I am kind of sad to end this program. I learned a lot and had fun doing it. I also liked having permission and time given to explore these new tools. I doubt if I would have done half of this on my own. My favorite excercises were Pandora, Flickr, You Tube, Avatars, and Gaming. All the "fun" ones of course. Of the "useful" ones I will definately use Search Engines, Maps, I.M., and Online Applications. I think this will affect how I use the internet in that I will not automatically go for the "old school" way of doing things when I now know new tools online for accomplishing my tasks. I think the program was set up very well with each excercise building on the last. The only thing to change might be the amount of time to complete the program and each excercise. I did get a taste of what each tool can do but I would have enjoyed having more time exploring and becoming more proficient at each one before moving on. I would sign up for similar programs in the future without question. Sno-Isle needs to continue offering training like this no matter what the budget concerns. We are moving into a technological future (and present) and the library work place needs to reflect what is going on outside. That is the only way to keep the connection with patrons and be a source for learning and communication. As Buzz Lightyear says, "To infinity and beyond!"
Irish Girl out... for now...
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Gaming
I can see where gaming can become addictive. I can also see where young people are learning skills as they game. Even with the simplest game there is some kind of decision making and moving of pieces or words or whatever. I do have a funny anecdote from my babysitting days. I was babysitting a four year old boy who was already an expert on the computer. Most of his games were learning games so he already knew letters and numbers and even some words. He also had a workbook his parents wanted him to work on that night. I helped him as he wrote down the answers to each of the number questions on the page and when he was done I said "Good Job!" He then looked at me and said "what happens now?" I realized he was waiting for the bells and whistles to tell him he had finished. After the interactive world of gaming the written page wasn't so stimulating. Oh well, I guess that is why we, as library professionals, need to learn along with the young people and know what their expectations are.
Maps and Geotagging
I definately found what I was looking for and more. After struggling a little, once again, with installing the program (Thanks Walter for your help), I entered my parent's address. Apparently I entered it in the wrong search field and it got me to Google Maps. That was o.k. because I quickly found out that, besides a map and directions to their house, I could also get a 360 degree image of their house and the surrounding streets. I could navigate up and down the street as if I were walking back and forth. It was cool and kind of creepy at the same time. It felt like my family's privacy was being violated and I am sure, as more people find out about this, there will be a backlash. Anyway, I got back to Google Earth and put in the same address. I got a pretty good arial view of their house but there were trees blocking most of it. I think this would be a great tool for finding a place you have not been to before or are about to visit and explore, in detail, what is there. I guess just getting directions to a place is not enough anymore in this high tech world.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Avatars and Second Life

Here is my Avatar! I used tek tek and had way too much fun. I chose the hair, eyes, and mouth and the rest is from a template. I also tried the other site but it wasn't as satisfying. Nothing looked like me at all. Maybe next time I'll try something completely different, like purple hair and wings...
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Online Applications and Tools
I created a short word processing document in both Google Docs and Zoho. I think either would work great for this application but Zoho does seem to have more applications to use. With both sites Libraries could easily share documents between branches or systems. Also, like Wikis, the documents can be edited by multiple people. Once again, something I didn't even know existed. All this time I thought you still had to buy and download programs for each computer.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Search Engines
I tried all three alternate search engines plus Google with the search "library cats". I had just read the book "Dewey" and wanted to find out more on cats in residence at libraries. All four came up with most of the same results in slightly different orders. Most of the first sites that came up were selling something but Google gave more pages of results with better sites as I went deeper. I think all four search engines would work but Google will still be my first choice.
Podcast
Well, I succesfully subscribed to several podcasts with rss feed and it looks like the possibilities for podcasting are endless. It can be used for news, learning new things, and entertainment. The library podcast I visited was the Denver Public Library and it offered stories read out loud for children. I also found lectures from Oxford University on Old English and travel podcasts from Rick Steves. He has put together an incredible series of podcasts that can be downloaded to an mp3, taken on your trip, and used as tour guides. Imagine standing in St. Mark's in Venice and listening to Rick Steves while looking at all the wonderful architecture and art. I did have some difficulty, once again, with listening to some of these because of the computer specifications but I got a real good idea of what is possible with this tool.
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