Thing 23- Finally!

Overall, I found the Web Challenge to be interesting. Although, being 24 and fresh out of library school, I was aware of many of the included technologies, it did remind me about incorporating these things into my job. I like Web 2.0 because it is fresh. It is up to date and helps us really meet up with the new generation. However, I dislike when organizations use 2.0 technologies where they are not appropriate or practical just for the sake of using them. I don't see this as a problem at OCL- if anything I would like us to be more active. As a YA librarian, there are so many applications, but we are very rigid in what we can do, how, and when. I understand this as someone who was once studying business law (we live in a completely sue-happy society) but I think that being rigid is incongruous with Web 2.0. You need to be constantly up to date and changing with the trends to reach your target users. We need more blogs, more interactivity, more social networking! That is how we will get ourselves really involved with the community as time goes on. My generation will always be online, and we expect all of our services to know this and cater to us. We don't want to make that phone call because we shouldn't have to. It's a totally selfish perspective, but I don't think it's one that will be going away anytime soon! This is what I think Web 3.0 will be- think of a real virtual library- e-books with a shelf-browsing interface (and I mean the full experience, cover art included!). I'm not very imaginative, but we will be living in a more digital world for sure.

As far as what I have shared with others- ListenNJ, LibraryThing, and PBWiki would be my top three.

Thing 22- ListenNJ

ListenNJ is nothing new to me! As a person with an hour long commute each way, I use ListenNJ to catch up on YA lit in the car. I don't find ListenNJ hard to use, though I'm not terribly fond the OverDrive console. I always use the MP3 option because the burn to CD function is not very practical (so few titles offer that anyway). I do wish ListenNJ had more in the way of selection but I understand that not all publishers see the value in downloadables or fear a way around the digital distribution protections.

Despite its limitations, I like ListenNJ and have recommended it several times. In particular, I have found it to be useful for special needs groups whose members may not be readers or may not connect well with text-based literature.

Thing 21- Podcasts

I like podcasts, but I don't think I'm as keen on them as most 2.0'ers are. I actually used to transcribe podcasts on the side for a pittance, so maybe I just got sick of listening to them over and over! The way I see it, they need to be handled very professionally and be very high quality to be useful. I also prefer podcasts that are intended to be podcasts as opposed to recordings of lectures or interviews that are just incidentally recorded.

For your review, I post this podcast from Odeo:
http://odeo.com/audio/18157623/view

I'm a 360 gamer (PS3 sucks!!! :) ) so I'm always interested in gaming news and rumors regarding my favorite non-Nintendo console (Nintendo is so totally separate). I also love Engagdget and turn to them frequently for technology news. Of course, to be honest this podcast didn't tell me anything new! Since I always keep up with the news, I already knew pretty much everything that was discussed. The Q&A was interesting, but it's still not my favorite way to get news, call me old fashioned!

Thing 20- YouTube

I love YouTube! As a 24 year old, YouTube has long been a part of my life (albeit mostly for useless little internet memes and videos and the occasional Rickroll). However, it really has been used for some interesting viral marketing campaigns and I totally see its value for advertising, especially to the YA and younger adult crowds.

As far as videos go, this was one of my favorites all though library school:


I can definitely say I have some days where I feel like I need this (especially as the warm weather comes around!!!!). All in all, I just like it because its funny, and I think our profession needs more humor in it.

Thing 19- Web 2.0 Awards

Although it was mentioned in the main blog post, I would like to talk about Color Blender. I just bought a house in January, and we are redoing all the rooms one by one. Color Blender will be very useful to me now that I know about it! Previous to this I was using the websites of individual paint companies, but that limits you exclusively to their pre-produced colors. Color Blender allows me to make the exact shades that I want to see on my walls. It seems like something so simple, but it really is a useful tool for helping you visualize what colors will look like when put together. Not to mention with modern tools at hardware stores you can print the exact colors you come up with and use them to get a can of paint! I love that the internet has made simple little tools like this so widely available.

