#23 Summarize Your Thoughts 9/20/2007

This is it the end. I am very happy to have completed this program.

Some of my most favorite journeys on this program were being able to post the YouTube commercial to my blog. I thought that this was the best. Although I think that the MEEZ's and the AVATARS are scary, I did have fun playing with the various characters.

This program has not really assisted or affected my lifelong learning goals. Learning to interact with people I don't know on the internet has never really been on of my lifelong goals. I enjoy my everyday life. I enjoy the people I work with and most of the patrons that I see at work. I also do a great deal of volunteer work within the community. My lifelong goals have to do with becoming a good person. I do like to learn new things, but more hands on things. I do not want to spend my entire life in front of the computer. I would be missing out on my family and watching my children grow.

I did not find any unexpected outcomes. The take-aways are that there is too much information on the internet. There are too many people who like to hear themselves think, and want others to know what they think to be gospel. I've also take away the knowledge that there are an awful lot of people out there ready to give their opinion.

I think that the next time a program like this is offered, it should be made more job specific. At the circulation counter, we do not need to use any of these various interactive resources.

I found this program very time consuming. It is very difficult to find off desk time from the circulation counter to complete the program. I did find that I enjoyed some of the various book review sites. This may help me to find another author that I would enjoy reading.

All that I know is I am certainly glad to be finished. It's Party Time!!!

#22 Learn About Audiobooks

During this exercise, I had a very difficult time establishing an account with NetLibrary. Every username I tried was rejected. I think that there was something wrong with the site. I was, however, successful at establishing an account with Overdrive. I found many books that I would be interested in downloading. This process seems very time consuming. I would love to try this feature. Unfortunately, I have dial up at home, so it would take a lot of time. I think that downloading books is something that I could really enjoy. I am going to do some more exploring with downloadable books after 23 things is finished. I was surprised to find that the NetLibrary tutorial stated that downloadable books would not work with ipods. This would be a very convenient way to listen to books while walking, cleaning the house or even grocery shopping. I hope to use this feature again

#21 Discover Podcasts 9/20/2007

I found this whole exercise a little difficult to understand. I looked at all three of the suggested podcast directories. I found Podcast.net the easiest of the three to use. I think that if I were to utilize podcasts, I would find many categories quite interesting, particularly those categories of exercise, book reviews, and political - news information. I also would enjoy listening to all of the talk radios. I did find some library related sites that I thought would be helpful, such as LitListen Books, SwappeBooks, The Library Channel and Tele Read - Bring the E-books home. I was not able to figure out how to post a podcast to my blog.http://www.talkshoe.com/custom/images/icons/TC-7022-MainIcon.jpg

http://www.ghostlytalk.com/images/podlogo.gif

#20 DISCOVER YOUTUBE 9/15/2007

Wow!! You really have to be careful with this one. If I ever thought that all of these blogs and posts were for the self-serving, I know it with regard to YouTube. People can video all sorts of wierd things. You can really learn how sick minded some of the people of this world are. It is really frightening. I looked up some of the dachshund and hamster videos and did enjoy those. However, I looked up the "how-to" category and whoa!. People will really film almost anything. Also, in the news recently, it was discussed about the person who was defending Britney Spears. I wish the people of this world would stop seeking the shock factor and their 15 minutes of fame. Some of these videos are downright disgusting. I think if parents allow their children to view YouTube, they should be very cautious and view what their children are viewing. Some of this is downright disturbing. I did not check, but what is to stop someone from making a video about how to make a bomb or other device for destruction. There seems to be no control as to the content of these videos. avg

#19 DISCOVER WEB 2.0 AWARDS LIST

I looked through the whole list of Web 2.0 Awards nominees. I did a little bit of people searching on pipl.com. This website did scare me, however. It seems to me that you can find out anything about anyone on this site. This site made me realize how much personal information is out on the world wide web about people. Identity theft really is frightening to me. It is no wonder how it is so easy for people to steal your information. The existence of this site really has opened my eyes. I did enjoy the LibraryThing.com site. This site would be very helpful for the library, because it would offer an insight to suggest book titles. This was my favorite and the one site that seemed the least harmful.

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#18  9/15/2007 LOOKING AT ON-LINE PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS

 

 

 

I think that the idea of online producitivity tools is a very good concept, especially since documents can be easily shared between pcs.  I, myself, have had to retype documents due to the fact that Microsoft and Wordperfect did not work well together.  Online productivity tools would eliminate this problem.  The idea that they allow easy collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (with versioning) and allow users the ability to save and convert documents as multiple file types can be both positive and negative.  It is positive, because when working on documents, especially legal documents, time can be saved if all parties can add to the document online.  I have worked for lawfirms in the past.  Every time changes were needed to a document, it would have to be typed, printed, copied and mailed or couriered to the other lawyer.  This could often be a very time consuming process.  With online productivity, however, as the lawyers discussed their various changes, they could be made easily and without delay. I would think that many businesses could benefit from the easy access of online productivity tools.  Corporate business meetings could all be accomplished more easily, because all parties concerned could be looking a the same document at the same time.  A possible drawback to the online productivity tools could be the potential for someone to be able to "hack" into a document for destructive purposes.  Also, if any of the information contained in the document was personal and confidential, I believe that having it online could make it accessible to too many people.  Unfortunately, this is a day and age where we have to be so careful about people who are dishonest and deceiptful, why make it easier for them to have access to certain documents and information.

 

I did find this Zoho Writer easy to use.  Let's see what happens when I try to send it to my blog

#17 SANDBOX WIKI 09/13/07

I thought that the Sandbox Wikis were very interesting. However, if I'm going to play, I would rather play at doing something around the house, crafting, for example. I do not consider continuous typing on the computer as "playing". I would rather be out for a drive, hiking, camping, or going on vacation. I would prefer that people stay out of my "sandbox" if they do not belong there. For this exercise, we have to blog about the experience. I just view the "Sandbox Wiki" as somthing I have to do for the Maryland 2.0. I do not consider it an "experience". I think and "experience" as something life changing or exciting. This is neither of those. avg