#24 Final thoughts

Of all the things on the list, Delicious remains my favourite.

For a librarian, I think it is one of the most useful tools available. Being able to save numerous websites, tag them as you see fit, and access your account from any computer makes it a valuable information storing tool.

Occasionally, a few weeks will go by where I don't look at my account. Then I'll be looking for something and think to check Delicious and be reminded of some of the good resources I have stored there. Of course, you can get carried away in adding more and more sites, so I think it is a good idea to go through what you have stored and weed out anything that you no longer need. Just like you do with a physical collection.

The practicality of staying current with the Outlook and Office programs can't be denied. The things I've learned there I have been able to help patrons with.

As for some of the other things, well yes, now I know a little bit more about them than I did. However, there seems to be more hype around some of these so called innvotive tools than anything of substance they might have to offer.

And now, the end is near ...

#13 Web 2.0/Library 2.0

It seems obvious to me that libraries would adopt those technologies that would enhance its services for patrons and allow staff to better serve their customers. I think there has been a lot of inflated discourse around Web 2.0. Libraries have to stay current with emerging technologies, but they don't need adopt everything that comes along. Maybe a library can enhance its presence in a community by having its own Facebook page, but I don't feel it is core to what libraries are about.

#14 Wikis

The St. Joseph County Public Library's Subject Guides wiki appears to be a useful tool for the community the library serves. It seems to be an expanded version of what NVDPL has under Librarians' Picks. With the new NVDPL website, and the expanded resource guides, NVDPL too will be able to give this level of information.

Though the accuracy of wikipedia comes under question from time to time, I do use it when, for instance, a patron is looking for material on an obscure historical figure that I've never heard of. I can take a quick look at it and appear to be knowledgeable and all librarian-like. And they're none the wiser.

#17 Shared Calendars

I have had a boo at the calendars of some of those who do share their calendar. Nice to know where someone is or what they are up to when you can't get in touch with them. As for the general calendar, it is something I use. I enter in meetings I will be attending, programmes I'm involved with, and my own personal appointments. I do like the reminder feature where you can select a number of hours or days prior to an event and you are sent a reminder about it.

#18 Office 2007

It took me a while to discover where the ruler is in the version of Word. It is in the upper righthand corner just below the 'Ribbon,' as it is now called. Word count was another thing it took me a while to find.

Having played around with Word, I was recently able to help a patron find a business plan template. I plan on taking some time to look at the Excel tutorials. I took an Excel class a number of years ago, but really can't remember a darn thing about it. It would be nice to able to make up fancy multi-coloured charts.

#22 Podcasts

It is unfathomable the multitude of ways human beings have devised in order to waste time. Looking at one of the podcast directories, I see pages and pages of stuff. I guess like many other things in the realm of information at your fingertips, it takes a little bit of time and patience to find something of value. At PodcastPickle, I did find a complete classroom lecture series for Biology: Anatomy and Physiology. I recently took a medical terminology class and I am interested in learning more.

I could imagine listening to CBC Radio 2 podcasts as they are available on their website. But, alas, the rift between me and Radio 2 has not been healed. We are considering counselling.

#23 Audiobooks & eBooks

I have spent some time exploring Library to Go. I have recently written a brochure that will hopefully be available in the branches describing how to download Audiobooks and eBooks from Library to Go. There is a planned promotion of e-Audio sometime this spring and the purpose of the brochure is to simplify and clarify the instructions. The instructions on the site itself are a little excessive.

I hope everyone knows the difference between an Audiobook and an eBook. I didn't until I spent time exploring the Library to Go site.

I am looking forward to receiving the MP3 player upon completion of the NVDPL Playground and downloading a book. I've never actually listened to a book -- technology, it is just plain crazy!

#21 YouTube

Thymus Tapping

I recently heard about this method of stimulating your immune system by tapping your chest in the area of the thymus, the gland responsible for producing T-lymphocyte cells that fight infection. So I searched pubmed.gov without finding any scientific research on the topic, but a Google search produced a number of hits including this YouTube video. I've been tapping my thymus daily for a week now. I don't know if I've benefited from it but have developed a small bruise in the middle of my chest.

I don't often visit YouTube, but I occasionally have a look when I hear of something interesting. In regards to it as a library training tool, my guess is that it is probably more popular with librarians than patrons. If you used it in that capacity, you would have to promote it. Perhaps a link from the library homepage to a video on how to use a particular database might be get some use.

