Summary of thoughts

Overall I am well satisfied with taking part in 23 things. I enjoyed investigating each of the technologies regardless of whether I found them worthwhile.  Some sites had a better layout and were easier to navigate but the information/instructions were generally reasonable to good.  For usefulness within the Library videos such as on YouTube to inform clients about procedures/processes in a format that is familiar and (perhaps) entertaining could be an option.  The current Library Blogs Page  seems to repeat information available elsewhere and in the main lists new books/resources and I didn't see any comments from clients (not that I was looking for the inconsequential trivia found on many blogs) so I wonder at its usefulness. Wikis are excellent because of their immediacy and ease of use without having to be a web writer to relay information.   Podcasts (for receiving information) and an iGoogle page in a library setting (for storing information) also have great value for clients, hopefully without the flashing and gyrating ads on so many sites. As for Twitter the 2009 survey which rated 41% pointless babble and 8.7% pass along value speaks for itself.
For my personal use I can see using Flickr and Picasa for photos and Librarything and perhaps dabble with some of the others.  I started 23 Things with a feeling of trepidation  but I have really enjoyed the challenges and discoveries along the way. 

Social Networking

I am now a member of Facebook!  This seems a good tool for families and friends to keep in touch.  It overcomes the barriers of distance and time which often mean contact is sporadic or lost.  It also seems a great way for well known personalities to promote their persona  Keith Urban , Barack Obama or David Suzuki .  Like a lot of sites there has been misuse when tragic events have occurred and tribute pages have been  misused. It is difficult to understand how a highly paid 'product' such as swimmer Stephanie Rice can use Facebook for comments that were distasteful in any setting and not think that they would be picked up by the media. Is this a case of  typing the first thing that comes into your head? This seems to be case for many of the comments. Private thoughts made public and then crocodile tears of regret? It is puzzling why people would think such inanities such as on Keith Urbans page "... I love seeing you and Nicole together","... oooh cool......................u know how to have fun" would have any relevance to Keith Urban or anyone else.The term 'friends' on face book seems to denote anyone who has ever crossed your path (or thinks they have or knew someone who might have known you) or fans or groupies, not a personal relationship.

Twitter

Explored Twitter and can't really see why you would bother.  The blurb on the site "... Twitter keeps you informed with what matters most to you today and helps you discover what may matter most to you most tomorrow"  Lordy Lordy I hope not!  Who Stephen Fry is having dinner with or reminding us it's Woolly Hat Day and we should wear similar gear to show our support for the homeless (perhaps a donation or take one home for dinner might show greater support ? I'm not sure that they would care about someone wearing a hat to support them)  There are other tweets which refer to events etc which are on which may have more relevancy but overall  - nah not for me.  I had barely joined and I already had a follower who told me her name and "...i'm just looking for cool people near me" (I'm thinking of moving)  I ticked Tweet Privacy to allow only persons  I approve to follow my tweets but each time I saved it and checked again it was unticked.  I have now  deactivated my account.

Podcasts

Delved into and among podcast directories to see what was available. Some interesting material through a   BBC News Technology  podcast regarding the UN's plan to connect every village in the world to the internet by 2015  and a counter view by someone who thinks the expansion of digital technology should all be left in the hands of the free market. The UN's aim to help advance third world countries by the use of technology versus bringing  technology so that we can innundate developing countries with advertisements. I added the Library Survival Guide  to my Google page as a lifebuoy in times of need.  There was a wide choice of podcasts on offer  and I would be interested in following up on several.  Adding a link to my google reader was straightforward as was searching through directories but there were many instances where links no longer worked. 

LibriVox

I think this is the most exciting and worthwhile site that I have explored to date.  The possibilities of using this technology to enrich so many lives is enormous.  Libraries have audio books which they exchange with other libraries but there would be a limited number and subjects/topics they can access.  For sight impaired persons, for those with reading disabilities, for health impairments such as aphasia and persons confined to home or nursing homes/hospitals access to so much public domain would open up a whole new world.  A delivery mechanism which would facilitate personal access to the material whenever desired through a pair of earphones would add to the quality of many lives. Such access is available  already to  those with a computer, ipod and appropriate software but these are often  beyond the access of those who could gain so much from their availability.  I listened to several readers and although the quality of delivery varied,  the readers enthusiasm for their material negated this.  

