27-Library Thingy

I have been using Library Thing ever since I read about it on the RA Gourmet blog. I have found it very useful in helping me keep track of all the books I will read some day. I also like being able to write a blurb about the books I've read and see what other people are reading and saying about the books I've read or want to read. There is a lot I don't do with this site maybe in another life when I have more time.

20-Flickr is Grrrrrreat!

Mason 1yr
Originally uploaded by micki.pyn2000

Here is one of the cutest faces I know and I also know that this picture is safe on the web whether I want it to be public or private. It's here for me, I don't have to worry about losing my one and only copy of this precious moment. Flickr is like my back-up. To me that is what makes flickr so great on top of all the cool stuff you can do with your pics. It's easy to use and connects you to people and helps keep you organized, once you get your pics uploaded.

19-Web 2.0 Awards

This was the best exercise yet. I loved seeing all the winning sites with all their different tools and things. Some I was, happily, very familiar with. I looked at others and they may as well have been written in a foreign lanuage for all I understood. I messed around with the "yourminis" site and will probably continue to play around with their stuff, which I came to find out is actually part of the Goowy stuff. Seeing all of this makes me want to learn more and figure out how to use it:)

18-Technorati

I am not a big fan of blogging already so this site does not tempt me to spend endless hours looking at other people's blogs or looking for my own and "claiming" it. I looked up Library 2.0 in all the various ways and places but didn't see much of interest.

17-D-licious

I love the delicious site. I have been using it for about a year and half. I love being able to be at any computer and access my favorites. Especially since, working in the libraries you are constantly switching computers. What a hassle to have to make sure you have every single one of your favorites on every single machine you use or may use. I also like that you can see how many people have listed it as one of their favorites and you can find more sites through that. The tagging thing is something I am still getting the hang of. In the beginning it was easy just to tag something without much thought and now I have all these random tags. I like the grouping, that makes up for some of my tagging mistakes. I need to think about my tags more so that I can have a bit more order. I introduced delicious to some of my co-workers and they loved it. I think it is very useful in the workplace, especially in an information driven workplace like the library. We can share our favorites with anyone anywhere there's a computer with access to the web.

16-MySpace

I set up a MySpace account soon after I had my son. I don't know why, maybe because there was so much about MySpace in the news and I wanted to see what all the hub-ub was about or maybe it was that I was curious to see if any of my old friends had set up an account. I had googled many of my school friends name's already but hadn't come up with much and MySpace was a new way to look for them and see how they were doing. Also, I was on leave from work and up at all hours with the baby so there was time available to browse. I haven't done much with my layout but I'd like to. Now that work has resumed and I have a one year old time is not so ready available. I found setting up the account as easy as setting up any other online account. It's fairly user friendly but I don't like having to use the back button so much. MySpace has really taken off but I've heard that sites like Facebook and others are setup better just not as well known. I am not going t0 setup an acct on another SN sight unless it's just the be all end all. No time! Here's my current page if you want to check it out but I warn you it's very plain, no fancy html stuff like most. http://www.myspace.com/mickipyn

15-Social Networking...sounds sophisticated

Should the library use social networking like MySpace or Facebook to connect with teens? Yes. Teens spend a lot of time online and so in order to reach them where they are we need to have a strong presence online. I like the idea of all the social networking. It reminds me of how I felt about email when I first learned about it. The idea of being more easily connected with people, family and friends is very appealing to me. It's been fun connecting with friends from long ago and others.

14-VBPL RA Wiki

I have not made up my mind about the VBPL RA Wiki. I like the RA Gourmet blog but the wiki seems like a lot of work for not a lot of return. I put in a staff pick. It's a long list and thankfully it is alphabetized but if that's all it ends up being is a long list w/o any better way to navigate through it then I don't see much benefit. I guess my real problem is, I like it when I know how to find out how things operate. All this do it and then we'll learn that later business doesn't set well with me. But, at the same time it makes you go beyond your comfort zone and that's a good thing. Personally, I am not a big fan of the wiki thing since anyone can edit the format and it can change the uniformity. So, overall it's going to take time for me to see a lot of good in the wiki...any wiki. I'm certainly glad I don't have a wiki I have to manage. It's funny, technology provides a lot of convenience in our lives but with every new bit of technology there is something else to manage. There is alway some kind of upkeep. Finding out the ways it works, personalizing it, adding current pics or info. No wonder we feel like we don't have any time!

13-The wonderful world of wikis

Wikis are an interesting animal. Take for instance, Wikipedia that was the first time I ever heard of a wiki and I thought wow what a cool idea but wouldn't it be easy for misinformation to abound on a site like that. And, yes, that can and does happen. So, it's not like I can point someone to wikis to get completely reliable information. I'm sure the content is monitored but I doubt seriously if it is all fact checked, you know? Anyway, I get the impression that wikis are the beginning of something that hasn't found out what it is or its actual purpose or end state. In looking through some of the wikis from the discovery exercise I found that there are so many out there I was overwhelmed with the choices and the multitude of information available. Some of it I'm sure is very helpful but it's way too much to ask of myself to sift through all that. I will wait until a more streamlined, batched, organized tool exists, like a wiki info manager:)

12-IM Ur Librarian

How fun, I love that we are venturing into Virtual Reference. I have not tried IM-ing and asking a question yet but I will eventually. After looking at "Meebo" and the article about "email being dead" I have learned a lot of cool new things. The article was not so useful as the comments made below it about the future of email and where google and yahoo are taking it and other items of interest. It's all very exciting and I can't wait to see what the future holds I just hope the library keeps pushing itself to move beyond of its technological comfort zone.