Wrapping Up

The web challenge is a great way to expose the staff to a variety of technology out there that many of us are not aware of. I plan on using ListenNJ and the Web 2.0 awards for sure in the future. I am also interested in using the Google Docs for collaboration with coworkers.

I look forward to using one of the photo sites to post pictures I want to save and possibly share. This will also free up storage space on my hard drive and eliminate the possibility of loss due to hard drive crash.

This was a wonderful opportunity but it was very time consuming. Several of the staff who worked on the web challenge did it from home because they just did not have the time at work. I have just spent 2 hours doing the last few things so the 1 hour per week estimate was way off for me. I do think it was very beneficial though!!!

ListenNJ

I would love to use this once I get my mp3 player. This was so easy to use all I had to do was go to theoceancountylibrary.org and chose databases a-z and ListenNJ. I selected new arrivals and then "The Appeal" by John Grisham. This was easy to download and I am really excited to use this in the future!!

Podcasts

http://www.bloomberg.com/tvradio/podcast/

This is a link to the bloomberg podcasts. I listened to a podcast about the Texas wine industry and the huge amount of wine they produce there. Most of the wine is consumed at the wineries locally so people outside of Texas do not realize that Texas is such a large wine producer. (Similar to the North Fork of Long Island.)

You Tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaUDBi395Is

This is David Cook American Idol 2008 thanking America for choosing him. I looked around youtube and had a hard time finding anything I was interested in. I asked some of my coworkers if they use YouTube and if so what for and they said they do not use it. You can find old clips from news reports, sporting events and concerts which can be useful but there is so much that is just plain weird. I don't understand why anyone would stick out their tongue, take a video and post it. Very strange.

Web 2.0 awards

I went to travel first and found the sites that do multiple searches at once. The first site #1 gives predictions of airfare costs but I was looking for something for May 2009 and it was not included. The latest date is March 2009 so that does not help me for my next year's vacation planning. I checked out real estate and found craigslist which is a great site for all kinds of stuff for sale, rent, etc. I also looked at the list of awards from the beginning and found other interesting websites. I plan on going back in the future and looking at the best rated sites to see what else is out there.

Web Apps Google Docs and Zoho

Google Docs is very similar to Microsoft Word but has the collaborative ability. I love the possibilities.

I looked at Zoho also and there are lots of uses for this tool as well. One that came to mind immediately is for meeting planning.

We could easily use google docs for many of the projects we work on with our colleagues. One document I have been working on and emailing back and forth with others is our new union contract. Google docs would give us the opportunity to all see the document, make comments and changes and get it done quicker without sending it back and forth with every little change.

Wikis and pbwikis

I love the possibilities with wikis and I think we could do collaborative projects among Library Branches, workgroups, etc. and even projects with other Library systems or community groups.

One project we could do is to create a wiki with clubs and organizations and have the participants enter their own information and keep it updated.

I have used wikipedia often to find basic information or as a starting point and find it to be a very useful resource.

Library 2.0

We better keep learning more about technology and be collaborative or our Library and profession will be left behind.

Technorati

I was not too crazy about this tool. I have not been searching for blogs in the past but now that I know about technorati I have searched for blogs on subjects of interest to me.

del.icio.us

Easy to use, may be useful in the future. It is helpful to have a website to save our favorites so we can access them from any computer. I signed up for an account and plan on using it.

Technology

This project has really been helpful in learning about technology. It has been a real challenge but has exposed many of us to technology that we had no idea about. Some of the exercises are easy and some take a while to understand. Just blogging in general is new to me and I had no idea about RSS feeds.

WorldCat

This is an awesome tool to find books, dvds, etc. get the publisher, editions, isbn, etc. and even find out what Library closest to you owns the item. Very easy to use and yes it will help you fill out that form.

Net Library

Signing up for a free account is very simple. It is an easy website to navigate. I put in a subject, investing in real estate and got lots of hits but not in date order. I selected one of the books and started reading it but it would only download one page at a time and it took a while to download so it was not optimal. This is my first time trying net library but I could definately show someone else how to do the basics.http://www.netlibrary.com/

My Library

Below is the link to my Library, I will be adding new books regulary.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=jaks31&shelf=list

Using tools to find feeds

Not very helpful to me. When I type in a subject of interest to me like investing, finance, etc. what I see are a bunch of articles that are of little interest or relevance to what I would like to read about.

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication”

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is a file format for delivering regularly updated information over the web. Once I saw the podcast and tried it out it was really simple.

Woman's History Month at Manchester Branch

To celebrate woman's history month the staff dressed up as famous women from history. See if you can figure out who they are.

I hope I run into him on my wine tasting tour.

7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learning

Today's entry is going to be a little off topic, and we'll get back to the nectar of the Gods, delicious wine, in our next entry. Today, I'd like to talk a little bit about the 7 & 1/2 lifelong learning habits and my strongest habit would be teach/mentoring others. I'm the proud parent of two wonderful children and three step-children and I teach/mentor everyday. Also, here at work, whenever we have new librarians at my branch, I am responsible for training them. The habit which I need work on would be habit 6, using technology to your advantage. There's a lot of new and advanced technologies which I am unfamiliar with, and this challenge is a fantastic opportunity to learn new skills.

2003 Silverado Cabernet

This cabernet is so great and I am looking for some more of the 2003. I originally bought the wine at Costco in Delaware for $29.99 a bottle but now they are sold out and it is hard to find.