Thing 12. Social Media Sites

OK. I am not familiar with these and I have little time to use them. I keep reminding myself that it's OK to set boundaries when learning and working with Web 2.0 tools. Anyway, I have seen links to Digg and other similar tools. These look like interesting ways for libraries to create current awareness or news pages. That's about all I have to say, I am not going to blog much more since I have many more "Things" to conquer. Onward!

Thing 11. Tagging & Social Bookmarking

I find it interesting that these two things were grouped together. Yes, they compliment one another, but there potential uses can be different. Social bookmarking, this is something that I am aware about, but have not used personally. I know a lot of librarians who are heavy users of social bookmarking. For me, I rely on my bookmarks for purely professional reasons and I have them set up on my iGoogle page so I can access them where I want. I love the idea of sharing your bookmarks and discovering information from your peers, but for me I just don't have the time to do this.
Tagging, I am becoming a HUGE fan of tagging. As I have mentioned in previous posts I am a strong believer in the knowledge of the masses and find it interesting to see how tagging plays into this. I know there are many people out there who get concerned about tagging and the fact that it's an uncontrolled vocabulary. I see tagging as a way for users to enhance controlled vocabulary and it provides them an opportunity to participate in the library's organization of information. In my work I see tagging as a tool that I need to utilize to improve user access to information.

Thing 10. Wikis

I love wikis! Our library uses wikis for all of it's staff communication and they are the best, and I have a wiki for my own department. They are so easy to update and tweak which makes it easy for different staff to create and update websites. Here's our library's wiki As for my own experience with wikis, I know the basics and am learning about all the bells and whistles to make it look pretty.

I also love the concept behind a wiki, the knowledge of the masses. For the most part I think that this is true. However, as is the case with all information it's important to consider the source and be critical if need be.

Thing 9. Online Collaboration Tools

I had some early experience with Google Docs when it first came out and it looks like some of the kinks I was encountering have been fixed. I have run into frustrations working with attachments and different drafts of documents. These online collaboration tools are very useful for keeping track of whop made what edits, etc. Since I use other Google products, I would use Google Docs over Zoho Writer.

Thing 8. Share Your Creations

To move along I am not sharing any creations, since I lack the time to create any. Although I recognize the desire to use many of the Web 2.0 photo tools that are available this is something that I just don't have time for. I'm one of those people who tend to keep digital images on her camera and rarely load them onto anything else. I was like this with film too; I think I still have rolls of undeveloped film at home. I have been meaning to upload more images to my Flickr account for about two weeks now and since I want to complete the 23 Things before the deadline I am moving on.

Thing 7. Web 2.0 Communication Tools

I am an email addict, IM, and also text. I am familiar and have used all the other communication tools mentioned in this "thing" as well. I think they all have their strengths and weaknesses. For instance I love email for work and corresponding with my friends throughout the county. Yes, I like talking to people too but sometimes it's nice to just jot down a quick note and send it off knowing that you will get a response later on. I have used IM only at work, but see a lot of potential uses here. It's quick and easy to use. Texting is something that I am starting to use more, but try to avoid for two primary reasons. First, I need to pay for every text message I receive and send (I will be looking at this when my phone plan expires) and secondly my phone doesn't have an auto fill function. Yes I need to type out every letter, and will get a new phone in a couple of years as well. I have also attended several webinars as well and find them an efficient way to communicate to a geographically diverse audience. Just one reminder for webinar attendees, always use the mute button on your end. I don’t want to hear you shuffling papers or talking to a colleague.

It is interesting to see where we have come in terms of communication types/tools and it will be interesting to see where we will go.

Thing 6. Online Image Generator

I wanted to name this one Flickr cubed, but couldn't get the 3 to display properly. I don't have much else to add to this blog post. These tools can also be used in various ways to promote the library, for displays, or other items. Here is a trading card of my hound, Duke. I am just posting one image since I don't want to over burden readers with too many images of greyhounds.

Thing 5. More Flickr Fun!

The Flickr mashup tools are a lot of fun indeed! There is a lot of potential here for promotional items or other graphics for display in your library. For this exercise I did a mashup for the tag greyhounds with the tools on Big Huge Labs. I tried to get all hounds but a bus did sneak in. Enjoy!

Images in the mosaic are from the following photographers: wagongrrl, myuncannyvalley, saramurphy100, Susan McKeon, forestedge, ghostparks, and greywalkerov.

Thing 4. Flickr

I was going to take a photo of something in my library for this exercise, but since I keep forgetting to bring my camera to work I will blog about option A. It was interesting using the tags in Flickr. When first started to explore Flickr I searched for images from the MN 150 (Minnesota Sesquicentennial) celebrations that were held earlier this year. This is an image of the wagon train that was part of the MN 150 celebrations by micwalker84. When I get time I will need to upload my images of the wagon train going down Summit Avenue

Thing 3. RSS

I absolutely love RSS! Out of all the web2.0 technologies this is one of my favorites. I created a Google Reader account over a year ago and have slowly added feeds to it since. It's so nice to log onto one place, browse the content and see what's new in the library world. Some of my favorite library blogs include OMG tuna is kewl, davidrothman.net, and The Krafty Librarian -- just to name a few.

The greatest challenge for me is to check my account on a regular basis (see previous post). Even if I don't check my feeds for a month and there are hundreds waiting to be read it's nice to know that everything is waiting for me and that I haven’t missed a post. One of the features that I love about Google Reader is the ability to share items with your friends. I see this particular functionality as a collaborative online environment, since it allows me to keep current, learn about trends I may have otherwise missed, and also see what interests other librarians. This is also a great way to see if a particular blog is of interest to you. If you use Google Reader try this out.

Thing 2. Library 2.0

For this post I am going to reflect on Library 2.0, Web 2.0, and the whole 23 Things project (conceptually).

I must admit I was a little hesitant to sign up for the 23 Things program because of time. I am already involved with other Web2.0 technologies and sometimes I forget to keep on top of this, for instance I am notorious for not checking Google Reader regularly. However, that said the time commitment is often minimal for an app that you use. Too often individuals learning about Web2.0 think that they need to learn every new tool. You don't need to learn and use everything, use what fit you/your environment best. If you take this approach you will see that you have the time to use the tools.

So why am I doing the 23 Things? I am hoping to expand my knowledge of Web2.0 tools and see what I can bring back to my library. When I think of Web2.0 I get so man ideas of how we can manage and package our data to better serve our users. For instance just think of how we can repackage/organize the data from our catalog to enable users to find items or uncover hidden gems from our collections. When I think of Web2.0/Library 2.0 I think of virtual bookshelves, pushing library content directly to our users, and providing our users with the ability to manage of organize library materials to best suit their information needs. Libraries have always centered around the users’ information needs and supporting these needs, Web2.0 offers a new avenue for us to fulfill that goal.

Thing 1. Blog.

OK. So this is my first "non professional" blog. I must admit it was a little hard for me to do this since A) I am not that creative and knew that it would obviously be Nicole's blog and 2) I am not comfortable with having my information so accessible. I suppose this is a mute point now. Anyway a toast to 23 Things on a stick, let's get started!