Thing 18- Docs and Apps online

I'm familiar with Google Docs having used it before, and funny enough we have already used it at OCL for work. YA used a Google Docs spreadsheet in order to coordinate our orders for SAIL and Reading Buddies materials. It was very easy this way and you knew who you needed to still contribute with a single glance.

As far as what I'm currently working on, it could be useful for a proposal I'm working on with another YA. We'd be writing it together, and this way we'd be able to work on the actually written document without e-mailing it back and forth. I like that it is real-time, that means you don't get any time lapse overlap in what you're working on.

Thing 17: PBWiki

PB Wiki really wasn't a challenge to me- I have used it previously and will use it many times in the future! It's so ridiculously easy to use it isn't even funny... they made it so people without website experience can't get lost.

As far as practical work applications- I think they're endless. They would be good to use for committees to put together information on progress during even planning or to share ideas. They would work to use for TAB groups who want to share information and ideas between meetings. They would work just to keep your branch up to date with what is going on all in one place instead of a string of e-mails!

Thing 16- Wikis!

I am a vehemently pro-wiki kind of girl, and that includes Wikipedia. That is because I am well aware of just how critical they are about their submissions! Wikis can be vast resources of information, and they are definitely one of the fastest and most convenient ways to share information among a group.

I think the library success wiki is a prime example of just how useful they can be. It provides links to lots of resources and can be added to and updated really easily. Another good example would be the ALA wikis- I used one just yesterday to find a flier for a career day coming up this month.

Thing 15- 2.0?

I can't say that I espouse any of those specific views on library 2.0. Primarily, I don't think library 2.0 exists as some separate cause. I think instead that it is a natural progression- the place where libraries are bound to evolve simply through the nature of our service to the community. We should not jump on every bandwagon that comes along in the world of technology, but we need to keep abreast of trends and adapt those that will work for us and use them accordingly. I don't agree that 2.0 will overpower the need for a print collection, and I don't think it will end the library as we know it. I do think it will change the way we work and in the end I strongly feel that this will be beneficial to our communities by making them more information-literate and making information in general much more accessible.

At it's very essence, I don't think that the idea of library 2.0 is any different than what libraries have always done- change with the times. In that sense, I very much agree with Dr. Schultz' take on the topic- this isn't 2.0, this is well beyond that. We adapt with different generations, and I'm sure that each generation prior has had it's nay-sayers who felt that this changes would bring about our end.

Thing 14- Technorati

Technorati is another area where I am experienced, having used it many times in the past to explore blogs. As such, there was nothing this time that jumped out as particularly surprising to me. Well, that and the amount of time I have spent on the internet has left me totally jaded as to what people will do or say for the whole public to see!

I like that Technorati classifies blogs by category, as it makes it easy to look for a tech blog or gaming blog. I do find that the "attention" classification system makes both the best and worst rise to the top- people will just as often click on something shocking or controversial as they will a good blog entry (as can be seen on Digg!!). I didn't find anything new in this visit that I want to hold on to, but since I am a previous regular user I don't think that should count!

Thing 13- del.icio.us

I like del.icio.us, but much like bloglines tend to find it less useful on a personal level. I don't care terribly for the layout. The tagging of bookmarks is interesting and could be useful, though I will admit that I have an overall distrust for the accuracy of information provided by internet users on such open websites (this, of course, excludes Wikipedia which I find to be strictly monitored!). I will also admit that before going through the tutorial I never thought about it for research purposes. When I was working on my senior thesis and travelling between locations this would have been much more useful than my ragged list of links that I carried around. Although I do not have any immediate uses for this, it is definitely something that I am going to keep in mind!

