Thing 23 Summary

This has been a very interesting and informative exercise. It's good to know all of these things, and keep up some with the change in technology and all the tools on the internet. Like I said in my post on January 23 (Web 2.0 Library 2.0),

. . .with the explosion of the internet, the role of the library is changing even more, and more rapidly. Libraries must grapple with the changes in information technology in order to remain relevant in today's society.
There will always be a place for the Library as I have always known it - a repository of print materials, including historical documents and the like, and a quiet place for reading, research and reflection. However, each library must expand it's content and capabilities to keep up with today's environment - as any good establishment must.

This has been an example of keeping librarians informed of new technologies and so forth. It has been invaluable to me, both professionally and personally, and I look forward to more such exercises.

Thing 22 Overdrive/Project Gutenburg

I have spent the last few days looking at some of the titles in Overdrive, Project Gutenburg and NetLibrary. This was really interesting. There have been times when I wanted to listen to something while I was working, and couldn't find anything interesting. Now I know where to look! Music isn't always appropriate, and when I am working on mind-numbing type stuff (ie: house cleaning, ironing, etc) I really want something to make me think. Jane Eyre, Wythering Heights, or something like that would sometimes work. Also, you don't have to go the library to have access to these sites. I will definitely remember these resources, and recommend them to others.

Thing 21 Podcasts

It took me a little while, but I finally figured out how to subscribe to a podcast RSS feed (I hope I got the terminology right!) I can now watch and listen to pod- and video-casts about funny cats, without having to look them up again. Just the thing to pick up your day!
I can see where this would be a great thing for a student looking for new information for a paper or thesis, or just to keep up with things they are interested in. Or it can just be alot of fun!

Thing 20 - YouTube

Boy, that was fun! There are so many different videos that people have posted! Finding one that would be appropriate to post here was a challenge, though. And then figuring out how to post it - that wasn't easy! Figuring out how to use the embedded player was not as straight forward as it could be, or maybe I just didn't know what I was looking for. Now that I know how to do it, it shouldn't take that much to do. With all the different types of videos available, I can see how this could be valuable in the library - showing people how to use different services, etc. And the ability to upload your own videos would allow you to create your own training program, complete with on-line teacher, is a good thing.

Thing 19 - Web 2.0 awards list

This was really interesting. I am planning a visit to the Southern Branch of the Calvert County Libraries, so I checked out the different Mapping sites. I was surprised that I didn't see Map Quest on the list. Google Maps seems to be pretty efficient. The directions I got from that site look pretty good to me. The other two sites I looked at were social networking mapping sites, which wasn't indicated until I actually got into them - not something I'm interested in.
I also looked at the Classifieds and Directories sites listed as the top three. I had heard of Craigslist before, but never really understood what it was. There's a lot of information there! The areas that may have "controversial" content seem to be well labeled, giving you a chance to back out before you get there. That is really nice, especially if you've got young ones sitting with you as you do your search.
The Web 2.0 awards list could be a valuable tool for library patrons, if they don't have any idea where to look for whatever they need. It seems the categories are fairly well defined, and pretty inclusive. Then you can just click on the link, and it takes you right there.

Thing 18 - Online Productivity

I found ZohoWriter, and was actually able to figure out how to post a new document to my blog fairly quickly! I like that! Next time we get a new computer at home - probably not any time soon - I'll check into using the online tools before getting Microsoft office. It's free, and all the options that we would use at home seem to be available for free. I can see where the business world might want to keep using the commercial applications, for consistency and so forth, but for home use, these free apps seem to be more than adequate.