Outer Banks Mustangs #2

Outer Banks Mustangs #2 a photo by Photo Geek on Flickr.

going on vacay...want to see the wild horses

My beautiful bike and helmet

My beautiful bike and helmet
Originally uploaded by librarybooksmovies

Still practicing....now, I'm send Flickr pictures to my blog and twitter and then twitter sends to Facebook. Cool.

This is not the end....

I surprised myself and learned so much and really enjoyed all the exercises for the CTLS 23 things.

My favorites things on this learning journey were: learning how to Blog (easier than I thought) and I even started a new one!; getting turned on to Flickr....I love good photography; playing with Freerice.com, discovering Pandora.com for music, Google Docs (just started to learn all it can do along with Zoho writer) and Google reader.

This program helped me realize that you're never too old to learn. But most importantly, it reminded me that learning can be fun and not stressful. I could be a bit frustrated at times with my limited knowledge, but I got better and better as I went along.

It surprised me that people are really using computers to socialize. There is more interaction and communication between people. It seems that people want to reach out to people and it is easier to do with a computer. If I don't want to be left behind and if I want to understand what all the young people are into to, then this program has helped to keep me informed.

I don't know if there is anything that could have been done differently. I respond very well in self-study programs without pressure to keep up with others. I was not able to do this program at work, because I needed to concentrate more fully. Consequently, I spent quite a bit of time at home working on the exercises.

And lastly, I would love to participate in another program. I loved the opportunity to learn and when presented with a well-thought out planned program that could be done by anyone at any level without pressure, then sign me up!

The Wide World of Audiobooks

In exploring the catalog of ebooks on Librivox, I noticed that there are books of public domain, meaing published prior to 1923. I've read all of the Jane Austen books and maybe I could revisit some Edith Wharton. I guess I mostly read best sellers, so sue me. I could see me suggesting to students who come into the library looking to read a book on their summer AP list that, since we don't have it available, they could download it and read it or better yet have someone read it to them. Lazy slugs that they are.

I checked out podiobooks.com and found a juicy crime book with disclaimers about language and violence. Now this was way more interesting in a perverted kind of way.

With iTunes, the whole process is much easier in that you can go directly into the iTunes store and search for Librivox and voila, there are several audiobooks to choose from in podcast style as in the last lesson. Then I could sync my iPod and away I'd go.

In listening to the very informative way to use NetLibrary, I gathered that my iPod wouldn't work and I am so glad that I will be getting an MP3 player soon!!!!

Podcasts and vidcasts...who knew?

I went to Podcast.com first. I was able to browse the podcast collections and selected 3 categories to try: food, music, and books. I loved the video cast about preparing chicken wings. I can actually make supper tonight following what I learned. Because I am in charge of ordering music for the library, I liked the music podcast area. I could listen to new music and decide if I want to order it for the library. In the book area, I was able to hear a few intros to new books. Kronos sounded intriguing.

Now I have an Ipod and have been using it to place my music from CDs on it. It never occurred to me to try going to the music store part of it and ordering up a podcast. It was easy and free and I took advantage of some Comedy Central podcasts to give me a few laughs.

I looked at the Seattle Public Library web page teen section and liked the idea of putting a podcast there for patrons to listen to what is happening at the library. I could see the use of doing that on our Web page and since most teens have access to MP3 and etc. they could subscribe to our podcast. Something to think about and implement perhaps.

I also tried the Educational Podcast Directory and I listened to several podcasts there. Again very helpful and places I could direct patrons to research subjects they are working on.

Youtube and all it can do

I've enjoyed and learned so much from YouTube. I seem to recall that some of the 23 things included clips from YouTube to help to teach a certain web tool. Well, we could use some of the teaching clips from YouTube right on our web page or at least have YouTube sites available that teach certain library skills. I found one about How to do an Advance book search on Google Book Search. This is the link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAJ8x3JrD1Y

I'm liking Discovering Web 2.0 tools

I tried Backpackit.com for organization. Since I am in charge of everyone's schedules at the library, I thought I could use one spot for all my needs. I can keep track of everyone's upcoming events, create a page for any project with lists to check off, texts, images and files for everyone to share. The down point is that it is free for only 30 days.

I must mention another Web tool that I will love. It is Pandora Radio. Since I am also in charge of ordering music for the library, I can listen to any genre and artist or song to determine if I want to order it. It is a very interesting site since you can invite others to place the kind of the music they like. I could ask my staff to use this and then I can have an idea of the music they want me to order.

I wish I had tons of time to play and play and play with all the tools. There are only so many hours in one day. Gosh darn.