Wow, I can't believe I really finished this! Literally, it is 11:44 pm on Dec. 23. lol. Sounds like the rest of my life. But I'm glad that I did it. I feel like I learned some new things and reinforced some of the things that I already knew. So not to ramble on, here are my answers to the questions.
1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
My favorite was Rollyo. I didn't know it was there, and I like it so much. Besides that: flickr mashups, facebook, wikis, library thing. I actually think that all of the discoveries were worthwhile. I hate to have to play favorites :)
2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I did this program really fast, most of it in a couple of days. And it made me realize that I need to be more agressive in keeping on top of new things like this. It's relevant to our careers of course, but also, it's really cool stuff to know. I would like to make learning about new things more of a priority all around.
3. Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I thought it was nice to be able to see everyone else's blogs and read what they were thinking.
4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I think that it could be done over a longer period of time. I felt a little rushed to be honest. Also, as I said before, I liked reading other people's thoughts. So maybe it could be more of a requirement to comment on other participants blogs. Also, I am the greatest offender of this I know, but I really don't feel like you get as much out of it by cramming the whole experience in right before the deadline. Maybe there could be more incentives to stay on track and get the exercises done in a timely manner.
I did 80% of the work at home. I found it really difficult to work on this at the ref desk and we frankly don't have that much time off of the desk or access to a computer. So I really did not feel that I had an opportunity to make this a priority at work. Maybe a different time of year would be easier?
5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
Yes, most definitely. Thank you so, so, so, so much for all the work you did to make this program.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
#22 Audiobooks
Well I have been using this feature of our website for quite some time, and I think it's great and I mention it in all my class visits and to anyone who likes audiobooks.
I have found many Overdrive audiobook titles that I've really enjoyed that I downloaded from our website. I think my favorite is the Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot. I thought that Anne Hathaway, who also played Princess Mia in the movies, did an amazing job reading this series.
Everyone should also realize that we have foreign language learning audiobooks to download. I know that a lot of customers want audio materials for language learning.
The only thing I wish is that Young Adult was one of the browsable categories.
I have found many Overdrive audiobook titles that I've really enjoyed that I downloaded from our website. I think my favorite is the Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot. I thought that Anne Hathaway, who also played Princess Mia in the movies, did an amazing job reading this series.
Everyone should also realize that we have foreign language learning audiobooks to download. I know that a lot of customers want audio materials for language learning.
The only thing I wish is that Young Adult was one of the browsable categories.
#21 Podcasts
I tried a few of the podcast directory and I liked using podcast alley the best. It seemed to find a great variety of podcasts that sounded interesting to me. It was easy to subscribe and listen through my bloglines account. However, I have been using Zencast Organizer for a couple of years and I think I'm going to stick with that because it's easy to load them quickly onto my mp3 player from there.
My favorite podcasts are the World Today Select headlines from the BBC, the NY Times Front Page, and the SirsiDynix Institute podcasts. I would recommend the SirsiDynix Institute podcasts to any librarian who is interested in Library 2.0 or who saw the presentation by Stephen Abrams that we had at Central a while back. The podcast is not updated that frequently, once a month or less, but the topics are really interesting (second life, gaming, podcasting, etc.)
I like getting the news by podcast also, but my problem with podcasts is that one only has so much time to devote to listening to things. If I listened to every podcast that struck my fancy, I would do nothing else, so I prefer blogs and other print sources in that respect. They're easier to scan to see if you really want to spend time reading it.
My favorite podcasts are the World Today Select headlines from the BBC, the NY Times Front Page, and the SirsiDynix Institute podcasts. I would recommend the SirsiDynix Institute podcasts to any librarian who is interested in Library 2.0 or who saw the presentation by Stephen Abrams that we had at Central a while back. The podcast is not updated that frequently, once a month or less, but the topics are really interesting (second life, gaming, podcasting, etc.)
I like getting the news by podcast also, but my problem with podcasts is that one only has so much time to devote to listening to things. If I listened to every podcast that struck my fancy, I would do nothing else, so I prefer blogs and other print sources in that respect. They're easier to scan to see if you really want to spend time reading it.
