Parting is such sweet sorrow

It is with a mix of emotions that I post Thing 23. I am excited to have finished these exercises, sqeaking in just under the deadline.

These are a few of my favorite things: flickr and You Tube. Specifically, I enjoyed learning how to put photos and videos into a blog.

I also feel a great sense of accomplishment. Before I started 23 Things, I thought that many tools and resources that are "out there" were for other people who are obviously more tech-savvy than myself. Through going through these exercises I have learned that I can do more than I gave myself credit for and that many of the latest technologies are easily accessible to anyone who will take a few moments to learn about them.

For those of you who happen to have found yourself at this blog, its purpose was to document a journey through 23 Things, an initiative through which many Maryland libraries, including Howard County Library, encouraged their employees to participate to learn more about available technologies. You can find more information about 23 Things here: http://marylandlibrarieslearning2.blogspot.com/
And more information about Howard County Library here: http://www.hclibrary.org/

Maybe if you take the time, you can learn a thing or two yourself.

Audiobooks

Speaker Drivers
Originally uploaded by DeclanTM

Call me old fashioned, but I would rather hold a book in my hands and turn the pages. I am also a very visual person and need to look at something instead of hear it. I drive everyone crazy when they read something to me and then I take it out of their hands and read it myself.

With all my baggage, I still tried to look at audiobooks without prejudice. I signed up for a NetLibrary account, which seems to be a great resource for students and teachers.

I then went to vist Project Gutenberg, which is a free audiobook resource. I visited their "Top 100" downloads, and they do have some great books, most of which seem to be classic literature. This would be a great site for people who are home-bound, are visually impaired, or are better at multi-tasking than I am.

As for me, I'll be curled up at home with my book.

Podcasts

Today I took a look at podcasts. Of course I knew about podcasting, but this exercise enabled me to learn more about what is out there as well as resources to locate and use what I want. I also went to several library web sites to see what others are doing with podcasts.

As part of Thing 21, I was supposed to pull an RSS feed into my Bloglines account. For some reason, Bloglines does not like me and I never received the verification email from them. I tried a second time today, but still did not get the needed email. I did put the RSS feed for wamu.org's community minute on to my Yahoo! account though, but I was surprised to see that most of the available podcasts were weeks old - kind of diminishes the impact of having immediate availability.

Last but not least, I visited the itunes site, so I have some ideas on where to go to put things on my new MP3 player.

Thing 20: You Tube

I already love and use You Tube, but I took a closer look at it today.
I think that You Tube is great when there is something specific that
you are looking for, or if someone sends you a clip. If you are going
on You Tube just to look around though, I think it is hard to get
beyond "most discussed" or "most viewed," which can be a little
problematic.
You Tube could be great for sharing events that take place at the
library. I could definitely see putting up clips of classes to share as
well.
I am going to attempt to add a You Tube video and we'll see what
happens. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thing 19: The Web 2.0 Awards List

The Treble Trophies
Originally uploaded by darkdevil2222

For this exercise, I took a look at some of the sites from the Web 2.0 awards list: http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0/#cat_43

I have been getting emails from my husband about joining his LinkedIn network, and frankly I didn't know why he kept pestering me. Don't we connect enough at home? So I joined LinkedIn and I'll see how that goes. Will anyone besides my husband want to be in my network?

I also looked at zillow, which troubles me a little bit. I do see the value in knowing how much your home is worth. But does everyone who knows your address need to have that information so readily at their fingertips? At least in the old days, you had to be beyond mildly curious to make a trek to dig up some records. I know the values are not absolute, but still...

Thing 18: Online Productivity

office (The Cubes)
Originally uploaded by Mickey Mouse_

I just went on to Google Docs and created an account. With people working in a variety of locations and wanting to have more flexibility, I love the idea of sharing documents on the web. I can think of tons of ways and times that I will be able to use such applications.

The Virtual Sandbox

Sandbox Sculpture
Originally uploaded by Chip Poutine

To further my wiki knowledge, I got into the virtual sandbox today and added a link to my blog on the Learning 2.0 SandBox wiki.

I have to admit that it took a few tries for me to get the link on the site. Firefox crashed on me the first time through. On my second attempt, I didn't quite get how to do it and I added the text manually on the site and then connected to the link - the result was that only my text showed up, with no link.

The third time was the charm, and it was so easy that even I could do it. I easily edited my previous attempt, and added the link to the "Favorite Blogs." The trick was to only add the text and link through the box that comes up when you click on the "insert/edit link" button, and then of course click "save", which I almost forgot to do.

Thing 16: Wikis

encyclopedia
Originally uploaded by nowsourcing

For thing 16, I got to read about wikis and how some libraries are using them.

I think that wikis are a great resource. How nice it must be to be a student today and not have to update the encyclopedias every few years. Although I did read that some schools are not allowing students to reference wikis, for obvious reasons.

I was very interested in visiting the sites of libraries that are creating and using their own wikis. That is something I would like to think about some more.

