23rd Thing!

This has been an enjoyable and challenging experience! I think I had the most fun with LibraryThing, Flickr, and the various generators that we played around with! I think I will continue to use blogs, YouTube, and possibly podcasts from time to time. If nothing else, I definitely feel like I've gained a lot of knowledge and I feel more comfortable with some of the resources on the Internet. If this program (or something similar) was offered again, I would definitely participate!

Netlibrary

I think this will be fun to try once I get my MP3 player. I would like to download "The Book of Lost Things" by John Connolly. I think this will be fun to use while walking the dog or on the treadmill. I may even use it while doing chores! I love to listen to audiobooks and do so frequently in my car. This will just add another way for me to do that!

Podcasts

I tried out a few podcasts and found one that I might enjoy - Mugglecast, a podcast about the Harry Potter books. These have been recommended to me, and they sound fun. I also subscribed to something called childrensbookradio, but I didn't enjoy it and probably won't listen to it much. I think podcasts are pretty neat, but I just don't see myself using them all that much. I'd have to be able to download them on something portable, such as an MP3 player, and maybe I'll do that once I get one after completing Learning 2.0! I think it would be fun to listen to them while walking the dog or walking on the treadmill.

YouTube

I've used YouTube before, and its fun, although I don't go there often. I watched a really neat video about a bunch of people in NYC who went into Home Depot and acted as if they were frozen in time. It was an experiment to see how the Home Depot employees and other shoppers would react. I probably wouldn't have heard about this if it wasn't for YouTube, so its a neat way to share experiences and information with others! I am having a hard time coming up with a way that it could be used in libraries, but possibly as a way to showcase programs - for example, people could watch a video clip of a children's program, which would promote the program as well as allow people to see what goes on at the library. Would this violate some sort of privacy rule, though? Maybe patrons would have to sign some sort of form?

HipCal and Craigslist

I signed into HipCal and I think it could be useful, but I just don't see myself using it. I think the fact that I have to be in front of a computer to get to it sort of defeats the purpose for me. I would like to have something that would help organize my life - I'm such a "list person" that I have lists everywhere and all over the place. However, being able to stick a list in my purse or on the refrigerator makes me remember to accomplish the list, and if it's something I have to log into, I'm just going to forget about it. Maybe once I got in the habit of using something like HipCal, I might find it useful and worth it, but for now, my slips of paper are working fine! :)

On another note, I really like Craigslist, and I have actually used it in the past. I bought my husband a tuba for his birthday last year, and I found it on...ta da! - craigslist! I think I will continue to use it in the future.

Zoho

Wow! I'm impressed. This is a really neat tool, and great for people who need to email documents to people who are using different word programs. I doubt that I'll use it much, but I'm really glad to know about it so I can tell people about it. I can see myself using it occasionally.

PBWiki

This was fun. I liked reading other people's "favorites" and had fun adding my own. It also made me stop and think about all my favorites! This is definitely a way to get people thinking and sharing ideas!

Wikis

I just took a look at several wikis and they are pretty neat. I tend to like things to be very organized, so I don't know if it would completely suit my tastes, but I still think it could be used effectively in a library setting. I like the "Book Lovers Wiki", where people can post readers' advisory information. That could be very useful to patrons and it would give them a sense of involvement as well! I also like the idea of having wikis among staff members. Staff could collaborate and share ideas without having to meet in person. This would be useful for staff members who do not attend regular meetings or who are not in specific committees that meet on a regular basis.

Library 2.0

I just read some of the perspectives on Library 2.0. They are pretty interesting, and I'll be honest - some of it is over my head. I don't really understand the whole Library 3D thing or the Library 4.0 that Dr. Wendy Schultz was talking about. Still, I do understand that the Web is changing the way in which we can serve patrons, and I agree that we need to make our services user-focused. I agree with a lot of what Rick Anderson says, especially, "...it can be equally disastrous when a profession fails to acknowledge and adapt to radical, fundamental change in the marketplace it serves." I feel like we need to try and maintain the library as a place where families can come and enjoy storytime, where people can browse the shelves, and where students can come study. However, I also feel like we need to be keeping up with the web services available in order to reach patrons in a way that they are most likely using the Internet.

