Deep Thoughts on My Final 23 Things Post

I knew I would learn plenty by tackling 23 Things.  But what I didn’t realize is how much these tools would change simple things in my daily life!  I already knew (and wasted much time) on You Tube.  I would download podcasts from itunes. 

My favorites of the 23 Things:

Blogging:  I created the Heights Teen Spot to hopefully connect with our local teens.  Sam is doing a brilliant job of making it grow.  I created my own readers advisory blog hickeypicks.wordpress.com.  I write reviews of all the books I am reading, a few book talks and discussion questions for a teen book group.

Pandora:  I am discovering many new artists and creating ambiance while I work.  This is too much fun!  I call this up whenever I am working on the computer.  Right now I am listening to Weezer’s “Island in the Sun” on my Sondre Lerche station.

Facebook:  While I initially ran away screaming, I embraced facebook because I can connect with family and friends I normally do not get to see.  I loved re-connecting with many former co-workers at WKYC and my days in Miami.  There are many Hickey cousins listed as friends.  It is such a great joy to see updated pictures of their children and hear what’s going on in their daily lives.  I don’t feel like Robin is so far away, even though she is on the other side of the world.  When I move.. (sob)… I will hopefully stay a part of all your lives at CH-UH.  You are all such amazing people!

Good Reads:  I love seeing what you are all reading!  You have such great suggestions!

Del.icio.us:  I really want to dive into this and really understand it.  This is my next challenge.  I want to get a really good grip on this.  I love what Lansing Public Library did with this and I would like to do the same.

Thanks to all the members of the Innovation Team for this opportunity to learn more about Web 2.0.  This training was very worthwhile!

Week #9: Children’s Programming with Shotguns & 80’s pop idols! This is what I watch on You Tube!

I loved The Muppet Show.  My daughters and I watch the Swedish Chef skits on you tube.  I love you tube!  I is the ultimate in instant gradification.  I can share all my childhood favorites instantly.  I look up highlights from the debates,  Keith Olberman’s commentary and old Duran Duran videos.  I end up wasting a lot of time here, but I love it.

Duran Duran’s Rio just named greatest music video of all time by MTV.

Podcasting: My favorite place to go for podcasting is itunes.  Many of them are free.  My favorite it is the Meet the Press podcast.  There are podcasts from everything from NPR driveway stories to episodes of Sesame Street.  I love the staff picks section.  This is one stop shopping for me.

Perspectives:  I read “Tags Help Make Libraries Del.icio.us.” from Library Journal, Sept. 15,2007 and “Why We Blog” in November 17, 2007 issue.  I am taking a Marketing The Library class at Kent State.  I brag about our R.A.T.S., Charlotte’s Weblog and HeightsTeenSpot and their amazing blogs.  Many of my classmates have never seen anything like it.  Blogging is such a great way for us to connect with people.  Highly trained staff is just one of the things that seperate us from Borders, Barnes and Noble and Google. 

Showing off our expertise in with our favorite reading is just the start.  We can use blogs to offer information to customers so they don’t need google.  We’ve already done the homework.  Now all you need to do is click.  The Lansing Public Library does a great job by using Del.icio.us to create an online pathfinder in the way customers can understand.  They update these tags to go with updated news information and new assignments from the local schools.  This is something I would very much like to continue to explore for children and teens. 

“Make Some Noise: How Web 2.0 Can Help You Communicate With Your Customers” in Business Week, talks about how a winery’s blog helped double their sales.  They offered a humorous account of wine making their customers enjoyed reading.  They gained loyal customers.  I think our librarians do the same thing with our blogs.  I love the humor and warmth from Our Goddess of Guilty Pleasures and the dry humor of our beloved Undead Rat.  I think this will only grow as more of our customers discover our blogs.

Week #8: Google Calender

I like using Google Calender.  You can select colors for each family member to keep track of what everyone is doing that week.  It has a nice feature to add an item that happens on a regular basis.  This way you do not have to type it over and over again.  It has perimeters so you can stop it after a certain date.  I found this helpful after a while but I still write in a paper calender instead.  It is just easier for me.