Library 2.0

Inside a Virtual Library
Originally uploaded by hackshaven

Library 2.0 is a term used to describe the future of libraries and their services. For this exercise, I watched a thought-provoking video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g

I also read some commentary by different people on what Library 2.0 means. My favorite one was this: http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/6.htm

I think that there is something special that happens when you walk through the doors of a library. Libraries have to keep up with technology, but that people are going to keep coming to them to get together, share ideas, and pick up a book.

Tagging and Technorati

Tag sale
Originally uploaded by doctorhectic

I just took a look at Technorati's site: http://www.technorati.com/ to discover how to tag blogs, as well as search for topics being discussed on blogs.

Technorati will be helpful to me to find out what people are saying and thinking about Howard County Library. However, I was dismayed to see that there were a large number of adult videos, disguised as blog topics, on Technorati - that could be an unpleasant surprise at work!

For me one of the best things about finding a new blog is to virtually connect with someone and know what he/she is thinking. When I looked at the most popular blogs according to Technorati, I was naively surprised to see how many of the top blogs on this site are commercial. Maybe I'll spot a great new find here, but I think that maybe I'll check out there least popular blogs. I wonder if there is a search I can do for that?

About this blog

Dr. Seuss National Memorial 8
Originally uploaded by weye.org

Hello. My name is Andrea and I work at Howard County Library. Howard County Library, as well as other Maryland Libraries, has a very cool initiative for its employees, called "23 Things." The purpose of 23 Things is to encourage us to learn about new and emerging technologies and to blog about our experiences. For anyone who is interested, here is a link to 23 Things (maybe you can learn something too!): http://marylandlibrarieslearning2.blogspot.com/

Initially, I thought that perhaps one poor soul who had made a seriously wrong turn on the internet would stumble upon this blog. Though I am fuzzy on the details, somehow it is now appearing on the list of Howard County Bloggers. So I thought I would properly introduce myself and tell you what I am doing here.

The Library has a November 26 deadline to complete 23 Things, so you can watch as I attempt a sprint-like finish of the marathon. Maybe someone will have a bottle of water for me at the end.

To learn more about Howard County Library: http://www.hclibrary.org/

Del.icio.us

Spicy Mini Chocolate Lava Cakes
Originally uploaded by desertculinary

I have heard alot about Del.icio.us and I was excited to learn about it. I am curious about the mix of the social and tagging elements together. I signed up and tagged a few sites. I'm going to keep going and see how it works out.

Thing 12: Rollyo

Cosy
Originally uploaded by tvossphotography

I really wanted to like Rollyo. And it got a such long list of praise from various tech sites and magazines that clearly I would be missing out on something if I didn't use it. But while I was reading the description of it, I have to admit that I just didn't get what made it so special. But I still wanted to like it.

For those of you who are not in the know, Rollyo lets you create a list of trusted sites to use when you do a search on the web. I signed up and created my list of local news organizations, and then I did a search on "Howard County Library." Then I went back to 23 Things and saw that I was supposed to include a link to my search roll. But I did not check the box to make it public. I couldn't find a way to retroactively make the search public.

So I thought I would just quickly and easily create a new search roll on a different topic that would be public. When I went to do that, I started having problems with the site and was in an eternal loop. I could only see the top half of the "create a searchroll" page. After I entered in my trusted sites, I couldn't get to the button to create the roll. So I would click on "create new searchroll" and it would clear the choices I had made, but I could still only see the top half of the page. Maybe that's why they call it rollyo?

I really wanted to like it. But I think I'm still a google gal.

LibraryThing

Bookshelf
Originally uploaded by Nyved

Today I joined LibraryThing (www.librarything.com) and added some books to my "bookshelf." As someone who is constantly battling clutter, it was much nicer to add books to a virtual bookshelf than to a real one, where there never seems to be enough room.

LibraryThing allows you to add favorite books and authors, join discussion groups, and get recommendations based on your preferences.

I do love reading and receiving recommendations on great books, but I think just looking at the web sites of Howard County Library and Amazon have been working fine for me. But who knows? Maybe the thought of a near empty bookshelf will draw me back.

The Virtual Me

WONDER WOMAN The Complete History
Originally uploaded by brancusi7

For thing 10, I created not 1, but 2 avatars. After I created the first one, I had to fill out some information about myself, including my email address. The avatar was supposed to be emailed to me, which never happened. The second avatar is up on my Yahoo! account. I am going to try to include it here, but I am not sure what will happen. So I am also including a pic of my childhood hero, Wonder Woman - just in case. Is that TMI?

I found this exercise milding entertaining, but not very relevant to my daily life. I couldn't help but think of Dwight Shrute from The Office, flying in Second Life. Not sure I want to go there...

http://lookup.avatars.yahoo.com/images?yid=lukkykatt&size=medium&type=jpg&pty=0

Thing 9: Explore Merlin

Book Stack
Originally uploaded by toxophilite

My "thing 9" got a little dicey because I used Yahoo! instead of Bloglines, and I added quite a few news sites already while I was doing "thing 8"

BUT, while I was looking at some of the sites listed to find RSS feeds, I came across topix.net. What a great resource! Topix makes it so easy to find news stories, with tons of sorting features! I will definately be using this site frequently.

All in all, this task was a little dangerous for me. I could search endlessly for useful and cool sites.