Week 9, Thing 23: Summarize your thoughts about this program and learn more about where to go from here

It's been swell!

I've had a great time learning new things like social bookmarking, learning that I've already been participating in Web 2.0 by using stuff like Flick and YouTube, and learning from my colleagues and their blogs.

I hope that everyone who participated understands why we did what we did. Here's what I think.... I've learned some new skills I can use in my personal life. I've generated some ideas about new services to offer. I feel more able to connect with young people. And I feel more confident about answering customer questions. (Regardless of what we think our role is, many of our customers see us as the gatekeepers to technology. They come to us to use the internet, right? Ergo, we should know how everything on the internet works!)

Finally, I know I've blogged about many ideas for potential services as we've taken this journey. I'm sure that others have, too. I hope our decision makers take the time to collect these ideas and put some of them to good use!

Now, I'm going to start downloading stuff to my MP3 player. Perhaps I'll share some of it in the coming weeks.

Week 9, Thing 22: Learn About Audiobooks

Overdrive...Netlibrary...what's not to love?

Oh yeah...I have a mac at home, and downloading wmv files can be a bit tricky. But other than that....

I have, in the past, made great use of Overdrive. Last minute road trip? CD format all checked out at the library? Bookclub tomorrow. I have been downloading to my computer , then burning to a CD. I can't wait to try downloading to my new MP3 player! (And I might even follow John Jewitt's helpful suggestions!)

Week 9, Thing 21: Discover some useful tools for locating podcasts

Tried out a few directories--Merlin and Podcast Alley.

Like the blogs, I can't say that I'm actively shopping for additional content in my life. However, I did subscribe to a podcast from The Onion. Who can resist headlines like "Missing Hubcap Found Face Down in Ditch"?



I have also been known to listen to the occasional npr story via podcast.

From a library standpoint, video podcasts, especially, intrigue me. I'd love to see us offer some database tutorials via podcast and link them to our catalog. So much good information, and customers love it...provided you show them how to use use them!

Week 9, Thing 20: Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow you to upload video

I recently discovered the digital divide. It's smack dab between me and my younger brother. Upon asking him if he watches some popular television show, he responded, "enh, if it's not on YouTube I'm not watchin' it." I admit to wiling away many happy hours on YouTube, but it's not (at least yet) my primary source of video entertainment.

As a tribute to my brother, the first video I've chosen to post is the first in Hank and (YA author) John Green's Brotherhood 2.0 series. This year, the two brothers have vowed to communicate solely through vlogs. Watch just a few and you'll be hooked. Their real-life relationship is funny and honest and funny and surprising and funny.



While I have your attention, take a look at a few more library-related "stuff".

Many publishing companies have been posting "trailers" for their latest books.



Even more fascinating are the fan videos...about books! Here is just one of many, many fan videos about the teen novel, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.



Finally, some group called Expanded Books held a competition for student filmmakers to make trailers for teen books. Here's one of the winners.

Week 8, Thing 19: Discover any site from the Web 2.0 awards list

Seriously, you expected us to be able to choose one thing from that list?!?


First, I added my sentence to



I was taken aback at what some people, adding to a stranger's web site, can pack into a single sentence--not even a long sentence--and was compelled to add my own. (I hope it's approved!) A project like this could definitely make a great library program.


Then I spend quite a bit of time playing

It's fun to guess the common tag! ...and a great exercise for understanding more about google images.

And several lifetimes later, I checked out some games I might want to add to my myspace page. Here's the one I chose:

Free Myspace Videos And Games

Now this was just fun...and a great way to communicate with my teens!

Week 8, Thing 18: Take a look at some online productivity tools

I've had the opportunity to work with text and spreadsheets on google docs, but I haven't yet worked with their presentation program. Agreed--certainly cheaper then buying microsoft products, and available anywhere. However, the actual process of creating the document was a bit clunky. I didn't have quite all the tools I needed, and it took a while for the web application to respond. A better bet is to create the document with a desktop program, then upload to google docs--which sort of defeats the point, no? I've also heard a rumor or two about security...or the lack thereof.

Great idea. Needs a wee bit more work before it becomes a regular part of my world.

In the meantime, take a look at the presentation that I created.

Week 7, Thing 16: Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that libraries are using them

Wikis are a great tool whenever you are working with a group of people all trying to reach the same goal. I've seen them come in particularly handy for conferences and classes. It's easy to access, easy to organize different subject categories, and easy to share ideas withing a group.

The Book Lovers wiki got my wheels turning about summer reading. A teen services wiki would also be useful--a way for teen specialists to share what's working and what's not as they work with an incredibly finicky customer base.

Week 6, Thing 15: Read a few perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0 & the future of libraries

Libraries are essentially about communicating and connecting. What we do is to communicate with customer to discover their questions and connect them with the information that will answer them.

Dr. Schultz is on the right track when she says "this too shall pass." We will never return to what we used to do, however, what are brand new ideas today will be old hat tomorrow. We need to continue acting as "tour guides" and helping our customers to make connections.

And that means being familiar with 2.0 technologies as well as the more traditional library resources. Although some new technologies may not seem relevant or useful to older generations, many of our younger customers use them almost exclusively. Our job as tour guides is to help them gain access to these resources and help them separate the wheat from the chaff.

The more formats and methods that we can make available for connecting people to information, the more customers we can communicate with. When planning for the future, it is important to remain flexible and to remember that our job is communication and connection.

Week 6, Thing 14: Discover Technorati and learn how tags work with blogs

After visiting Technorati, I feel as if I have just stepped out of the Total Perpsective Vortex. There are an awful lot of blogs out there! And more surprisingly, an awful lot of bloggers making connections with one another. I'm not sure I'll be using this Thing so much, but it sure was interesting to see everything ranked by the level of interest. For those who are serious about blogging, this seems like a useful way to keep an eye on things. And for those who are looking for blogs to read, this is a great tool for discovery.

BTW...it would appear that this blog is ranked 4,446,976.

Week 6, Thing 13: Learn about tagging and discover Del.icio.us

Well, isn't this darned useful? Beats the heck out of printing all that stuff out and piling it on my desk!!! I tagged a whole mess o' stuff I've been trying to keep track of...and looked to see who else had tagged it! Niftie, niftie, niftie...and more importantly, useful!

http://del.icio.us/katmargeo