Library Feeds

Have spent time trolling through websites looking at their layout and exploring feeds and I have added  Brisbane Weather  and digg.com to my Google reader.  I've looked at Library feeds sites and  found a variety of material there ranging from ads for services to libraries, news items both informative and trivial and libraries discussing changing technology in libraries.  I don't feel the need to read peoples blogs  possibly because many take themselves so seriously.  The quote from explodedlibrary.com  "Maybe this is egotistical, but I feel that when I am blogging, I am creating something unique which wouldn’t be there but for my work ... I can imagine a world where my twitter account is my primary window  onto the world, so long as I have a blog or something like it to supplement that. ...  As much as blogging and tweeting are great ways of sharing information, it's hard to beat face to face. I've just returned from the ALLA/NZLAA conference in Melbourne, and from conversations at this conference, I found an answer to one of the questions I asked in this post"  Feeds are an excellent avenue for sharing information but it is all the trivia and inconsequential piffle which takes a lot of time to scroll through which I find  time consuming and annoying.

RSS & a newsreader

This was good fun and it would be easy to spend hours scrolling through all you info that comes in through your feeds.  I used Google Reader and when finding resources I really enjoyed  Ed Dale on the 30 day Challenge site explaining how to use Google Reader on YouTube.  Ed advised to use the List rather than the Expand option to view new posts to see what was of interest but the number he scrolled through still would involve quite a lot of time.  RSS feeds would be of use in the library to update on matters of general concern and interest, changes etc.   Setting up the the subscription in the reader was straightforward as was  sharing   items. For my personal use it is an easier way to keep up to date with breaking news and even though it often lacks depth it is preferable to the abysmal reporting in newspapers.

Del.icio.us

It was easy to set up my own account and then add some bookmarks of interest to me.  I made a few searches  and followed other user's trails and I could see how you could find that you had gone off on other tangents and time would pass very quickly. Unlike Google where you can use multiple search terms users have multiple tags therefore you bring up a lot of returns that are not of interest.  I searched by Free Knitting Patterns and bought up many entries which had knitting  or patterns but not free.   I found that I  needed to type in one word and then keep on refining my search by choosing the option on the drop down menu. When I followed other users trail I came across a few interesting sites but many I wasn't interested in.  I will go back in my own time and investigate further and store more bookmarks in my own del.icio.us account.  Social bookmarking is a good tool for sharing sites among friends who have similar interests without having to email each time you have a site to share.

iGoogle page

This was very easy having previously completed Task 17 playing in Google. I enjoyed creating my page and finding all the material it comes with, then adding a  few gadgets more.     

Google

Have just finished my exploration of Google Products and found it very enjoyable. When I read about Google in Wikipedia it is staggering to realize what a vast entity it has now become with its acquisitions and partnerships. The figures involved are massive when you realize the whole shebang was started by 2 students.  Its "anti-corporate, no evil philosophy" seems a bit of a stretch with the amount of revenue raised from advertising and it is a little unnerving to realize the spread of interests it has throughout the internet.  Found exploring the List of Google products could have occupied me for hours ( I swear I controlled myself)  and it was very easy to navigate although some of the searches I made returned some strange results. I did enjoy Google Translate listening to the  phrase 'Meat pies are a gourmet Australian food' in a variety of languages. Google Maps was straightforward to use and very useful although it is unnerving seeing your house on the screen and directions of how to there from wherever you are. The privacy concerns people have raised are quite valid although if you had the address of  someone you could use a street directory to find them.   Google Docs was very similar to Microsoft Word to use although I didn't find 'Export' through the 'File' button and used another method suggested by the Help screen.

Technorati

What can I say - I think I just looked at one tool too many!  I didn't find the Technorati Tour, the Discover and Popular features weren't "currently unavailable" and I didn't enjoy having flashing red signs telling me "No joke! YOU might be our WINNER! or gyrating or flashing ads at the top of each page.  So in essence I didn't make any discoveries about this site and I think I can live without ever needing to return here again.

