Week 10: #23 Is This Really the End? Or Just the Beginning..."

Today, the journey comes to an end.
I have learned many new things during the past few weeks about all kinds of technology that is available out there. Some of the things I knew about, others I did not.
I liked learning new things and actually being able to do them on my own at my own pace. It was great to see so many fellow HCPL Staff Members walking the path with me...some ahead, some behind, and some right along beside me. Help was available and I used it on occasion...and a few times I was actually able to lend a hand to others.
I don't know if I really had a favorite...I liked finally being able to use Flickr and Avitars but I did not find the Library Elf to be a helpful tool. I much prefer the alerts I receive from Admin. for my account as well as my family members accounts. Library Elf contained a lot of additional information that was confusing when I just wanted to know what the "elf" was trying to tell me.
I can see that all 23 things could be useful in the library world today. They show more ways to gather information, share information, and store information. I'm sure before long there will be a 24th thing, then a 25th and on and on the technology world will go. I just hope I will be able to keep up with it. Doing iHCPL has been a fun way to learn and to keep on top of things...perhaps in another year or so another learning session could be done to learn about the next batch of new "gizmos and gadgets" that have come along.
It's been fun..."Thanks for the memories".

Week 9: "Downloadable Media"

I really enjoyed this Discovery Exercise. I have downloaded many audio books from Overdrive since my first learning session on "how to download" from this site when HCPL added it to its wide variety of services. I went out and bought mu first mp3 player the same day as my training and I have been downloading audios ever since.
I looked at Librivox and found it had a lot less information and nothing new. Wowio had a lot of interesting books searchable by a wide range of subjects but there were very few to choose from.
The things I like most about Overdrive is the books are very current, new, and the best sellers. You don't have to be put on a long waiting list for a Hold and you don't have to just wish the library had the book on CD so you could listen to it in the car. My husband and I like to listen to books-on-tape as we ofeten take long road trips and, even though my commute to work is short, I can easily listen to a chapter or two in the rush hour traffic on the way home. Sometimes I just can't wait to go for a ride in my car!

Week 9: #21 "Podcasts, Smodcasts!"

I liked searching through several differet "podcasts" and finally decided to use podcast alley to add a podcast to by bloglines account. I added LibVibe as it contains "Headlines from the Library World". That's where I am and what I do. Some are the "articles" were interesting...others were not. I guess it can vary from person to person about what is important to them. I will be anxious to hear from this podcast as time goes by so I can keep up with what's new in the library world outside of HCPL.

Week 9: #20 "Discover YouTube and Other Video Sharing Sites"

I logged on to YouTube and typed in West Virginia Libraries to see what I could find there and found some very interesting tours of the Marshall University Library. Each floor had it's own video and each was well photographed and fully explained. I think this could be very useful to all libraries so customers would know what to expect when they visit a library...a regular customer whp maybe doesn't realize all that we have to offer, someone new to town or just a random visitor could access information quite easily on their own. Many people who come into a library want "do-it-yourself" service and by viewing a site before coming to the library would be very helpful to them. They would know where to go for their information and be on their way. Other people want you to do all the work for them in finding what they need. By showing them this type of information, maybe next time they could help themselves. Other people need assistance but never ask for it. They may feel empowered by knowing what they want and need and being able to do it themselves without help. It also makes the library look user friendly...here's the information...now go with it and have a nice day.

Week 8: #19 "Web-based Apps: They're Not Just For Desktops"

I signed up for a Zoho account using my husbands e-mail from home. The reason being that you usually have to confirm your account by checking your e-mail first and I don't check my HCPL e-mail from home. Anyway, once I did that, I found an awesome word processing tool that I had no idea existed...actually an On-Line Word Processor!
This tool is great...you can access your documents from virtually any computer located anywhere at all. Other folks can also work on the same document at the same time. What a great idea this is. It has all the features I want/need from formatting to spell checker.
I really liked browsing through the Frequently Asked Questions part as I Frequently have Questions and this was very helpful/useful. The questions I had (and curiosities about the application) were answered in terms I could understand. I did a couple of quick test documents and found it to be very simple to use...and I probably will start using it right away. I will definitely set up an account with my HCPL e-mail Monday and let the processing from HCPL to anywhere at all begin.
I didn't feel that I was quite up to the challenge of posting this on my Blog through Zoho's "publishing" options...I'll wait a bit before I get that ambitious. In the meantime, thanks to iHCPL I have found something very useful that I will be using that will help me (and some family members) in many ways with the discovery of Zoho this week.

Week 8: #18 "Social Networking: Making Friends in the Comfort of Your Own Home"

Social Networking is a scarey thing to me. It is way to risky to just put yourself out there on sites like My Space.. My daughter has a My Space account and she is upset because i won't let her post pictures of herself on it. No way..she's only 14 and I don't care if all of her friends are doing it. I used the old adage of jumping off a cliff with her and she just rolled her eyes at me. I told her she should just be glad I would let her have an account. She is on it for hours at a time and, it is rather handy for her as she gets her babysittting requests through the site. I guess it works for her. She networks with friends, neighbors, relatives...me? I'd rather type an e-mail or make a phone call. I have spent time looking at My Space through her account and found it to be filled with "stuff" of little or no value except to people in your group. I hate to say I'm too old for that sort of thing...just old fashioned about what I would let anyone know about me and mine. If folks want to know something or tell me something, like I said, write an e-mail (or even a Snail Mail) or pick up the phone. For the sake of iHCPL I did look at two other Social Networks for fun...catster and dogster. It was fun to see some of the silly poses the animlas went through to be added to the sites. I felt sorry for some of them. Anyway, Social Networking is not for me but for those who like that sort of thing...Have at it.