Thing 23: ?

Where's my prize? :D

I mentioned this in my survey, but figured I could blogit here and ensure I got credit for Thing 23 :D Yes, I confess, I want a prize! I started this really excited about it and soon came to realize how much of a challenge it was. I couldn't imagine anyone else doing it who was less motivated or knowledgeable about this than myself, especially when given this as a mandatory work requirement. As such, it is very difficult to fit this into work doing 15 minutes here, 15 minutes there. I can't see that. It was a struggle for me to do this at work and have a good conscious about it. I did fairly well up until Thing 16 when I just could do it at work and had to take it home. I wanted my prize! :D

The reason I mention the whole work/home front is that in some libraries, the line is plainly stuck in between. There is no taking home some of the work. For example, I can't check my work e-mail from home. Nevertheless, I can e-mail my e-mail from work to a personal account and this would be OK, sorta. Other work environments are different, like my time in the Marine Corps. Work is work until you get the mission done, no matter where you do it.

These 23 Things have many applications, and I predict the lines of home and work can easily be blurred in the Library 2.0 world. For me, that works, but when expecting this of others, in certain work environments, it is unthinkable.

So, again, where's my prize? :D

Thing 22: Staying Current or Staying Above H2O in this 2.0 World?

The relevant question is, what do you mean by staying current? Sort of like what is the meaning of is? I would love to stay current in this sea of information that I love. This is partly the reason I chose to become a millionaire....I mean...librarian. Freudian slip? Probably not. I love information, of all sorts. Though these 2.0 things only make it harder on someone like me who already has trouble keeping up with all the good news. I love my local news, state news, national news, world news, the environment, politics, statistics, psychology, philosophy, technology, information organization, design, music, economics, finance, travel, self-growth, music, history, self-help, etc. etc. etc. Now my choices have gotten larger and I have to work harder at prioritizing. And I'm sure 23 Things account for only perhaps a small percentage of all the great things.

I admit, I really like some of the Things, but I'm frustrated at the get go, knowing that the Thing I find may not be the best of it's kind, the first of it's kind, or the last of it's kind, and it is limited with respect to other things that it may not be friends with or compatible with, and this Thing will soon be a different Thing and I may have to choose between staying with this Thing or leaving this Thing for another Thing.

I do admire the startup of all these Things nonetheless. I know they're not perfect and I know they will change and some better Things may come by to replace these Things. It's a real battle to reah out to these things, spend the time and do these Things.

Looking back at my first Thing, I admit I was much less knowledgeable then than I am now about all these Things. Nevertheless, I had an advantage many people do not. I was somewhat aware of some of these Things, including Delicious, YouTube, MySpace, Flicker, Facebook, iGooogle, and Ning, and I was somewhat interested and motivated to learn more about them. I feel bad for my fellow 23 Thingers who had no knowledge of or desire for these Things. Many Things took way more than 15 minutes, even to get through the reading, let alone posting, commenting and adding bells and whistles. As a requirement for work and training in the library, I could not imagine having done this through Thing 16 on work time with only a little time each week and knowing any less than I already knew. I give kudos to all participants for at the very least attempting 23 Things, even if it was by force from a supervisor. I made it to Thing 16 at work before I had to play the catch up game by playing on my home turf. Even then, I contributed a few bells and whistles from my home computer for Things 1-16.

I also admit that I am much more familiar with the whole blog and rss feed than I was before, even though I knew of them before but found no interest, time or purpose for blogging. I might actually come up with a few other blogs library- and non-library related and then maybe some day create a book or two. Until then, I will have to go back to the planning board and figure out where I should dedicate most of my time.

Overall, it's been fun! Though I haven't felt this much pressure to finish something at home since I was in library school. On to the prizes! :D Moving on to 23!!!!

Oh, and yes, I added a few things to my RSS blogger blog feed generator discombobulator. I picked the LIS news, Tech Source, and 43 Folders, or did I? Hmmm.

Thing 21: S2dent tu.0 2ls

I didn't really see the point in this for libraries at first, but was pretty impressed after trying to schedule a research paper for psychology. How do they know what to do? I wondered. Nevertheless, I like the instant gratification of knowing that my assignment can be broken down into segments and that I can get some insight and clarity for my paper along the way. This is a really neat tool, both the Assignment Calculator and the Research Project Calculator. I have to admit, though, I wonder what the actual practical usage would be like. Don't get me wrong. I think really dedicated students (perhaps the top 10 percent) will find this very helpful. But most students, I imagine, would see this as only one more chore to do on their way to making it through school. Teachers can definitely make good use of this, however, and try to encourage their students to use it. Librarians, to a smaller extent, can use this too. At the very least, they can encourage students to use it. I would actually like something like this for my life, not necessarily for school. Something that would allow me to put in what I want, and it would tell me how to get it and give me a timeline. How about a budget? I put in that I want to save $5,000 in the next year, I plug in some numbers and wha la! Here goes my plan. It could be lifetools2.0!

Thing 20: Book 2.0000000000000000000000000...

This was an overwhelming thing. The book is definitely changing, though I imagine perhaps slower than perceived. This just increases the gap between the haves and have nots. The well-known digital divide is so ever-present here. Having to cope with literacy is bad enough, but then the issue is complicated by having to tackle the new technologies, whether online or through a new gadget.

