#23 Summarize your thoughts about this program and learn more about where to go from here

Wow, I did it. What a great experience. I am so fortunate to work for the Harford County Public Library and to have the opportunity to complete my 23 Things. There is so much technology out in the world that it is impossible to keep track. Having the opportunity to complete this self paced learning program has opened many new doors for me. I feel more confident and aware of the technologies that are available.

The sites that I will probably use most will be the ebooks, and it has been at my fingertips through our website. I have been wanting to explore these for a while, but didn't take the time to learn. With my new MP3 player, and yes, this was a great incentive for me to do this, I will be able to listen to books while I walk the dog or exercise. I will also be able to provide patrons with first hand knowledge for it's use.

I also enjoyed Flickr. When and if (we live in the country and woods) we ever get cable, DSL, etc., I will upload photos to share with my family and friends.

Knowledge really is power, and learning so many wonderful things gives me confidence in helping others in the Library. I can't wait to see what comes next. As technology progresses, as it does daily, there will have to be 23 more things soon. I'll definitely participate and be glad for the opportunity.

Sincerely, Kathy Galbreath

#22 Learn about Audiobooks

Today to watched the tutorial for both NetLibrary and Overdrive. Using a portable device and listening to books while I exercise is something I have wanted to do. Currently I use audio books on CD while I exercise. When I get my new MP3 device, I will definately use it. It will be much smaller to use than a CD player.

It seems rather easy to do. Unfortunately, I still have a dial up connection at home, so using my home PC will be very time consuming with downloading, so I'm not going to attempt it today.

Watching the tutorial for Overdrive and NetLibrary was extremely useful, as I have not done it in the past, and I can see that this technology will be used more and more. I will need to know how to do this to assist patrons in the library. It is amazing to see the variety of items downloaded from the Project Gutenburg site and the top 100 downloads. Very different from the Overdrive and NetLibrary sites.

#21 Discover some useful tools for locating podcasts

Today I looked at Podcast.net and Yahoo Podcasts. Yahoo Podcasts will be disappearing on October 31st, so I spent very little time reviewing it. I was totally unaware of the quantity and popularity of Podcasts. I have heard of new programs, etc talking about having podcasts available for listening and viewing, but never took the time to really look at what is available. What a great way to listen to a show whenever and where ever is convenient. I also found quite a lot of junk on the sites. It was be easy to spend hours just browsing through what is available.I don't think this is a technology that I would use very often, but is a good to be aware of it. I did add a podcast to my bloglines page, just to see if I could. I needed to refer back to Maryland Libraries Learning 2.0 page for a refresher, so this was a good exercise to redo an item. Here is the link to my bloglines account. http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs

Where's the Beef

#20 Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow you to upload video

You Tube has such a wide variety of videos, one could spend all day just surfing around. When I heard that there were old 70s commercials included, I tried to find a favorite "Where's the Beef". I found it and here it is.

#19 Discover any site from the Web 2.0 awards list

I spent time reviewing the Farecast website under the Travel category: http://farecast.com/ . This site was awarded the first place in it's category. It is a site that allows you to compare prices of airline tickets from a variety of sources. It forcasts the probability that the tickets with remain about the same price or change and suggests whether you should buy your tickets now. I need to book a flight to Denver in November, so I put the dates and it gave me prices of flights from a variety of sources. I liked the fact that all the links were there to click on, it made the process quick and easy to navigate. The site told me to buy now. If the site is wrong, they will, supposedly provide a refund if they are wrong (only on specific airlines). This is a very usefull site. It made the search process very easy and quick.

My next spot to visit was Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/ . This is the site that won first place in the City Guide and Review section. I looked at Denver and Baltimore. This is site that gives a variety of information from shopping, dining, museums, etc. There are reviews that give you an idea whether you want to patronize the establishment or not. What a wealth of information !!!

#18 Take a look at some online productivity tools

ZOHO Writer

Today is Monday, September 17th, and I am learning to use the ZOHO Writer. This look very familiar, it seems to be modeled after Microsoft Office. Let's try a few things:

With a chill in the air, but a very sunny day, falls is creeping along.

1. Today is the first day of the rest of your life, use it well.
2. Tomorrow will be a new day to do something that means something.
3. Yesterday is for memories, let's hope they make you smile
   

Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious.

Brendan Gill

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.

Billy Wilder
US (Austrian-born) movie director (1906 - 2002)

This is a great way to work on a computer with out the use of Microsoft Office. It works very similar and I like how easy it was to post to my blog. I can see may applications for this type of program. With the microsoft products being so very expensive, this works quite well.

