Week 8 Thing 18

I just got finished exploring Zoho Writer. It was very easy to use. I emailed a document to myself and played around with different fonts and colors. In many respects it is very much like Word, only FREE! Very nice. And I just love the idea of documents being saved to a website. Now, if I leave my flash drive at home, it's not like I've lost a limb--I can access what I need on the Internet. Very convenient. I think I might be spending more time with my new friend Zoho.

Week 7 Thing 17

I visited the Maryland Libraries Sandbox and added my blog to the "Favorite Blogs" page. I explored the site for a while. It seems like the sandbox is just getting off the ground. There doesn't seem to be a lot on there yet, but with all of us visiting and adding to it I guess that will soon change! Editing a Wiki wasn't very dificult. The instructions were very simple and user-friendly. I think Wikis would certainly appeal to our patrons, even the ones who are a little computer-shy.

Harry Potter #7

I finished reading "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" yesterday. It was very good, but now I'm sad that it's over. It feels like Christmas when you're a kid. All those weeks of build-up and excitement and then, boom--it's over. We've spent nearly a decade with Harry. My son has grown up with him. Characters we've grown to love are gone, those we've loved to hate, we've seen with new eyes. Who could have predicted what a phenomenon it was going to be? I've read some very interesting reviews of this book online and I have to say, some people seem to be taking it a lot more seriously than I did. I never viewed Harry as a Christ figure, or saw the book as an allegory for World War II. I just thought it was a great fantasy read that inspired a lot of reluctant readers to pick up a book just to see what all the fuss was about. And in my opinion that makes Harry a real wizard AND a hero. So long Harry-I'll miss you.

Week 7 Thing 16

I just finished reading all about Wikis and now I'm ready to make my observations. I think a Community Wiki would be a wonderful and valuable thing and provide a great service to our communities. I know that there are many hidden gems in each of our Library Communities and it would be wonderful to provide a forum to our patrons to bring those hidden gems out into the open. I also really, REALLY like the idea of Subject Guide Wikis. From the bad old days when I struggled to maintain the links on the website, and juggle all my million other responsibilities, this sounds like a great idea! Maybe I'm not so comfortable with patron links being added outright without someone checking them out first, but staff could certainly add links freely.
Now, having said all that, I can speak from the heart. My first love is, and always will be, Reader's Advisory. Please, oh, please, let us "Wiki-fy" the Catalog! How fun is that! Let the patrons annotate the books! Reviews are all very well and good, but what "real" people want to hear is the voice of other "real" people who have read the book. That's one of the reasons sites like Amazon are so popular. And while we're at it, let's have the lists too!

Week 6 Thing 15

This is a very exciting time to be working in a Library. The Michael Wesch YouTube video "The Machine is Us/ing Us" was so exciting and amazing, and then I stopped and thought, "Wow, I know these websites-I USE these websites." Maybe I'm more adept at these things than I thought. The Rick Anderson article "Away From the Icebergs" had a number of points that really struck me, especially the point about user education. Perhaps, because there have been times when I have found some of the 23-Things assignments difficult to complete and I know it has been the same for my co-workers. Going forward, our patrons ARE going to need us to help "train" them in using these resources, so it is very important that we be comfortable in using them. That is why this program has been so good for us and why I need to keep on practicing! I can't wait to see what changes the next few years will bring.

Week 6 Thing 14

I just finished up my Technorati tour. I signed up for an account and even claimed my blog. I doubt I'll ever develop a huge fan following for this blog! The popular searches were fun. I enjoyed a video called "To Blog Or Not To Blog". The story of my life right now. It's nice to have all those hot topics and popular blogs right at your fingertips. Technorati is like the pulse of the Internet.




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