Thing 23

I have been done with the 23 Things for awhile, and never got around to evaluating it and posting this. I think it might be good that I've had some time away. I have a better idea of which things I have actually used a lot and which I let fall by the wayside. I re-read some of my posts, starting w/Library 2.0. I think I'm an even bigger proponent of it now than I was then. I think everyone, not just librarians, should embrace and explore technology and find what works great for them. There is something for everyone out there- some things useful and productive, some things just fun. But all worthwhile. Even things on this experience that I tried once and haven't used again- I got something out of that, even if it's just familiarity with Twitter (which I still don't use) that can help me understand what people are talking about or help me assist a patron.

I also found, reading back over my posts, that some things I use a lot more than I thought I would. I'm a Facebooker, I have used Survey Monkey A LOT (and I like it!), I jump on YouTube all the time- sometimes for important things, and sometimes to look at goofy things (ok most of the time!). I enjoyed all the photo stuff we did, and I use those things frequently to keep track of my photos or manipulate them. I really liked doing 23 Things, and I would love to do 23 more. It helps keep me on my toes and points me in new directions. I discovered more things from just these 23.

One word or sentence about my 23 Things experience: Awesome!

Thing 22

I have been thinking about this post for awhile- how will I continue to learn? I have to admit these 23 Things have pushed me into exploring some things I would not have otherwise (nor would want to- thank you, Twitter!) One thing I have always done is check out websites that I find on lists, such as "Time Magazine's Best Websites of 2008." Recently I found two good sites through that method- Weebly, which hosts free websites (my own ridiculous one included) and Geni, which helps you keep track of your family tree- this inspired me to actually start researching mine because I wanted to see how easily the site worked. Both of these sites are a cinch! They are fun too!

Thing 21

All this social networking malarkey drives me crazy!!!! ARGGHHHHH!!! If I was a teenager or a college kid I might enjoy this more, but this has been the portion of the 23 Things I have least enjoyed. Now since we all have 1.2 million different social networking sites that we use we need to keep track of them all. I liked the layout of PageFlakes. It seemed to make the most sense, but I know I will hardly use it because I'm just not that into all this social networking. Maybe I just don't have enough friends, but probably I don't spend enough time online just goofing around to make it worth my while.

I do think it's good for me to know about these things because then I am able to mention them to patrons who would use them. Also if I am familiar with them it is quicker for me to help patrons when they have a problem using these tools. I just don't think I will use it much in my own life.

The picture is Ruby romping with her hated niece, Harley. I like Harley, she's my granddaughter.

Thing 20

I think many people's first reaction to gaming in libraries is negative. It certainly has never been a "traditional" library service. But I think it's another way to move into the future and bring more young people into the library. They may come for the gaming and discover other facets to the library. It is also a way to be more "relevant" to the younger generation. I don't think anything that brings people (especially younger people) into the library is a bad thing. I'm sure it would seem odd at first to have gaming in the library, but it probably seemed odd when public computers were first avialable too.

Thing 19

I love the new lint. It's much cleaner and easier to navigate. I can customize it how I want it so that the stuff I want is right there in front of me! Yea!!! Good job, LINT team!!! I struggle to find things on our current LINT pages if I don't use them a lot, so I think this will save me a lot of time. It also appears we will have many more options of stuff we can do on LINT, which I think will be very useful. The first thing I did was change my password.

I didn't really have any reaction to the content management articles. I get what they're saying, but most of it won't really affect me directly, as I won't be responsible working with that end of things.

Thing 18

All the survey stuff kind seemed the same to me. Probably because I have never used any before so I didn't really know what I was doing. Survey Monkey- it's just a fun name. That made me want to use it. I found it very easy to get signed up and get going. What I discovered is hard is creating the different types of questions correctly. I messed up several times and had to restructure my questions. Granted my survey was somewhat nonsensical, but I made it worse by creating poorly structured questions. I liked that there were several choices of how I wanted my survey to look, and although I struggled with the design of my questions I don't think they could have made it any simpler to create. I was able to look at examples of the types of questions I was creating, which was very helpful. If I had created a survey on an actual topic that I had some idea of what I really needed to know and the type of information I wanted from people that might have helped. I will say Survey Monkey gave back great, easy to understand results.

I think that open ended questions are a double-edged sword. You may not want to use them because you may want to give people just specific options to choose from to determine a particular issue. People may not be as willing to answer them because they take more time than just picking from provided choices. I frequently leave comment boxes blank when I take surveys. On the other hand, you can probably get lots of additional information or ideas from open-ended questions than from other types. But this would also make analyzing your results more cumbersome. I really thing it depends on what you are trying to get out of your survey.

Thing 17

I joined Gather just to see what it was like. I liked it because it had something for everyone. I started perusing the pet groups and I joined one. I had friend requests almost instantly! This site seems more "grown up" than Facebook. There's not this constant stream of who's doing what all the time, which I find annoying on Facebook. But at the same time, do I really need to belong to another one of these social networking sites? I doubt it. Maybe if I was really involved with some hobby or something, or maybe if I had more time and didn't spend so much time with actual living pets and actual living people I would be more involved in these sites. But to tell the truth, it's just not all that appealing to me. As I've stated many times on this blog, if I were younger I would probably be more into this! And also, I just don't feel the need to connect with a bunch of strangers from around the world. So these sites are nice for people who don't work or maybe are shut ins or maybe just don't have realtionships with very many live people. But it's not really for me!