Where to begin...whoa, this has been a wonderful programme. I've learned so much and it's been great discussing various things along the way with other library staff. I have even had discussions with other UCOL staff who started 23 things after HR session. It's a crack-up when you find yourself discussing blogs, widgets, skype, del.icio.us, library thing and the rest with other staff outside of the Library.


What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey? Oh, there was so much I discovered along the way I'm hesitant to pick favorites but here is a few thoughts - Firstly - simply creating this blog! Some of the (girly) bits associated with it - choosing the picture to use to represent myself, the look, the colour the background BUT I must admit I did find it a tad daunting making it "public"! Having got over the initial trepidation I have enjoyed reading other participants blogs and got a buzz when people read mine! I enjoyed playing with some of the "toys" and gadgets such as generating magazine covers. Skyping & IM is pretty cool! So clever & so easy!
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
The program has boosted my lifelong learning goals - oh, we all know we need to keep current and aware but this program helped us get in amongst it! Already the library has or is implementing Web 2.0 initiatives so it is extremely important for us all to have the opportunity to know how & why these things are being done. My own lifelong goals have been affected for the good and I am planning on extending my knowledge in this area with participation in the Moodle@ UCOL project and working with lecturers to see how Web 2.0 can be incorporated in to teaching & learning.


Were there any unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
As I have stated throughout the programme - I have been stunned and amazed at the myriad of "stuff" out there. I know 23 things touches on a small amount of the greater collection of Web2.0. What amazes me most is the capability of Joe or Josephine Bloggs (excuse the pun) to devise this things! They must have wonderful imaginations!
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
Umm.. can't say there is anything too much to alter - the only thing I found was the time. Maybe I'm just slow but the 9 week time frame is very tight! Some weeks took a lot of time to work on the discovery exercises.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?

YES PLEASE! Hand up high in the air!


I would like to thank Donna for all her work and patience and Doreen & the UCOL Library for providing the opportunity and encouragement to allow staff to discover the wonders of 23 things! Woohoo!

Audiobooks & FreeDigital content

Had a bit a a squiz round these - once again I am blown away by the huge range of stuff available. I could even download Borats bits!!! Mind boggles! You could spend your whole life investigating and learning and discovering... I think I am going to grieve when 23 things is finished!

Podcast, iTunes and the like...

This has been a challenge but a good positive one! I have been involved with podcasts through the Library series we did earlier and I have attended the HR session along with the TELSIG professional day so making them is not a problem... the challenge with this discovery exercise was locating a podcast to download associated RSS feed to my Netvibes BUT I sit here having survived the experience and found it quite exciting (Yes - I know sad life). I downloaded a very Library oriented podcast from SirsiDynix to iTunes. (It was 47mins long - only listened to first 8 minutes!)Plus added OpenStacks to Netvibes page! It amazes me the things people are doing out there. Librarians are doing all sorts of amazing and useful Web2.0 related projects. The standard issue Liaison Librarian pictured above has to keep her wits about her and finger on the pusle of Library 2.0! iTunes is cool, eh? I searched all sorts of things there.

YouTube and Libraries

Can you see any features or components of the site that might be interesting if they were applied to library websites? This is a perplexing question as the immediate response is to say YES but then I began to wonder if libraries, businesses, advertisers etc. start infiltrating YouTube then won't the "younger" ones find some where else to go? So maybe to have an effect/presence on YouTube you have to do something quirky or radical or find a way to get a "library" message across in an amusing way. One way is to show how librarians are not like the "stereotypical" type many people think we are! Show some of the technologies libraries are utilising. 23 things is helping many librarians! 23 things rocks!

Benalla - A musical tribute

YouTube

Even though I had mentioned YouTube and NZ YouTube in my earlier post I hadn't spent a huge amount of time looking at it until week 9 of 23 Things! I have searched all sorts of topics from schauzers, New York, Melbourne, Scotland, Tasmania, Cycling through to Benalla - dear ol' Benalla was the place I grew up in. I was born in Melbourne but my family moved to benalla when I was 4 so it could be said "my formative years" were spent in Benalla. I left to go to university when I was 18. Many of my childhood friends still live there or in towns not too far away! When I searched Benalla on YouTube I was surprised at the number of results. One that took my fancy was Hamish and Andy's (Australian radio and Rove fame) musical tribute. Makes me a lil' homesick!:) A lil' bit more trivia - A a kid I had a cocker spaniel named Ben and now my schnauzer is named alla - Put the 2 names together and what do you get!?

