23 things experience summary but not last post

Really, I will post again but since I am a late finisher and therefore the survey is closed, I have to summarize some of the experiences here to complete the last Thing.
As Julie Andrews might say, these are a few of my favorite things:
Creating a photo display on picturetrail
Facebook
Discovering library-topic blogs
Becoming somewhat fluent in web-speak
Things I did not like:
Creating so many accounts
Doing this without much support (i.e. at home and without troubleshooters for those frustrating glitches)
I think one thing that might improve the program is to rearrange the things. I found most of the later things much easier to do and think that the momentum could build for participants if they didn't get bogged down in all of the photo stuff early on.
I would participate in more programs like this in the future.

How will I keep up?

I can tell I will continue to check in on Facebook. I will also continue to check my blog which has feeds from library sources such as Tame the Web and others and also as links to other RCL librarian blogs. I will make a point to check in on my feeds on bloglines occasionally and I will try to go back to those places I indicated interest in further exploration. I'm pretty sure I've put some of this stuff in my permanent memory bank and there is no question I am way more aware of what is out there in terms of communication tools.

21 and counting

I'm in the homestretch and anticipating a finish as I add badges of honor, etc. The idea of special interest social networking is good, but at this point I am stretched to the max on the number of accounts I would ever possibly continue to check up on. I will keep Gather in mind as it has the book focus I enjoy, but there is no question that too many options diffuse the concentration of ideas, and there is no way I can even use the tools that aggregate and bring the info to me to find the time invested worth the info gleaned.

Badge of honor

Finally to Facebook

And I'm not sure why I waited so long. What a fun way to touch on many overlapping worlds. I'm enjoying some reconnections and especially enjoying the fact that my daughter is now independent enough to want me as a Facebook friend. That being said, I have to admit that looking at Hennepin County's MySpace page, I couldn't get past the feeling that they are trying too hard. I suppose the more jump-off points one has out there the better, but squeezing an institution into a personal profile doesn't work for me. I joined Librarians and Facebook because I thought it would match my participation level best. My daughter will probably be my best prompt in developing my page as she already has suggestions for me in terms of how to share books, etc. As soon as I finish the 23 things, I think I will follow her suggestions.

Podcasts

I listened to several podcasts from the MPR site. I particularly liked The Current Song of the Day. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/tools/podcasts/song_of_the_day.xml I linked Nancy Pearl;s book podcast to my bloglines account. I definitely would like to explore this more with my Ipod.

You tube

I really like the second song on this you tube video of Linda and Richard Thompson. I don't think you can have teenaged children and not be familiar with you tube. I think it has taken over from gathering around the family piano for entertainment (okay there might have been a few things inbetween.

Ebsco

So I was willing to create a webpage in EBSCO, but since I am on the MP public library computers and I didn't bring my jump drive, I'll have no way to save. I get it anyway. I'm quite familiar with all of the EBSCO databases and what access they provide so I'm moving on.

Project calculators

This looks pretty helpful, I found the Assignment Calculator to be more detailed and better for younger students as you would expect based on their focus. I would encourage my high school junior and my college freshman to try this. It is very easy to use and can't hurt as a tool. A link from our website for teenagers would be great.

Games

I wanted to do second life but today I am working from the MP library computers while at inservice and there were too many accounts created from here. I will probably look into this from home when I've worked through the rest of the stuff. I've heard a lot about Second Life and would like to try it. That being said, I took the booby prize and tried Puzzle Pirates. All I can say is I hate games. I do not like them on a board, I do not like them moving for'wd (as in computers). I don't know why I do not like to employ my mind in this way, but it remains a fact. I think I am inherently lazy. I looked at the Teen Second Life presentation and the Ohio University presentation on how Second Life is valuable to an intellectual community. I will definitely look at Second Life more, as the idea of moving beyond the usual practical bounds to open up intellectual pursuits is interesting.

LibraryThing

I'll enjoy coming back to this and enhancing my skeleton collection, creating tags and delving more deeply into the reviews. I was surprised at the numbers associated with my choices. I wouldn't have suspected the popularity for two of the titles. I don't feel as though I can really make an informed comment on the value of this site until I spend more time on it, but it does seem to have a lot of potential as a readers' advisory tool.

Efficiency tools

I created a calendar on Kiko but can't say that it feels any more useful than my outlook calendar (less so because I linked it to my home e-mail and most of my entries are work related. I've customized my Google home page on my home computer already, so I skipped that. I'm not even going to try the listmakers since the very nature of making lists for me is spontaneous and I don't think turning on the computer is going to figure in to my 3:00 am scribbles. I use e-mail to send these scribbled lists to myself later and can't see how a listmaker would improve that system. Not much new here on thing 13. Oh--I will spend some time looking at the PDF converters because I think those could be useful when working with patrons.

Thing 12 definitely a pleasure

I enjoyed browsing these sites that sift and sort news stories. I'm familiar with the concept through the NYT website and also MinnPost, but liked seeing how different these sites can be. I liked the organization of Digg best, but found the content most interesting on Newsvine. I can see myself returning to these sites, but feel that they can be a time sink--putting me online longer than I care to be. I get a paper subscription of the NYT and still prefer the randomness of my own perusal over breakfast in the morning and an after-work snack in the evening.

Value discovered

I'm pretty excited about a posting I found on Tame the Web (see link under blog list). It is called what a list of rules and it is about a code of conduct posted at the Hall County Public Library. Reading the posting and the comments gives me much food for thought.

Thing 11--social media

I searched del.icio.us. for librarians and time and hit the jackpot. Here are a couple of links that I found valuable:
http://librariansmatter.com/blog/2007/09/03/10-ways-to-find-time-for-23-things/
http://www.slideshare.net/sirexkat/finding-time-to-learn-about-emerging-technologies
I'm not doing a lot of research right now, but I can see how such a gathering site as del.icio.us (annoying to type) would be useful--I think I'll try using it if I do more research gathering for the policy project I am working on. Right now I am going to explore some of the blogs that were recommended in the slideshow.