Wrap-up

Yes, I finished the lessons with 3 hours to go!

My observations about Library 2.0:

1. I love my Google Reader. It's such a great way of keeping up with news, library blogs, etc.

2. Flickr and YouTube can be very addicting.

3. I am going to try to work on my MySpace page and keep up my blog, but time will tell.

4. I hope I can remember all the new accounts I have created!



All in all, I enjoyed this class because it encouraged me to check out resources that I heard about but never dived into. Some of them I'm just dipping my toes into (wikis and delicious), some I'll try wading in a little deeper (my blog and MySpace), and the there's that I have dived right into (Google Reader).

Wikis

Like many people, my first experience with a wiki was Wikipedia. At that time (several years ago) I had no idea what a wiki was. In fact I remember I was not impressed by Wikipedia at that time. Now I can see that it can be another way for a library to communicate and with its patrons. However, does a library need to have a blog, a wiki, and a Facebook page? Sometimes it seems it might be a little too much for smaller libraries to keep up with.

However, I do see that this could be a great resource for staff cooperation/communication. I am a part of the State Library wiki - OK, I haven't added to it yet, but I have read all the new posts. Also, a wiki could be a great resource for families concerning upcoming vacations, weddings, graduations, and genealogical research.

Tagging and Social Bookmarking

Since "research" is my job I keep finding more and more websites that I believe could be useful (someday...). Yes, my bookmark list on my work computer is quite long (too long...?) and every so often I try to eliminate the outdated, nonworking ones. I haven't set up an account yet in Delicious, mainly because I am getting account weary. However, tagging seems the way to go! If I was working away from the office, a Delicious account would be wonderful. What a great way to organize and then locate all those favorite websites!

Social Networking

Ok, I'm trying to catch up and I have less than 20 hours to go! So, "social networking" - I'm quite familiar with Facebook since one of my daughters has had an account for a few years. Because of that I chose to create an account with MySpace. It was extremely easy to set up except for choosing my screen name. It took at least 15 tries before I chose one that no one else had. Time will tell if I keep up with this account. I still need to add to my profile, etc., but who knows this might be fun. I'm not sure if having a blog is just as good if not better for libraries than having a MySpace or Facebook page, but perhaps some library patrons prefer this way of accessing information about their library.

Google Docs

I had checked out Google Docs last year but never dug into what all is available: calendars, labels, presentations. I could have lot of fun with this! So far I've created a short presentation of my daughter's wedding and started creating a calendar for next year. Google Docs could be used among staff members to add to a calendar, view a presentation (with built-in chat), etc.

YouTube

I've played around with YouTube for some time now, mainly due to my two daughters. We enjoy all the videos made by Dan Olson (Banion5) and his girlfriend Amber - both talented singers. I'll try to attach one of them in my blog. Of course, videos can also be used for educational purposes as we all know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF65qz24CMM

There are way too many podcasts out there! I ended up at Podcast.com and set up an account there (how many accounts do I have now?.....) So far, my playlist includes Sherlock Holmes stories and some music - but I could spend way far too much time searching for more and more. I am also kind of a news junkie so I'll probably adding more informative podcasts, too.

Podcasting can be a great way for libraries to do training, booktalks , etc., easily available to the public.