Thing 12- NetLibrary

I am very accustomed to NetLibrary, having used it througout my undergraduate and graduate education. That being said, it's a great tool but not always the easiest resource to access! I find the NetLibrary interface very sticky; it tends to hang up on a variety of browser configurations. For instance, on my work PC in my office, it freezes every time without fail. However, it works seamlessly on the reference computer where I currently am. I love the accessibility of the tool and the fact that after an initial registration the books are available anywhere. I have recommended it several times in my three months working for OCL.

Thing 11- LibraryThing

I've known about LibraryThing for a long time and I do find it quite neat to see how other people rate the books I like (and hate!). I think it's a really good way to keep track of what you've read- I always have a problem with this since I read very quickly. Sometimes a short novel will disappear in the abyss of my mind without a trace and I'm left desparately searching for the title!

Come see my shelf!
http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=samtheteenlibrarian&shelf=list&sort=title

Thing 10- Gaming in libraries!

If there is one thing that I am really passionate about, it's gaming in libraries. I guess that's appropriate as a teen librarian! I think gaming in libraries is going to be big as time goes on, and not just for the younger age groups. As games become more and more interactive (like the Wii, but I think it will continue and go much farther than just that) they also become more natural and accessible. Hence the use of the Wii for the senior community to get them active and even rehabilitate some. The Nintendo DS is also great for this- brain traning games have really caught on with the older set and have been proven to help mental agility.

How does this really matter to libraries? Lots of ways! For one, our motto here is building community and games really bring people together. I have teens who will come to any club or event if I break out the video games. Not only does it get them into the library, it helps them to socialize with new people. Additionally, as my generation ages and has children, I really think that we will be more receptive to gaming in libraries and more interested in interacting with peers. Not to mention I know my kids will be exposed to games from a young age in the house and will likely have a particular liking for them!

Thing 9- Finding Feeds

From searching, I have found that there are many useful feeds floating around out there! I will say that I am somewhat (and yet not at all) suprised at the high number of library and librarian-related blogs and websites with feeds. There is definitely something to that!

I actually liked the initial feed-finder from bloglines- it was easy to use and the categorizations made sense to me. Outside of that, I am fond of Technorati as I feel it is a thorough source and pretty easy to navigate and use. I find Syndic8 visually unattractive and just a bit too much of a mish-mash for my tastes.

Thing 8- RSS feeds and bloglines

I'm not new to the idea of RSS feeds, I just never got into them. I know what they are and how to use them, but even now I'm not terribly kean on them. This is mostly because I know I would subscribe to way too many of them and not be able to keep things sorted! However, having now used bloglines I do see the benefit of being able to quickly catch up on the changes that have been made on certain key website I visit. I am also surprised by just how many different websites have the feeds.

I personally would use this strictly to keep up with various professional websites which I like to keep tabs on, such as YALSA, the LII, and CJRLC.

My blogroll: http://rpc.bloglines.com/blogroll?html=1&id=samtheteenlibrarian

Thing 6- My Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24828121@N02/2346042710/

This is a picture of the Barnegat Teen Zone that I took today and uploaded to my Flickr account. Isn't it cozy? :)

Thing 5- Flickr/Picasa

Because Flickr is being cranky with Blogger, I got my pic from Photobucket instead. I much prefer Flickr to Photobucket because the quality of the uploads is better, but oh well!!

I am a cat fan, and as corny as they may be I am a fan of LOLcats. This one in particular is one of my favorites, since I'm a dork and love star wars references!

7 Habits

I would say the hardest habit for me is habit number 4. I am very rarely confident in myself or my abilities, even when I can easily see that what I am doing is successful. My mind always jumps ahead to the next potential point of failure! I've been getting better about it in recent years but it is definitely something I still need to work on.

The easiest thing for me is habit 6- use technology! Maybe it's because I'm just wrapping up library school, or maybe it's just because I'm 24, but I use technology for everything! I already had a teen blog for my branch, and I'm the tech/gaming guru around here as well. I love technology and embrace it openly!

OCL webthings

Test post for OCL webthings challenge. Yay!