An inner unrest.

Something that has been building for years, but finally coming to a head in recent months.

I am absolutely terrified of regretting. Anything. Everything.

I want to learn how to let go, without turning my back on who I've been and what I've done. I want to learn how to look ahead, while being content with the right now.

And I worry that this is asking for too much.

The end of the road...

Phew. I am on the last of my 23 things, which feels pretty great. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed as many of these discovery exercises as I did. Several of the tools I have already begun using on a daily basis, including the RSS feeds and Google reader, and YouTube. Others will likely become favored procrastination distractions, like Library Thing and Craigslist. I also liked that this assignment was very independent in nature; learning new technology on my own will likely be a component of my career for years to come. These 23 things have also boosted my confidence, in that I realize that I am not entirely computer illiterate! One recommendation for future classes is to possibly mention these exercises occasionally during class time, to offer a forum for students to ask questions or share tips. Here's to the start of another journey!

Craigslist.com

Craigslist.com is a fascinating site. Essentially, it is a classifieds page for any and everything you could ever want; it is a community-building resource, a personal ads platform, and a job-finding tool. On Craigslist you can modify the site by region or city that you are interested in, and from there you can search any topic you want. I've often perused job and apartment ads, and my husband recently found a used truck in their "for sale" section. One of the more humorous aspects of the site is called "Missed Connections". This is an area where users can post messages about their own missed connections with another person (often a stranger). Occasionally love at first sight is professed, while most of the time the writer simply wants to compliment or hit on the object of their message. I think Craigslist is a great site that librarians can show to their patrons, whether they are looking for employment, a new sofa, or a date for next weekend.

Library 2.0...

In our exercise it was mentioned that "Library 2.0" means many different things to different people. I familiarized myself with several of the perspectives offered, including "Into a new world of librarianship" and "Away from the icebergs". I enjoyed the former a bit more, as its overall tone seemed more positive. The author suggested that Libraries and Librarians 2.0 should do several things, including:
~Plan for their users
~Embrace Web 2.0 tools
~Control technolust
~Be trendspotters
~Make good, yet fast decisions
~Understand content
Each of these recommendations make sense to me, especially being open to new technology while holding back from making each and every new fad a priority. It seems that that is no easy feat, though it is incredibly important. For me, librarians holding a professional outlook that encompasses flexibility, understanding, and an eagerness to learn all defines Library 2.0.

Mastering Zotero...or, how I dropped the ball.

Becoming familiar with Zotero was a much more complicated process than I had thought it would be. Unfortunately, I did not successfully do so; Mozilla Firefox was the required browser for this exercise, and my home computer is not very efficient with downloading new software. (One might argue that I should have attempted to complete this exercise earlier in the semester, so that I would have been able to then use the computer lab on campus to complete this particular exercise. To that person, I would give a pat on the back and a "you're completely right".) I am hoping to explore this resource on my own time in the near future.

Rollyo!

Again, an improvement over Google. Though I liked Google Custom Search, Rollyo just seems better organized, more thorough, and easier to share with others. As I am a Buffalo girl through and through, I've included a searchroll named "Buffalo Love", ideal for searching any and everything related to Buffalo, New York. Here's my Buffalo Love Searchroll!

This would be a useful tool for librarians who are trying to help patrons access information related to a specific, difficult to search topic. It would also be effective to create a variety of searchrolls related to frequently searched topics, so that when a patron has a reference question related to one of these topics, they can simply be directed to the searchrolls.

I am a Library Thing!

Ahhh! I wish that the exercises that are coming at the very end of this process were the first ones we were assigned. Library Thing will very definitely be my new favorite distraction. Even better than Google Book Search, Library Thing connects you to a huge community of fellow users, allows you to tag, catalog, list, browse, review...virtually everything except actually reading the book itself. This is a great tool that could be used in any library setting, and seems to be very conducive to creating relatinships with others interested in similar reading material and topics. Here is my Library Thing!