Since I am done with all 23 things for the Nebraska Learns 2.0 class, I will try to blog occasionally. I tried to go to work Monday, but the blowing snow prevented it. I have 4 miles on an east-west highway that is notorious for being terrible when it snows. I got about one mile out of town and went back home. Not worth the risk.

Tuesday the teens came into the library after school to help put the books on the new shelves in the the teen area. They got most of the books on the shelves, but some rearranging will have to be done as we have more books than shelf space.

The end or a new beginning

I enjoyed learning all the different 23 things. Some I will use everyday (like Google reader and delicious), some will be used on a frequent basis (like flickr and slideshare) and some will probably not be used very often (twitter). But all were very interesting and glad I got exposed to them. It is nice to be able to keep up with all the changing technology.

RSS feeds were a surprise to me. I did not think they would be useful. But Google reader is usually the first thing I check out when I get on the computer. I was also surprised by web apps and wikis. Both will come in handy.

I also enjoyed the blogging. The further we got into the 23 things, the easier it got to add things and make the blog more exciting. Hopefully it will be something I can keep up, probably not on an everyday basis, but at least weekly.

I liked the fact these things were offered online and I did not have to travel. It was also nice to be able to work at my own pace. Since I am usually the only one in the library, it was hard to work on them at the library. I worked on them in the evening after the kids were in bed (when it was quiet). Some weeks I could get several things done, and other weeks not a lot was accomplished.

I would gladly take more activities (or whatever you want to call them) if they were offered by the commission. The ability to work from my easy chair, learn different things and earn CE credits all at the same time is great use of technology. Thanks to everyone at Nebraska Library Commission who made these things possible.

Podcasts

I explored several of the different podcast directories. The one podcast I did like was from the Denver Public Library. I listened to "Only joking laughed the Lobster." These are like the old cassette tape and book kits I listened to as a little kid.

I found some other podcast dealing with the Chicago Cubs. These may be good to listen to during the baseball season. But a lot of them were 30 minutes or longer. I guess I don't want to sit and listen to something for that long. I would have to download them to my mp3 player so I can listen while I walk in the mornings.

I also like to listen to Todd n Tyler in the mornings. On the days I miss the show, I listen to the podcast. (Our library cleaning lady listens to them while she cleans).

I am glad to learn more about podcasts, but I do not think I will be spending a lot of time with most of the ones I explored.

YouTube

This is my video. (I even got it embedded on the first try. I am learning so much with these things.) I think it is so neat what some people can do with etch-a-sketch. Wish I could create something along these lines. Right, thats about all I can create is lines. This video just makes me ready for the baseball/softball season to start.

YouTube is so popular with the teens. It's scary to see what some people are willing to post about themselves. If (or when) we every get a web site, I would like the teens to be able to post library related videos to the site. Hopefully the videos would show the fun aspects of the library to encourage other teens to visit the library.

I could see promoting the summer reading program using YouTube. Or using YouTube to show different activities happening at the library.

Web 2.0

I explored Web 2.0 awards. I liked last fm. You can browse different types of music from a single song from a favorite artist or listen to an online station. As you use the service, it figures out your likes and suggests different artists. I had fun listening to different artist and adding things to my library. I will have to spend more time with this as you can connect a mp3 player or Ipod to this site. Now I have some new music to listen to when I use the computer. I cannot see where this has much use in the library, but it is still a good site.

I had heard about craiglist, but had never visited the site. I explored the site and found someone in town has a pool table for sale. If only I needed a pool table.