Thing 23-Online Evaluation and blog about my experiences

I am trying to finish up this 23 things on a stick project before the 2nd deadline. I did not work on this very much this summer, as we had big projects to do at work and I started car-pooling (high gas prices!!!) and so I didn't stay later after work. I wish I'd had better luck getting some of the things to work in the later Things as I did earlier. I got really stuck on thing 15, as I'm not a gamer, and the downloads and joining was a deterrent. I think there were some really cool things in the program, and I'd like to spend some more time exploring them and reading the blogs to see how others are putting them to work for them in their libraries. I hope I can continue with the Web 2.0 tools as they evolve and new ones come out, as I think it's great what people without web-design knowledge can do with them. Thanks for putting on this project again.

Thing 21-Beyond MySpace-Other Networks

I chose to use Ning for this Thing. I went and made up my profile and my account, but with Dial-Up it was very slow to add any more to it tonight. I will go back in and work on this at a later time to make my badge, etc. I went to the 23 things group and looked around. This Network looks like it will be more helpful to me than Facebook for library information.

Thing 22-Keeping Up

How will I keep up with the Web 2.0 tools I learned about in this learning program? I have taken a two hour course in WebEx since beginning this course. I am setting up a blog for our college website for the LRTC. There's so much to learn out there, and keep up with. WebJunction will be a big help too, as theres' a lot to make use of on that site. I have been invited to Mooseworks, too, which is another Web 2.0 tool that I want to get involved in and learn more about. It will be a fun time keeping up, and I hope the 23 thingsonastick team keeps giving us new items on the page and helping with this task, as you said, the internet is growing and changing all the time, and things we learned this time might not be there next week.

Small Bytes

Small Bytes

Thing 20-My Space and Facebook

I chose to use Facebook for this thing. I went in and registered, set up my profile, added 2 friends, uploaded 5 pictures to an album and wrote on my wall. I will definitely work on this in the future, as our new website at the college is featuring our space in these two networks. I hope that students will use it to see what's new in the Learning Resource and Technology Center or find out some tips information on our IT department.

Thing 19-Podcasts

I have reviewed the podcasts in the 23 things blog. There are some really cool ones put out by Minitex, MPR, St. Cloud State and others that I enjoyed. I looked at the different directories and found them to be downloads, or having to put them into a podcast aggregator that made it difficult to do this portion. I blogged a podcast I liked and it went automatically onto my blog, which I liked. I have a biology instructor who said she was going to put out a podcast for her students, and I think it would be good to add one to our home page here at the college on the Learning Resource Center and our happenings.

Thing 18 You Tube and other Sites

I watched You Tube videos on libraries and other topics and picked one to embed in my post. I watched several and it was hard to pick one for posting, as they are all so well done and interesting. I will definitely work on adding one to You Tube this fall after things settle down. This is too easy!

Thing 17 ELM Productivity Tools

I love ELM! I have used it since it first became available to libraries and have had the Minitex people up to my school to share how it is used with our teachers. I am still using it as often as I get research questions and love when a student gets excited that the resources are there for them to use either here or from home. We already collaborate with the instructors in sharing these tools with their students when they assign research papers, and they do get heavy use. These students are being helped by ELM by getting them their journal articles etc. that they need for their assignment. I went to Academic Search premier, set up an account, and signed up for search alerts for library blogs.

Thing 16-Student 2.0 Tools

I looked at the Research Project Calculator sponsored by ELM and set up my assignment for finishing the MN Voluntary Certification Program. This is a great tool for students, and I have recommended it in the past for my high school students, here at college I know the instructors use Desire 2 Learn and post directions for their papers. I plan to share this with the students this semester when we do presentations in the classrooms on library services. I then used the teacher resources link and opened several of the tip sheets and looked through the list of things they offer and see that it has some great helps for research papers. I will definitely share this with my instructors to see if it can be of use to them when they give assignments.

Thing 15-Online Gaming and Libraries

I checked out Wii Fit on the official website of the Wii Console game. It looks like it would be fun to try. It brings out people of all ages to check their balance, ride an imaginary snowboard, dance, or even box. I think libraries that put these game nights into their program are really thinking out of the box and making going to the library fun. I would like to own one of these myself, it would be fun to play games like tennis when it's -20 outside some winter day, or you don't have a partner.
I tried to enter Second Life and I even looked at it one day but with the download at work not being possible and my dial up connection at home, it made it challenging. I think the library community is good to be involved, with people online much of the time at schools, you could really help them with their research questions.
I'm not into games that much, so the puzzle pirate thing didn't look too appealing. I have played Scrabble on my home computer and think that is a great thing also. When you throw in being on line with it, it makes it even more appealing.