Apps re-do

My original post on apps went walk-about. While I can't remember all the wonderfully witty things I said in that late-at-night posting, I do remember that I found the portability of the on-line apps very helpful. The one concern I had is their limited functionality, especially that it was extremely easy to mistakenly save a new or altered document over something you wanted to save (especially for those of us who are used to Mr. Gates saying "do you really want to do that??").

The end of the beginning

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey? -- I think my two favorites were Delicious and the on-line apps. I tend to work at 3-4 different computers, and the portability factors appeals to me. The podcasts of things I've missed is a great service also.

* How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals? -- Online learning like this is a great assist to learning, but I think it would best work as a value-added part of face to face education.

* Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? -- I came into this so green, that probably everything surprised me ... perhaps most of all that I discovered the real value some of these tools have. It has also underscored the need our library has for someone who is excited to use these tools for the improvement of our service to patrons.

* What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? -- Beats me.

* If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again choose to participate? I would certainly consider it!

Podcasts

I went trolling for podcasts, and the first one I listened to was Uncontrolled Vocabulary discussing OCLC and DRM issues. Guess who was one of the folks involved in the discussion! ... our very own Michael Sauers (extra credit?????). It was a lucky draw, since I hadn't heard any of the discussion about Overdrive and have been wanting to learn more about OCLC plans. As a case in point, this can be a valuable tool for librarians, since I was able to do other desk work while listening. I next listened to some CarTalk -- always a fun event that I usually miss due to my weekend schedule.

This is a great tool.

YouTube

I use YouTube periodically when I'm searching for something I've missed on tv or on the news. As soon as I heard about the Tina Fey/Sarah Palin sendups, I headed straight to YouTube. My favorite is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdDqSvJ6aHc

Our city will be reworking its web site later this year, and I will be pulling for the capability of posting YouTube like feeds from lapsit storytimes or other special library programming. This has real potential of bringing folks to the web site, where hopefully something with more substance will also catch their eye!

Web 2.0

Okay, it's 7:45 at night, I'm still at work, so naturally I selected food as my site to explore. It would be neat to try some of these to put on our website explaining how to use our different services, but I can also see lots of uses for these tools in schools and at home.

PBWiki

It is very easy to participate in these wikis. Something to keep in mind as we work towards a new web presence later this year!

Wikis

Wikis can indeed be very cool, very useful, and very time intensive as demonstrated by the SJCPL Subject Guide wiki. I would absolutely love to have the time to do something like that -- it is going down in the tickler file as a worthwhile project for some computer-savvy volunteer. I also liked the Booklovers wiki and think it would be a great hook for our 'tween/teens. An intralibrary wiki would also be helpful for large libraries where staff seldom overlap.