Thing 23

Finished! Hurray!

Thing 22

Finished Thing 22.

Thing 23

Looking back on my previous posts and activities, I am glad that this project is finally finished. It was a stressful time! It could have been a better learning experience and more fun if I was given more time to complete the activities. I understand that the library is under-staffed (so, why were we even taking on this project?), but some individuals were given more time to complete the activities and some actually took the assignments home to complete (their choice). If by chance a patron needs my assistance on the computer, I will try to help him or her the best I can. I am sure I must have retained something I can use to assist patrons.

Thing 21

The six sites I chose were: Flickr, Podcasts.com, YouTube, Diigo, Image Chef, and Wordle. All of these were easy to use and could be a source for fun.

Thing 22

I took the survey.

Thing 20

I chose Google Calendar from the Communicate show & share list. It was easy to use. A person could use it to make a personal calendar of events for himself or herself.

I was easy to make my iGoogle page. I did not save it. I already have something in place that I currently use.

Thing 19

For Thing 19 I explored Sports and Science sites. I read about the "Top 10 Things to Watch for This Baseball Season" and the "Top 10 Zoo Escapes." If you are a sports fan or science fan, you might like these sites. These sites were entertaining.

Thing 23: Final Thoughts

Overall this has been a very positive experience. It is always good to learn something new & if you can have a little bit of fun while doing it, that's even better. When we first started this program, I knew about social networks, video-sharing sites, blogs, etc., but had very little personal experience with them. I've learned a lot (Yea Me!) & will continue to build on what I've learned. Thanks to all the staff who worked so well together & helped us successfully complete these 23 Things.

Thing 22

I have completed the survey.

Thing 21

My 6 are as Google Docs, Flickr, Podcasts.com, YouTube, RSS/Reader, and the Time 50 Best Websites (how can you narrow it down to just one?!) The common thread is that all are easily accessible from anywhere, at any time, with a computer. For the most part, they don't require the download of any software. Most of what you save is stored on your computer, although you may download to a portable device such as a Flash Drive or an iPod. You can limit most of your searches to just what interests you & share what you find/create with friends, family, or co-workers. Each of these are fairly easy to use.

Thing 21

The six I chose were: Google Reader, Flickr, Comic Strip Generator, Del.icio.us, Library Thing, and You Tube. I would say that a patron might find many of these things useful or interesting. Google Reader puts everything on one page, which makes it much easier to check sites of continuous interest. Flickr was best for sharing photos, and Comic Strip Generator was fun. Del.icio.us was a great way of bookmarking things, Library Thing helped to keep a list of what you've read and liked. Probably You Tube is a standard for a young computer user.

Thing 20

I don't see any practical application for this. I didn't save iGoogle page because I wouldn't use it.

Thing 20

I set up iGoogle page with Happy Trails theme & saved it. The gadgets were easy & fun to add. Try the Idiot Test gadget. Looks easy but you'd better pay attention! I have the game on my iPod. The tool I selected was Picnik. Easy to use. I could see recommending it to our patrons who may want to easily edit pictures & save to email, Facebook, etc.

Thing 19

I explored several of the Top 50 sites, although one I would've really liked to check out was the games site which was blocked, of course. National Geographic was interesting, as well as MayoClinic (a site I had referred a patron to earlier in the day, when the medical site she wanted was unavailable). Some of the 50 sites were ones that we had already visited as part of our 23 Things. Again, more time would be required to really investigate these site(s), in order to be more informed, before I would recommend to patrons.

Thing 18

1) I have explored the sites.
2) I would not recommend social networks for children. I feel children should interact in person with each other. They should go outside and enjoy the fresh air. They should get exercise. They should play and just be kids. There will be plenty of time for social networks when they are older.
Togetherville's was a site for children under the age of 10. There is a code of conduct. This site encourages parent-child interaction. What's What is a site for children ages 8 to 14. Scuttle Pad is a site for children ages 6 to 11. The site teaches children how to use a social media site. There are pre-set communication options. Giant Hello is a site for older children. They can't make friends with people they don't know.
3) The pro's of Linkedin are: The site is available in English, French, German, Indian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Individuals can see what jobs are available in the business would. Businesses can find employees. Questions are free. The con's of Linkedin are: The site has restricted access from some countries; Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. I would recommend the Linkedin site to patrons who were job hunting.
4) There was some interesting information on Webjunction relating to services provided by other libraries. This site is easy to navigate. I found information that I could use for future program ideas.

Thing 17

1) I have explored the sights.
2) No
3) No
4) They might want to connect with other individuals who share their interests.

Thing 19

I liked The Onion, which is very funny, National Geographic, which is informative and I like travel and geography, and Wakerupper, which is an interesting concept, and I can see useful applications for it.

Thing 18: Social Networks

The problem with social networking & children is the failure of adults to monitor their activity. Parents setting up facebook accounts for their younger children & then just turning them loose with it. Kids often don't recognize the danger of putting personal information out there, or think their comments, pictures, etc. are limited to "friends" when in reality they may go way beyond that. Unfortunately, most children, especially adolescents, are'nt going to be content to go on the "kid friendly" sites when they have friends with facebook accts., etc.
Linkedin seemed like a good site to maintain a list of business contacts. Again, you would want to be careful what info you're putting out there & for whom. Seemed way too time consuming.
Webjunction could be an interesting site. Had same problem boysenberry did.It's a busy site that would require more time to investigate, maybe more time than I would be willing to devote to it.

Thing 18

Call me an old fuddy-duddy, but I'm extremely suspicious of any site that asks for a kids photo, credit card number (What's what, giantHello), or Social Security Number (giantHello). There's something creepy about kids social networking in front of a computer for hours at a time. They need to be out in the light of day seeking real friends and not electronic ones. If I had children, I wouldn't allow them to visit any social networking site, no matter how secure they're said to be. That's my personal opinion on them.
Linkedin may be useful to some library patrons.
Although WedJunction could be useful for library professionals, the very first thing I tried to do didn't work correctly. I clicked on "Dealing with Angry Patrons" and was sent to Technical Services instead of Courses. I finally found it, but obviously there are some problems there.

Thing 17

I'm not a member of any social networks or online communities. I haven't the foggiest why someone would be interested in these.