Finally...The End!!

Finally finished!! Yippee!!! When did I start this.... it seems so long ago (some time mid -May I think). Definitely glad for the time extension. There was no way I was finishing this by June 30th. I had just about given up when the date was extended to August 31st. Three months, not too bad, right?? I am definitely giving myself a pat on the back. I am proud of myself for completing this assignment and for continuing my commitment to being a lifelong learner. The blog itself was a major accomplishment for me. I had heard of blogs but was not familiar with what they truly were. My favorite exercises were Flickr, the Image Generators, Youtube, Podcast, Librarything and the Web Based Apps--(Zoho). I see myself continuing to use these. My least favorite were del.icio.us, Technorati, Rollyo and RSS feeds. I do not see myself using these again anytime soon. I also disliked having to create accounts for almost every exercise (especially the ones I did not see myself using again). Wonder if there is a way around that if there is a next time. I would definitely participate in an assignment like this again. Just need some time to re-group. At least as long as it took me to complete the assignment , 3 months :)

SuffolkWave

Really liked SuffolkWave's down loadable e-media site. You can chose from audio books, videos, and music. Took a look at the Children's Collection under fiction and found popular titles such as Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events and Because of Winn Dixie. Most of the nonfiction offerings were foreign language material. Under video holdings found titles such as Bear Snores On (can't wait to preview) and Teacher from the Black Lagoon.
Liked that an account was not needed for this exercise--unlike many of the others. But, I still needed to install Overdrive Media Console. Had some difficulty downloading Overdrive. It required that I update and download Windows Media Player 11. When I tried to do that my home computer wouldn't support it (I didn't have a Pac 2, not sure what this is). Finally downloaded Media Player 10 (that worked) and went back and finished installing Overdrive. So, although I didn't need an account, still wasn't as easy as I hoped.
Believe it will be a great service , I feel patrons will find it to be user friendly. It is a great way to serve our patrons from home. It is set up like many online services with a shopping cart and checkout. No credit card needed, just need your library card. :)

podcast

Checked out podcast and Yahoo podcast directories. I liked the looks of Book Voyages on Yahoo, but the newest posting was from Oct. 2006. I did subscribe to A Story for Bedtime by Kiddiecast (listed 533 episodes). I found it easier to just go to the site and register. I had some difficulty getting the podcast to play by simply clicking on "play". Instead I found it easier to download it off the site and play it through Windows Media Player. Also, gave me the opportunity to read up a bit more on Story for Bedtime. The podcasts are of real people reading children's stories and books. As a Children's Librarian and parent, I see many possibilities for the use of this. Children love being read to and this is an interesting way to have someone read to them. Listening to the storytelling will spark their imagination and creativity. They can also follow along with a book. Some of the stories being used were "I Want My Potty", "Smelly Bill", "Mess Monsters" and "Tiny Rannosaurus".

www.podcast.net/show/1357

YouTube

One more down, three more to go!!! Checked out YouTube. I had heard of it, had an idea what it was, but never checked it out. Found it to be interesting and fun. Although, some videos are just strange and make you wonder why. Found the way the videos are broken down into categories helpful. Especially for someone like myself, who is not searching for anything in particular. Started by looking at pets, then funny kids. Found a lot of the videos to be similar to what you may find on America's Funniest Home Videos. Then I did a search for "Library" and found a great video from the St. Joseph's County Public Library. It was a day in the life of a library set to Madonna's "Ray of Light". The credits rolled to the tune of " All that Glitters". Show this video to anyone who thinks work in a library is slow and boring. I think we should have one of these.
So proud of myself that I was able to post the video on my blog.

Library Ray of Light

Loved this!!! Have to check it out.

#19 Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

Took a look at a few sites. Some appear to be more user friendly than others. I was familiar with a few of the sites (like Bloglines, Technorati, Flicka) from this assignment. Used the short list, it was easier to search by categories that were of interest. I liked biblio.com. With this site you are able to search for used and out of print books. This is something that may come in handy some day. It was user friendly and was set up similar to amazon. Liked the "books under $2"section of this site. Also took a look at Farecast, which offers free airfare predictions. Reminded me of Expedia.com. Really enjoyed Picnik, similar to Flicka. Plan to "play" with this one a bit more.

Web Based Apps

I was interested to discover that there is such a thing as Web based Apps. I like the idea of having the ability to create and share documents without having to purchase or install desktop applications. I can definitely see it's use in the workplace. Although I am not sure how comfortable I would feel sharing (or having all) my documents online. I do like the idea of not having to buy expensive software and then installing it on my desktop. I loved the template library. There were some interesting templates. I like fact sheets, speech outline, multiple choice test, vehicle bill of sale. I am currently just playing around with the resume template. It has been awhile since I last updated my resume (not that I expect needing it anytime soon), but I thought it would be an interesting document to create. Have not gotten as far as saving it yet. Hope that doesn't pose any problems. There are things I would not use Zoho for, anything I did not feel comfortable sharing with others (such as bills or pricing I do for my husband's business). Interesting to know what's out there.