THING 23!

I've done it! What a great experience. I've learned so much. There are so many things for libraries to consider beyond the basics. If we are to continue to serve the needs of our patrons, we have to grow and stay current with the new technologies. This is one way even small libraries can open doors to the world.

I was able to connect with my daughter and my librarian by sharing learning experiences. That added a fun element, and kept me working and exploring the things. When "Boss of the Library" completed a thing I had to get busy and finish another one too. Sue at the library helped me several times when I got stuck!

Happy that I was able to finish! I would participate again, but not for a while!

Keeping Current

I will keep my blog online, hopefully continue learning new things. I checked out the Library 2.1 site and found many new things to learn about. There are so many new things popping up every day, it's important to pick and choose the ones that are useful to you. I would like the 23Things website to stay up indefinitely, so I could go back and explore some of the things in more depth. I'll try to bookmark the ones that i find most useful.

Thing 21, Other Social Networks

For this thing I read the two recommended articles, Can Gather.com get Book Lovers Online, and Building a Social Networking Environment at the Library. I also visited with my librarian about the social networking aspects of Library 2.0 and possible implications for our regional system and school libraries. I joined the 23 things Ning, uploaded my photo and added a comment. I loved the Good Reads site and added it to my favorites.

Back tracking just a bit, I'm getting quite a few friends on Facebook, but only one is my generation. The rest are nieces, and a daughter! What a fun way to keep up.

My Space, Facebook

I already had a page on MySpace and have used MySpace to keep up with my niece in California, so I decided to join Facebook and see what the difference is. I viewed the Common Craft video-I like those! Then I registered for Facebook, exported my address book so Facebook could search for friends. I asked 4 people to be my friend. I filled out my profile and added a photo. Then I joined the Library 2.0 interest group. I can see where Facebook and MySpace could be fun, but don't see using social networking sites available in public or school libraries. I guess I'm still a bit behind the curve!

Podcasts

I have subscribed to several podcasts. I have listened to Garrison Keeler's "News From Lake Wobegon" when I walk. I added "Your Money" to my Google Reader... easy! I like the MPR and NPR podcast directory. I use iTunes for Garrison.

You Tube

I've played around on You Tube, finding videos about favorite vacation spots, politicians, Harry Potter and other fun things. I liked the videos that were published about several of the library "Things." I added a library video to my blog. I'm excited to learn about podcasting next.

You Tube, Thing 18

Thing 17, Elm Productivity Tools

I explored ELM. What an amazing resource. I looked up some nature articles in Kids Infobits in the Gale/Cengage Learning Data Base. I looked at some e-books in NetLibrary. (I had been to NetLibrary earlier in this adventure!) I searched "Canoe" on the Proquest Newsstand Complete and set up an RSS search alert.

These are wonderful tools, made available to all library patrons in Minnesota. Students, especially, need to know about them and haw to use them.

I also went back and played puzzle pirate some more. I'm still not good at all. Still "learning"

Thing 16-Tools for Students

These are great tools for students and for teachers. Wish they'd been around when I was writing papers. I liked that they did timelines and tips for videos and presentations and that they linked to resources. The email reminders are cool too!

Online Games-Thing 15

Wow, this thing really frustrated me. I downloaded Second Life because it looked fun and interesting. After waiting for a very slow download I was informed that my computer didn't have enough power-graphics, whatever, so I uninstalled it and tried Gaiaonline which was mentioned by another participant. After waiting for another long download Gaia sent me an email so I could verify my registration. The email went straight to my spam file and stayed there. So I downloaded Puzzle Pirates found out that I'm pretty bad at puzzles and there ended my online gaming career.

Library Thing-Thing 14

This was the easiest thing ever! I signed up for an account and added books to my "library." Then I added LT to my blog. It was fun to see how many people shared books and authors I liked. It's a good way to get recomendations for new books also. It would take a long time to enter all the books on our shelves, so I'll start with a few favorites. I put Barn Dance on my list. I'm the only one so far!

Online Productivity Tools-Thing 13

I spent so-o-o much time on this thing. I chose the iGoogle option. It took a long time, and some coaching from our head librarian, before I learned to personalize my home page. There are still some things I can't get on it. I set up a calendar, but haven't shared it with anyone yet. It could be a good family tool to keep track of soccer, and other grandchildren sports, as well as family travels and events. I won't make this my permanent home page, but I'll keep a link on my computer.

Backpack was cool, but not useful enough to pay the monthly fee. Maybe if I was still out in the working world. Stickkit didn't do much for me at all.

mixx, digg, Thing12

I really have enough to read without adding to the list. I can't see myself using these tools. I did find a video on youtube and sent it to my daughter, so I've finished this thing.