#12 Meet me on SpaceBook!

With a few people having finished The 24 Things, the push is on. I have been avoiding doing the things that hold little interest for me, social networking being one of them. I have read articles that discussed the benefits for connecting with other people that can come from having a SpaceBook or MyFace account, but, hey, I'm an old curmudgeon. I prefer to connect the old fashioned way -- pony express!

I thought these things were just for the younguns', but have a look at this article and you can see that grown-ups can harness the benefits they offer as well: http://www.theage.com.au/news/web/facebook-labelled-a-5b-waste-of-time/2007/08/19/1187462123708.html

This, that, and Radio 2

#15 NVDPL Sandbox wiki:

I added a list of some of my favourite books to the Sandbox ages ago. Today I added a favourite North Shore restaurant, The Edge Bistro. Not living on the North Shore, I am not familiar with a lot of the area's restaurants. I went to The Edge a couple of weeks ago. I was taken there by friends for my birthday. It was delicious. And for a fine dining establishment, the portions were exceptionally large. I didn't need to raid the fridge when I got home.

#19 Databases:

I like playing around in the databases and have taken and continue to take some of the workshops that the Public Library Services Branch offers in regards to the databases. Just last week I had a patron looking for material on police officer practice tests. While the Library has a couple of books on the topic, they were unavailable. I remembered that the Library has access to the database Learning Express, which has a host of practice tests/exams including math, nursing, Real Estate Appraisal, TOEFL and much more. An easy way for patrons to access such material from outside the Library.

#20 Askaway:

I am Askaway trained and have been providing the service for about 8 months. Some of the patrons can be a little impatient and have unrealistic expectations of what type of service is provided. (They just want you to do their homework for them). However, there are those virtual patrons I've helped who were appreciative of the service I provided.

CBC Radio 2:

Well, it has been over a month now since the powers that be at CBC eviscerated what was once the shining jewel of radio broadcasting in Canada. Now, alas, it wouldn't even pass the grade as cubic zirconia. I keep hoping, as I turn on my radio in the morning, that, maybe, a miracle has taken place while I've been slumbering, and that the format I so loved has returned. Yes, we are creatures of habit. I sometimes see those bus shelters displaying posters for the New 2 and have to resist the urge to vandalize them and paint the posters with profane denunciation. Other than that, I am dealing with it quite well.

Technorati --- Separating the wheat from the chaff

I must say I am not all that impressed with Technorati. I spent a fair amount of time playing around and attempting different searches and was not all that happy with the results. Some of their Directory headings only have one level. Click on Music, for example, and you go directly to Blogs about music; there is no further breakdown as there is when you use Google directory. I attempted an Advance Search using Baroque Music as an Exact phrase and limited it to Blogs about music. No results. A general search for "baroque music" results in a lot of junk, sites unrelated to Baroque Music. Seems like you can spend a lot of time separating the wheat from the chaff.

Of course, if you're interested in Paris Hilton, well, she, sadly, was always in the Top searches on the occasions I visited the site.

More delicious

No, this isn't a posting about culinary enhancement. It is again about my delicious account. Something I've mentioned in two previous postings I think.

Anyway, about a month back delicious made some major changes to the website's interface. Changes that many users were not happy with. The delicious forum was full of users kvetching about the changes, myself included. Change, it is so overrated. My beef is with the limited space provided for tags. Some of my tags are quite long and now, because of the space limitation, they are truncated; they don't fully display. I have been fiddling around with them, trying to come up with shorter terms, but, really, I am not happy.

However, I have to give delicious credit. They have been responding to the complaints about the changes they introduced and fixing many of the problems. However, the problem with the tag display is something that's going to take some time according what they've posted on the forum: http://support.delicious.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=271. We shall see.

Speaking of change, CBC Radio 2, as of September 2, 2008 (to be no doubt remembered as a dark day in Canadian radio history) went ahead with the program changes they have been threatening their loyal but sadly disregarded listenership with since the spring. Yes, despite the many emails and blog postings they received advising them of the injudiciousness of such a change, they went ahead with it anyway.

Having not yet found a new station to listen to, I have these past few days been awakened by a cacophonous din of verkocteh eclectic pop mish-mash! Admittedly, it does get me out of bed quicker. If it was a bit of Baroque, say, I'd usually lie in bed and listen to it and inevitably have to rush to get of the house on time.