Good Googly Moogly ~ I made it to number 30 !!!

Overall, I enjoyed this program. The hardest part for me was finding the time to complete it, I'm part time. I was able to set aside some time and get it done... nothing like the last minute. I was surprised at how much is out there to discover, I thought I was relatively up to date. NOT! I would definitely participate in these programs in the future. I read other people's blogs who disagree, but I think it's important that we all keep up with the current technology. I don't think young people will want to be involved with the library if we don't stay on their level. Times change, like it or not, if we don't keep up we will be left behind! My only recommendation for these types of programs are to make them less lengthy. I feel like I got a lot of support while trying to complete this program. I'd like to send a special "shout out" to Beverli for all that she did to help me keep up and understand. It's nice to have someone (one desk away) to ask for help. Thanks, Beverli! :)

My Learning 2.0 experience has been fun.

I am glad I finally found/made the time to work on this... nothing like the last minute! My favorite part was learning about all the new ways to obtain information and to get it quickly. I like the image generators the best because I have so many pictures of my little ones that I can do fun stuff with now. Oh and of course, I could use it for work too. I also liked Flickr and LibraryThing. The most important thing about this course for me was learning to keep up with times. Sometimes I feel like I am in the loop but then I realize things move so quickly and I am not in the know with technology. I am glad I will be able to understand when people ask me about OSN or Flickr or any of the new things that are out there. It's important for work but also at home having children who will end up knowing more about computers than I do. I don't want to be the dinosaur! I hope to make the time to keep up with all that is going on because it will make things so much easier for me.

Rollyo ~ Yo!

I created an account and I looked around, I even created a roll of my own but I am not sure what happened to it? I tried to add it to this blog but I needed a Type Pad account. I think I did something wrong... but anyway, I did explore Rollyo and and saw what it has to offer.

LibraryThing (not something lurking in the dark corner)

I am really glad I am (finally) working through this Web 2.0 course, it is turning out to be informative and fun. I like LibraryThing alot, particuarlly the way it gives your recommendations on books you may like. I enjoyed reading the descriptions of my favorite books too. Check it out! :
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/jessicalh

Look What I made with FD Toys... I LOVE IT!

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/ Use this link and create your own motivational poster. I had fun and this is something I will use again. I dont' know why my picture is so small, I'll have to revisit that later. Try this, it's FUN! :)

Podcasts and our library

I looked at the list of libraries that have Podcasts available but I didn't see ours on there... maybe I am missing something. If we don't have one we should create one. Ours should be more interesting than the ones I looked at. I think Podcasts are excellent sources of information but, at least for the ones I watched, they were not very creative or interesting. If I find one that I really like, I'll add it to my Bloglines.

Podcast (about as comfortable as a leg cast!)

I had some difficulty with this one but I was able to add the RSS feed to bloglines and I will see what happens from there. I did listen to a few interesting Podcasts and I'd like to take some time to learn more about them because I did like what I was able to find.

You can see for yourself why I love You Tube!

We use You Tube at home to watch funny videos with our five year old son. Of course, we have to supervise him closely because one accidental key stroke could land him where he should not go! :) He watches "who let the dogs out" and laughs every time. I like to watch the videos with the babies. The laughing babies are my favorite and I put it on my blog so you can see why! Enjoy.

YouTube is so much fun

Flickr mashups

The Flickr color pickr was kind of cool but I was not that impressed. I am not sure how I'd use it, although some of the pictures in the blue I chose were pretty. I tried to use the Mappr but for some reason it didn't work for me.

The thing about Flickr

I started out looking at babies which was interesting because lots of people had pictures of their animals and I didn't expect that. Somehow I came across a picture of someone's journey through weight loss. One thing lead to another and by using tags I was going from one inspirational story to another. I found a ton of groups that people have started to encourage each other through their journey. The people that are encouraging each other have created a community amongst themselves. It's very interesting. I felt like I could go from one to the next all day without ever reading the same thing!

Flicker was fun...

Now that I am nearing the end, and I can look up things that are interesting to me, I am having fun! I looked at a ton of pictures on Flicker. My favorite are the photos of babies. I love the black and white pictures of newborns. There is one picture in particular that I liked the best. The picture is a black background with little tiny, newborn baby feet. I wish I could take such beautiful pictures of my babies. Maybe I can pick up some tips while exploring Web 2.0!

Web 2.0 Award List is my favorite!

So far, exploring the Web 2.0 award is is my favorite exercise! I found a website that I've never heard of called PEERtrainer. I really like the site and I can see why it was rated number one under it's category. I like the short list because, for people like me with little time, it takes me directly to the sites that are most helpful. This is an awesome tool for libraries because it can help save a lot of time and get straight to the information that is needed.

Technorati made me laugh

So, I checked out the popular blog searches on Technorati and I was suprised at what I found. I laughed when I saw that one of the top searches was for Gary Busey. Thankfully, Obama was searched more but still... I didn't know people cared about Gary Busey. I, seriously, need to catch up with the times!

Tagging and stuff...

I read almost all of the tutorials on tagging and I think I'll have to play around with it more to really understand it. We use Foxfire at home so I think I'm going to try some of the tips that one article offered. If I can get used to it, I think it will work much better than the old way of using my favorites.

MySpace Account

I am already familiar with MySpace as I already have an account. I remember setting it up and learing how to add the music and pictures etc... Since I have pictures of my children on my account I keep the setting private. My favorite thing about MySpace is that I was able to get in touch with many of my friends from school that I otherwise would not have contact with. It's nice to see what everyone is up to and how they are these days.

VBPL should use MySpace to connect with teens

I understand the concern around these OSN but I think it has more to do with the way they are used than the fact that they are used. If the library wants to stay in tune with the younger generation they need to be where the teens are.

Staff Picks on RA wiki

I enjoyed reading some of the staff picks and even jotted down a few titles to check out. I added mine, which was Wicked: The Life and Times of The Wicked Witch of the West. I had a hard time putting into words how magical this book is. I loved it from front to back, over and over. I hope someone will see my "pick" and read this book too.

Not a big fan of the Wiki

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't really care for the Wiki. I don't really see how I could use it but if someone finds it useful in their job that's great.

IM in the library

I am not working on this during Ask VBPL hours, so I didn't interact with anyone that way but I think it's a great way to get information. When I use IM to work with a vendor, I love it because I don't have to wait on hold on the phone! I think it's a great extra resource for us.

I liked the feeds...

I looked at all of them and I like Topix.net the best because of the way it breaks down the information. I like that it has a place for local information and for most popular information and the information is easy to find.

IM & Libraries

According to what I read, at least half of our customers may be IM customers. Even though it may not be the most popular way to obtain information for all customers, it is a great service for us to offer to those that prefer it. Also, if it's a growing trend, the number of customers that use it may increase. I am in Admin, but I IM with a vendor when I have to place an order. I prefer it because I don't have to wait on hold and I get an immediate answer.

I used Bloglines

Once I figured out what I was doing, it was pretty easy. I look forward to seeing the information that will feed into my blog from the topics that I find most interesting.
http://www.bloglines.com/public/jessicalh