It's The End(?) of My Blog As We Know It

I have enjoyed working on the Web 2.0 Exploration project. I learned a lot about what in the heck the patrons are doing all day on our computers! I hope the project will remain on the Intranet so that I can refer back to it from time to time. Some things I will continue to use, especially Library Thing because, well, libraries are MY thing. Whether I will post any more to this blog remains to be seen...

Social Bookmarking

I think it will take me a while to get used to this. I'm pretty content using the library's recommended sites and google. It doesn't take me long to find sites I visit on a regular basis.

Wikis

I never liked group projects in school, and wikis seem to be like group projects. I like having more control over my own work, and wikis take that away. I don't like the idea of someone changing what I have written without asking me first.

I do think wiki's could be useful for group get togethers. If people post what food they are going to bring, there would be less duplication.

My Boys Reading

Check out this link from the B&O Railroad Museum's website (until 9/2/8):

http://borail.org/summer-reading.shtml

Zoho

I liked using Zoho. It was very similar to Word. Formatting the text was a little frustrating. It seemed I had to pick a font before changing the color. I think Zoho could be useful for the PTH's because we work at different branches and accessing Zoho is easy. The drawback, of course, is security.

I'm not sure if I would use online office tools a lot because I don't have to create documents often. I think online office tools could be very useful for group projects.

Aimees Zoho Document

Aimee Maranto June 21, 2008

 

    This is Aimee's first Zoho document.  I'm not sure what else to type in my paragraph!  Below you will find out what I like about guinea pigs.

 

 

1. cute
2. cuddly
3. vegetarian
4. make funny noises
5. can be potty-trained

pellets	carrots	lettuce
yogurt drops	wood blocks	water
hay	clover	love

Technorati Tags     pigs,guinea

Social Networking Sites

I think social networking sites appeal to teenagers because the sites provide access to people other than fellow classmates. The sites can be a way for teens to escape the clicks and peer pressure in school. As for adults...I guess they need to escape the realities of their lives too. Also, when both parents in a family work, there is less opportunity to meet friends the old-fashioned way. When a lot of people are spending their time online, that is where you need to go to meet them!

I think libraries are wise to take advantage of the sites because that is where people are, for better or worse, spending a lot of their time.

Twitters & Widgets

I can't see myself using these very much.

One way the twitter thing could be used for is for someone needing to give updates to a lot of people at once. For example, a pregnant woman who is past her due date could let people know each day that the baby did not come. Similar to CarePages, people could give updates to friends about how an operation went. However, I think email could serve these purposes just as well.

YouTube

I like the idea of YouTube, but sometimes the videos "stutter" while the video is "buffering". Librarians could use it to swap videos of successful storytimes. That way, librarians new to programming can pick up good techniques. I have been to a lot of storytimes with my kids. If I ever become full-time again (I am currently a IPTH), I think the experience of seeing different storytimes would add to my own.

Librarians could also use YouTube to share information from training sessions that not everyone can attend.

Library Thing

I like Library Thing because I can keep track of the books I find that I read, but do not have the time to read when I find out about it.

The library could use it to keep track of frequently asked about books, especially when patrons for whatever reason do not choose to place a reserve. We could include items that are requested from MARINA that have been MARINA'd before. This could help Materials Management.

RSS Feeds

I like using the RSS feeds. It saves some time when checking my regular sites. Not all of the sites I visit have them though.

The library system could use RSS feeds to inform patrons of upcoming events, unexpected branch closings, and alerts. People might be more likely to see postings in their RSS than remembering to check our website. I don't think many people have our website as their homepage like I do!

Flickr

We could use Flickr for patrons looking for images. I usually use Google images, and Flickr will be a nice complement to Google. I am a little concerned about what might come up. I wouldn't want to display any inappropriate images while assisting a patron!

Learning About Blogging

So far, so good. Blogger is pretty easy to use.