Week 10: The End of the 23 Things!

Summary - Today is December 12, 2007 and I can't believe I made it through the 23 Things! I started late, got behind and then had to play "catch-up" starting last Friday, December 7th. However, I was DETERMINED to finish because it would have looked REALLY bad if I didn't. As I said in my first blog post, I have to lead by example.

Although it was very time consuming, I have to admit I really enjoyed learning about the 23 Things. There were some "Things" I enjoyed more than others. For example, some of my favorites were creating a Blog and Blogging, Photos & Images, Playing with Online Image Generators, Library Thing, YouTube, Podcasts and Downloadable Media. I'm no expert by any means at any of these "Things" but I'm familiar enough with them to be "dangerous".

This program has certainly enhanced my learning and reduced my fear of some of the latest advancements in technology. This came as a very pleasant surprise to me! Although I don't own an iPod or MP3 Player, at least I know their purposes.

HCPL has so much to offer in its collection that I find it absolutely amazing. It's no wonder we're the number one library system in the state of Texas! Not only to do we have an amazing collection but we also have an amazing Web 2.0 staff that offers an amazing Library 2.0 service to our customers. I recommend that we continue to be innovative and before we know it, we'll be the number one library system in the country!

Grace and Linda, I did it!!!!!

Week 9: Downloadable Media

Overdrive - Because I'm a huge fan of mystery writer, Jonathan Kellerman, I wanted to see what HCPL had to offer in its digital catalog. I was not at all surprised to see that we have quite a few of his books in digital format. Below is a link to our digital catalog listing some of Jonathan Kellerman's works.

http://hcpl.lib.overdrive.com/7FEB1D3A-4787-467B-AF6C-E9547E48616B/10/320/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=12191268

I know our customers love having this option available to them!

The Digital Media Guided Tour was very helpful and straightforward. It helps eliminate some fears that people may have about trying to check out and download digital media.

Week 9: Podcasts

I just finished the Discovery Exercise where I was to locate an interesting Podcast. Since I selected an Obama YouTube video, I decided to stay with the "theme" and selected an Obama Podcast. The tricky part was trying to add the RSS feed to my Bloglines account. I know I successfully subscribed to the RSS feed but I'm not sure if it went to my Bloglines account. However, below is the link to the Podcast that I listened to.

http://obama.senate.gov/blog/index.xml

Week 9: Video, Podcasts & Downloadable Media

YouTube Video - Today is December 12, 2007 and I just finished exploring YouTube. This was not my first experience with YouTube because iHCPL included many YouTube videos as part of our training. Beth Krippel did an outstanding job with the YouTube videos! I'm always amazed at our multi-talented staff. As I looked at the different YouTube videos, the one I was most interested in was "Obama and Oprah in South Carolina and Iowa". I selected this one because of its relevance and timeliness. I don't often get to watch the news so being able to see the YouTube video about Oprah's endorsement of Obama helped bring me up to date on the political front. I copied and pasted the link to the video and hope that it works. I'll see in just a few minutes.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM9Wwc7G5eo

Week 8: Web-Based Applications

Week 8: Web-based Applications

Today is Tuesday, December 11, 2007 and as part of my iHCPL Discovery Exercise, I'm creating a "test" Zoho Writer document. My goal is to see how similar it is to MS Office or dissimilar from MS Office. I'm clicking on some of the icons above just to spruce up my document. So far, it seems to be very similar to MS Office.

This test document will serve as my blog post and I'm going to try publish it to my blog. Let's see how successful I am at this.

Week 8: Online Applications & Tools

Social Networking - As I watched the Social Networking in Plain English video (pretty cool) and read about MySpace, Facebook, Ning, etc., I concluded that I probably would not be one to use any of them. However, if I were planning a class reunion or family reunion, I could see the value in using "LinkedIn".

Week 7: Wikis

Okay, I think I should receive my "Wiki" bling for no other reason than the fact that I was one of the "stars" of "As the Wiki Turns". That experience truly made me step outside my comfort zone. However, it was kind of fun.

After reading more about Wikis, I can see how beneficial they are but can also see their shortcomings. I don't like how anyone can change the content of Wikis and can add inacurate information. I think we already have enough inacurate information on the world wide web. I did visit the iHCPL Wiki and added my blog to the favorite blog list. Although I didn't add any other favorites, I especially liked the favorite music and favorite vacation spots wikis.

I was less than enthused about the "23 Things" when we first got started because I tend to be a "technophobe". However, once I got into it, I realized I don't have to excel at everything but just focus on the things that most interest me. I really like "Library Thing" and "Blogging" because though they are "technical", they are also easy, convenient and fun.

Grace and Linda, I'm on a roll. On to Week 8.