Reflecting....

I have found that the 23 things is very valuable to me. I have tapped into new resources that I can pass on to patrons at the library. Recently, a patron came in on an exceptionally hot day, and she was stressed. As we worked to get her up and running on the internet she told me she was here because her 'word' was not compatible with her sisters 'word' and she had to submit something immediately. Therefore, she had to leave her home to use our computers. It was then that I recommended Google.docs and Zoho for her and hers in the future so this won't happen again. A similar incident occurred right here in our library when someone was sending the minutes and her system was not compatible. Think of the time savings and no back up discs to carry around. Anyway, a week ago or so I didn't even know about this technology either.... Ah, a happy librarian and something useful I could pass on.

Week 9 thing 23 cha chink!!!!

I'm done number 23 wahhooo!!!!! It was a journey. I learned so much and have so far to go yet but I feel confident. What did I learn? My favorite discovery was Library Thing by far. It is my favorite tool and I don't know what I'll do when I input 200 books. I'll most likely subscribe. I've told my YA patrons about it and they love it too. This excercise certainly got me over my hump - fear of going into an arena I am not confident in - by having 23 things be my goal. I had an end in sight I could do it and do it with my poor technology skills. I gained a lot of insight and had fun especially w/Meez. I love it! I think in the future it would behove people like me to work in teams that can help each other build, create, challenge and explore with playfulness instead of getting that awful headache from time to time when the going was very iffy.... I am pleased that Maryland libraries put this program together and to say yeah well done, we did it!

Week 9 thing 22 - Oh yeah!

Okay, I thought Overdrive Digital Media seemed extremely user friendly w/many, many current titles. I would love to be hooked up w/it. *wink* Netlibrary also seemed fine but I was looking at it after Overdrive so it didn't wow me. Project Gutenberg did not offer any titles I'd like to read at this time. It seemed boring - the site and the choices - and I never did grasp how it works. World eBook Fair seemed fine but why pay when libraries are giving you so many opportunities to download books? Now let's talk about that, I really have never downloaded a book. Why? I'm new to talking books and feel like I have to do something while I'm listening. But I can read a book in leisure. I may try this out when I get my new MP3 player. Oh lucky me to have such a learning experience that I now know where to go and I may actually use it!

Week 9 thing 21 "Zits"

washingtonpost.com This is perfect for the podcast exercise. I love Zits. Okay podcast.net did not let me open many items, Podcastalley did but it was harder to get around and Yahoo podcasts was fine. I sent NPR to my bloglines but I can't find it. I did a search and all kinds of things popped up on my blogline. Oh my goodness number 21 done. (I am done right?) It worked and I put it here. I am better at this but still not 100% confident. I wish I could do this all at one time instead of bit by bit but alas who wants perfection? Not me, I'll take the baby steps to learning... one of my comments about my challenges to overcome at the beginning of this exercise.

Photo of the Month @ National Geographic Magazine

Photo of the Month @ National Geographic Magazine

Week 9 thing 20

Week 8 thing 19

This was interesting since we are going over the same sights again and again they have become more user friendly. I enjoyed Findory news. It was easy to catch a title and read the article. Technorati is really video driven and I prefer to read than watch. Would I use these sights? I'm not sure. If I was having difficulty finding something I might especially a news article.