Technorati

I checked out Technorati and thought it was pretty neat to search around. When I tried searching for "Learning 2.0" in blog posts, tags, and directories, I found it most useful to search for blog tags. The results I got from searching blog posts were sort of random and not really what I was looking for. However, I got some good results from the other two search methods. I had fun looking at the "Popular" hits for YouTube - Nora the Piano-Playing Cat was great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ860P4iTaM

Del.icio.us

I enjoyed exploring Del.icio.us and thought it was pretty cool. I probably wouldn't use it for actual research, but I like the idea of being able to get to my bookmarked websites from any computer just by signing into my Del.icio.us account. I don't really spend a lot of time surfing the web, looking at other people's tags, or trying to find neat sites. Still, I can see why this is a useful tool and I might use it more than I realize. We'll see!

Rollyo

I decided to make a searchroll for mystery novels. I included a few mystery websites, the library website, and a couple bookstore websites. I'm not sure if I did it wrong or if I just don't care for this type of tool, but when I tried it out, I got all sort of articles that I had to sift through. I think I'd rather just go to the websites individually and look on my own, rather than using Rollyo. I guess I just can't really see myself actually using this sort of thing. I can see a potential use for this type of tool, but I personally don't really care for it. Here's my link:
http://rollyo.com/meff0180/mystery_novels/

Library Thing

I enjoyed looking around LibraryThing and adding books to my catalog. I added books I am currently reading or just finished to my catalog, so that "What I'm Reading" will show up on my blog. Its also fun to see how many people have chosen the same books, or to read the comments posted about the books. Overall, this is a fun website!
http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=meff80

Generators

I used this generator for my exercise: http://www.hetemeel.com/einsteinform.php

This is really cool and I'm going to have fun using these!

Finding Feeds

I looked at the 4 search tools listed, and I guess if I was really interested in a subject or...I don't know...had more time to surf the web, I might use some of them. I like when "most popular searches" are listed, which gives me ideas as well as alerts me to some things going on in current events that I'm completely ignorant about! I guess as a whole, I think its neat that these search tools are out there, but I personally will probably never use them - at least at this point in my life.

RSS Newsfeeds

I set up my Blogline account and added some RSS feeds. I got some ideas off the "200 Most Popular Feeds" list. I wonder if there is one that will deliver a new word puzzle to your account each day - that would be really cool! I'll have to keep my eyes open for something like that.
I don't really see myself using this on a regular basis, but possibly at some point I may. I don't really have regular websites that I check, but if I get to that point, this could really come in handy. I'm not sure how libraries could use this, although I can definitely see staff using it to keep up to date with library blogs and websites. Also, it would be nice to stay up on current events by subscribing to a news website.
Here is my blogline link:
http://www.bloglines.com/public/mploudoun
Enjoy!

Thing 7

Well, I think all this is really neat and I've been learning a lot. Its really neat to see all the ways people are communicating and connecting through technology! I don't think I'm going to use everything on a regular basis, but I've definitely started using a lot more than I used to. One thing I'm excited about: my husband (who is definitely not a technological wizard) and I lead the youth group at our church and after hearing all that I've been doing at work, he set himself up with a blog as well! He is using it to post "thoughts for the day" for the teens to check and to keep them posted about upcoming events and activities. So far, the kids think its pretty cool!
Anyway, those are my thoughts on technology! :)

Neville

Neville
Originally uploaded by jaredmeredith.

I chose to make a motivational poster! I had fun with all the tools and toys!

Thing 4

I don't know if I was supposed to blog about it or not, but I did add my blog's url to the LCPL L2-Log.

True Love

True Love
Originally uploaded by Buck Forester.

I chose this photo because its just so cute! I've always liked animals and animal photography, so this one really caught my eye. I took a look around Flickr and its really neat! I especially like the monthly calendars of "interesting" photos. I currently use Snapfish for my digital photos, but its nice to know about Flickr in case I want to use it at some point.