Reflection (23 of 23 Things)

I've learned a great deal from the 23 Things experience. Previously I had a general idea of what Web 2.0 was and knew only a small handful of Web 2.0 "Things." I was intrigued by many of the Things; my favorites being Delicious, Pandora, YouSendIt, GoogleDocs, Hulu and Blogspot. However, to be honest, I have started using all of these but in a completely non-social manner. All are for my own personal or professional benefit and I neither look at or care about what others post or what others' favorites might be. Who has the time?

As for libraries and social media, I believe it belongs in certain places. Blogging or Facebooking as means of library communication and promotion makes sense. Do patrons really comment on our blog? I'd be interested to know how "social" our blog has become. Teens seem drawn to technology, so social media might be a drawing card for teen involvement.

I am against YouTubing/streaming story times and other programming because it physically removes the patron from the library, especially harmful to children. Kids need to be in the library, attending programs, gaining socialization experiences and skills and getting their hot little hands on the books, music, puppets, etc. and not at home or daycare center passively sitting in front of a monitor!

As for what FPL should/should not be doing with social media, I stand on the side of caution. Social media sites are labor intensive because they need to be kept fresh and timely. How much work per patron impact do they require? Are enough patrons regularly interacting with, or, at the least, hitting our social sites?

This was a fun and enlightening journey. Who knows maybe I'll continue the count with Mr. King and Mr. Porter!

Upcoming: Events and Things to Do (22 of 23 Things)

Upcoming won first place in Seomoz's 2008 Web 2.0 Awards. Quick question: how come the awards are two years old - in cyberspace that pretty much spells antiquity? Did they only try handing out awards for three years; from what I can tell they ran from 2006-2008.

Anyway, I digress. Upcoming is a WEB 2.0 site that allows it's users to view, comment on, and add upcoming events from anywhere. This site can then link the user to the event's website, if it has one, or to a ticket purchase site. There appears to be no requirements for type or size of event. From my browsing you can find professional sports events and big name concerts to high tea on Mother's Day at the local Bed and Breakfast. Organizers appear to be making use of this site. Upcoming's calendar goes out for at least several years (I got tired of hitting the forward arrow) and past events are archived as well. Archiving past events - seems like almost useless information.

It's quite obvious that a library could easily use this site to advertise storytimes and other programming, my only concern is the amount of staff time versus benefit. The site looks well run, but I never saw many "users" - I think 9 was the highest. This number is arrived at by viewers clicking on "I'm interested" or "I'm going" buttons. So how to tell if the site is getting much traffic if viewers do neither?

I'll keep this in mind next time I have company or just need something different to do. Checking things out when going on vacation would be another good use of this site.

Wikis (Thing 21 of 23 Things)

Well, another thing to make my head spin. I've used Wikipedia many times before for quick - but nonauthoritative answers, but honestly have not taken the time to really investigate it. Wow, this is a ton of highly organized/archived information! How do people find the time to edit, let alone write over 3 million articles for free!! Does anyone have a life? What size server or whatever does this beast reside on? Or is it everywhere? Ominous music swells. You can tell I'm fuzzy on the technical working of cyberspace.

O.K. enough ranting. Wikipedia is pretty impressive. The site is highly organized and beautifully archived. Their "guidelines" for posting and editing seem intricate and complicated, yet it states that you don't have to know them to participate. It's like the newbies will either learn the "rules" as they go or they'll loose interest and be edited into history. The good contributors get good reps and other editors/contributors look for them. Somehow I like the fact that the older the article is the "better" more accurate it is. It's kinda like real life - the older you are, the wiser you are - or at least I'd like to think so!

I'll probably never edit or contribute a thing to Wikipedia, instead I'll use it as I always have but with a greater appreciation of the collaborative effort involved. Are there other wikis in my future -who knows!

Podcasts (20 of 23 Things)

I checked out a good number of library podcasts. Some good, some not so good. I liked the podcasts of author talks and musician performances; for kids, I liked the book talks and the teen endeavors. By podcasting these special programs with authors and performances, patrons unable to attend the physical gathering can benefit. On the negative side, it also gives patrons a reason to not attend - they can always catch it online later - library stats go down and fewer people wall through the doors.

One library had a whole slew of nursery rhyme podcasts. There were no pictures, just a very short recording of a librarian reciting a single nursery rhyme. Also several of the libraries I looked at podcasted the reading of picture books. Again, no pictures and even most had no graphic while you listened - no page "dings' either. These can't be intended for children - the whole idea, or at least half the idea, of a picture book are the pictures!!! Having a disembodied voice from a computer reading a picture book leaves me cold! Where's the cozy lap, or energetic story time atmosphere? And of course, the pictures!! I'm not sure who these are suppose to serve. Perhaps adults in a ESL community, so they can hear the language and pronounce it better for their children?

