Thing 23

I am in agreement with Kathie White (Frederick County) who said in her blog, that "exploring" is not her best way of learning. I sometimes found the instructions confusing and lacking in the detail that I need. I also found this project to be very time-consuming.
On the plus side, I do think it is important to know about the tools in our information literacy toolbox. I also feel that I became much more comfortable with some basic computer operations. My favorite "tool" ? E Audio books!
Now I can have my Sundays back.
The End.

Thing 22

As the juvenile audio selector, I have checked every juvenile/family/classic title on both Overdrive and NetLibrary. I also keep track of each title that I have ordered in the book-on-cassette/book-on-cd formats. I wanted to compare what I had selected with what was available on-line. At this point in time, I'm not going to base my selection work on what we can offer on-line, however, this may change. For now, I just like to have this information in mind when I make my choices. And since I am systematically replacing popular book-on-cassette titles with the cd format, being familiar with what is available on-line may help me make some hard choices when money is an issue.
I was pleasantly surprised because I only expected to find the standard children's classics, and what I actually found was a nice mix of old and newer titles.
Project Gutenberg: this was new to me. A subject index would be nice. And since I have an Apple iPod, I noticed that I could download some titles from this site. I also noticed that they have sheet music. Some of our customers might like this feature.

Thing 21

I spent most of my time on Yahoo Podcasts. I entered book reviews and children's book reviews--which had far fewer entries. This was also true of Podcast.net and Podcastalley.com-the latter gave me a mix of J and A reviews. I listened to Nancy Pearl, someone on Book Voyages, and Children's Book Radio. I discovered that not everyone has a voice suited to podcasting. I would have to include myself in this category, having heard recordings of my own voice.
I am an iPod woman , and I love iTunes. I felt really clever when I burned my first CD !
Merlin site -commented on this back in Thing 17. It doesn't seem as well put-together as other sites I've looked at. I listened to and watched a clip from Nini's Vodcast.

This is from NPR, regarding a lost Pearl Buck manuscript-very interesting-

This is an RSS feed from Podcast.net--Youth Radio on KQED-FM-

Thing 20

This is "SHOES:THE FULL VERSION"--warning--if you are offended by naughty language, don't watch this. However, if you love shoes as much as I do, it may amuse you.
I am familiar with YouTube because well-meaning friends,usually my really YOUNG friends, are forever dragging me to a computer terminal and insisting that I watch this or that. I also looked at "March of the Librarians", videos from my favorite British rock/pop group, and after entering the term "book reviews" found "The Big Read: Fahrenheit 451" from the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library system. This looked like a good example of what some creative person could do on our library website. I also found quite a few Harry Potter videos under "book reviews"--I started to watch one but decided it was too long (8 + minutes). I had to keep moving. I may return, however, because I am interested in what is being created for the final H.P. title.

Thing 19

Under Classifieds & Directories, I found Craigslist which I have used to give away items, such as a playbill, and an emblem from my 1969 Mustang.
I thought that Wufoo.com might be helpful for library surveys, but all of the forms that I looked at were very basic. Under Books,I was happy to find Bibliofind, and LibraryThing (I now know about this one), but I had mixed feelings about Lulu.com. As a selector, I am sent self-published books, so I am aware of the poor quality of much that is self-published. However, what if we referred our local authors to a site such as this one? You can publish, buy, or sell!
I had fun with this exercise.

Thing 18

http://export.writer.zoho.com/ZExport.do
I created a "Hot Topics" test document on Zoho.
I liked the template choices.

On Google Docs--I could have my own Wiki ! And I liked the "editing with others in real time" feature.

Thing 17

I found this confusing--is it just me--or is Montgomery County missing from the list of library systems? My personal blog address is on the Favorites page, I made a comment about a favorite activity on the "Front Page", and I commented on someone's list of "Favorite Children's Books"-she had listed ELOISE as one of her favorite books, so I commented on that. Does this prove that I was in the Sandbox? I certainly hope so !
I did enjoy reading what others like.

Thing 16

Where to begin ! I have looked at Wikipedia with interest, but always have that what is the source/authority caution in my head. I like control. However, I can see that Wikis would be great for team projects, where membership is controlled, and you would like the information separated from your regular email. I also liked the pathfinder wikis. I looked at SJCPL Subject Guides under Antiques & Collectibles. It included definitions, links, new books and magazines, area shows and much more. This is a great way for library systems to showcase and gather information on one topic in one place.The Librarian Instruction wiki by Sam Wallin is a good "refresher" for our 23 Things. Book Lovers wiki is fun to look at for suggestions-and you know that the reviews are just someone's opinion. I spent some time reading Library Success: A Best Practices wiki. This type of wiki is good for those of us who don't want to re-invent the wheel. I looked under Materials Selection and Collection Maintenance, then "weeding" Also, sharing conference information would be very helpful, especially for out-of-towners, and sharing program ideas and resources with other librarians who do programs for the public would be a really good use of a wiki.

