Thing 23...whew

Throughout this endeavor, I have struggled not to be the wary, middle aged librarian, suspicious of new technology and holding on to my tried and true ways. There are many examples of new devices I have embraced after initial hesitancy - cell phone text messaging, AIM, Tivo, online calendar - so I imagine there will come a time when I use even my least favorite of these "23 Things." I have enjoyed many aspects of this process, but there have also been obstacles.

First, the positives. I have very much enjoyed blogging. This form of journaling is obviously easier than the conventional method, as typing is faster than writing, and I plan to continue with my blog. (It would be even better if I had laptop though.) I was definitely glad to have had the opportunity to learn about these technologies we can be sure patrons are using. Keeping up with popular culture is obviously a key to maintaining a place in the future of information services. The online instructions were not always clear to me, as they often used terminology I did not understand, and taking additional time to decipher the directions was frustrating. I found so many coworkers who were willing to help, both in person (my favorite) and online, that this "problem" became a good thing. I also enjoyed reading other participants' blogs to learn of aspects to consider when I found some of the "things" pointless.

I will definitely revisit Wiki's (despite my initial exasperation, I see possibilities there), LibraryThing, Flickr, online productivity tools and of course, Overdrive. While I don't have a Facebook account, both my children do, so I am glad to be informed about it as well as tagging and some other types of social networking. The things I found least interesting or applicable to my life were Technorati, Del.icio.us and Rollyo, but I'm glad to have been exposed.

So... there were many good things about completing this program. The obstacles, however, were significant. The timing was unfortunate for those of us involved with SRP in a busy branch. For many I talked with, the time to work on this was a major issue and some did not participate because of that. While completion was not required, it was heavily promoted and definitely encouraged. For some, the playing field was just not level. In addition, the amount of time I had to spend doing this at home was negatively effected by my dial-up connection - much could not be done there.

All this said, I certainly feel good for having completed this and am happy to have become aware of and even familiar with these new technologies. I see value in libraries utilizing them for training, communication with patrons and staff, in organizing information and in just being familiar with what patrons are doing. As for any subsequent online training... I'm heading out to my deck with a book to rest first.