Thing 23

I really enjoyed trying all of these new technology tools. I am really feeling confident that they will be useful. If 23 Things wouldn't have been here for me, I might have been too scared to even try. It was a very educational experience and having others go through the processes at the same time (or before you) was wonderful. There was a group of people that you could ask questions too and that was very helpful! I hope that this project continues. I hope that many people who didn't take this opportunity will do so. It is one of the greatest things I have done. I loved that I was able to work at my own pace. As I said, I really enjoyed the fact that there were so many people in the same boat. Taking the plunge together is much easier than doing it alone! Thank you so much for this wonderful experience!

Thing 22

There is so much to learn and so little time. Now that I "got my feet wet" I am excited to jump in! I will continue to use the 'tools' that I learned to use and hopefully will get much better with them.

Thing 21

I checked out the other social networking sites. I liked Ning. I joined the 23 Things on a Stick Ning. Because I'm late on getting this completed, I don't know how much I will be able to write about this. I did leave a post for another member. She has completed her 23 Things too. I am enjoying this experience but have had some difficulty in finding the time to complete it. There is so much to learn!

View my page on 23 Things on a Stick

Thing 20

I set up an account on Facebook. I have a few friends too...a couple of them old friends and even some new. :) I joined two groups and wrote on a wall. It is fun to meet new people and re-connect with others! This has been a true learning experience. I can honestly say that I was afraid to use this tool because of some of the bad press that it receives. Now, I am comfortable using it and also realize that it can be fun. I think I will be using this to keep in touch with my friends and family.

Thing 19

I am a fan of podcasts. What a wonderful way to share information. I am a little concerned because you can't always define exactly the 'mood' that the speaker is trying to portray. Jokes don't always sound like jokes....advice isn't necessarily accurate leading you to believe that it was done intentionally. Who knows??? I will continue to listen and eventually try to create one of my own. :)

Thing 18

YouTube Rocks! I had a lot of fun looking at videos.
I am amazed at the speed that these people can paint...the pictures start out looking like nothing and then turn out very good. Impressive. I think patriotism is a wonderful thing and I believe that we should all wear the red, white, and blue with pride. A special thank you to our TROOPS!!!

Thing 17

ELM (Electronic Library for Minnesota) is wonderful. Because this is statewide, it provides access to information for everyone! What a great concept! The steps were lengthy but I learned a lot while completing them. I will continue using ELM to research topics of interest to me. I was not aware of all of the features prior to the "23 Things". I am happy to have learned this and I'm sure it will be helpful in the future.

Thing 16

I reviewed the Assignment Calculator and the Research Project Calculator. These tools would be very helpful to stay on-task to complete assignments. I entered a few "sample" assignments and was amazed to see how accurate the timeline was. I would recommend the use of these tools to students.

Thing 15

Thing 15 was quite interesting. I opened an account in Second Life. It was very challenging to learn to navigate but flying is fun. :) I visited Info Island and was impressed. It was fun to try but a real time waster. I got lost with all of the options, making your avatar laugh and gesture. It was really intriguing but I didn't learn a lot other than some things aren't necessarily what they seem. There were a lot of friendly people willing to help which I found to be wonderful. I don't know if Second Life would be good to offer in the Library because it is tricky to navigate. Librarians would have to be avid users of the site in order to give assistance to patrons in the use of it. I found some of the content offensive.

I do support the Nintendo Wii. Our society is becoming more and more sedentary and this provides an opportunity to exercise while having fun. I think it would be a wonderful opportunity for children's libraries and I also believe that adults would like it, after they tried it. :)

Thing 14

I think LibraryThing is very handy. It was interesting to browse reading lists and see what others are reading. I don't have many books right now but plan to utilize this service when I get more organized at home.

Thing 13

I tried ThinkFree (www.thinkfree.com/html/guide/guide_01.html). This was an online collboration tool that allowed you to edit documents. It was very similar to the tasks that I tried back in Thing 9. There are also plenty of "time wasters" available. It was interesting and fun to try different tools and see what they could do.

Thing 12

I reviewed the "Digg" information. I think it's neat but I like to form my own opinions. I think when we view others' "ratings" we are more apt to change the way we feel. It is interesting to see what other people think but I'm not one to fall prey to their 'ratings'.

Thing 11

I have set up an account with Del.icio.us. It seems as if it will be helpful to be able to access my 'favorites' from any computer. There have been many times at home where I would like to find something that I ran across at work but have been unable to locate it. Now, I will be able to add it to my del.icio.us account it and *presto* I will have access. Very neat. I'm happy to have learned to use this site.

Thing 10

Our library set up a wiki. I think it's awesome. I haven't done too much editing in it (other than the training class) but that's because we were not sure which information that we wanted to post. I like the advantage of being able to post a link to a document that people can access through the wiki. It will help with unnecessary printing. People will be able to view the content before printing. :)

Thing 9

I requested access to the documents but still haven't heard anything. :) I have worked with this collaboration software and it is really nice. I like the fact that you can access the documents from any computer and make changes. Having the document available on the web is a plus because you don't have to have specific software to make changes. Very beneficial!!!!

Thing 8

Thumbstacks is handy. It would be a benefit because you wouldn't have to worry about losing your presentation disk. The presentation would be available on the web. The features aren't as advanced as PowerPoint but it is still very handy.

Thing 7

I have used Yahoo Messenger on a personal level for about one year. My daughter, who is going to be 21 in April, taught me how. She also introduced me to text messaging, which we use all the time. :)

I think IMing in the Library would be beneficial because you could get other's professional opinions without them having to leave their desk. If they wanted to come and talk directly with a patron, they could do that as well.

It really would be a benefit because it offers the patron the opportunity to have the "expert" with them at all times!

Thing 5 & 6

I posted about this in Thing 4. Flickr is a really neat site. I will experiment a little more and update this post. Since there are 4 of us here, at MSU, working on the 23 Things together, it will be interesting to hear what the others have learned. It's neat to work together because we can discuss our likes and dislikes. It has been a great experience!

Thing 4

Flickr is very interesting!!! I could spend hours looking around at other's photos. This is one of the most interesting things I found! I'm so happy to be able to navigate this site. I am sure I will be spending a LOT more time here! Thank you for the opportunity to learn!

The mosaic was constructed algorithmically by Jim Bumgardner using images from the Squared Circle photo pool at Flickr, the photo-blogging website.

Thing 3

I was afraid of the RSS feeds. I did quite a bit of reading and found it was pretty easy to work with. It is very handy to use to keep up-to-date on informational tracks that you follow.

Thing 2

Library 2.0 - what a revelation! People are using all of these tools! Libraries should too! There is a lot of information on this subject. I expect that the highlights that we are reviewing will become commonplace. Technology moves so fast, how does one keep up?

Thing 1

I am enjoying the opportunity to learn these new things! I thought this would be more difficult. My blog is set up and registered and now I am off to try even more new things!