Thing 15

Some intriguing ideas: hard to justify the continued buildup of a large "just in case" print collection, the "need to focus our efforts not on teaching research skills but on eliminating the barriers that exist between patrons and the information they need." I also liked the principle of continuing "to examine and improve services and be willing to replace them at any time with newer and better services". And lastly, ..."as more information becomes accessible, people will still need an experienced tour guide..." I loved the comment regarding Amazon's customer recommendations being open to manipulation !
Some ideas regarding customer involvement that ,as a materials selector, gave me pause: As I spend more and more of my work time communicating with my internal and external customers, I am spending less and less time on my primary job responsibilites.
I worry about the grandiose assumption that members of the public can do my job--do they have the expertise to see the big picture? Sometimes it's dificult to get branch staff to see beyond their own branch.
What does Library 2.0 mean to me? We should embrace technology that allows us to better serve our customers-we should not embrace technology for its own sake.

Thing 14

Under Technorati's Advanced Search-I did get different results. The Blog Directory had 566 blogs. The Keyword search yielded 26,919 hits--a real hodgepodge. And I didn't find much under Tags.
I looked at Copyblogger under "Top Favorited Blog"--the tips for finding writing time weren't new, but were a good refresher. "Top Searches" seemed more strange than useful--but would probably take more time than I had to locate useful information.
And under "Top Blogs"--I looked at Boing Boing (interesting), Gizmodo (probably more interesting to technology buffs)and PostSecret, which interested me because of the book.
I sometimes found this site almost overwhelming. I am tempted to sign up and enter some topics on their Watchlist.
And lastly, I found a site that Annette introduced me to -"I can Has Cheezburger?". If you like cats and cleverness, it's a very amusing site.

Thing 13

I found the comments by other users sometimes interesting and sometimes helpful. I can see the potential for this tool when doing research, but I really like the idea of accessing my bookmarks from any computer.
On YouTube, I watched "Social Networking in Plain English"--it was aimed right at my level of understanding.I will return and watch this person's "Wikis in Plain English". One person commented "....well done. Could you guys make one on Blog(s)in plain English?" I was amused.
On BibSonomy, I read the top 10 dystopian novels for teenagers according to Gemma Malley. I found one that I really want to read. I recognized the author's name but not the title.
Lastly, I read "Why and How to use Blogs to Promote Your Library's Services" by Darlene Fichter. It had a good explanation of why Blogs are faster and easier than adding content to a website.

Thing 12

http://rollyo.com/search.html?q=shoes&sid=web

I can see many uses for ROLLYO. At home---shopping, consumer sites, home improvement-the possibilities are endless.
At work--children's literature sites.

http://www.bookhive.org/books/search.asp--this looks interesting.

Thing 11

http://www.librarything.com/widget.php

I could spend lots of time here--cataloging my entire personal library. Of course I.. would have to use sources other than Amazon for some of my very old titles. Fortunately, LibraryThing gives me other choices.

Thing 10

This took too much time due to, among other problems, a very slow computer--but I did it!

Wire Towers #07
Originally uploaded by Tetsuya Blues

I also looked at the Subdivision Name generator--loved "Bellowing Mallard Meadows"

I liked the Generator Blog but did not like Letter James.

I searched for online text generators and found Cooltext.com and Yourcoolprofile.com with Myspace stuff so I could "pimp my profile" if so inclined.

Thing 9

I was glad to find out about Merlin. I added it to My Favorites in Internet Explorer.
On the Gaming, Avatars and Virtual Worlds link, I created Blondie, who hangs out in a garage and rides a red motorscooter. She also carries a really cool purse.
I checked out a rock band on Feedster, Topix.net and Syndic8.com. This last one seemed to be the best "fit" for that topic. I liked the arrangement of the articles on this site.

Thing 8

I was totally unfamiliar with RSS, so this was quite a learning experience for me- what a wealth of information. I looked at some blogs from people I know in the Prince George's County Library system--cool!
I could use this technology at work to keep up with what's new in children's non-fiction, and other library issues related to Collection Management.
This Thing took quite a bit of time in part because my computer is so slow.
Optional: I found the public Bloglines URL: http://www.bloglines.com/public/JEAHAND

Thing 7

I know that I am going to love my new digital camera because I have wasted much film in the past--taking too many shots because I was never sure I had captured exactly what I wanted to capture.
I recently tried iTunes and managed to burn a CD, with just a little help from my husband ! I was sure that I wanted to continue to buy an entire CD for some of my favorite musicians, but I'm beginning to see that having my real favorites on 1 disc is a real advantage.

Thing 6

Flicker mashups and 3rd party sites -I could have spent much more time here. Planning a trip, making a CD cover, digital camera information, and Color Pickr was fun to play with.
Under Library Stuff, I found an article on Harry Potter by Stephen King. Now that was intriguing!

Thing 4

Mimi and Mary Ellen were very helpful when it was time to set up my blog.

Thing 5 Map of Africa

Since I was using my husband's laptop, I had to settle for a map as my "photo"--I was excited when I was able to transfer it into my blog.

Thing 1

Learning about the program-interesting!

Thing 2

Lifelong learning--keeps the brain working!

Thing 3

Habits:

Easiest-#1
Hardest-#4