23 Elephants

THING 22 — Keeping up

I feel like I’ve just begun, like I should go back and look at many of the things again.  The categories, grouping of links and information on the 23 Things site made a very useful guide.  I’m not proficient in some things but I have a greater awareness of the 23 Things.  Since things constantly change it is really only the start.  We need continual dialogue and shared information.  I think the best way for me to “keep up” is to set aside time –as if I’m at a workshop.  I need to ignore e-mail, phone etc. and focus on reading, trying things, visiting sites.  I’m thinking that I need to get an iPod or mobile device of my own to experience the uses.  Not sure yet of budget.  I’m also wondering if we should set up adhoc groups to make recommendations, maybe a “what’s new” group.  I would like to pursue the idea of classes on 23 things for the public.  Maybe we could design our own “Things” version for the public.  It would need publicity & promotion.  This might be through the e-Branch.  The challenge is making time and making ita priority.

Thing 21 – Assignments Organized

The Assignment Calculator makes so much sense.  This is a way to teach the basics of project management which I think is an invaluable skill for school or for work.  I’m going to pass this along to my nephew and godson who are beginning college!

It would be interesting to see if a similar tool would integrate the milestones for 3 classes.

Thing 20 –Books!

What’s good to read?  That is the question which these tools address. The Readers Advisory Book Trails was my favorite…although I didn’t have time to try all the choices right now.  The online book community Overbooked for “ravenous readers” could be really useful.  The Book group resources I liked best was the book videos of authors.  As we look at 23 Things this thing bridged the traditional services with current technology.  I was a voracious reader as a child.  I was punished for reading too much –so it became a guilty pleasure.  Reading keeps me awke at night, it doesn’t put me to sleep!  Yet, format is not why I read, it is the characters, the situations, the emotions, the ideas, the experiences.  Reading on-line, on a Kindle, on a phone or with book doesn’t make the difference.  Just as my nephew loved to sit on my lap when he was a toddler and listen to the stories I read –he also loved sitting on my lap to see & hear stories on the computer.  So using the technology to help readers find more books they like, and have conversations with others seems like a top priority for libraries.

As I said with other things –this could be great “thing” to teach some of our patrons.

Thing 19 Social Networking

I like the idea of social networking but haven’t found something that pulls me into it.  Not sure if it is lack of exposure or truly lack of time.  This thing gave me a chance to look at few spots.  The crafts networks hold some promise personally.  For example:  http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.

Another possibility is Linked In, for professional contacts. A colleague invited me to join this.

Thing 18 FaceBook

I made my FaceBook page!  It was intriguing to see how many people invited me to “be a friend” and I still have to explore this more.  I’ve moved a good bit so I’ll have fun finding old friends this way as well. As part of this thing I also played with editing photos to find what I wanted to post.  Just like other “things” it is a process of testing & exploring.  It is not that hard — once you discover it.

Thing 17 Podcasts

After doing several of the 23 Things I’m struck by the effectiveness of “In Plain English” series of explanations.  The Podcast video is one of those.  At this point in 23 Things it is so clear that our users are using a variety of formats to access information –many of devices are mobile.  This is the “next” and current wave we need to address.  At the same time I think we need to help people learn about the technology too.  Even with teens we can’t assume all teens know all the technology.  One other observation is about bandwidth — I couldn’t effectively download anything at work becauyse bandwidth is so slow.  More and more this happens and needs to be addressed as we begin using more of the audio & video.

podcast_genres.php?pod_genre_id=13

Thing 16 – Crocheting with YouTube, Google Video

I’ve seen lots of fun library video clips in YouTube andthe tour from 23 Things inspired me.  It was so dynamic and fun.  I can envision something like that for ACLD sites.   Wearing another hat –as a library/info user, I searched for video on crocheting and found great sites.  This is an example where the video is much much better information than a book.  I hate reading patterns but by following the video I could easily get the stitches right.

Thing 15 – Rollyo

This could definitely have library applications.  Librarians have in the past (and even today) created lists of links, Rollyo would allow us to group links and create easy search.  If we used these customized search box creations we would add value to our users.

It also occurs to me that we could teach 23 things to our users!

Thing 14 – Productivity

I looked at iGoogle and it was indeed easy to set up sites from their selection.  I got enticed by sites I wouldn’t have normally selected like jokes and games too.

The highlight of this thing for me was Scrybe.  I picked this because it was newest.  The explanation of how the tool keeps the context while moving to different days, dates, time zones and lists was clearly an important feature.  The demo of how lists are created, linked and categorized was impressive.  Also you can work offline and online.

Like some of the other “things” in this project I could spend a whole day on this one.

THING 13 — Library Thing

I could have spent all day with this.  I’ve heard about it but never entered my own books.  This time I added a few books and would like to do more.  I focused on my management, leadership, team building books.  It was interesting to link to others who owned the books.  I could see the possibility for discussions with those folks.

The ACLD eBranch has seen a big increase in use of the Books page and there are many opportunities for more creative readers’ advisory tools like Library Thing.