Week 12-Final Reflections

First off I want to thank David, Danielle, and Kathy for helping coordinate this project, I'm sure it was alot of hard work for you guys, so thanks. I think the most important thing I learned in this exercise is how many web tools are out there that I don't know nothing about. Tools such as Del.icio.us and subscribing to RSS feeds are things I have never done before. I think it was important for me to find out the many web tools that are out there because it will just help me understand how to use the web better, and find information better. I think the most challenging exercise for me was trying to find out how to put pictures on my blog. It was challenging in that I had to go to different options, and try to find out how to put pics on there without getting frustrated. I think the blogger was helpful in trying to guide you if you wanted to put pics from the web or from a camera. My favorite exercises were using Flickr and Library Thing. I like them because it was real interesting to see the different types of pictures people post, its fun to see the places around the world that people go to. Library Thing was fun because it showed to me how varied people's interests are when it comes to books. I think the library really needs to heavily promote these technologies on the website, they need to put the websites as links on the front page. Also I think instructional classes on these technologies would be helpful as well. These sources can help the library improve their collection and find new sources of information for people. I liked the self-directed model, but I think if it is someone new to technology it can be a little difficult to follow the instructions. I do think its a good why to encourage staff development because its something different. It involves staff getting into new discoveries, and helping them develop their skills or acquire new skills. I think in order to improve the program's concept maybe you can having exercises where people can get into groups and work on a particular subject. Maybe a future challenge could be reduced to 4 or 5 weeks. Its difficult to say what could improve the program, I think some people might feel they don't have enough time and think its just an extra work assignment and give up. So if maybe there was group activities and an emphasis that this something to help staff and just include fun activities it could entice more people to join in. I think I would participate in another discover program in the future. I would have to look through it to see if I could do it. There were some spots in this Library 2.0 Challenge where I had difficulties, but I somehow managed to get through it. It would be interesting to see what future discover programs would be. So thanks again to everyone who coordinated this program.

Week 11-Library Thing

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/lukewarmsoda To the left is my bookshelf for Library Thing. I really enjoyed this exercise. I know we were suppose to add at least five, but I just kept adding books. I liked the fact that you can change the view of your bookshelf to a cover view. Also the fact that you can go to the authors pages and see what else they have available. There are even links to their home pages. I also like the fact that it shows stats on where you found the book if it was through Amazon.com or Library of Congress. There is also a gallery where you can see the authors photos which I thought was cool. I did not really find it difficult to use. Adding books was pretty easy. I guess there are people out there who probably have more of an elaborate setup, but overall it was easy. I think a feature that the library could use, is showing what other patrons think of the book. With LibraryThing you can see what other members think of the book. I think this would be a good feature in the library catalog. Also I think maybe allowing the ability to create a club for the book would be a great idea to put in the catalog as well. You can interact with other people who read the book and see what their ideas and feelings are about it. I think posting the rating for the book among readers would be also be a good idea. Not just by its number of sales, but by also how much its been read and discussed about. Like I said in the beginning I really had fun with this one. I mean even the name is funny too.

Week 9

My name is lukewarmsoda on You Tube. http://www.youtube.com/user/lukewarmsoda. What I like about the site is its variety. It includes cartoons, music videos, clips from old TV shows. It really is nostalgic come to think of it. You can spend alot of time trying to find funny videos or even informational stuff.What I don't like sometimes is how you might save a certain video to your account, like from an old TV show, and the next day its been removed because of copyright infringement. I understand though that YouTube does not want to be sued for putting on videos that are copyrighted. I also don't like the gaps in between watching videos. sometimes it takes a long time just to watch one five minute clip. it could depend on the computer that you are using. But I have noticed in the past it happens alot. I posted my video on the blog, here is its URL as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s50K65PNeBU I selected that video because I think Charles Barkley is funny as hell. That to me is the best golf swing ever. He is in other video clips on YouTube as well, doing and saying funny stuff. He also happens to be a good writer as well. I looked at Google videos, a little bit. I did not think the layout was better than YouTube. I think it was much more simpler in its design I think the most important thing I learned is that this site can be fun and informative. You can watch all the silly stuff you want, and also watch and participate in important thing like the presidential debates. As far as the library is concerned I think if they used the feature that is on YouTube, where you submit videos to a contest, that might be interesting. The library can ask patrons to submit videos of funny experiences at the library, or how to improve things at the library. The concert could be designed to be fun or informative. I think the library, if it has not done so already, could post on YouTube the classical concerts that they have. Also maybe book readings, or children's shows.


As far as podcasts go I discovered, http://www.podcast.net/cat/23 There is on link there that had a whole bunch of football podcasts. I found a really interesting podcast on food from podcastalley, http://podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=2279# It was fun seeing how many different programs there are out there. What I notice from other libraries was podcasts that featured guest speakers and book reviews. In fact there was a library, that featured teen reviews on books, CD's, movies. The name of the library was the Thomas Ford Memorial Library http://podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=15007 So basically other libraries had podcasts that had authors discussing their books, and even some describing a particular genre. I think this library could use podcasts to feature events like the book club meetings, children's storytimes, and maybe even do teenage reviews of CD's, books, like that library I had mentioned above. Some patrons may not be able to come to these events, so the library could make it available on podcasts. By looking at what other libraries offered through podcasts, I found that there is alot of variety that you can put out there that could attract a diverse group of people.

Food Blog

Here is a food blog I came across while watching TV: http://chezpim.typepad.com/ Ah, thats the life, to go to other countries and taste their food.

Week 8

Here is my MySpace link: http://www.myspace.com/gossk34 As you can see, I was fooling around quite a bit. Honestly, I'm not a fan of MySpace at all. So lets see, as far as pros go for social networking sites, I think it does help you get in touch with people who you have lost contact with and it can connect you with people who have similar interests to yours. I think sites like these can even be useful in improving computer skills, like finding out how to post pics or videos. The cons are various, I think its difficult to completely trust these sites. Strangers could add you as friends, but you can always set your profile to private to keep away the undesirables . I mean it is another way to keep in contact with your friends, and maybe, maybe make new ones. But you have to be careful, because people can always give misinformation on these sites about themselves. I think sites like these are popular because of the fact that celebrities are now having myspace pages. But even then there are those claiming to be a celebrity when they are not. So at first sites like these were geared for everyday teens, and people in general, but now TV networks, celebrities, sports stars are all following the trend. I think that is a major reason why its popular, and gaining popularity. Also if a friend has a myspace page or a page on another social network site, they can tell their other friends about it, and that might make them go and get a profile too. As far as the library goes, by having a myspace page you might attract teens who normally would not go to the library, it can be used to tell events that the library is having, and what books are available to teens or to the general public. I think also the library could hook up with other libraries that have profiles on these sites and see what types of programs they are offering and get ideas. I think there can be ways where these sites can be beneficial, but personally its not my cup of tea. Ha!, I knew on one of these posts I would get in a tea reference!