Is this really the end? Or just the beginning.....

Wow! This challenge was fun, exciting, eye-opening, trying, and at times painful. Some of my favorites were flickr, Del. icio .us, and learning that You Tube is not just crazy home videos. There is always something to learn out there and in the world of Libraries it is not different. This program was more time consuming than I thought it would be. Working in a service area it was hard to get away to the tutoring sessions. I would probably participate again. Learning can be fun and at times I could not beleive the things we were exploring. I tell my students no Facebook at work and then there I am seaching what was out there (all in the name of learning).

Thanks to the great group of leaders cheering us on.

Face-To-Face Space: Social Networking Communities

I checked out the suggested sites and I have seen students checking their Facebook accounts on a regular basis. I think it is a great way to keep in touch with groups and to get to see pictures is wonderful. I don't like the idea that almost anyone can have access to your pictures. I also think teens should be better educated on limiting personal information in their profiles. I think there are other methods that are more formal for a Library group, but to each their own.

Podcasts

I liked the LibVibe, it had Library News and you can subsribe for updates. I see them being helpful for providing short vignettes of services. The podcasts that Derek has put together are nice, short and informative.

About My YouTube Pick

I came across this by just browsing what was out there. Happyslip is the name of a production company, but I really like the song, that is why I selected this YouTube video. As for using YouTube you can watch forever, new videos are posted all the time. I think its more for entertainment rather than educational use, although there are some training and infomercial videos out there.

Web 2.0

I explored the Web 2.0 Award Nominee, Netvibes.com, it is really neat it customized it my current location with a weather report, and from there I could add content by selecting catagories, RSS feeds, widgets and applications that I could log in from anywhere and get my favorites without searching other sites. I liked the simple drop downs to select options. My only dislike is that you can have too many choices, so instead of simplifying it can add clutter to your screen. Library use could include reseach of current topics as RSS feeds, blogs, wikis and more.

Web-Based Applications

I experimented with Zoho Writer and spreadsheets and Google Calendar. I thought they were all good tools. The flexibilty of access from anywhere, availibility to multi-users is great for global networking and our global economy. Zoho has the multi-lingual support of 21 different language applications. Great flexibility that allows multiple users can edit, add or move data. No worrying about attachments:)

Technorati

... Is another way to search for information and provide overload. Although interesting, I found it a lot of work, for information that I can gather through more familiar sources. I think choosing a search method and using available applications is all about personal preference. Technorati is not my personal choice.

Library 2.0

Library 2.0 is such a good way to access and share information. Users lead the way in which they want to use the technology that is available. Looking to the future it will be advantagous to have metadata files and make unlimited information available from one search. "One stop shopping" as they say.

Although extremely helpful and accurate sometimes its almost like information overload. But then you can limit and select only the information you want to use.

Where will the next generation Web take libraries? Directly to the user as they can have most access from anywhere. Viewing and holding an original materials will still require travel.

Wikis

I was first introduced to the "Wiki" term in a meeting with Chad Boeninger in 2005. I have worked a little bit with the FILM WIKI but I have not added to it for so long I have forgotten. In using these Wikis for instruction, learning and personal interest I think they are a very good way to keep up-to -date on subjects. The BIZ WIKI is great for the business students or others using it as a reference tool. I thought the Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki was interesting as well. Its a great way to share resources.

I also added my blog to the Favorite Blog page!

Del. icio .us

I searched from the examples and then searched on my own. This would be very useful for reseach, personal references, and sharing with friend. It is helpful to know that once an account is set up you can access it from a computer anywhere. Using tags that you create is helpful too, because I sometimes cannot think of a formal catagory, so I guess in some way you can use your own slang as tags.