The Kindle 2 looked really neat on video. I wasn't really a fan before, but I really liked the portable audio book setting. This might actually be a good investment, though it will take some time to get the most use out of it. You can get newspapers and books, though costs may vary. It seems like a nice toy for the avid reader, though I almost laughed about the part in the video that suggested taking it to the beach. Are they for real? They must not live in Florida. I can imagine the kindle not lasting long in the Florida humidity. Then you have to wonder if it will go blank with one accidental drop. Is it waterproof? Can I read it in the pool? Or how about the tub? :)

I can definitely see the changes in reading. Content has changed to some dismay. I admit, I'm part of the newer generation that likes things quick and simple to read. Though I value and engage in longer reading because I know this is important too. As time goes by, however, there is hardly any more time to indulge in a long reading of a book. I get overwhelmed reading about the latest trends, latest news, latest interests, latest fads, latest innovations, and then find time to dive into a book for fun, read a book for information, or sift through online sites to find the best article or site for a school paper. And then there's blogs, 2.0, social networking, new networking, then go and find the latest of the latest again. Get on the phone, log in to your 50 2.0 accounts, sign up for one more and then bring them all together in a mashup.

I made a goal for this year to read the most read book of all, across the world, and I'm struggling to keep up with that. Needless to say, I could only devote a quick read to this Thing. Should I have given it more time? Sure, only to see something else go to the wayside. More like 2.0verwhelming.

Although I browsed a few sites and found some interesting, like the "what's next" and the "series search" and the book interest groups, I was not as impressed as I was with LibraryThing and WorldCat (with mobile features). I don't really see myself reading a book on my phone. With that amount of time on my phone, can't I just check the book out at the library or sit down on my computer. I tried to read a book online once and just couldn't find time to finish it. My eyes may just bust out eventually with the electro thinga majiggies that light up my screen.

I must say, however, that the audiobook is perhaps the best thing I've discovered since I started working in the library and listening to others talk about their experiences of listening to books in their car. This is definitely a time-efficient tool. I've been listening and reading the King James Version of the Holy Bible for the first time and I don't think I could have made it this far without the audiobook. I got this for Chrismtas as an MP3 audiobook on 3 cds and I've been able to burn it to the computer and MP3 player and put the discs in the car. Thus far in April, I'm making it past Chronicles, and although I've had to read many parts over and over again, I have many thanks to the MP3 to have gotten me this far.

Thing 19: Social 2.0

Wow! Just when you thought you knew everything about social networks. I admit, I heard of Ning before, so I was glad to join the group in this thing. I have a mentor that was a member of Library 2.0 on Ning, so I was glad to finally join the group, though I needed to wait to get accepted.

WebJunction sounded familiar, and while I tried to join the group, I was glad that I was able to log in with my membership to WorldCat. Sweet! One less log in to remember. It was actually very informative.

I didn't find much use with Gather, though I imagine I might find it useful if I indulged in it long enough. One thing that came to mind was togetherweserved.com, which is a networking site for veterans. It's actually very good for veterans because it's custom tailored to almost everything military. You can post duty stations, medals, etc.

I didn't get much out of the other sites. The movie sites would be nice if they had free movies. Flixter had a few free movies. To create an account without free movies, I would probably go to imdb.com, my favorite movie database. Playlist was interesting, and I've seen it on myspace.com before, but I'm not sure if I should really use this, especially when considering a broad and professional audience.

Thing 18: FaceSpace

Finally, the long awaited social networking! I started on MySpace a few years ago to connect with old friends living far away. Then I got onto FaceBook. MySpace had more flexibility in design, but FaceBook has definitely grown in popularity and many more applications. I'm guessing MySpace may die out and relinquish it's domain to FaceBook eventually. Though I must say that I hope everyone is aware of the new policy guidelines for FaceBook. Basically, all that stuff we don't read but agree to anyway is now telling us that FaceBook owns EVERYTHING we put on there; pictures, content, etc. Not necessarily a bad thing, just something to keep in mind.

I've gotten a chance to connect with many people, old friends, coworkers, etc. through these sites. Nevertheless, the open doors have led me to be a little more conservative in what I post. I'm glad to have the diverse group of friends however.

I haven't indulge too much since my first few weeks on MySpace, where I went crazy expressing myself and changing designs. Now I just check on my accounts on the go through my phone. I'll be adding friends and sending messages on my phone which is very convenient. Nevertheless, I haven't indulged too much in groups and other applications. Maybe I'll look into these in the future. For now, I joined a few library groups including Library 2.0.

Thing 17: Podcasts

I enjoyed the common craft show video on podcasts. It gave a really good explanation of podcasts. I tried podcast.com first, which allowed me to browse their podcast collection by different subjects. Although I didn't find anything library related, with links to education, government and others, I finally settled on a few news sites. These included Fox News and CNN, which I can definitely see as helpful.

I tried searching for "reference" on all the sites, podcast.com, podcastalley, yahoo, education podcast, and itunes, but didn't come up with much library-related podcasts specific to "reference."

I liked podcast.com and podcastalley over all the others and I must admit they might be helpful if I search into it enough to find something. I liked finding the link to sirsidynix podcasts for the latest updates, but this required itunes, which I don't have, nor really want. With so many things to upload and so many things to clog up the computer, this can really be a challenge, especially jumping from one computer to another.

Overall, podcasts are much simpler than I envisioned.