Lost and found

So glad my blog is still here! I am sitting at the reference desk on a slow hour and decided to reconnect with my blog-self. After 3 years of neglect, maybe I will begin again...

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.

Thing 20 Part 2

As I was unable to complete the YouTube exercise at home, I added it at the end of my blog - pretty difficult to miss it. I was able to figure out how to send it to my blog without too much trouble, but I doubt I will revisit the site other than when there is a video in the news.

Here's some Total Momsense

Thing 22

Finally, I have reached the pinnacle of this journey and the "thing" which has been the motivation for keeping with it. I have looked at NetLibrary, to which we no longer subscribe, Project Gutenburg, on which I saw nothing appealing at first glance, and OverDrive, on which I am counting! I do not think eBooks will be something I use, but I regularly listen to audiobooks on CD on my drive to and from work and am very anxious to listen to books sans the discs on my passenger seat. I have a long list of titles "to read" and I am certain I will find many to download. I would like to develop stronger readers' advisory skills for middle school readers by listening to Y books on my commute, and there is a ready source of suggestions for my own personal enjoyment on LibraryThing! The first task on my "to do" list at work next week is to create my Overdrive account.

Thing 21

Ok, I think I get that podcasts are customized broadcasts. iTunes is surely important to every teenager I know. I had noticed but never pursued, podcasts on my son's college's website, so I pulled up a podcast of an event Tom Brokaw attended. My computer at home was not able to support viewing this, so I was once again left frustrated. I can at least imagine watching it and it could be something I would enjoy. I browsed Podcast.net, and could not find much that interested me. I chose subjects of interest and found nothing I recognized. Who are these people? Found a few TV related items, but again, was not able to view them. One podcast I found gave a very understandable explanation of podcasting which I printed to keep for future reference. My dilemma is that I cannot always accomplish these technological exercises on my home computer and have NO time to do it at work.

Thing 20

Took some time to explore YouTube. There have been recent news incidents I have viewed, and I browsed some of the multitudinous other subjects available. I also enjoyed an email from a coworker which included a YouTube video. I cannot relate to the need to exhibit my own experiences to the public in terms of posting videos, but I will certainly visit this site when I hear of something of interest in the news. Ironically, at this moment, as I am posting from home, I have CNN on TV and can hear them talking to "Dancing Matt" about his YouTube videos (which I have no interest in viewing!)