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.

Moving along

I'm going to consider both thing 9 and thing 10 done. I've watched videos on googledocs and on wikis. When we were opening the new library at Maplewood I used a wiki and I have participated on the internal reference wiki as well. I know how they work and how to contribute and read new contributions. I am interested in using googledocs to store the documents I am working on in formulating the code of conduct. I have found keeping track of all of my latest versions to be challenging and can see how this storage and sharing feature would be helpful. I will explore the other document sharing tools as I have time, but think that the basic content of these two things is clear to me.

Politically and technologically active! Thing 8

Hey--I both watched the vp debates and created a slideshow to post! I won't divulge which was the more rewarding experience. I have opinions about both, but will stick to the 23 things. I had a few missteps here, mostly due to haste, but generally this was quite easy and I think this idea of creating and sharing slideshows and presentations is great. It is all fairly intuitive, no matter which service you use. I can see using this if I wanted to jazz up a presentation and it might even help me overcome my aversion to the scrapbooking mentality.
I might need some help overcoming another aversion. Anyone up for diagramming some first response sentences? I think you'd find it quite simple.

Starting to really skim

Finished skimming #7. I'm pretty familiar with all of these communication tools. E-mail, of course is ancient history at this point and I use folders regularly to manage my content. I found the efficiency hints not particularly helpful as they seemed to be basic common sense. IM has its definite advantages, but the longer we have been using it among our staff, the more it has started to seem like yet another stressor at the ref desk--telephone ringing, patrons lining up and multiple IM indicators blinking at you. Actually, that situation doesn't occur that often, but IM can feel like just one more avenue toward a single destination that is subject to overload. Basically, though, I wouldn't go back. It is a very handy tool for the quick check with someone. I've had little experience with webinars. One that I participated in was particularly useless, but it was a commercial source and I think it was poorly presented. I watched the text your librarian video and could see how this would be popular with young people. Again, though--another avenue to one source.
Okay--I have to stop now. Will is waiting to discuss Pride & Prejudice with me.

nothing to do with 23 things

I was taking a break from climbing the ladder by clicking on my coworker's blog links. I made it to Kelly's this way and am so happy I did because I saw her Locks of Love link which reminded me that I had a ponytail of my daughter's sitting around waiting to be sent off. (Amazing what you find cleaning the newly-flown nest of a college freshman.) It is in a padded envelope, addressed and ready to be mailed. My dorky Friday night doing 23 things on a stick is redeemed.