Random Thoughts and Wrap-up on Web 2.0

What a great experience! I am very glad I had to spend the time to get to know about all of these tools that we have available to us. Suddenly, Twitter is everywhere. And I have to say that without this assignment, I would have had no idea what that is. I am also glad that I have my own blog. That is worth understanding.

The down side? The spam in my inbox is unbelievable. I wish that I had used a yahoo email for all of this. Then the spam would be going there and I wouldn't have to see it. I have evennoticed it in my Twitter account. I get these emails from Twitter that some odd-named people are now following me. Creepy. Now that I am thinking about this and want to check out my Twitter account I see that Twitter has been attacked and is shut down. Another side to the virtual world is how vulnerable you are out there.

Another thing, what's with Facebook owning any pictures I put on there? That annoys me. It has also discouraged me from putting anymore pictures on my Facebook page.

One final thought about using Web 2.0 in the library. This summer the teens posted book reviews on a Teen Blog. There were lots of them. But now that SRC is over, where are they? They have already been removed. I think that is a shame. I am sure the teens were proud of them and will be sorely disappointed when they want to show their work to friends and family. If we are going to go to that much trouble and get that kind of response, please leave it on there for awhile so everyone can enjoy it.

Thank you for this opportunity; I have learned a lot. And, it has been fun.

delicious... isn't

I have tried to use Delicious. It should be a good idea, but so far, it isn't. I signed up for it, then before I could use it again, I forgot my password. The parameters for this password are different than other sites we have been using, so my usuals don't work and I need a new password. Too much work.

Maybe I am in Web 2.0 overload. Maybe Delicious is a good idea and maybe I have just left it to the end and don't want to add another thing onto my "To remember" list. So, I have made a decision: I will forgo this tool. I will do it the old fashioned way until that way no longer works for me.

Wikipedia - Admit it, you use it.

We are supposed to eschew all things Wikipedia, right? But, do you, really? I find myself using it often as a first resource. There are times when a patron will ask me to find information on something that I have never heard of. To get started I end up looking it up in Wikipedia to get an initial definition. From there it becomes easier to find it in more reliable resources.

I do have one good question about Wikipedia: How is it that they are always the first result for a Google search? I suspect that costs a fortune.

I do find the wikis that are being used by AACPL to be extremely useful. The MatMan wiki is a good source of information. I haven't had much cause to use the other wikis we have. I suspect these are time consuming to keep up. But they are, from my user's point of view, worthwhile.

Online Office Tools - a Revelation

As I am sitting here fooling around with Google docs and Microsoft Live, I have had a revelation. This could be really useful to me.

Doing the job that I do, I spend time in 2 branches each week. Most of the work I do for Branch 1 stays in Branch 1, and vice versa with Branch 2. But not always. When I must take work from one branch to another I use a flash drive. As it happens, I am the kind of person that tends to lose things. Because the flash drive is as small as it is, I have thought that if I lost it, I would be up the proverbial creek.

I could use Microsoft Live to store my documents and they will be quite easily accessible no matter which branch I am in. I do display signs for book displays a couple of times a month for Branch 1. I have often wanted to share these with Branch 2, but I have no access to them while I am at Branch 2. Storing them on Microsoft Live will give me that access.

I also compile the Bestseller list into a Word document each week and make it pretty. I do this at Branch 1 then send it to Branch 2 each Monday. Storing it on Microsoft Live would give Branch 2 access to it saving me the weekly email. I could also make it available to anybody else at any other branch who might be interested. Think how much work could be saved if my bestseller list was available to the entire system rather than each branch creating their own. HMMMM.........

Like I said, a revelation.

Are you on Facebook?

Last summer I spent a week doing renovations on inner city homes with two of my sons and 100 other teen-agers (and some adults). As the week was coming to an end everyone was talking about becoming friends with each other on Facebook. So, I ventured in and made myself a Facebook page. And, lo and behold, there were all our newfound friends just waiting to be my friends.

As I was signing up I entered what college I attended and a screen popped up saying "People on Facebook You May Know". Sure enough, there was one of my best friends from college who I had lost touch with. She became my first friend. She responded, thrilled that someone else as old as her was also on Facebook. It has been quite nice being in contact with her again.

In the year since venturing onto Facebook, I have kept up with the kids I got to know last summer at WorkCamp. I used Facebook to invite these kids to a going-away party for my son. I have regained contact with several college friends. I have made friends with other parents who have sent their sons off to Marine Boot Camp (as I did last August). I have even been able to chat with my son who is far away being a Marine. The fact that I can keep an eye on what my kids are doing on Facebook is just a bonus.

I have set limits on what I will do on Facebook. I let the kids be kids. I rarely look at their pages. I have not become friends with my nieces and nephews, because I don't want to become the "Facebook Police". If I can't look at their pages then I don't have to worry about what they are saying or doing on there.

As for what Facebook can be used for at the Library. It is a great way to communicte with young people. Group pages could be set up for Teen Book Clubs or the SRC for kids. Notes can be sent out with reminders for meetings and other activities. Questions can be asked like "Which book would you like to read for next month's book discussion; The Book Thief or Twilight?" Again, this needs someone to start it and keep it up. It takes time initially, but may pay off in dividends that would make it worthwhile.

All in all, I would say that this has been one of the most enjoyable assignments from this Web 2.0 assignment so far.

Everybody is "tweet"ing

Twitter is everywhere. You can twitter about the news, about the weather, to your favorite talk show host. I bet you can even twitter to Oprah. We can twitter to each other, and often do. I enjoy logging onto Twitter.com and see what everyone is talking about. You usually find yourself in the middle of some conversation, which you may or may not be able to go backwards to pick up the thread. If you can't, then you can use your imagination. That can be a lot of fun.

We could use Twitter for J and YA programming. If a branch had an account and kids signed on as followers, you could float ideas out there and get feedback. This could be done before any time had been spent on planning a program. If you got negative feedback, then you could move on to another idea or tweak it to make it more interesting to your patrons. But, as usual, this takes time and someone has to be committed to keeping this up. But it could be interesting to hear what our young patrons had to say.

Hmmmm... You Tube

I have been unwilling to jump on the You Tube bandwagon. As a Mom I don't trust it. I blocked it from our home computers a long time ago. I was seeing content that I did not want my children to see, so I censored it. I'm a Mom. I'm allowed to do that.

As a user, I have explored it. But, mostly, I don't find anything useful on it. I have gotten the occasional link and watched Harry Potter videos and such as that. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Simon Cowell's eyes pop out when Susan Boyle started singing. But these seem to me to be a few rare gems amongst a whole lot of junk.

These videos are entertaining, but they are not increasing my quality of life. How many videos of dancing (or worse) teen-agers do we really need on the internet? How much space is this taking up somewhere out there? How much does it cost? When is enough enough? All deep thoughts for a video website, I realize. But I wonder, "Just because we can, does it mean we should?"