Thing 23 - Final thoughs

I learned why so many people spend a lot of time in the Internet!

I really like RSS feeds. I like GoogleReader and Bloglines. I have more feeds in Google, but I prefer how Bloglines will show the whole post. I liked working with Flickr - I keep flirting with the idea of buying a digital camera because Flickr is so easy to use. I now have a quick method of communicating with family members that I normally wouldn't see more than twice a year, if that.

I am grateful that a second run of 23 Things On a Stick was offered because my work life was too busy during the first run for me to get any time to work on it. I have co-workers who still aren't getting time to work on it and would probably benefit from a third round.

I am still thinking about how to use a wiki for the library's web links, but there might be an easier method that we are already using that I don't know about...

I would be interested in continuing with 23 More Things On a Stick.

One word, with a hyphen - Eye-opening.

Thanks!

Thing 22 - What did I learn today?

Will I keep up my blog? Erm. Perhaps, but realistically, probably not. I know that I will continue to go back to the Things I have learned as other people I work with continue going through the 23 things because this is such a collaborative learning experience. For example, I just had a thing related Google chat and this opportunity allows me to refresh my memory of how the gadget works.

I have been adding things to my GoogleReader and Bloglines accounts to keep me updated. I think that that will be one of my more heavily used Things.

I will continue to read the feeds and add new ones as life shows me. Library journals will also keep me informed of what is going on, and I will allow the articles to instruct me to seek out more information.

Thing 21 - Beyond MySpace: Other Social Networks

I was on a fan list serve once. The level of dedication some people gave to the list serve was truly impressive. Some of the members commented so frequently and personally that I am sure it became a community for them.

I think it is good to know what is available, but I really don't think I have seen anything that I need to get involved with. Although, again, I find I can spend a lot of time looking around and not accomplishing anything but allowing the sun to move further in its inevitable path.

I was just looking at Fuzzster. Yeash. There is quite a bit of junk blog posts sitting around. 4 people joined yesterday, and 2 people joined so far today. It doesn't look like it is incredibly popular.

Thing 20 - Libraries and Social Networks

Phew! I was on the Santa Clara City Library My Space page and boy is it loud and busy and sick making. Tulare's is nice and sedate. Arapahoe's is OK. Just looked at Hennepin's and now I am noticing that many of the friend's comments are the same across all of the library MySpace accounts. The same authors with the same posts, the same libraries saying "hey, thanks for the add!" I do like the search the catalog widget on the Hennepin space.

So, I signed up for a Facebook account and I joined "Don't mess with me, I worked in a public library." It is good to see that people are the same all over... I, of course, joined the 23 things on a stick group. I let Facebook check my personal e-mail account and locate people for me and in quick succession I was "friended" by 8 people. Phew. Then one of them started sending me flair and a countdown clock to the MN State Fair. More things on a stick!

I thought it was easy to find people I know. However, I am not certain how helpful this truly is for libraries. On MySpace there were few recent posts on the blogs and the only people commenting were lesser known (if that) authors and other MySpace libraries excited about joining the network. Are we just out there talking to ourselves and not reaching who we intend to reach?

So, there seems to be a difference between personal Facebook profiles and professional or institutional ones. Fans are for the institutions and friends are for the personal. I can't get to the information explaining the difference, so maybe I am wrong, but hey, whatever. I am bogging my computer down by having too many things open.

Thing 19 - Podcasts

I listened to St. Cloud State University Memoirs for School Library Media Episode 10 - interview with Wanda Erickson a School Media Specialist and a Public Librarian. I have listened to podcasts before, most recently when I was all excited about a grant opportunity to have teen gaming in our library. (We didn't get the grant. Bummer.)

Podcast.com is easy to use. I ended up on a listing of Eco podcasts. In the amount of time I felt I should be spending on this, I did not see a podcast that I really had to listen to. Podcast.net wouldn't load. I couldn't get Podcastalley.com to load, either. And I didn't find anything in Yahoo! that I wanted to listen to. I did find a lot of music, rather than podcasts. Ooh, I just searched podcast Abbott and Costello - too bad I am not sitting at a computer with sound! (OK - now I am at a computer with sound. On one site it took a long time to load, but with a different interface it loaded quicker. A "Radio America" podcast loads better from mefeedia.) Education Podcast Network is very organized.

I don't plan to sign-up for any podcasts at this time - as I am typing this I have the Abbott and Costello show playing and they are doing a cigarette ad. Ah, the "good" old days. I am not interested in creating podcasts, but again, this could be something that a teen advisory board could do for promoting books. This should be easier, equipment wise, then doing videos.