Final thoughts...THE END!!

Well...I've finally made it! It's been a long time in the making, but my blog is now complete.

My favourite exercises were learning about images generators, and getting the chance to browse through you tube and imbed a video. It was also very useful learning about podcasts and audiobooks.

This program was very useful in providing introductions to many popular web tools that are available. We often hear about this stuff but never actually get around to trying it out. This was a great opportunity to try out many different "things".

I was most surprised to find out how easy it was to used these tools once introduced. Especially things like audiobooks and shared calendars. Tools that are very available but the steps are often a mystery. The exercises helped in learning how to get results step by step.

If this type of program was offered again I may consider participating. I learn much better in a classroom set up (e.x hands-on workshop), but realize that there is no way this scope of material could have been covered in that way. I found that in trying to get through all of the "things", it was hard to properly retain all of the information when you were quickly moving on to the next subject.

NVDPL Sandbox

I logged onto the Sandbox and contributed both a favourite book and movie! I like how we can all contribute to shared lists and edit whenever necessary. I found the wiki to be very user friendly and I really liked the layout. It was much more user friendly than I had anticipated.

Library 2.0

After reading through a couple of the perspectives, I think that Library 2.0 is mainly about keeping up with what's current, and more importantly how these current trends can be integrated into libraries in order to keep patrons and staff up-to-date and involved.

In "Away from Icebergs" Anderson mentions how important it is to begin "training" our patrons in order to prepare them for technical advances. I think that with the numerous internet, email, and networking workshops available through libraries that we are most certainly handling things well!

Technorati

Technorati has a lot of information!

The ability to search by tags is really useful in reducing the number of hits, and I found the Blog Directory to be really interesting in finding out the tons of different blogs out there.

I also liked the Popular section which included books! Great way to find out what people are looking into.

Wikis

I thought the Book Lovers Wiki was a great idea,especially how they tied it in with their Summer Reading Club.

Wikis seems like a good way for people to share and view information...even those may be technically challenged considering that you don't need to be familiar with HTML.

Book review wikis and the ALA conference wiki are great examples of ways that libraries can get everyone involved and kept up-to-date.

Podcasts

This exercise was perfect as podcasts were an area that I knew nothing about! I looked at the directories and really liked Podcast Pickle...maybe it was the cute mascot?

I found a great podcast called Bloodloss Horrocast which is a podcast dedicated to horror movies. I've added the RSS feed to my google reader.

Audiobooks and eBooks

I often listen to audiobooks on my drive, and after looking at Library to Go I may consider downloading one to my player. The site is very helpful and the instructions seem straight forward (I hope). We'll soon find out!

You Tube again...just because!

Here's one more...just for fun!

I LOVE YOU TUBE!
You can find many cute animal videos, as well as vintage commercials, and pretty much anything that's been recorded!

Askaway

Askaway is a very useful and user friendly tool...especially among students. I've experienced Askaway from the side of answering questions and find that it's often used by students who are looking for basic homework help but are probably confused by the ton of info they may get from an online search, or may not know how to properly search so that they get accurate and legitimate answers. For those patrons I think this is a great service where help is practially guarunteed from the comfort of your home.

However, some patrons choose to use this service as a fun way to pass the time..."hey, let's harass the library staff!" Many a session has been wasted fending off annoying kiddos who find it quite humerous to ask all kinds of ridiculous questions...such fun!

Databases

I took a look at Novelist Plus and Shakespeare for Students.

I think Novelist is great! If you're curious about a particular novel's content, or would like to read a couple reviews it's the best place to start. The site is easy to navigate and I've yet to search for a title that I couldn't find. The reviews are detailed and from legitimate sources ( as opposed to reading reviews on indigo which consist mainly of reader reviews). There's also the option of reading about the author, and selecting to view what else he/she has written.

I've never looked at Shakespeare for Students, but considering the numerous requests for shakespeare for teens I thought it may be helpful...turns out I was correct! You're able to get detailed info on the plays including character info and a detailed plot summary, as well as criticism. This will be a very useful in the future

Office 2007

The main difference I've noticed, and enjoy is the banner that pops up when you double click or highlight text in a document. It's very helpful to have some formatting options appear directly above what you're working on.

Shared Calendars

Learning how to used the shared calendars and set-up a meeting were very useful and much more simple than I had originally thought. I knew that Outlook had this capability but I hadn't previously looked into it.

If I ever had to se-up a meeting I would give it a try!

Email Etiquette

After reading the articles on email etiquette I definitely feel more aware of things to avoid when composing an email...especially to delete all previous messages so that the current messages isn't dragging around all that stuff!

I also thought the article on phishing was very helpful. Of course I've heard of these scams but I've looked into it in any detail. I found it to be very helpful.

Social Networking

I joined facebook and found it to be quite fun! It's a great chance to connect with people you havn't seen in a long time, as well as good friends. There's also the option of "ignoring" friend requests to keep those you don't enjoy so much at bay. As well as the option of restricting access to those you don't want to view your entire profile.

I also liked how you could join a group on almost any topic e.x NVDPL!