Widgets:  At this time my brain is not able to process the info.  I don’t get it!  Amy Harmon help!!!! I tried to upload/download (whatever) a widget from the Twilight the movie page.  I followed the directions and then the screen froze.  Hmmmm.

Web 2.0 Awards:  I took a look at MothersClick.  This is a site for moms, obviously.  There are several catagories, ranging from recipes kids will love to news, to featured articles like “How to Survive A Family Vacation.”  There are also links to blogs and groups.  I clicked on the group “30 something moms.”  I found a blurb on how to stay social with an infant.  Sounds silly, but its a pretty big adjustment.  This is a good site I might just use from time to time.

Week 7 Continued…. Newsvine and Del.icio.us

I took a look at Newsvine.  I liked the way this site linked to the associated press.  There are a number of news catagories from science to politics and entertainment.  My personal favorite feature was the odd news.  Where else could you find this grape with the imate of the Virgin Mary.

DEL.ICIO.US

I then moved onto Del.icio.us.  I browsed the tags and chose “news.”  It gave me a list with CNN, New York Times, C-SPAN Debate Hub and BBC.  There is also more narrow tag with politics, business and newspapers.  I also looked up food and narrowed the tag to cake.  It sent me to recipes and to a website called “Cake Wrecks: when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong.”

Here is cake torture!  This is a cake shaped as an insulin pen.  This was for someone who was just diagnosed with diabetes.

Facebook Convert!

My position on facebook has changed.  I am now addicted because I am chatting with old co-workers, cousins and friends from my past.  This is the greatest, most addictive toy ever!  It could be a time waster, but not really because I am staying in touch with those I really care about.

My Secret Identity!

 I finally figured out how to export my avatar.  This is so exciting!  It kind of looks like me, but not really.  So I can post a photo and still keep my hidden identity!

I figured out how to add glasses.  Sweet!

Week 7: Facebook Fright!! Stumbleupon & Del.icio.us.

Facebook:  I was getting into this, putting all my information in when I added my high school.  Big mistake!  I clicked on the link and found too many people.  Then I realized if I can see them, they can see me!  Ahhhhhhhhh!  Then I rapidly deleted all of my personal information.  This was my short but sweet experience with Facebook.  I am far to private for Facebook.  Linked In is more my speed.

Week Six: Wiki’s, Google Maps and Technorati

Wiki:

Library Success Best Practices Wiki is very helpful.  There is a programming database you can search by theme or cost.  It is available for adults and youth.  There are also reader’s advisory tools.

Yalsa Teen Read Week has a wiki there are helpful booklists that show books with bite, from vampires to cookbooks to technology (byte).

I used PB wiki for several classes at Kent State.  Once I created a readers’s guide for the book, The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler.  Another class I wrote a wiki page about weeding a children’s collection.

Google Maps, My Maps:

This is fun.  I made a personalized map from my house to the library.  I drew lines from Warrensville Center Road to Silsby to Lee.  I gave directions, such as turn left on Silsby and cross Taylor.  It is pretty primative, but I can see how with practice this will come in handy!

Technorati:

I did not like this site.  The news was a little jumbled and I was not sure of the source.  I would rather look at USA Today online, NY Times online or NBC Nightly News.  I looked at the blogs.  I clicked on the parenting topic and found semi-interesting things.  I will not return to this site.  It seemed like a time waster, since I already have trusted sites for news and information.

Week 5: Play, Pandora and Good Reads

I picked Pandora for the free online radio site.  This is fantastic!  I picked one of my favorite artists, Sondre Lerche.  He is from Norway.  I discovered him by watching the movie Dan in Real Life.  He did the soundtrack.  I created a radio station with his music.  I love it!

 

I am now addicted to Good Reads and have invited many people to be my friends.  I invite anyone on staff to be my friend!  This is such a great way to keep track of what you are reading.  Most of my titles are YA these days.  I created a profile.  Unfortunately I put my last name in my user name and am not sure how to change it to just Kris instead of KHickey.

Flickr- Week 4

This was fun.  I have wanted to explore this site and found some beautiful images.  I explored pictures of babies, Christmas and some gorgeous country scenes.  I love the way great lighting and angles can turn a rusty old truck in overgrown grass into art.  The mashups were harder for me to find.  I googled them and found a really interesting on of the Eiffel Tower.