I loved the book talks for readers. Short and sweet and to the point. I think using pod and video casts for the teens is a winning combination. Technology and teens and their ultra-tech existence makes sense and hopefully draws them into the library.

TV Shows & Movies -HULU (19 of 23 Things)

Okay, so I can watch classic TV or movies (even Lifetime ones) through a tiny window -is it more than 4" x 5"? It's not more than that! If there's a way to make it bigger I haven't figured it out yet? I found it! Didn't come up very fast the first time. I watched an episode of the Donna Reed Show-vintage 60's - stuff. It was great. I liked the way it remembered where you were, so if you stopped it would pick up where you left off.

How does it get or decide what to offer? I understand that commercials pay for what it has, but how do they get there? On my second video selection it asked me which commercial I wanted to see. Can you image that? Like I have a preference!!

I guess the social part of this site has to do with viewers rating the material and other people actually caring about their opinions. Seems like a stretch to me.

It's good to know that this exists, although I can't think of when I might be alone, bored, have no reading material, but will have Internet access and my laptop handy and will truly benefit from Hulu. Maybe on a plane some day, oh but then although HULU is free, the Internet wouldn't be!

Videos - YouTube (18 of 23 Things)

Okay, YouTube - I understand the concept and how to upload videos and establish your own channel. Not sure I get how to find or view other people's channels or fool with the myriad of presentation options. As with any of these Web 2.0 Things, it takes practice and practical applications to get proficient in the technology.

As I was perusing the YouTube website, it occurred to me that I have no idea what a video camera looks like these days. I know phones can take short videos, as can digital cameras. Do modern day video cameras have the same configuration as they did , say in the 90's, or are they much smaller - do they look like an iPad or more like a movie camera?

I watched quite a number of animal videos - funny but as I watched the sidebar options kept changing and making new suggestions - is this some sort of Pandora-like what video might she like Thing? Interesting!

I noticed that embedding a YouTube video in anything is quite popular, I have never done that before, but think I would like to try. I'll report back momentarily to tell you how I fared. On second thought I'm going to embed one right here:

Okay, so the whole screen didn't make it, but not bad for a first try!!!

It's easy to see how one can get lost fooling around with these videos - time seems to fly as you mindlessly click and watch other people's silly and entertaining amateur efforts. I know there is serious material as well, but from my afternoon's efforts, most of what I saw was fun, but frivolous.

Teen efforts in public libraries could easily take advantage of this technology; ie making book trailers or book talks. However, as a story time presenter, I am much more comfortable with real time performances. I take energy from the participating audience and would feel self-conscious if I knew a video camera were on me or on a puppet show performance. Any glitches would be forever recorded rather than forgiven and forgotten. I'm sure I could adjust, but it does add the additional pressure of the absent and judgemental viewer.

I learned a lot about the ever-present You-Tube!

Music Streaming - Pandora (17 of 23 Things)

Another winner! I'd already heard of this Thing, but had never played with it, mainly because I hate headphones, so at work was out, and had never bothered with any other computer music at home besides my Itunes. I had a lot of fun playing with all the C&W artists I like and creating my "Radio Station." This is a great site to learn about what other artists are out there that you might like. I was pleasantly surprised how close Pandora's choices came to matching my taste.

A downside is the limited number of "skips" you get daily/monthly, even if you pay. The free forty hour listening limit may be a little light for some heavy computer users. I can't imagine any of the limits being too low for me. Serious music lovers will probably still buy or borrow their music; Pandora does not give you unlimited access to the singular songs you love, just like the old fashion radio you get whatever they decide to play, but its more closely geared to your taste.

Fun! Fun! Fun Thing!!!

Cloud Computing - Google Docs (Thing 16 of 23 thing)

Wow-what a revelation. I love this thing! I can start a document on one computer, save it and then work on it later on any other Internet -accessed computer without a flashdrive or even a web-based email attachment. I'm sure the collaborative element could come in handy at times too. I've shared a few documents, one in Word and one PowerPoint. I've uploaded and downloaded both and worked on them on different computers. Really a pretty cool device. It's amazing to think of how much "stuff" is stored in cyberspace always at the ready.

I can see myself using Thing 16 mainly to work on documents on different computers, like between home and work, and not utilize the social aspect. At work we have the network for storing common work - but who knows, Google Docs could come in handy at some point. Enjoyed this one!