Web 2.0 awards - Yelp

I just want to begin by saying - whoa! The list (even the short list) demonstrates the wide range of Web 2.0 things out there to be accessed! Never enough time in the day to investigate everything! I dabbled in the Widgets category looking at Flock then in the Video section the 2nd place holder (after You Tube) Daily Motion where I viewed a couple of interesting videos but I still think You Tube will remain the front runner. For a few years I have read things about Craigs List (Classifieds & Directories section)so I had a fossick about. I didn't like the way it was setup - a bit too bland. Even though it had Australia & NZ listed I didn't have much luck locating many entries for various things I searched so I suspect it is fairly US oriented. The one I spent a little bit more time looking at was Yelp. The title just fascinated me. It was 1st in the City Guides & Directories section. It was good to see how anyone and everyone had contributed to describing their city or a place they had visited. It includes ratings on restaurants, clubs, parks, shopping :), education, hotels etc. I thought it would be useful if you were travelling to the states and want some unbiased idea about places and services. I thought Marion might find it useful before she visits New York! The drawback once again is the US orientation. Oh, I know there is probably similar NZ related services but it is an annoying factor of the Internet/Google/etc. It was good to see recently the launch of YouTube NZ. Could you see any applications for its use in a library setting? Not necessarily but if there was a similar NZ service then UCOL could make sure it was listed under educational and also the library could make sure it was listed under Libraries and Museums and the like!

Google Docs

This was interesting to discover - I had heard of Writely (Google Docs) but had never logged in! It also fascinates me how they are all interlated - Google Docs log in was the same as for many of the other services within 23 Things. It continues to fascinate me the people that must be working away in a semi-dark IT lab (think our IT department)or just in their front room at home - thinking of all these cool applications, devices, services etc.

Playing with Zoho writer

This is my first experience with Zoho writer!  It is pretty cool!  Microsoft must be a bit nervous as more and more of these open source applications appear on the web! Clever how you can publish to your blog plus share documents between friends or colleagues.

Thoughts on Wikis & Blogs

Over the last week or so I have been dabbling in and out of the 23 things related to Wikis & Blogs. I listened to the podcast by Meredith Farkas explaining the difference between them. She says wikis are always a work in progress while blogs are good for promoting something. The wiki she helped organise for the ALA conference in 2006 was a cool thing to do. The whole wiki principle of the community contributing to the information and the self policing aspect is an amazing phenomena. I also read the Wikipedia entry on Library 2.0 and the links within that were interesting to follow up on. Never enough hours in the day to investigate all the resources etc.! I could see how we could introduce things to our own library blog - such as staff & students discussing useful resources, book reviews, although some of this is more public library activities. We could get users to comment on the library service via the blog. Maybe Wanganui could use a blog to promote the new library and receive comment from users as to how they are finding the new building and services. We could place progress photos on the shift and setup on the library blog.

Thoughts on Web 2.0 & Library 2.0

It was very interesting reading the views from OCLC Open Space newsletter and what is being said and thought about the the future of libraries and information resources. UCOL Library is doing well exposing it's staff to new technologies and challenging the long-held ideas. I particularly liked one persons comments that included Library 3D and Library 4.0! It is mind blowing where things are heading. Imagine in 2, 5, 10, 20 years.. maybe the time will come when virtual All Blacks will be sent to do battle in the world cup - and it won't matter if Dan Carter is injured!

Useful article...?

I was reading a Library-link-of-the-day and followed through on some other links and found this article. Tags help make libraries del.icio.us. It discussed ways libraries use del.icio.us and tagging. I found it helpful to see how libraries were applying some of the "23 things" tools.

Just an observation...

I've been thinking... over the past few weeks as I travel on this exciting (sometimes scary) technology journey I have started to use lots of new words, or found new uses for old words, in my conversation with colleagues, family and friends... here's a few "fellow 23 thingers" may recognise - I've blogged, I am blogger and I have been blogging, I've skyped, pinged, nudged, winked and submitted so many times I am quite dizzy sometimes! I have engaged with widgets, applied tags and can be called a tagger! I use words like blogosphere, technorati and del.icio.us! The latter I always have to spell and clarify for friends and family! I have googled for years but now I also check out netvibes and more recently I have dabbled in moodle! I still have lots to look forward to as I continue to traverse through 23 things! I can't wait to see what words/concepts/technology I'll encounter...wooohoooo

More on Technorati

Just been doing more of the discovery exercises associated with Technorati and it is interesting to see the differenct results when searching for Learning 2.0 in Blog posts, in tags and in the Blog Directory! Even found a blog associated with Second life I thought Angela might be interested in but she possibly already knows about it.
Hmmm.. amazing how the time flys by when one is engrossed in 23 things...

