The End! (or the Beginning...#23)

I have reached the end and I am very glad I participated in the Queens Library Learning Program. Because I took part, I feel more in tune with current web technology and no longer experience the panic/fear sensations that would wash over me when reading about new things going down on the web. The program forced me to learn (in a fun and low stress way of course!) what I otherwise probably would have gone on ignoring yet feeling guilt about for the foreseeable future. I especially enjoyed the web applications exercise, playing with web 2.0 tools, adding entries to wikis, library thing, and bloglines. the format was just right - not too fast or too demanding. I wasn't expecting to feel as relieved as I do, now that I've completed the program. Not because it is finished, but because I feel I actually understand what's going on in the world around me and I had been getting out of touch. That would address one of my lifelong learning goals of staying on top of trends in every day technology. I know I'll never be a cutting edge player, but I would hate to feel as confused as my grandmother was by her VCR. So, thanks Queens Library, and the moderator of this program! If another program like this were offered, I would participate, and in fact, I think this should be revisited every 2 years or so, to keep up with the newest 2.0 (or maybe 3.0) tools.

Ebooks (#22)

My feeling while browsing our ebook offerings was that we are not quite yet in the age of the digital book. Most of the available books seemed to be romances, manga, and how to books and not many of the types of novels I read. I don't have a PDA and would not want to read an entire book on my computer. None of the books I was interested in were viewable without downloading software. I did find two books I would be willing to download if I had a player: The Bartender's Bible and 365 One Pot Recipes. I would definitely read a recipe on my computer and often use websites for cooking. But, I knew I wasn't ready to use it enough that downloading the necessary software would be worthwhile. Ebooks seemed complicated to use, although maybe I didn't explore it fully. The books I looked at said something about having to be returned which I didn't really get. I am sure someday we will all be happy reading (and ruining our eyesight) with our PDAs or kindles or whatever we'll be calling them, but for now the benefits don't outweigh the negatives.

Podcasts (#21)

I went about this one in a roundabout way, because I had some trouble with it. First, I looked at the three podcast directories suggested in the exercise, but I had trouble finding anything that interested me, either about libraries or anything else. The descriptions of each podcast didn't sound very inviting: "Mike and Carol talk about libraries." Well, who are Mike and Carol and why should I want to listen to them? I chose a few lackluster possibilities just so I could complete the exercise, but then I discovered I did have to download something to listen. I'm not sure if I was doing something wrong, but I couldn't figure out how to listen without getting software. I remembered hearing that podcasts of NPR shows were available in itunes, so I decided to search itunes for library stuff because at least NPR is a known name. The podcasts listed on podcast.net, podcastalley, and yahoo audio were all of the nature discussed above. They seemed to be made by random people which is perhaps democratic and interesting to some, but not to me. On itunes, I found LibVibe which are short podcasts about headline library news. I listened to a seven minute podcast and the news was all bad, but at least it was short and sweet and interesting. The top news stories were about cronyism at Boston Public Library, racial profiling at the Yale University Social Sciences Library, and how rioting in a Paris suburb resulted in a library being torched to the ground, reducing their new DVD and CD collection to ashes. Ah, just another day in the library world. I did add the RSS feed to my bloglines account, so I'll be hearing a lot more library news (some good stuff I hope) in the future.

Do De Rubber Duck (#20)

A few months ago I was watching Sesame Street with my son and I saw an updated version of Ernie's rubber duckie song from my childhood. It made me and my son totally crack up. I figured I could find it on YouTube and here it is! My other choices were 80s videos by local Philly bands I remember from my teenage years (Robert Hazard, Beru Revue) and the godawful Genesis video for the song Mama that my husband and I recently reminisced about. They were on there too, but Ernie seemed more universally enjoyable, so I chose that one. What's not to like about free videos? And the search engine is very easy to use and finds the videos you want with a minimum of fuss. Using the features and components of Youtube on any library website would probably add a lot to it. You could make a video library containing "how to videos" that show people how to repair cars, or TV, or cooking tips, etc. These are the kind of books people constantly ask for and it's always helpful to see something demonstrated. A library website could also show videos of speeches and debates or even movies on demand, if the copyright issues could be overcome. The possibilities are endless.

Discovering Web 2.0 Tools (#19)

Out of the short list of award winners, I checked out the music winner - Pandora.com.  I love it.  It's a music stream that you tailor to your own taste, like the coolest radio station you ever heard.  You can enter the name of an artist you like and they will play songs they deem similar which you can then say you like or don't, or you can pick from an extensive list of genres and listen that way.  There is basically almost nothing not to like.  Since NYC radio has been taken over by giant media conglomerates, radio stations don't play anything but the biggest hits or the same old "classic" music we've heard for years.  If you want to hear anything different, you have to listen to college radio which has a lot of talking and isn't on a predictable schedule or pay for satellite radio.  So, this is free, and you can tinker with it to make it match your tastes.  I've already heard a few bands that are new to me that I'd want to hear more from.  The only negative features are ones that I don't blame them for such as the fact that, like with radio, you can't go back and play songs again that you liked, or bring up a particular song and play it.  If you could, it wouldn't be free and it'd be, well, itunes.  You also can't skip ahead more than 5 or 6 times, but you can't that at all on the radio.  I'm not sure that this would have any application for libraries, but it sure is cool.   

Let's Collaborate & Have a Good Time (#18)

Okay, now I am really excited. I had trouble getting into the social networking tools and the mashups that this exercise introduced us to, but the web based word processing applications are actually useful. They feel like progress and not just another time waster. I tried all three of the suggested apps and liked Google docs and thinkfree the best. This is because I already understand how to use them due to their similarity to Microsoft Word. I uploaded a spreadsheet to Google Docs and it was very easy. The only thing stopping me from using Google Docs exclusively for all my former Microsoft Office needs is Fear of Google. I write this as I blog in my Google blogger account. But, I am afraid that Google will take over the universe, so I would rather spread it around a bit, and explore whether Thinkfree is as easy to use. I created a document there and the functions were the same as in Word and I see that it also does spreadsheets that look like Excel. Writeboard was the least cluttered of the three. I liked being presented with a blank screen and the simple invitation to write, but it looks like you have to learn some simple code to do any formatting in it. I was also disappointed that the backpackit application that helps you organize all of your writeboard documents is not completely free. I wanted to use the sharable calender to coordinate my schedule with my husband's, but discovered that I would have to pay to upgrade my account. Lo and behold, Google has a free, sharable calender application. See, they ARE taking over the universe!

Facebook (#17 1/2)

I don't have a Facebook account so it's hard to say exactly which applications for librarians I (or our customers) would like, but from the descriptions there seem to be a few. I would be interested in the Subject guide links and, if I ever get myself to use it, the links to del.icio.us bookmarks. Those sound helpful and convenient. If Queens Library had access to Jstor then that would be a useful link, and one that customers would like as well. I think the customers would definitely use the Ask A Librarian application. I would like the Book I read application, but I am already doing that in two places already - goodreads and Library Thing. I doubt I'd want to enter all that information again and then keep it up to date in three places. Isn't this a problem in general? Do people with Facebook, Myspace, and maybe even other social networking accounts spend a lot of time entering redundant information or abandoning certain accounts when they fall off the "hot list?" Friendster was the original site and I'm wondering if a lot of people still use it. I'm still a little wary of relinquishing too much of my privacy, but I am sure I will eventually create a Facebook page for myself.