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!

Not just for searching...

Wow. So I am now even more impressed with Google than I was before. I chose Google Book Search and Google Custom Search to delve a little more deeply into what Google has to offer its users. Google Book Search is fantastic. It allows you to create "bookshelves" and list titles according to those you've read, those you want to read, those you are currently reading, and your all-time favorites. You can organize bookshelves according to theme or subject, or any other variable really. You can browse, search, and receive recommendations of titles based on what you've enjoyed in the past, and the actual Google search engine is the platform for this. I had so much fun creating a bookshelf of what I've read and bought in recent months. This is a fantastic way for patrons to organize what they've been reading and what they want to read, as well as for librarians to create themed bookshelves or reading lists for an array of topics. I think that I will continue to update my bookshelf in the coming months, if only for pure geeky enjoyment. I also explored Google Custom Search and created a search engine called "Garden Geeks Search Engine". I linked two websites to my search engine--www.urbanroots.org, and www.organicgardening.com, for the search engine to focus on. However, my search engine also utilizes the rest of the web for any searches. Here it is!

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Ahh...google.

By pure accident I recently became aware of how great Google Docs really is. I work part-time as a service coordinator for individuals with developmental disabilities, and each month I am responsible for submitting comprehensive cases notes related to each client. This past month the format of these notes changed drastically, as did the Microsoft Office version installed at my office. When I arrived at work the day notes were due, I realized that my home computer and my office computer had conflicting formats, and that my case notes were essentially unaccessible for the day, though that would make me out of compliance for the month. Then I realized that I had mailed draft copies of the notes to myself via my Gmail account, which was already linked to Google docs because of these exercises. Woohoo! I was able to edit and print each and every case note via Google Docs without worrying about versions, formatting, and the like. I also have begun a group project in the LIS program where my group and I are using Google Docs as our main form of communication when not working face-to-face. It's fabulous-very intuitive, easy to access, and free to boot! (I sound like a commercial right now, but in comparison to those silly new Microsoft Office commercials I've been subjected to when using Hulu, I just seem enthusiastic ;)

Wiki wiki what?

So, when I saw that "wikis" were next up on the list of 23 things, I inwardly sighed a little. I've heard the term thrown around quite a bit recently, and before entering this program I had never really been exposed to the idea. (Well, with the exception of knowing that "Wikipedia" existed.) Once I delved into this exercise, however, some of that anxiety dissipated. I went through "Wiki's: A Beginner's Look", and "What is a Wiki?" to familiarize myself, and realized that they can be a potentially very powerful tool for anyone, in particular librarians. They seem simple enough, and with options related to how they are hosted (from your own server or a "Wiki-farm"), it appears that virtually anyone who would want to create a wiki, could in fact do so. I loved the city of Rochester example, where a very thorough wiki has been created regarding all things Rochester. It would be wonderful to move to a new place, or plan on attending a large event (i.e. an ALA conference in a personally unknown city), and then finding that these incredibly resources exist. I have to admit, I'm not entirely fond of the fact that information can be deleted and changed by users other than the original author, though I realize that wiki settings can be changed and adapted to the situation (i.e. Wikipedia versus a group project for a class). Ultimately, I believe that Wiki's are an interesting tool for librarians to become familiar with.