Week 16 - Final Post

I, like many of the others who have participated in 23 Things Kansas, can't believe how quickly the time has passed. I have learned so many things that I thought never to be able to understand and have gained a confidence to use these types of communication in both my personal and professional life. I must admit these past weeks have been somewhat trying at times but overall has been a great deal of fun and a huge sense of accomplishment. I've enjoyed showing others what I've learned and had the pleasure of passing along some of the new technology skills. I would encourage those who for whatever reason were not involved in this 23 Things project to take advantage of the next offer should it come along. You won't regret it!

Week 15 - Wikis

For activity #1 I chose to edit the Wikipedia webpage for Gardner, Kansas. Under "libraries" I added detail information about the Gardner branch of the Johnson County Library.

Activity #2 took me a bit longer since I had trouble with item 5 where we were supposed to link our new page from the 23 Things Kansas Participants page. I finally figured out what I was doing wrong after reading over the instructions a few times and then reading some of the comments posted by others who were having a similar problem. I did finish the task and now it seems like it should have been so easy. Guess I couldn't see the forest for the trees...

Week Fourteen - Library Thing, Etc.

I am already a member of Good Reads and so decided to update my account rather than start a new subscription to another review site. I have a number of friends that also use Good Reads and it's fun to share titles and reviews, especially when you can learn about books that you might not otherwise have picked up. It also helps to recommend books to others when I know their reading tastes.

Week 13: Slide Sharing

What a fun way to share photos (and music too if you like). It's also good to find that these sites are quite user friendly and that they take you step by step to the finished product. Lots of options within the site also make for a unique presentation. I love it!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Week Twelve: Screencasting

Here's the screencasting site I created and I must say of all the projects thus far I think it's been the most fun.

http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/watch/c6fbo21mg

It took several attempts to get my screencast the way I wanted it and even now it's not perfect but I can see myself using this more and getting better at it as time goes along.

In regard to library use, so many times we repeat the same instruction over and over and this would be a great tool for the more frequently asked questions.

Week Eleven - 23 Things Break

Takin' a Break...

Week Ten: Video on the Web

This lesson, as most of the lessons before it, was much easier to do than I anticipated. If I've learned anything thus far it's that you've got to give things a try first and leave the "I don't think I can do that" attitude behind you. New technology can be pretty intimidating to me but I'm having so much fun with this and learning a lot!

Week Nine - Instant Messaging

Staff at the library where I work has used instant messaging to communicate with each other. It is much quicker than an email and usually gives you instant reply capability. My concern would be that a person might use IM instead of an email to communicate important information or detail and that information/detail would not be saved as you could an email. At least that's my understanding of the way IM works. I wouldn't worry about being interrupted by IM when I'm needing to concentrate on other work since I could use the "off line" status if necessary.

Week Eight - Cloud Computing

As indicated in the introduction, I along with many others have already done cloud computing. I use it as a tool to get constructive feedback on my works in progress. I created a Google document and downloaded my pages to be critiqued. Then I invited the others in my critique group to log in and make suggestions. They in turn also have Google document accounts and invite me in. It is much easier than making copies and meeting in person although there is something to be said for a more personal approach to critiquing...

Week Seven - Microblogging

I can see where using microblogging tools would be very helpful in keeping up on trends and latest news. I would probably need to take some of the advice I've seen posted--don't stress out by trying to keep up with everything, just do what you can. The information overload factor I think could be managed this way. I did find it a bit difficult to find people to follow since I wasn't familiar with some of the sites and wasn't sure that was what I really wanted. What I ultimately chose was BookTV, NY Reviews, and Publishers Weekly because I am already somewhat familiar with them. So far these have been interesting at the very least and I may decide later to check out some of the other sites to get a better idea of what will be most helpful for me. As a librarian, keeping up on books is crucial to me so I can definitely see where microblogging would keep me in the know...