Tagging and Del.icio.us Thing 11

I'm not too excited about these tools. I tagged the posts on my blog. Then I signed up for del.icio.us and bookmarked some websites. It was interesting to see what others bookmarked and what sites we might have had in common. Also which sites were very popular. I didn't join any networks, or invite anyone to join with me. I probably won't use this very often.

I'm almost half way through the 23 things! Yeah for me!

Wikis, Thing 10

I really had a good time exploring all the possibilities of Wikis! The Common Craft Video, Wikis in Plain English was a good introduction to Wikis and how they can be used for collaboration. (I liked the camping trip example, in case you haven't figured out that I like the outdoors!)

The book lover's wiki was great, but I took it farther and Googled "children's book revues" which opened up a new batch of possibilities! The library staff wiki gave me insight into libraries' procedures and issues that we are addressing in our system. It would be interesting to spend much more time on the MN150 wiki, just reading all the nominations for the top 150.

I also logged in and added a comment to the 23Things wiki.

This was a good thing.

Collaboration-Thing 9

I explored options in Google Docs, imported a file from my computer and invited my daughter to edit it. I found the location of the editing history, so I could see the changes she made. I can see how this thing could be useful in the work environment, and I could use it for planning family events, schedules, menus, etc. The idea of using web apps, and storing documents on the web, instead of using Microsoft Office is intriguing.

I did not edit the sample Google Doc.

North Shore Photo Cube--Thing 8

Below you will see yet another creation. I want to learn how to resize HTML images. Some of mine don't fit on my blog.

I have explored many of the possibilities on Picture trail and other sites referenced for this thing. it was lots of fun and very interesting.

Thing 7-Web 2.0

I've used some of these tools and others are new to me.
I've been using e-mail for years. I have two accounts, one on our main computer and a web based Yahoo account that I really don't use very often, on my laptop. I have used text messaging, but usually just use my cell, since I have more minutes than I am able to use, and there is an extra charge for texting.

I heard about IM quite a few years ago, but learned more about how it works by reading the articles that were recommended. I haven't tried it, but can see how it might be useful in some cases.

I listened to a Minitex webinar recording. That was fascinating! I learned about NetLibrary and eBooks, and that they even have eAudiobooks. What a resource! I spent some time exploring the NetLibrary site.

There are great communication tools out there. I can't imagine life without e-mail or cell phones. What can the future bring?

My creation--Thing 6

My creation
Originally uploaded by bakeroksana

I created this trading card with Big Huge Labs. I'm learning a lot about photo sharing and moving things from other places to my blog. I may come back to this, and find some personal uses, but for now I'll move on.

My creation

I'm getting into this photo thing. I'll probably work

on learning more before I leave thing 5

My creation
Originally uploaded by bakeroksana

Thing 4

Lake Superior
Originally uploaded by Jim's outside photos

I think I have finally downloaded a photo from Flickr. Then I'll be on to thing 5

Thing 4 Flickr

Thing 4 was a challenge for me. I took the video tour. I have used Picassa, so this was't totally new, but Flickr has many great options. I watched the screencast on exploring the map and found some beautiful photos of places in Minnesota. One especially beautiful one was of a sunset in the BWACW. I was not able to download it. Probably because of copyright issues.

I signed up for an account, so I can access more things. Then I found an image of a Panda and was able to download it and upload it to my blog. Success! ...Look everybody, no Panda picture. I'll have to work on this again tomorrow. Here is a picture of a bellflower in my garden instead!

I may upload some of my photos, but just places, no people! I put a few flower pictures on Flickr, just to see if I could.

Thing 3 RSS

I set up a google reader account and added four items; one library blog, two gardening blogs and a link to the Thomas Freidman editorial site on the NYT page. I'll be looking for some more library sites. I'm spending time reading all the information on RSS. I can't figure out how to add google reader to my toolbar yet, so I'm just using the favorites list from Internet explorer. I'm getting a lot of 23 things sites on my favorites list!

I am learning many new things, but don't know how much I'll be actually using. I should find some library trustee blogs. . .wonder if there is such a thing??

Thing 2

I've been reading articles and I watched the video. What a lot of information and what a revolution in the way we view our libraries. We need to move past the "gatekeeper" mentality. Privacy and trust are two huge issues. How can we be open to library users and still guard their privacy. I guess it has to do with letting users set their preferred levels of disclosure. Can Pioneerland patrons use facebook and myspace? I'll have to find out.

I could easily get stuck in thing two, but am looking forward to learning more in thing 3!

Thing 1
Wow, I just completed thing one. It took a bit over one hour. The trickiest part for me was getting my avatar onto my blog. I think I'll enjoy learning more about things I can do on my computer. I've already explored some of the things, like flickr and RSS, but I'm looking forward to getting more in depth knowledge. On to thing two!