Thing #23 - Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed learning the 23 Things on a Stick. I would never in a million years have discovered all these online tools if it weren't for this program. Thank you so MUCH! It was so worth it, and I know this will help me in both my professional life as a librarian here at the college, and also in my personal life with using my computer for networking and hobbies. I gained confidence by setting up the various accounts and following through on projects, and the length of each Thing was about right for getting it done while still keeping track with my work or home schedule. Thanks again! I hope you will be able to have 23 NEW THINGS next year that I can learn :-)

Thing #22 - What Did I Learn Today?

How do I plan to keep up with the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools?
I am going to add the "23 Things Ning" site to my places I check each day when I get online. I am going to regularly check in with WebJunction, too, for all the great resources available there. I will also definitely use Flickr a lot, and the RSS feeds I added to my blog.

What I do to try and keep up, is just have a little routine that I keep every day when I first jump on my computer in the morning. I check each of my listservs and sites for any noteworthy or pertinent information, make a note of anything exceptional, and come back to it later. There is no way that I am able to do this ALL the time, though...

Thing #21 - Beyond MySpace: Other Social Networks

Are you a member of any online communities?
Yes, I am a member of several hobby/interest group listservs.

Do any of these social networks appeal to you?
I joined the 23 Things on a Stick Ning... I added my picture and profile, started a new discussion, and added a new comment to my profile. I did this on 3/13/08 at 2:30 pm CST :-) It was extremely easy to use and a lot of fun to do

Thing #20 - Libraries and Social Networks

FACEBOOK
It took me a LONG time to sign up to be in Facebook, and since I am at work ;-) I just joined one group, instead of spending a lot more time gawking at all the available ones... I joined "Why doesn't anyone like classical music anymore?" I joined this one because the name was intriguing! I wanted to see who all was in this group and what they had to say, since I play and teach music as well as being a librarian :-)

MYSPACE
I went to the Hennepin County Library's MySpace page. It really was pretty impressive. They have "quick links" to advertise their new books, CDs, and DVDs, such as "Best Books of 2007". They have many blogs that people can join in on and express their views. There is also a considerable amount of space devoted to teens. There is a book reading advisory, social advice on such topics as dating and health issues, a "Teen Tech Month" feature, and a special blog just for this age group, as well as a lot of opportunities for online socializing.

Thing #19 - Podcasts

I tried all the links under "Resources". The link for podcast.net did not work. I found the Educational podcast one boring with not enough interesting podcasts to consider (for me). I liked Yahoo podcast and podcast.com. I did try the SCSU podcast (where I got one of my graduate degrees) link and found a podcast with my former advisor Mert Thompson, but alas, it did not work. The MPR podcast site did, and here is my favorite from there:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/podcasts/new_classical_tracks/

I also found a cool podcast about dog sports from the Yahoo Podcast site and here it is:

http://rss.mac.com/danceswithwoofs/iWeb/DANCES%20WITH%20WOOFS/PODCAST/rss.xml

There sure is a lot of junk out there also, and it would be very easy to spend way TOO MUCH TIME on podcasting as well as other computer stuff. However, I sure am enjoying learning the 23 Things! Thanks for the opportunity :-)

Thing #18 - YouTube & Other Online Video

I chose this video because I am hoping to do dog agility soon as a hobby. It was very easy! to bring up videos that pertained to this subject on YouTube. You could use YouTube video for: library PR, library tours, "meet the library staff", new book publicity, classroom demonstrations, student projects, speeches, a way for students that were absent to view the classes they missed, etc. etc. The uses are limitless, and it would be so much fun for the students and teachers alike :-)

Thing # 17 - ELM Productivity Tools

There is so much information in each of these tools - it is mindblowing.
How can they be applied to my everyday work?
While I am at the reference desk, there are often questions related to gathering information for a chosen topic. Introducing these databases to students and showing them all the features that can be applied is one of our responsibilities as librarians. Hopefully, they will try them out and learn to be good researchers by utilizing all the wonderful database tools available.

How can these database tools facilitate collaboration?
Librarians can team-teach and/or team research on topics. More information can be found when people work together, and more points of view will add richness and dimension to the information gathered.

How can these tools benefit our patrons/students?
If students will take the time to learn how to make notes and save lists while doing their research in these databases, they won't be as likely to lose their articles or citations, as sometimes happens... it will be all there waiting online for them! It is our responsibility as librarians to encourage and show our students how to use the many helpful facets of these databases. Doing so will help them to be more efficient and agile online researchers.

Thing # 16 - Student 2.0 Tools

Well! I have never heard of these two tools before. They were certainly not available when I was a media generalist in the public schools 9 years ago... They are absolutely wonderful.

How might the RPC and Teacher Guide help you to help students plan and manage research projects?
This awesome tool gives you a comprehensive outline for about every type of assignment that would come up, along with so many helps and links to aid you. It may not work for EVERY type of assignment, but its potential for academic application is tremendous! PLUS, you can even choose to get email reminders - or print them out if you prefer. This would be great help for students, as they always seem to be checking their email accounts ;-) I wish I had had something like this to use with my ninth graders when I was teaching media classes 9-10 years ago. The site is amazing. It is especially great for students that love to work online - no need to try and organize or keep "pieces of paper". And yet, if you like to read your stuff offline, you have the option to print every and anything out, too.
I went under "Step 2 - Gather", then, "How will you give credit to your sources?", and found a link to "The Citation Machine" - what an amazing tool and wonderful help. The student hardly needs to even think :-) The Teacher Guide is great too, full of wonderful tips and helps to get the teacher motivated and organized. I think this would work well to introduce right away when beginning a class - such as our Research Writing Class that is required of all students before they graduate from our college. Students come with such a variety of backgrounds regarding what they have had available at their high schools, and they of course also vary tremendously in their personality as to their ability and desire to organize their studies. These tools would be a huge help in putting everyone on equal ground. I would probably go over each step with the students as they go along, and do an overview the first week, so they know about it. The most WONDERFUL thing, in my opinion, is that it helps teach you to be self-sufficient and responsible for your own work ~ which is one of the tasks of education :-)