Reflecting, reflecting...

The Questions and Answers Game:
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals? Eventhough I was already familiar with some of these things (YouTube, MySpace, Flickr) it really did give me an opportunity to really get acquainted with it. And some of the topics were completely new territory for me (RSS Feeds, Google Docs) and I think that if I continue to use them, they can be helpful to me in the future.

What were your favorite Learning 2.0 discoveries or exercises? I kinda dug making a South Park character, honestly.

Did anything surprise you? A lot of things were more confusing than others, RSS Feeds and del.icio.us, for example are still alittle confusing for me.

Was there enough help available when you needed it? Yes, for the most part.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? I think it was done quite well. The things that were confusing weren't the fault of the people puting this program together. And if anyone had a problem or question, it was easy to get ahold of someone to help out.

Would you like to see similar training opportunities as new library-relevant technologies emerge? I do think this would be a great thing to do periodically, as new things develop. I know it was enlightening to some of the librarians who were completely new to all of these things, and it is nice to keep up with 'what the kids are into these days'.

And, last one, if you could go back in time and tell yourself to either participate in the program or skip it, what would you do? I would do it again, definitely. It was very informative and helpful.

Google Labs Pt. 2 and Web 2.0 & Webware

In my last blog, I posted about the Google labs, Google Docs, spreadsheeets and so on.... but didn't realize that that part of the 27 Things project was linked to the Web 2.0 vs.Webware thing... So, when I went to my 27 Things progress log and saw that I needed to blog about it all in one blog, I had to come back and write another blog containing all three things in this week's set...
Read the last blog to read my thoughts on the Google Docs part. This is just about what I thought of Web 2.0 and Webware.
Honestly, as I go thru all these, I often find myself a little confused. And, eventhough I am trying to immerse myself in these topics, I don't spend ALOT of time on any of them... Just enough to get the gist of it, maybe experiment a little, and then move on to the next topic. So, my blogs probably seem a little vague and lacking in any real insight. But, I promise you that I have really tried to get the concept of each thing.

That said, I am moving on...
I went to Web 2.0 and clicked on 'travel'. I clicked on www.realtravel.com and it sent me to a really good site. It was clear and easy to navigate, it had a lot of really good info and I thought it would definitely be helpful if/when planning a trip. After that, I clicked on 'books' and of course, ran into 'Library Thing', which we learned about earlier in the 27Things list. Pretty cool how it's all linked together. Also, I found www.biblio.com, which is a really good site to find and order out of print books. This is particularly helpful for libraries and people like myself who often dig books that are old or out of print and almost impossible to find. So, that was an interesting find.

Webware, on the other hand, was a little more confusing. Maybe I just need things to be super simple, even 'dumbed-down' for me because I'm not that comfortable with this stuff, yet. But it was less clear and not so easy to navigate and I ended up just skimmin over it and giving up. Web 2.0 was definitely easier and more fun to play with.

YouTube Addicts Anonymous

Well, I was sort of excited to get to this part of the Learning 2.0 because I am already a YouTube addict... Yup, there's gotta be a 12-step program for people like me! Actually, I don't think it's THAT bad... I am on there all the time looking for bellydance videos; my favorite dancers, festivals, etc.. Checkin out what's hot these days, getting ideas, etc...

I think it could be helpful for libraries... Like it said in the 2.0 intro, we could use it for storytimes, opening of new facilities and author interviews and such...

But, I just like to play...

Zoho vs. Google

Gave both Zoho and Google Docs a try... Google is more popular, I'm sure, but Zoho seemed to have more to offer... Plus, I think I just like the format better... I can see how this would be helpful; not needing flash or zip drives to save items, not having to worry about dealing with file formats and whether or not a computer or program was compatible... Ya, I can see how it would be helpful...

That whole 2.0 phenomena

This week's project focuses on really the entire 2.0 phenomenon... Everything we've been learning in the 27Things program... Seeing how it's being used in the big picture of things...
I definitely see the value in everyone learning these things in order to provide better service to our patrons and to be better connected with them and the growing number of electronic resources out there...
Being familiar with MySpace, Flickr and all that is very important, if we are to keep up with what's new and with what our patrons' needs are...
The library business is vastly changing from a cutting edge 'information monopoly' as stated in one of the articles, to being almost behind the times....UNLESS we keep up, with how things are changing and becoming more computer/technology focused...

Rollyo vs. Google

So, I ended up going with Google... Rollyo was alright, but I think Google is better... maybe perhaps because it's so much bigger... or maybe it's just overused, I dunno... Anyway, I think it was helpful with my searches... although, the only time I'm ever on Google searching for anything, it's usually belly dance related, so it might be pretty limited no matter what search engine I went with...

If I were a South Park character...