books. I myself have found pay check stubs, credit card statements, money and phone cards in books before.

Zohoho and a bottle of rum

 

Zoho Writer could be a useful tool to tell some of our patrons about. The fact that you don't need a flash drive or disk is nice. I always hated floppy disks and still have a bunch of them lying around collecting dust. I think anyone who has used Word could pick up Zoho in no time.

 

I don't know how much I'll personally be using it considering I only use Word about once every six months. After reading the comment some Zoho affiliate posted on page2peon's blog, I'm kinda worried about saying anything else. Eternal Vigilance! Isn't that from Harry Potter?

 

I also tried 30 boxes, an online calender web app which could be helpful for me. I do have a planner but am so disorganized I never update it. So 30 boxes is probably yet another thing I can procrastinate about. I'll have to look into what other web based applications are out there. Anytime you don't have to download something is alright with me. I'm pretty protective of my hard drive space and rarely download things.

Wicki Woo!

More Library 2.0 from Aurora
Originally uploaded by Travelin' Librarian

The resource I found most interesting was Using Wikis to Create Online Communities. The idea to make the library's intranet a wiki has merit. The intranet would become a place that staff could contribute their input and ideas. Also I think a community wiki would be a helpful and informative resource, particularly for people new to the area. The SPL website might benefit from a wiki where patrons could suggest and rate books that they enjoyed.

I've used Wikipedia before but never realized that anyone could post or delete entries. This makes information suspect; but since I'm usually looking up frivolous information anyway it doesn't make much difference to me. I can see where students would want to be wary of using it as a research tool. Mainly I find Wikipedia useful when I don't want to wade through all the websites a search engine brings up.