YouTube

I played around a little with YouTube. It is a very interesting concept to be able to upload videos. The best use in terms of library and information are the videos that show D-I-Y items, such as tiling floors or the ones describing how the electoral college works. Adding a search function to library websites for customers looking for these type of videos is a good idea-sort of a one stop shopping idea when looking for resources. I do wish YouTube was more concerned with the content it receives; I think that the usefulness, even for recreational purposes (checking out those music videos), is reduced because of the other "stuff" that can be uploaded. As part of initiation, gangs will upload their violent acts and recently an organization has been going to doors with McCain signs, knocking on the doors and then video taping the person and telling people to remember this face.... I don't believe our society's freedoms would be hurt if we monitored content a little better than this; I actually believe we might be better off.

I am trying to attach a video explaining how voting works because of the timeliness and it is also very well done.

Power Tools Page

I went into several of these "tools" and found them to be pretty random. The ones we have looked at through Learn and Play are way more useful. I did find Stumbleupon interesting. I found myself drawn to the things about food--could it be almost dinner time?

Web 2.0 tools

I looked at the ifoods site and enjoyed it. I love reading recipes and watching cooking shows. This is one site I could probably loose myself in for a few hours. The recipes I looked at were ones that I would truly try and not need to look for exotic ingredients like some cooking shows/recipes require. As for use at the library, it could be recommended to a customer you know enjoys browsing cookbooks and watching these types of shows. I don't believe I would access it if a customer asked for a certain recipe.

Google Doc's

I created a presentation, which I had never done before with power point, so I learned how to do 2 things in 1. I also uploaded a file from my "u" drive, which was very easy. A co-worker suggested we show customers google docs when they need to save items and don't have a disc or jump drive, especially since our disc drives are not so reliable any more. I think this is a great idea. It's a free service and puts the doc right in the customer's hands without a ton of explanation. With the easy email function, customers can email docs/resumes very easily. If I am working on a committee that needs to update newsletters or presentations, this would give us an easy way to work on the documents without shuffling them around and perhaps loosing the printed pages we wanted to share. Also I can access this from any computer; I don't have to worry about my "u" drive, so I can work on things away from the branch or pull up something quickly to show someone in a meeting or even at the info desk. Hands on and pretty easy...

Learn and Play Wiki

Somewhat interesting way to play around with a wiki. Would like to turn off the email notification everytime some one edits it. I do understand the importance of this feature if you are working on an actual project in which constant monitoring is necesary.

Wiki's

Wiki's are an interesting concept. I liked the booklover's wiki that people could use to "browse" titles. I also liked the way St Joseph County Library had their website set-up as a wiki. It seemed more intuitive than having to figure out which tab to click and move page by page. The one page set-up with descriptions was terrific. I can see a wiki used at locations as a "ready reference" source of websites and quick information. All the various information we are sent via email that relates to questions customers may have. I generally have to recall the email and hope someone remembered to put the info in the electronic rolodex, but if we had a wiki to add this info to instead of sending an email out it would be one stop shopping with easy access. Of course, we would need to remember to check it periodically. Another use we could use as a system is with CMLsi; instead of submitting our stories and photos via email for some one else to post, we could do this ourselves and save a lot of time.

Library 2.0

After reading much information on Library 2.0, I liked the wikipedia article the best. It layed out exactly what it is: adapting library services to customer needs, making the library a relevant part of their lives. I got lost in the newsletter mainly because it was so techno oriented. I agree with several comments that I believe the library has always tried to figure out what our customers wanted and to provide those services (a great example are all those promises of improved services we promise with each levy). The key difference I suppose is that we have started asking customers instead of trying to "figure it out" based on statistics or other info. Web 2.0 seems like a terrific fit to creating the Library 2.0. Complete and full access to information where people can contribute is a wonderful thing. My main concern with sources of info that are self editing is that there are a lot of people out there that know "something about everything and really nothing about anything." We as library professionals have always been concerned about making sure the info that we pass along to customers is accurate (anyone remember STYLE?), how can we do this with a giant animal that Web 2.0 could create? Everyone can point to webpages and articles that have misinformation according to a certain movement's belief systems. As part of being relevant to our customers' lives, we owe it to them to make sure that the basic service we have always provided (information) remains accurate and useful to them. Otherwise all the other cool things we provide customers won't matter.

Delicious...

I have gone through the "exercises" and perused through some the of dept.'s Delicious sites. I particularly liked the Lazy Librarian for RA. I do see it's value in terms of cataloging useful websites for reference questions or your personal use if you are someone who "surfs the net" quite a bit and enjoy keeping up with certain websites. I did not choose to open an account with this one, although I may change my mind later.

Twitterin'

Okay, I've added twitter to my list of techno stuff to get lost in. The random comments are amusing. I found SLJ to follow and read a few good articles that I would have normally missed. Probably one of the main ways twitter could be helpful. Julie talked about doing referenced via twitter, but you would have to constantly be monitoring it wouldn't you? I don't see myself falling into this with the enthusiams that I see others doing so...I'm not going to add it to my phone at least not yet. Maybe when my kids are older and I'm trying to keep tabs on them--yeah right that will work--or if my husband joins.
http://twitter.com/pontje