My Thoughts

I have appreciated the opportunity to participate in this class...all in all a good experience. I found the amount of information and the speed with which we moved through it to be somewhat overwhelming. At the very least, this has been a great introduction to all of the new technology available to us...some of which I will pursue on my own personal time.

Moldi

After spending some time looking through the different audio books, I found several that I would be interested in downloading. I would love to be able to download these to my mp3 player as I could listen to them while walking.

Podcasts

I spent some time looking through the podcast directories, podcast alley, specifically. I found that alot of the podcasts were either older or didn't even exist. If I found a podcast that I was interested in, it would be nice to download it to my mp3 player and listen to it while I walk the dog. I'm not so sure that I see much use for podcasts from the library's perspective. I added a feed to my bloglines account, but I didn't find too many others that I would be interested in adding.

You Tube

All in all, I've found you tube to be an interesting resource. It's fun to be able to look up just about anything that interests you, worldwide. I'm not so sure, though, that there is much benefit for it in the work place. I also have concerns as a parent because of the content of much that is available with just the "click" of a key.

I had fun checking out one of my favorite things...pugs!!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=untfJnXUZeg

Web 2.0 toolbox

CML has put together a nice little toolbox...I was already familiar with some of these, and enjoyed playing around with some of the new tools that I hadn't used.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 was fun to play around with.....while, I'm not sure that it would top our premium resources, it might be a good resource for our patrons.

Personally, I enjoyed visiting sites such as Urbanspoon, imcooked, and ifoods.tv. How neat to be able to connect with cooks all around the world!!

What's Up Doc?....Google Docs

After playing around with google docs, this isn't something that I would personally use, however, I think it could be a great resource for patrons to use in the library

More Wikis

As I mentioned in my last blog, I think that wikis can be a great resource for readers advisory and it was much more user friendly than I expected!

I love Wikis!!

Wow...I can really see wikis being something that can really be a great benefit to the library system...a great resource for readers advisory. I for one, would definitely be using it!

Library 2.0

After reading the articles on Library 2.0, I would certainly have to agree that in light of all of the technological advances taking place, libraries will certainly have to re-evaluate how they acquire and maintain their collections. As Rick Anderson points out in his article "we have to adapt to fundamental changes in the market place we serve." He also makes a good point citing that our services should be designed to be used without training, using one button commands, therefore providing a usercentric service.

Del.icio.us

...shucks...for a minute, I thought we might actually be talking about food!!!! Oh well, after playing arounf with tagging and folksonomy (I keep thinking of folk songs) I don't think that it is something that I would use, personally. I feel overwhelmed with too many websites to visit and don't need any more suggestions for reading...can't finish what I have!! This might be, however, something that I could see the library using...could be a favorite on info. computers!!

Twitter

Today's assignment was playing around with Twitter. I'm not so sure that I found it that useful and it might even become a little annoying, "checking in" on people or being "checked in" on!! I suppose the library could use it to keep track of employees and what they are doing...but would that really be necessary in such a small space??!! Good 'ole eyeballs could work just as well!

Library Thing - A - Ding

I found "Library Thing" to be a fun way to see what other people enjoy reading. It's also very user friendly ( thanks to Justin!!) Here's mine...

Finding Feeds

After having the chance to play around with the different feeds...the way that is easiest for me is to go to the website and look for the "subscribe" information.

My thoughts on RSS feeds

Although I don't tend to spend alot of time visiting other blogs, I'm more likely to do so now with the convenience of using RSS. I really like the idea of not having to spend time sifting through ads and unnecessary text!!

Tech Talk

Today's blog has to be a comment on anything to do with technology. The thought that immediately comes to mind is that technology enables us to communicate and offers us resources that we wouldn't otherwise have access to. It definitely is a lifelong learning process as things continually change.

Having Fun With Flickr!

After playing around on Flickr, I would have to say that the trading card feature definitely intrigued me the most. It was so much fun creating a card, sometimes goofing off on the computer is a blast!

Pugs, Pugs, Pugs!!!

Yes, I know that my blog is titled "Books-n-cooks," but I have to get pugs in there somewhere!!! I found this adorable picture on flicker and just had to post it...hope my little buddy "Benedict" doesn't get jealous!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/url_of_leah/2310282015/

Lifelong Learning

After listening to the tutorial on lifelong learning, I would have to say that my greatest obstacle is to find the passion and motivation to develop and grow in areas that I am not particularly interested in. Okay, I admit that I haven't exactly done cartwheels at the thought of learning how to use a new search engine or screamed in excitement at the thought of setting up this blog, for example. I do know that I always give the task at hand my best effort and may just have to work a little harder at viewing my technological challenges as opportunities to grow and not see them as problems!

On the other hand, the easiest step for me is definitely helping others, teaching others and mentoring. My passion for people makes this very easy. Ironically, after pondering over this whole idea of lifelong learning and the obstacles that we face, my daughter asked me to read a poem that she had just written for a homework assignment. The message became very clear...

I believe...

failure is a state of mind

beauty is a matter of perception

memory is what you choose to remember

I also believe...

good things are evanescent

seeing does not require sight

losing something is the only way to find it

but most of all, I believe...

we want to believe when we say we don't

I

My First Post!!

Yaaaaa!!!! After much frustration and a temper tantrum or two...my first blog is finally created!!! I'm now (if I wasn't before) officially a cool mom!