How to summarize my experiences with this program?

Maris Clare

I started working here in May of this year, after all of my coworkers started on their blogs of 23 things. I would come to work, check out books, and notice the people around me blogging and looking at all sorts of internet technologies. At one point, someone (maybe Hedy?) told me I could participate as well, but as I was just starting a new job, I was content to "learn the ropes" at Cashiers before jumping into any big projects. As I discovered at the beginning of these 23 things, one of my habits is that I don't start projects well. It took some pushing on the part of my boss ;o) but I eventually decided to see what all this blogging was about. And I'm so very glad I did! Once I got started, it wasn't nearly as daunting as I thought it'd be--by working one step at a time, I'm at the finish line. Each exercise has exposed me to internet technologies in an easily approachable way; some of these services I've worked with in the past, and some were brand new and have turned out to be quite useful (and some not so much). I particularly like the exercises with Google--they have so much more to offer than I ever thought. I routinely use Docs now, rather than MS Office; I discovered that there are a TON of mashups with Google Maps that are pertinent to the questions I recieve both in my home life and in the library setting.
I really liked the format; it didn't try to impart too much information at one time, but instead allowed me to work at my own pace and really get to know the service I was working with. If we were to do this again, I would love to participate! It would push me to learn about more technologies that might be useful.
I would very much love to help implement some of these services in our library system; some of them would be very useful in getting a patron-run book review page going. I think the community could really use something like that, where they could they could see recommendations from their peers and their local library staff.
All-in-all, I'm glad I participated!

eAudiobooks: for the technologically-savvy

The Mystery & Suspense subject makes up the largest percentage of NetLibrary's Audiobook collection.
I wish there were more books uploaded (particularly in the scifi section), but I assume as it's a demand issue, I'll deal. Working at the library has taught me that the popular demand is predominantly "for Mystery & Suspense" in regular books, and the same seems to hold true for downloadable audio.
As far as what's allowed with NetLibrary and what's not, it was a bit difficult to find. The FAQ page was helpful once I found it, and provided links to each topic. It is possible, and even encouraged, to download the audiobooks to Windows Media Player and transfer to a portable listening device (as long as it jives with their standards--no iPods, because iPod doesn't support an expiring file-type, which you need to check a book out of an elibrary). Patrons are not, however, allowed to burn audiobooks to cd's (which makes since, as you wouldn't have bought the book, only borrowed it).
And what about Macs? The version of Windows Media Player that will work on a Mac doesn't support NetLibrary eAudiobook files. Microsoft doesn't even make a version of Internet Explorer for Macs, and Safari (the native Mac browser) isn't supported by NetLibrary. I'm assuming iTunes won't run an audiobook? It's not mentioned. What do Mac-using patrons do if their local library doesn't allow downloading of eAudiobooks to their computers? This seems to be a limited resource for people like me.
Patrons seem to like this site (I learned how to use it while teaching a patron, and she was happy with it). The selection is limited, but it's a convenient way to check out an eAudiobook--as long as you understand the technology.

argh podcasts

I don't really like podcasts. Never have. They're useful if you're one of those people who records class lectures instead of (or in addition to) taking notes, which I'm not. I don't particularly enjoy radio or television talk shows, either, and podcasts are along the same vein. I'd much rather just read a written article. I can understand how they might be helpful to others, though.
The Fontana Learning links for finding podcasts are simple to use; I liked the setup of podcastalley the most. It was very easy to both search and browse through a multitude of all sorts of podcasts, including book reviews geared toward children and other specific audiences. A library might use a podcast to advertise programs and events or host a session on patrons' book reviews; it would be another way to get library information to the community with minimal cost and in an easily accessible venue. I even found a podcast that takes you through Bill Clinton's Presidential Library, complete with interview and discussion on his chosen works!

YouTube!

