Ta-da!

Well, here I am at the finish line! Hurray! I have enjoyed the voyage:

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I am going to answer this a bit differently from what I believe is expected: What my favorite discovery on this journey was just how helpful everyone in my branch was to each other in trying to complete this project. I watched my co-workers go out of their way to aid others in understanding and finishing each step. At no point did those who did understand what was expected make those who did not feel stupid or "out of touch." I am grateful to all of the Savagers who were so helpful to me.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
What it has shown me is that I can learn new things and enjoy myself while doing so. I am now contemplating signing up for other self-paced learning opportunities, and also possibly taking on-line courses. I have proven to myself that my brain is not too old nor too full to embrace new concepts.

3. Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
Yes, I was surprised at my strong negative reaction to "YouTube." I had really thought that I would enjoy "playing" with that more than I did. I have seen customers in my branch watching it and having a ball, and thought I would too, but it seemed like a total waste of time to me.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?And last but not least…
My co-worker, John Jewitt, did a fantastic job on his blog. One of the remarks that I have heard people make about his is how clear his explanations were, and I definitely agree. Many times I would read over the directions in each thing, and then go to his blog and re-read them in Jewitt-ese and understand better what was being asked of me. So, what I would suggest is to not have the powers that be who create "things" like this to take for granted that everyone is starting from the same place, technically-speaking. There are those of us who have a glancing knowledge of what is out there, and those who are "hep to the jive, " like John. The trick is to make this learning opportunity challenging enough to please the techies without having the rest of us give up halfway through because we just don't understand what is going on. The creator of 23 Things did this well, but some of the explanations of what was expected needed to be simplified.

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again choose to participate?
YES!

6. How would you describe your learning experience in a few words or a few sentences, so we can share our successes and promote this program?

Doing 23 Things gave me the opportunity to learn, explore, and play. It doesn't get any better than that!

Podcasts

I had no idea that back in 2005, podcast was the word of the year! Imagine that! For me, listening to podcasts is a really new thing, and I am amazed that I am able to do it. Currently, I am listening to a podcast from 89.3 in Ohio-wmkv--which has really old swing music on there, plus some terrific comedy. I just heard a bit from Lily Tomlin as Ernestine when she "called" J. Edgar Hoover, and was laughing out loud. I am also trying to figure out how to listen to the Marc Steiner show, and hopefully will be able to do so soon.

As I was trying to locate a podcast that I would be interested in hearing, I noticed that there were a lot of ones that were somewhat lewd. I am not a prude, but the idea of hearing stuff like that appalls me, and I do wonder where we are all headed in the name of "freedom of speech." Television is getting coarser, magazine covers are all about sex, and it seems as if all of the tools that we are developing are leading us down this path as well. Is this what we really want? Is this what we want for our children?

For now, I'm happy with listening to music from a different age. It truly has me happy.

YouTube

In a way, watching YOUTUBE was sort of like watching "America's Funniest Videos," complete with laugh track. Frankly, the site bugs me. I guess it is the influence of my mother, who used to get upset with me when I was a kid, and was sitting around the house reading when she thought I should be helping her clean. The thing was, she was right--I was lazy and had WAY too much time on my hands. And that is what I think of YOUTUBE. The YOUTUBIANS have way too much free time! Why aren't they doing other stuff instead of making nonsensical movies for their own and other's enjoyment? That is not to say that I didn't enjoy watching some of the stuff. I was particularly enamored of "Funny Dogs" volume 1. Since I am a dog lover, and have two dogs that need their own sitcom, I loved watching that.
How could libraries use this? If you wanted to schedule a tour of your library for people who had never been inside your branch, you could do a virtual tour and then run it on YOUTUBE. That way the uneasy feeling of not knowing where things are that spook a lot of first-time customers would vanish.

Web 2.0 List

Loved Biblio.com. Great place for me to discover hard-to-find books at terrific prices! Did an experiment with looking for difficult-to-locate Perry Mason books, and voila! There they were. Going to use this again!

Zoho

I have just investigated ZOHO. It was interesting; I have always wondered how people put in those smiley faces in their "writings;" now I know! Now that I've found this, I will definitely use it in the future.

Wikis

I have looked at a number of Wikis, and have found it interesting that all can post to them. It seems as if the "it takes a village" philosophy also applies to technology!! What I had trouble with is I was constantly wondering about the validity of the entries, and how "expert" the wiki-writers were. Where Wikis would be helpful is particularly in the book review area--I found interesting the opinions of others relating them (liked the BooksLoversWiki).

Future of Libraries?

In this "Thing," we are asked to read over Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries and then blog our thoughts. Well, here is my 2 cents: On the one hand, I love the ability that we all have now to reach out to each other, to show our lives to others through YOUTUBE, etc. These are marvelous mechanisms that I never thought I would see in my lifetime. And certainly libraries need to be on the cutting edge of this technology, and we as librarians need to understand, work with, and use this knowledge.

That said, there is a part of me that looks at all of this technology and realizes that even with it, human beings are no closer to understanding each other than they were 50 years ago. We humans are so lonely that we are constantly on our cell phones, text messaging, emailing, and blogging just to reinforce that we exist, that our opinions matter, and that we are connected to each other. All the technology in the world and all the computer-breakthroughs can't alter that basic need. Are YOUTUBE and all of the blogs bringing us any closer to really understanding each other? Or are they just a means to show how "advanced" we all are; a means to show-off?

As I continue my voyage, these are "things" that I will endeavor to come to grips with and to resolve.