You too can YouTube

Well this was quite interesting!  I now know so much about the  Peruvian Necktie that I feel I could almost run a class (in case you re wondering it is a wrestling hold) I thought I would search for the trapped miners and couldn't remember where they were (it is actually Chile as I've just discovered through a Google search) so I typed in Peru and up popped Peruvian Necktie.  I also checked out Yahoo and Google. There is the clever use of a satirical video on Yahoo Cowboys herding cats   which which has a tag line of EDS - managing the complexity of the digital economy.  While there are plenty of professional music videos, private videos (pleasant and unpleasant), political polemics etc. there are many which are advertising.  On Google Videos screen the left hand side has videos and the  right has sponsored links which relate such as Weddings  How to use it on the Library Website - perhaps videos explaining processes and procedure, etc. which may capture the attention of users who are more used to and interested in this medium than written explanations. 

Wikis

I work on LibNet on an irregular basis and have added my post  I don't always find it easy to locate information on LibNet and tend to bookmark the pages once found.  Enjoyed looking at the variety of uses other libraries have made of Wikis.  From Subject Guides and directional info at St Josephs County Public Library to more of a newsletter style at Bull Run Library where events and info can be easily added and updated.  Then on to Library Success a wiki aimed at an audience of librarians to facilitate the exchange of ideas and innovations.  The BookLoversWiki at Princeton Public Library invites readers to post comments and reviews of books which allows the reader who is bursting to tell someone about the latest book they have read and offers to other readers the opportunity to find out about  books they may not have otherwise come across.  The simplicity and ease with which posts can be made on Wiki invites and allows all to feel confident in its use.

Google Books

Followed LibraryThings with an incursion into Google Books.  Clicked on some of the subjects and found some very strange titles within them such as Medical - Prince and the Pauper, Curious George learns the Alphabet and Religion - Taming of the shrew. Can understand the usefulness (and cost savings)  for Libraries when non-copyright material is scanned and made available and the contributing library receives a digitized copy.  It will be interesting to view Google Books in a couple of years time when the court cases are (possibly) settled and the commercial matters come into play. If Google win the right to sell copyright books will they then move into Chapters and compete with Libraries in the document delivery area.  I also created my own Book Shelf List and now I have so many sites and logins and Passwords I think my head will start spinning soon!

LibraryThing

I enjoyed using LibraryThing and creating my own Library Library and  I could add an entry for all my own books but I wouldn't want to troll through the editions to locate my own so I'd probably settle for any just to list the title.   I read for pleasure and I don't really need to read what others think of a book I've read,  nor read others views before I choose a book.  I do look at Booker Prize nominated Books etc. to find new authors and titles, and also reviews so I probably wouldn't use LibraryThings for my personal use.

Library Blogs

Have been reading through some of the Library Staff blogs and have added some comments.  I don't have a Facebook page nor use any of the other 'tool' available and found Jules comment that Flickr is more useful in the sense that unlike Facebook it isn't restricted to members illuminating.  I came across one blog (Worrybeads) where you needed your email address to comment (if i understood it correctly) and I therefore preferred not to add a comment. On Wholly flying carrots the writer preferred blogs where peoples introduced themselves but whether this meant as a persona or the 'real' details I'm not sure and isn't something I look for. I found Snarlyyow an aesthetically pleasing site with its presentation and lack of clutter.  We're working in an artificial environment,  producing this blog with a particular purpose and time frame so it does feel a little forced.  Would like to have had more time but like everyone else - on to the next task!

More Flickr

Wondered why my photos didn't appear on Flickr and discovered you need 5 photos as a minimum. Went back and added  a few more so hopefully they will now appear.  Quite enjoyed the exercise and also Picasa Photo Album.  Flickr had good info on the 'how to' etc. and I think I would look further into what you can do when using it again.     

Flickr

Just completed Task 5 Explore Flickr.  This is new technology for me but something I have wanted to use.   I found it interesting and fairly easy to follow although there was a lot of info to read through and I read it all to ensure that I had a reasonable grasp of  what to do.  The photograph that I choose was of the walk through the Clem 7 tunnel prior to its opening. Would like to edit the frame from around the photo but out of time at the moment.

Lifelong Learning

Bit of a nervous start to creating my own blog.  Now that I have managed this task I'm feeling more confident (and relieved).   Was a bit daunted by the prospect of creating a blog (and probably the entire program) but Lifelong Learning is about accepting challenges and stretching yourself. 
The hardest habit for me is no. 4, to have the confidence  to believe I can carry out all the tasks but No. 3 reflects my outlook on life, i.e. View problems as challenges.    So it's on with the journey!