Google Maps (Thing 15 of 23 Things) - Part Deux

Okay, so I forgot to link the map, I've never done that before and without TinyURL it would have been very cumbersome. The link address would have been too long. Here's my attempt: http://tinyurl.com/yceve6t . Let's see how it flies!

YAY! It actually worked, except the font for the address was HUGE! Go figure.

Google Maps (Thing 15 of 23 Things)

I am very familiar with online maps, driving directions and satellite photos. In my experience, 8 out of 10 times they are correct, but beware of the other two out of ten, when you will be led on a wild goose chase! Placing confidence and security in these sites and depending solely on them to get you there on time and in a good frame of mind is a mistake. I hope with time I will see ample cause to change my view. But not yet, my latest mishap was a mere two weeks ago. Admittedly, these mapping sites are a huge undertaking and as a society, we have so easily gotten used to information on demand, that the friction between seeker and provider becomes pronounced, almost palatable, especially in traffic.

I love Google Maps as much as I hate it. Rural and semi-rural areas are their weak points. I double check each site with other sites and even then still give myself extra travel time, especially when I am totally unfamiliar with the area, because when they're wrong, they are REALLY wrong! Surely, in time, the information holes will be filled and Google Maps as well as the other mapping sites will rise to the occassion.

TinyURL and YouSendIt (Things 13 and 14 of 23 Things)

TinyURL is easy to use and I can see how it would be indispensable when emailing media files, especially those with unbelievably long addresses. I did find that when customizing the URL for some of my common bookmarks, it fell short because all the logical names have already been taken. All the created links need to be one of a kind to ensure proper navigation. So bookmarking is not really a practical application for this Thing. TinyURL is a clever innovation solving a very irritating, but not insurmountable problem. I actually received a TinyURL file today. I like it!

YouSendIt is another clever innovation. I was trying to send my daughter pictures to use for wedding purposes and although the resolution was fine on our computer, when they were sent the resolution diminished greatly. YouSendIt worked perfectly - even upping the resolution we previously had - is that possible? Maybe there are other ways to remedy this problem, but YouSendIt did the trick. I'm hoping the digitized picture books my son is working on for the FPL can be sent through this Thing, so I don't have to jump drive them.

Both "Things" make working with Web 2.0 easier and more accessible.

FaceBook (12 of 23 Things)

Okay, I created a Facebook account for my puppet and alter ego, Molly Kathleen. MK is forever four years old so I had to lie about her age in order to get an account. I friended only members of my family and those familiar with my other self. The process was relatively painless and I had fun coming up with MK's profile, but I am uncomfortable with the amount of personal information and images that people put into this and similar sites. I understand the friending process and the privacy controls and options are impressive; however the skeptic in me warns me that once it's online, it's online and retrievable.

I also found the site to be visually busy. Too busy. I realize the ads are their bread and butter, but it's like you have to weed through the different ads, all the thumbnail pictures and links to get to the real content. I'm sure with repeated use my eye would know where to look and it wouldn't feel so cumbersome.

This Thing fills the bill for keeping up with friends and family and could do away with "long lost" relationships, if you want to keep the multitudes up-to-date with your life. I've always thought the yearly Christmas letter fits the bill as well as being less intrusive. I think the younger set are more into the daily and hourly updates.

I enjoyed the article detailing the site's history. I feel much more enlightened about Facebook and wonder if it has proven itself as a money-making business, i.e. are the ads generating enough revenue. I, for one, never read the ads and find them a total distraction, but others might not.

Linked In - Professional Social Networking (11 of 23 Things)

I really don't want to establish a Linked In account or profile. Too much information, abet professional, is required for this type of social networking and I'm not quite there yet. I'd rather keep my person off the Internet as much as possible.

I did research upcoming library conferences and can see the powerful potential of this type of site for those in business for themselves or those seeking positions in a particular industry. I know numerous people who use Linked In and find benefit in building and maintaining their contacts through this website.

