Welcome Back

ok, the work thing ended months ago and haven't been back since but thought I'd wander back and see how things are going.

Thing #23-woo hooooooo!

At long last-I'm finished! Woooooo hooooooooooo! As much I griped along the way it was interesting and I do feel like I have learned a lot. Of course, I also learned how much I have left to learn! Ahhh, so glad it's over. I still think that there are way too many people with way too much time on their hands. For example: my "Bunny" name is 'Siren Bunny-Wunny', my cat name is 'Moondancer Kitty', my Christmas Elf name is 'Snappy Spirit-Fingers', my country music star name is 'Ellie-Mae Wood'
but my boyfriend's cutesy pet name is 'Naughty Nooks' while mine is apparantly 'Puppy Nose'. And how will I die, you might be asking, well the Death Psychic told me-You are struck by lightning and killed while walking your dog during a storm.

Just in case you were wondering.

Thing #15

I saved this one for last because as soon as I started reading any of the articles I got incredibly sleepy. Considering how much (or how little) sleep I got last night I don't know how I made it through today. I found the Wikipedia entry to be the easiest to understand. (Where's Library 2.0 for Dummies?) What I got from it was that libaries are in a constant state of flux due to advances in technology, patron expectations etc. etc. and thus we need to constanly adapt. That not only should we be keeping patrons needs, wants, expectations in mind as we make these changes but that they should be actively involved in every step. My concern would be that we will be making changes too quickly or changing just for the sake of change without considering if it's truly a change worth making.

Thing #22 Downloading books

I love reading books. Love it. There's nothing quite like curling up (winter/fall) or stretching out (summer/spring) with a good book. I can't imagine doing that with a computer or a handheld device. I also can't concentrate on the story when listening to an audiobook. I'm just far too visual I suppose. I've tried listening to audiobooks in the past and if I'm in my house, doing something else (cooking, on the treadmill) my mind wanders and since I don't have a long commute it would take me forever to listen to a book in my car. I tried listening to a relatively short book-On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (which was excellent and I adore McEwan) and although I loved the story (I had already read it) and it was read by Ian McEwan who has a most excellent voice I couldn't make it more than an hour into it. I loved hearing it read by him but I just couldn't make it through. I need music in my car.
I suppose downloadable books are great if you travel a lot or can do the whole audiobook thing without your mind wandering. Our patrons with long commutes absolutely love them and so they are a wonderful way to keep people in touch with literature that might otherwise have lost their connection to 'books'. I've also found that some students that dislike reading are willing to listen to a book.
I didn't find any of the sites I visited for this Thing particularly 'user friendly' though.

Thing # 21

I know a little about podcasts since my Harry Potter obsessed sister makes me listen to 'Pottercasts' everytime we go anywhere together but, being a bit of a Luddite, I don't own any gadgets to listen to or watch podcasts on. I must admit that I have enjoyed some of the podcasts that I've listened to but I'm not that, dare I say, obsessed with anything that I would want to listen to other people talk about it on a regular basis. I may find one or two particular episodes amusing or informative but I've not found any that I would really like to subscribe to. I've said it before and will say it again (when I get to the next Thing) I sit at a computer most of the day at work-I don't really want to spend any time at one when I'm off.

Thing #19

Ah, the Web 2.0 awards. Some of the sites I was already familiar with (Care2, Google Maps, You Tube), some I had played around with during 23 Things (Librarything, Flickr, Technorati, Bloglines, PBWiki, etc.) so I tried a few new sites today: Pandora-cool online station that chooses music based on your preferences-not a new concept, but a nice way to find new bands especially since I can't stand listening to the radio anymore. One Sentence-true stories, told in one sentence. Some of them were quite poignant, some funny, some pointless. An interesting place to spend a few minutes. Under retail I visited Threadless-I think I might have to pick up a few nifty t-shirts there. Then I got to Games2Web, the second place winner in the games category. I ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, CANNOT believe that it won an award. It's juvenile, crude, pointless and looks like it was designed by a 10 year old. Half the 'games' are just random videos and the actual games......gee, let's start with 'Lust for Bust' I can't even put write the description in here because the language would be inappropriate. Basically you're a guy sitting on the couch next to a large-chested woman. The object of the game is to fill your 'ogle-meter' by using your mouse to turn your head to stare at the woman's chest without her catching you! I just, I can't even, I don't........aarrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thing #18

I don't really know a lot about 'online productivity tools' to begin with so I don't know if any of the features/qualities that these have are all that exciting. I do think that it's nice that GoogleDocs are saved online so you don't have to worry about them getting lost and that other people can access them but at the same time I wouldn't want to do anything of a sensitive nature for the same reasons. I never use spreadsheets. Of course, that would require using a computer which I don't have at home so........reading through the testimonials in the spreadsheet section I love the English couple who use a spreadsheet to update their grocery list-categorized in the same layout as the store! It would never, EVER occur to me to use a spreadsheet for a grocery list but it sounds like a great idea.