YouTube. You can find absolutely ANYTHING here, from some guy showing us the contents of the dock on his Mac (a dictionary and a web browser, for starters) to the infamous Fainting Goats. And then some. As with most Web 2.0 services, YouTube's draw is also its downfall. ANYONE can post. Sometimes videos get flagged if they're extraordinarily raunchy, but pretty much anything goes. So be careful what you search for. There's even a video of Count von Count (from Sesame Street) singing his song about loving to count. Someone ingeniously bleeped out every utterance of "count" so that the viewer's mind fills in the blanks....I'm not going to post a link. The funny part is that it works so well...
Regardless, as evidenced by the St. Joseph and McCracken links in the Fontana Learning blog, libraries can indeed put YouTube to good use. Using it as a source to post library videos, then linking them to the library's own webpage, would be a safer way to get library information out there. Otherwise, I think it would get lost in the pool unless someone were to specifically search for it, and patrons may unwittingly run across information they'd rather not see while searching for our ads.

I have two videos to share, both of which I was shown by someone else. The first is awful, but my soccer-playing sisters find it HILARIOUS. They really do laugh every time they see it. The second video is a guy singing. It's pretty awesome--he has an amazing range.

Web 2.0 Choice

Classifieds and Directories
1st Place: craigslist

I happen to agree with their ranking, as I use craigslist for nearly everything (I found a free cat, some books, and am looking for a chair). It is very user friendly, particularly for the college student. Everything from items for sale to job listings are organized by US city and subject and are easily searchable. The major drawback is that you have no guarantee as to whether a posting is legitimate or not, as anyone with an email account can create a listing, so just be wary! Contact the person directly and ask to see merchandise before you consider sending any payment. Deal in person if possible.
Craigslist is probably not very useful in a library setting, unless it were to serve as a tentative community resource when directing patrons, most likely for things like events in the area.

Online Productivity!

I think we looked briefly at Google Docs in an earlier Thing, but I'm not sure which one. I've been using it to compose my blogs ever since. It lets me take my time, saving my work automatically, and I don't have to worry about losing my thoughts in the blogger abyss. It's very easy to use as it's set up almost exactly like Microsoft Office products.
I should have waited to go to college. Using Google Docs would have made group projects and reports MUCH easier. Generally, to finish a collaborative lab experiment report, one person in the group types up the data in Word, then emails it to the next student, who makes a chart in Excel. The data and chart are then emailed or copied to a disc and given to a 3rd person, who writes out the procedure. All of that information is then sent to another student, who uses it to write up the results and explain everything that (inevitably) went wrong during lab. To be able to share the same information while everyone can sit at whatever computer they wish would have made life incredibly easy (no more camping out overnight in the Science Center!). Emailing data multiple times always resulted in damaged documents anyway, so that it was necessary to copy and paste the data into a new file occasionally.
Library staff could use the collaboration feature among themselves (and across libraries) to make banners, come up with program ideas and create presentations.
All in all, Go Google Docs!

Your Turn with the Wiki.

Playing with Fontana's wiki was a bit challenging, simply because it's a technology I haven't worked with before. It was much easier to figure out than DreamWeaver, and anyone can use it! The most frustrating aspect was that I couldn't figure out how to get my blog name's color to match everyone else's (NOT on the Favorite blogs page--I added myself to the list of all blogs). Not the most drastic of problems, but an annoying one nonetheless. Because it is now coffeetime, I gave up.
Otherwise, it was really easy to sign in and edit pages. I added "The West Wing" to the list of favourite tv shows and linked it to imdb's site. I considered adding a page for West Wing comments, but there really isn't that much to say about it (not to mention that I'm behind everybody else in posting, so most people won't even notice that I've added a page...).
Not to harp, but let's go back to Wikipedia for a moment. Now that I know just HOW easy it is to modify pages, I have an even stronger aversion to wikipedia. It's fine for researching information just for curiosity's sake, but I'm extremely wary about trusting the information I find (unless I can verify it through either an outside source or a trusted bibliographic reference on Wikipedia's page).
I do wish we had a book review wiki for our system--it would be much easier to recommend books to patrons if I had their peers' reviews in an easily accessible area.