Here Today by Ann M. Martin (2004)

In 1963, as her restless/irresponsible mother gradually abandons the family, eleven-year-old Ellie takes charge of her younger siblings, while also trying to deal with acts of prejudice toward the "misfits" that live on her street. The dissolution of her family is gradual and Martin does an impressive job of portraying the pre-adolescent daughter's awakening and realization of her mother's weaknesses. Loving and hating in equal and understandable portions. Hard in many ways to read - yet promising in the knowledge that those who care, care deeply and will rise to the occasion and get you through. Ages: 11+

Lost and Found by Andrew Clements (2008)

Twelve-year-old identical twins Jay and Ray have long resented that everyone treats them as a unit, an odd unit; so when the opportunity arises, they hatch a plot to take advantage of a clerical error at their new school and pretend they are just indeed one person. Clements is typically funny and irreverent; having twin boys himself the author orchestrates the plot so the parents are logically clueless and the boys are named Jay Ray and Ray Jay - easily confused auditorily as well as visually. The boys see an opportunity and run with the freedom of singleness. Chaos ensues as lies and misunderstandings mount giving the boys more trouble than their careful planning took into account. The situations are as true-to-life as they are funny! Ages: 8-9+

LibraryThing - Social Networking with Books (10 of 23 Things)

I am ahead of the game for a change! I investigated LibraryThing when we were discussing tags a few weeks ago. I didn't realize then however, that LibraryThing also provided the similar titles and other editions information in our catalog. Of course these recommendations must come from the tags and other bibliographic information obtained through authoritative sources and the social network that inputs data into LibraryThing.

This time around I added 4-5 books to my "Library". It was cool to read reviews written by other's. I will definitely use this as a resource for booktalking as well as a resource for book covers. All the stats from the users was fascinating! I can't imagine I'll catalog my personal books - but LibraryThing provides lots of interesting and, at times, useful information.

Since my last post, I have experienced significant difficulty with my old bookmarking site. I have persevered with Delicious and am slowly making the switch. I'm still finding the tags to be cantankerous but I'm hoping I'll find using the site more user friendly and without operational problems.

It has been three years since I first heard the term Web 2.0. To be honest, even after the workshop I was attending, I really wasn't sure what they were talking about. Blogs and Instant Messaging blah, blah, blah. This exercise of 23 Things has been a real eye opener - it has forced me to try, investigate and gauge for myself the pros and cons of online networking - although I doubt it will make me an avid user of the majority, I feel I'll find my niche and be able to intelligently converse about the rest.

Delicious-Social Bookmarking (9 of 23 Things)

Okay - I'm on overload with user ids and passwords - though truthfully I keep reusing the same ones over and over. My kingdom is yours if you discover my secret! I'm finding Delicious to be cumbersome and finicky. Every tag has to be spelled exactly the same way, each and every time or it's seen as a different tag and heaven forbid you put a comma between the tags or a space between words. I was using the same four tags and by the time I got five websites loaded, Delicious thought I'd used seven or eight different tags. And it wasn't all that easy to fix. My Delicious link is http://delicious.com/friend.dc85 .

I can understand the value of such a social bookmarking site for some occupations/purposes, ie. teachers of any kind, sharing with others in the same profession/business...uh, okay I'm having a hard time coming up with a lot of others - but I'm sure there are. For certain purposes I could imagine social bookmarking working for libraries - booklists, award winners, etc. But if you want all your bookmarks in one place, other sites appear to be simplier (Mybookmarks.com) but not social (able to be shared) - I was glad to see there is an option to keep a bookmark private - that would have been a deal breaker.

I think I'll slowly add more bookmarks to Delicious and play around with it. Maybe I'll appreciate it more, the more I use the beast.

Tagging (8 of 23 Things)

I have already been using tagging on my blog. Since my blog is serving a dual purpose - a chronicle about my Web 2.0 experiences (via 23 Things) and a reading journal, tagging allows me and any follower of my blog to isolate the different components and read only what is relevant to them at the time. Quite handy!

As I played around with FPL's iBistro listings with LibraryThing, my naivete surfaced and I had to research LibraryThing to figure out where their tags came from. I am assuming the font size is a cloud and indicative of the frequency of the individual tags relative to the other tags. At the rate the website has grown its easy to see the relevance of the tags as a whole.

I don't know that these tags will replace subject headings in libraries - subject headings can grow in number with change and innovation but, relative to LibraryThing, they are somewhat controlled and finite while the tags are devices of the masses and infinite and sometimes quite bizarre. Subject headings provide a constant and lend control to a library's catalogue . I think tags compliment the subject headings by providing input from the readers at large and in large numbers. This should be encouraged - but as with most of these Things - I can't imagine spending that much time in front of my computer - I mean inventorying all my own books - give me a break! Although it is another way to chronicle your reading. Think I'll stick with my blog.

Instant Messaging (7 of 23 Thing)

After a few false starts and a little more than a small amount of technical help via IM and in person, I managed to get Instant Messaging set up on my desk and laptop computers. Along with neat icons, too! At the moment, all my buddies are family members who have to put up with me and all my fooling around. I will try figuring out Communicator next week at work if I find the time.