#20 YouTube
So this is a little childish, but I feel the need to share my most favorite youtube video of all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59pM7yLlG8Y
It is called German pranks with Water. And for some reason it's the funniest thing I've ever seen. It is apparently on some German version of Candid Camera. Basically they dig a pit in the middle of a jogging trail, fill it with water, cover the pit with leaves to disguise it and then wait for the inevitable hi jinx to ensue. I think it's extra funny because it's in German, I'm not sure why. So anyway, that is my great discovery on youtube :)
I definitely think that library websites should incorporate more video content. It would be nice to advertise our successful programs by posting videos of past programs to show people how fun they were. This also might encourage people who are reluctant to attend library events to show up. Maybe we could include video tours of our newly renovated community libraries before they open.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59pM7yLlG8Y
It is called German pranks with Water. And for some reason it's the funniest thing I've ever seen. It is apparently on some German version of Candid Camera. Basically they dig a pit in the middle of a jogging trail, fill it with water, cover the pit with leaves to disguise it and then wait for the inevitable hi jinx to ensue. I think it's extra funny because it's in German, I'm not sure why. So anyway, that is my great discovery on youtube :)
I definitely think that library websites should incorporate more video content. It would be nice to advertise our successful programs by posting videos of past programs to show people how fun they were. This also might encourage people who are reluctant to attend library events to show up. Maybe we could include video tours of our newly renovated community libraries before they open.
#19 Discovering Web 2.0 tools
Twitter
The Web 2.0 tool that I chose to explore was Twitter. I was attracted by the name, and I haven't got to try it yet, because it's a little scary to me, but I think it's an interesting idea. Basically Twitter lets you send out short updates (up to 140 characters) about your status as often as you like per day. Then everyone who is in your network will be able to see them, and you will be able to see the updates for all of your friends. Groups of friends or family can keep updated on each other's lives that way in minute detail. And some companies are also taking advantage of this for marketing purposes.
I couldn't really see using this because I think that most people don't really care when their friends are "at work" or "eating soup" or whatever. Most people's lives are really boring. But it would be good to send out important information to a lot of people at once like "it's a girl!" or something like that.
Maybe libraries could use it to help keep on top of what's going on in the library system. Each branch could post anything important and all the others could stay up to date. It's nice that Twitter limits it to such short messages, so that only the most important things will be posted, rather than like a forum or a blog where sometimes there is too much reading to be practical for everyone. In fact, some people call Twitter "micro-blogging" which seems like a pretty accurate description to me.
The Web 2.0 tool that I chose to explore was Twitter. I was attracted by the name, and I haven't got to try it yet, because it's a little scary to me, but I think it's an interesting idea. Basically Twitter lets you send out short updates (up to 140 characters) about your status as often as you like per day. Then everyone who is in your network will be able to see them, and you will be able to see the updates for all of your friends. Groups of friends or family can keep updated on each other's lives that way in minute detail. And some companies are also taking advantage of this for marketing purposes.
I couldn't really see using this because I think that most people don't really care when their friends are "at work" or "eating soup" or whatever. Most people's lives are really boring. But it would be good to send out important information to a lot of people at once like "it's a girl!" or something like that.
Maybe libraries could use it to help keep on top of what's going on in the library system. Each branch could post anything important and all the others could stay up to date. It's nice that Twitter limits it to such short messages, so that only the most important things will be posted, rather than like a forum or a blog where sometimes there is too much reading to be practical for everyone. In fact, some people call Twitter "micro-blogging" which seems like a pretty accurate description to me.
#18 Collaborative Word Processing Tools
I'm going to blog about Google Docs, because that's the program that I've had the most experience with. I have been using it for a while now to save some documents that I need to constantly edit, and I have no complaints. I like that fact that it's the same google account and password that I need for my gmail account, my blogger account, and now my google docs account. It's nice to have everything together. I like to keep my resume up there so that I can add something to it whenever I do something resume worthy like serve on a committee. That way the next time I need my resumes it won't be such a chore to update it.
We also use it for the YA Summer Reading Club Committee, and I think it's been a good tool for us so far. We posted a list of the book selections for this summer and all the members of the committee can log in to see new information about the committee and to add annotations for the books. We were trying to decide between using Google Docs or a wiki, but I think that Google Docs is working well.
We also use it for the YA Summer Reading Club Committee, and I think it's been a good tool for us so far. We posted a list of the book selections for this summer and all the members of the committee can log in to see new information about the committee and to add annotations for the books. We were trying to decide between using Google Docs or a wiki, but I think that Google Docs is working well.
#17 1/2 Facebook
My favorite of the Facebook apps for librarians were Books iRead and the UIUC Library Catalog. I like Books iRead because it is a nice way to keep track of what you've been reading in a place that you can access from almost anywhere. If you are stumped on a readers' advisory question, you could open up your facebook page and remind yourself of all the books you can't remember, and then you could look at what all your librarian friends are reading as well.
I thought that the UIUC Library Catalog was a nice feature too. It brings the library customers one step closer to the catalog and the databases. One of the big problems I have with teaching people about the databases is that you have to click on like 500 links just to get into them. Any way to make that process shorter would be a good thing.
I thought that the UIUC Library Catalog was a nice feature too. It brings the library customers one step closer to the catalog and the databases. One of the big problems I have with teaching people about the databases is that you have to click on like 500 links just to get into them. Any way to make that process shorter would be a good thing.
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