Del.icio.us & Technorati

Started playing with & learning about del.icio.us last week and have only just got back to using it and getting to grips with it. I had heard from other librarian's how useful it was for saving favourites and I can see why. It means I can access my favourites wherever I like and it also means if I get run over by a bus (heaven forbid) my colleagues can look at my del.icio.us page and see what they might want to use with students etc.

Now Technorati is an interesting lil' place to delve about in. I searched all sorts of weird & wonderful things to see what people are writing about in their blogs - Benalla, Bette Midler, Cross-Slot, UCOL, Grand Canyon, Ground Zero, Smiths crisps, Wagon wheels... Ha! It was amazing, hilarious, scary (to see what people blog about), fascinating and strangely addictive. I began to feel a little voyeuristic but then these people have put it out in the blogsphere! I thought I could use it to check what people are blogging about in relation to more work related topics - information literacy, Moodle, 23 things and the like!

Skyped at last!

A friend has been using skype for ages and keeps saying we should be doing this...Well, finally I can tell him I am skype ready!! Also I have a relative in Australia who has been suggesting we get ourselves organised with skype! I have personalised my skype page, I have added contacts - thanks Ang & Margaret. I searched for other contacts but will need to check what their actual skype name is! I looked at making a "kronie" but didn't really like any of the ones available and then the one I did select I needed to BUY!!! I don't think so! So of course I am the cool schnauzer with the sunnies!

Beyond week 5!

I seem to have been loitering within week 5 forever! I have finally moved beyond it and signed in to MSN - I have nudged, knocked and winked my way thru the experience! Now I know what all that means and what's happening when things appear on the ref desk and elsewhere! So and so has signed in and so and so has signed out... All very clever stuff! Mind boggling when you think about the people creating all these gizmos and techno stuff... not so long ago it didn't exist!

Steep learning curve continues...

Lately I have been investigating LibraryThing. Interesting concept. I was rattling my brain to remember what I had sitting on my shelves at home! One day I want my own little "library room" with lots of treasures and delights that will keep me company when I am old and decrepit and getting about in purple with a bright red hat! In the meantime here is my catalogue.

Magazine cover

Here is the magazine cover - Alla the Elle McPherson of the dog world! I should have proof read it prior to "publishing" it! Spelling mistakes and the title blends too much in to the Christmas tree! Wouldn't have made a magazine editor - sticking to my day job!

Play time!

Friday morning held promise of plenty of time to "play" with the online

toys in week 5... Murphy's law... lots of "hard to plan for" things cropped up! I did get a chance to look at FD Toys mag cover and Comic Strip generator as is evidenced by the accompanying material!! I could see lots of time could be spent generating all sorts of cool stuff for friends and family or simply just for the hell of it!

Flickr & Mashups

Uhoh... It's been a while since my last foray in to the wonderful world of 23 things! I've missed it! Finally found some time to concentrate on it again and have been reacquainting myself with Flickr and mashups! Whoa, there are some clever people about there developing all sorts of clever tools (sounds a bit like a Telecom ad - I'm resisting saying Clever Toys! Telecom and the big payout to former leader is hot news this week!). I had a play with a few of the tools and as you can see I did a very artistic (in my mind) rendition of a Warhol-ish schnauzer!

Netvibes & RSS

I have been "playing" with Netvibes and adding RSS feeds! I had been aware of RSS feeds with EBSCO stuff but didn't know how to subscribe to them or really what to do with them - so know I know! On my netvibes site I have some cool travel sites, I can keep track of Melbourne's weather (wet, cold and kinda unpleasant at this time of the year!), read some Australian newspapers along with a work related feed for "Computers in Libraries" and keep up with iTunes top 25 songs! My lil' brain is buzzing...

So I begin...

...my travels in to a wonderful, strange, new world full of iPodites, MySpace junkies, Flickr fanatics and even the odd clingon!! Woohoo... exciting....