For the most part, I find Instant Messaging to be a lot more work than a simple phone call. First it breaks your concentration, second, you have to compose your replies somewhat quickly (and spell correctly) so you don't feel like you're letting down your side of the conversation and third - you have to keep up with the incoming replies as you compose your own - the pressure! Now I could see how it could come in handy -like when your kid IMs you at work and even though it looks like you're working you're really helping them with their homework. Ha! Ha! However if phone reception is unavailable, expensive or just plain bad but Internet is at the ready, I could understand how this "Thing" would come in handy - like on a cruise ship or in a foreign country.

As for public libraries, using IM to answer reference questions would provide real-time virtual customer service. Of course logistical issues such as dedicating manpower ready to respond to incoming inquiries, handling multiple patrons at the same time and setting limits on time spent with each inquiry, would have to be addressed.

This is a Thing I was already familiar with and believe I'll attempt to make more use of it in the future -to broaden my experience and see if my opinion of its worth is justified.

Digg-Social News Aggregator (6 of 23 Things)

Wow! How does anyone online get any work done. You could easily spend hours reading, commenting on and watching the progress of posted items. I was really fascinated by the real-time aspect of this aggregator - with the Upcoming feature Digg is literally working within seconds of stories being posted. Digg and public libraries are similar in that popular opinion reigns. On Digg, the stories with the most "votes" or diggs are chosen by the readers and are posted highest or first. Likewise, in public libraries patron requests and popularity are given high priority when purchasing material. The biggest differences, and they carry considerable weight, are the very real time element (Digg wins), the online community's role of deciding what stories rise to the forefront (Digg again) and most importantly, the authority of the "news" (Score one for libraries). There is no stipulation as to where the information comes from, no verification , no fact checkers of any kind. Since libraries provide both internet access and therefore access to social news aggregators, as well as authoritative sources, we're covering the best of both worlds! An interesting social experiment.

I registered as a Digger, but as fast as breaking news hits this site I'm not sure when I'll submit anything. I think it would probably be something offbeat but immensely interesting. I'll keep my eyes peeled for the extraordinary. Fun Thing!

Twitter (5 of 23 Things)

Okay - so is there any better way to waste one's time? Maybe texting? There are not enough hours in my day to twitter. I suppose if I was tied to a computer 16+ hours a day with no phone or outside contact this mechanism could be useful. To begin with the jargon is foreign - not user- friendly to a newbie. It's even hard to tell who's posting - the twitterer or someone making a twitter comment. The celebrity twitters are littered with ads that are very distracting.

Sorry to be so negative. How could a public library possibly use this Web 2.0 device - maybe something with teens. They are usually in the know on new technologies and seem to embrace any and all changes. Also, maybe for commentary or opinions on a particular subject or virtual book discussion. I'm open to suggestions, but at first glance I'm mystified by all the hype.

Photo Sharing (4 of 23 Things)

The holidays have me behind and here's my attempt to catch up. I fooled around with several photo sharing websites (Flickr and Shutterfly) and was pleased with the results from my trial picture searches. Also impressive were the tools available to improve the composition and quality of your photos -although I believe my Mac's iPhoto will do much the same and keep my pictures on my own computer. I also realize you have the option to keep your online pictures private, but my suspicious side (I'd rather not call it my paranoid nature) makes me leery about posting my personal pictures on the internet. I believe you should consider anything that is uploaded or sent electronically as public domain. I rarely pay bills online either. So with that said, I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority and that I probably wouldn't be personally making use of the Photo Sharing Thing.

As for library use of this Web 2.0 Thing, many marketing opportunities present themselves. Many patrons will enjoy seeing online slideshows of themselves and their families participating in library programs. Also showing the larger community the variety and turnout for library programming impresses civic leaders and increases public opinion resulting in more library funding. Looking at various public libraries already taking advantage of photo sharing, I found a majority of pictures focused exclusively on audience members - especially children. The Marathon County Public Libraries in Wisconsin prominently posted a photo and video release form, others did not. I have to wonder if releases were obtained from every person in the pictures. Am I a privacy nut? - I don't know, but I don't want to unexpectedly find myself in any online pictures - what's the chance that wouldn't happen? Also, a few of the libraries appear to allowed patrons to share their unrelated photos via the library link - what is that about?

I believe the utmost care must be used when deciding what pictures to upload to a library or photo sharing site to protect both the library and the patron.