#16 Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that libraries are using them

I watched the video by Meredith Gorran Farkas from Norwich University and also read about Wiki's. Wiki's have a tremendous value, but, for a person such as myself, not having total control over the content would take some getting used to. I really like the idea of a guide to a city for a conference. This would be a great resource for new attendees. This would also be true for a community. What a great resource for a newcomer to find all the great places, etc in an area. Using the information from Wiki's for research is another thing altogether. Given the ability for them to be edited by anyone, leaves too much open for error.I can see many uses for wikis in a professional setting, such as the library. It would be a great way to work on policy and procedures, giving staff the opportunity for input. It would be a great way for people to express innovative ideas. Sometimes, a thought or idea needs to be jotted down immediately, and being able to put it on a wiki at any time would keep the creative process going

#17 Add an entry into the Sandbox Wiki created with PB Wiki

I added my blog, technology adventure, to the SandBox. I also added a post to a wiki about tennis: I wrote about the USOpen that I watch over the weekend.

#15 Read a few perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0 & the future of libraries

After viewing the video "The Machine is Us/ing us" I realized how the internet is changing our lives amazingly fast. A few years ago I took HTML classes to learn how to make a website. I learned to code sites by hand. Later I learned how to use Dreamweaver to create a site. Wow, how much easier it was to use a computer program to create a website. Viewing the video just makes my mind spin. How far everything as progressed and how quickly. This is a technology that changes daily, people have amazingly innovative ideas on how to make the use of the internet easier for everyone. There is so much to learn and keeping up seems almost impossible. The newletter describing how the library will need to change in order to adequately provide the public access to the overwhelming quantity of information available in today's world was something that I had never really thought about. Our launching of the new Aquabrowser is a step in providing access to a variety of information sources that is easier for our patrons to maneuver through. This is a step moving toward providing better service to our customers and to keep up with changes in available technology. I can't even imagine the changes that will be coming down the pike to keep us on the cutting edge. When you look at the library system when we were children in the 60's and what it has evolved into today, what will it be like in 50 more years, can we even begine to understand? This is not just the future of the library system, but the world in general. The internet has changed our lives greatly, information is at our fingertips. How we choose to use it will make the difference.

#14 Discover Technorati and learn how tags work with blogs

Let's give this a test. I have signed up at Technorati.com. This post will be tagged and let's see if it works. Well, it did not work. I tried to claim my blog a number of times and got the following page: "Doh! The Technorati Monster escaped again. We're scouring the blogosphere attempting to find it. Back in a flash!" but
it never comes back. I'll try again tomorrow.

#13 Tagging and Discover Del.icio.us

Today I learned about Del.icio.us. I viewed the Otter Group video about the site. I can see that there can be many uses for this service. For research, it would be an awesome tool. The use of tags certainly makes information more accessible to those searching for specific topics. I did not create my own account, but viewed the information collected by PLCMCL2 on many topics.

#12 Roll your own search tool with Rollyo

Today I created my own search tool. There are many times that I need to search Harford County websites for information on employment, housing, community services, etc. I tried to incorporated many sites with government, community service, and business information that could help when finding information for patrons. I'm sure I will need to tweek it as I use it, but it may become a useful resource for searching our local county for information. I added my search tool to my blog.

Select...Harford CountySearch The Web

#11 Take a look at Library Thing and catalog some of your favorite books

I opened an account at Library Things and have started using it. I really think I could use this. It gives a great way to keep track of the books that I have read. I'll try to be diligent in keeping the list up to date.

#10 Play around with an online image generator

Today I tried the Yahoo Avatar. I created a Yahoo account and started to put my avatar together. Here she is, walking on the beach with her dog.

#8 Make Life Really Simple with RSS and a News Reader and 9. Explore MERLIN and a few useful library related-blogs and/or news feeds.

I was able to set up me own RSS & Newsreaders account using Bloglines. I chose a few prominent news agencies to add to my feeds as well as my own blog. I'll add my blogline account to my favorites and check it when I am on my computer. I looked at MERLIN and some of the library related blogs listed on the side. It was nice to see our own Maurice Coleman smiling back at us on the MERLIN home page.

Working with Flickr

Since I am currently in Ocean City, Nj, I thought I would try to find a beach picture specifically from OC, NJ. Guess what, I found plenty to choose from. Here is an example of one photo I found. With the photographer tagging the image, I was able to search and find exactly what I wanted. I was totally amazed at the amount of photos available. What a great tool!

Next, I thought I would try the Easy Mosaic trial

download. I was able to choose a photo and make

a mosaic out of it. What a great tool to play around

with and to make a postcard or party invitation. Your options are endless.

Learning how to blog is really exciting. I have always heard about this, but never knew how to do it. Sometimes technology is overwhelming and intimidating. This exercise is great because it forces me to try new things. Creating this blog will reinforce how to use this service because of the need to do the exercise over and over again. Can't wait to see what we will learn next.

Finally Getting Started !!

Well, here we go, I have finally started my 23 Things. Sometimes, I think starting a project is the hardest part. Reading about the 23 things yet to come has got me interested and really looking forward to doing them all. Viewing the video about the 7 1/2 Pointers for Lifelong Learners made me realize that I am already a lifelong learner. Just staying abreast of all the changes that occur in our world keeps us learning daily. This project will definately make me better equipped to deal with the future, not only in my professional life but privately as well. These technologies are here to stay, our children use them everyday without any thought, they were raised on computers and know no difference. I, on the other hand, have a lot to learn. So, here we go.................