The prize, thing 23

Hey, blogteam, here I come at last across the finish line! I'm worn out from all this blogging. Since I procrastinated so long, the last couple of weeks have been quite intense.

I'm happy that I completed these exercises in Learning 2.0. Though not always easy or comfortable, it was often fun, and always informative. I caught a glimpse into the new web based technologies, and feel that, though I am not an expert, at least I now have a clue about such mysterious things as Flickr, blogging, mashups, RSS, wikis, image generators, tagging, etc. I will need to review the discovery exercises from time to time, so that I will not forget what I have learned. I plan to revisit my Bloglines account, and to check back on the news feeds that I added to my blog. I also plan to continue to use Library Thing to connect with book lovers everywhere. I like the idea of tagging, and following the tag trail of others to gain more knowledge, though I have not done much tagging of my own so far. I will probably not use Technorati again, though it is nice to know about it. I thought that wikis were valuable, and a great way to share with others.

I like the collaborative aspect of Learning 2.0, connecting and networking with others on the web, and sharing information. I think that our library will need to connect in new ways with patrons, and continue to offer more web based services.

Thanks to Agatha and Sara, and all of the bloggers at Austintown. You have helped me immensely along the way. I also thank my hubbie, George, who encouraged me to see this project through, and is always there for me.

22nd thing, e-Books

I set up an account with NetLibrary, easy enough to do, but I will probably not use this site personally very much, because these titles are not available in audio format. You can find some selection in most nonfiction topics, however, the fiction titles are more classic and dated than what most of our patrons want. Even with popular nonfiction subjects, such as digital photography, the titles seem more philosphical than practical. Also, doing a keyword search, I found none of the "dummies" books listed on any nonfiction topic. I think our patrons want the basics of how to do something.

I was already familiar with our Overdrive audio book collection, and I think it is fabulous, I love audio books, and can't wait to download one to an MP3 player. I love the selection of popular titles, and look forward to more. The selection of e- Books is also great, however, I do not have a pda, and can't imagine sitting at the computer to read through a book. However, I'm glad that these are available for those who like them, and they surely are convenient to check out, return, and reshelve!!

Thing 21, podcasts

I found this exercise to be difficult and somewhat frustrating for me. I looked at the podcast directories listed in the discovery resources: podcast.net, podcastalley.com, and yahoo podcasts. Of the 3, I found podcast alley to be the most user friendly, and was able to use podcast alley to add an RSS feed to my Bloglines account, of inspirational messages from a pastor that I like. I could not seem to readily locate the RSS feeds using the other resources. I also got a lot of error messages, although I finally was able to add a second feed to Bloglines using yahoo podcasts. I listened to a few podcasts, but don't like this format much, most are too long to sit there and listen from your computer. Maybe once I have an MP3 player, it will seem more appealing. I would be able to listen while I do other things. Some of the book review podcasts looked interesting, and I plan to go back and spend more time exploring these.

Still, I can see where podcasts could be useful to YPL patrons, if we could have short podcasts available on our website announcing upcoming events, book reviews,and resources that are available.

YouTube, thing 20

I guess I have to agree that YouTube is a fun site to play with, I most enjoy watching videos of performers that I like.

In a library setting, videos could feature our buildings, displays, and services.

Web 2.0 tools, number 19

I had a good time with this, looking into several award winning sites, and was truly amazed with all that's out there.


Pandora was great fun. I also tried other music sites, as well as Biblio.com for books, and colorblendor for artistic endeavor.


Under city guides, I especially enjoyed Yelp.com, where you can look up a city, and get participants' reviews of local places to go, business establishments, things to do, and services. There are many categories for each city, such as hotels, restaurants, automotive, and health services, with maps and reviews. I entered Charleston, SC, where I once visited briefly, and noticed that the first restaurant listed and reviewed was Pooghan's Porch, which I had tried and liked as a first time visitor. At the time I visited there, I happened upon this fine restaurant randomly on a walking tour. Yelp also has a fun section listing places with clever and unusual names.


Realtravel.com is another user friendly travel site where you can get travel advice and reviews from others, as well as plan trips and itineraries online. This site is also a winner for me.


On to number 20, oh dear, am I going to have time to finish??

Thing 18

Thanks to Agatha, I already had an account open in Zoho. Earlier on, she had me import the PLYMC Library 2.0 passwords sheet into my saved documents on Zoho. Now I have web access to all my 2.0 user names and passwords, as long as I keep the list updated. Neat. Thanks, Agatha, for the idea and the introduction to Zoho Writer.

Zoho seems like a really neat web site that could prove to be very helpful. You can move from computer to computer, and view your saved documents since Zoho Writer is web based. You can do word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations, save and share the documents, and also work in collaboration with others. No need for e-mail and attachments. In addition, there are useful templates for many different types of documents.

I will attempt to publish this document in my blog. Done!