Thing 30 The End

It's the end! It's the end! Yes, it's the end of the Learning 2.0 program---didn't think I'd make it this far, but somehow it still happened. Though there are quite a few things that can be fixed, it's still worth doing and definitely something I'd probably do, if something like it is offered in the future. Get some neat training on work time (and a nice incentive for finishing helps, too)? What more can you ask for?


What unexpected things did I see with this program? Ha ha me finishing, for one. I remember looking at the list before the program started and wondered if I'd ever get through all these tools. I got through them all, usually on time, and found that it wasn't that bad once I did them. Working with other coworkers on this was a nice experience, and I wish there was more of it happening. I like sharing what I know. There were only a few people who'd I talk to or who would talk to me about the various tasks, but it's the same few I'm closer to. I also found that supervisor support was a big help. Right at the beginning, the supervisors stated that they wanted all staff to participate, and we have been encouraged to use our time off the desk and been provided on location lab times to work on this program. I talked to friends at other locations and found that they were not being encouraged by supervisors to participate and might not even be given the time/opportunity to do this! It's too bad for these people, and it seems like this program can be more successful and beneficial to staff if the supervisors support and advocate it.


Things to improve on this program:

-Cutting down on the boring articles to read. I know we need to get perspective when we do these tasks, but old and needlessly wordy articles do not help (or keep you awake). Can the focus be on the doing, more than reading?

-Web 2.0 is much more social and to be a part of something, you have to join to really get a feel for it, but, still, is there a way around creating numerous accounts? Could the library or each agency create an account and pass out the userID and password to staff?


-Could the Things be released per week singly or in two's? I found it was a little overwhelming when we got to having three tasks to do in addition to regular work. It seems like we have to rush to get it done within the week. Technically, there's an extra month after the 12 weeks, but each week feels like a deadline, and it feels like if I don't get it done in a week, then I'm behind when there are new tasks the next week.

-Maybe the beginning of the program needs to be reorganized? The first 2 weeks were confusing because we were reading a lot of articles before we got to blogging or doing anything. I think all the articles to read were a turn off for some.

-Can websites normally filtered by the city be unblocked for the program's duration? It was frustrating when I would try to work on an assignment and get a Websense filter blocking me.

All in all, a worthwhile program to participate in!

Thing 29 Learning 2.0 Experience

Well, the Learning 2.0 program is about over. Learning about new tools is over, and now it's just what you think of the program and all that jazz. Wow, 12 weeks already passed. I'm glad for the opportunity to play with and experience these so-called Web 2.0 tools. I already knew about some of these tools before I knew they were part of the Web 2.0 category---Myspace, Facebook, Youtube, Del.icio.us, IM, eBay/Amazon.com, and I'll continue using them after this program is over. I like taking pictures and editing them, so the image generators will probably be something I want to look at again, and it's the only new thing (and maybe Library Thing, if I decide to pay for it) I'll want to explore. I don't care too much about RSS feeds, podcasts, Technorati, Flickr (my picture still won't show up under a tag search), Rollyo, wikis. I really could do without all the new accounts to keep track of. The social component to a lot of these Web 2.0 sites can consume a lot of time, and you really have to pick and choose where you want to spend your time. A year ago, before joining Myspace and Facebook, I would have more time to spend on other things.

For all the issues I have about this Learning 2.0 course, it still has assisted with my lifelong learning. It's great to be given a chance to learn about these new tools, especially since I probably might not have come across them on my own because I do hear about things by word of mouth. Myspace, youtube, Library Thing---I heard about these before the Learning 2.0 course, and they were from friends who said have a look and try it out!

I checked out a few blogs, and I guess it can be interesting to read about what other people think, especially people you know. Sometimes, I want to read more about what they think (yeah, I write a lot, too much maybe), but blogs are supposed to be short :P

Thing 28 Rollyo

Rollyo can keep on rolling by. The last task for this week is to explore Rollyo. Rollyo takes social bookmarking up another notch. You can group the websites you use into categories and then search for info by groups of sites instead of just using Google and coming up with irrelevant search results. Details here:


http://vbpl2point0.blogspot.com/2008/01/thing-28-roll-your-own-search-tool-with.html



I don't use the Internet to just browse for info and don't find myself that interested in Rollyo. Usually, I have specific sites I use to look for info, and they aren't so numerous that I can't just go to the site itself. I was bored with this tool and don't see myself using it much, personally. There is potential for this kind of tool---like the library collecting websites for certain topics and putting them together so customers can just go to a search engine having those sites. The library already has a web links section ( http://www.vbgov.com/vgn.aspx?vgnextoid=93515bdd8cd5c010VgnVCM1000006310640aRCRD&channel=true )---maybe Rollyo is the next step up. Instead of searching each site for a question, a customer could use Rollyo to search all of the sites. There's always potential for tools, but this tool's not for me!

Thing 27 Library Thing

This week's next task focused on Library Thing. It's a site to catalog your personal book collection and share it with other users. Described as the myspace or facebook of book cataloging. Details here:

http://vbpl2point0.blogspot.com/2008/01/thing-27-take-look-at-librarything-and.html

I've heard about LibraryThing before---a friend uses it avidly and loves it. The organized part of me likes it, but I don't know if I like it enough to pay the fee to catalog my personal book collection (which is certainly more than the 200 items LibraryThing allots for free). Yet another social networking outlet to suck my time up.

So, I've played around with LibraryThing. Sign up (yet another account to worry about!) was pretty easy, and you're not required to provide more than a userid and password that you want. Adding materials wasn't that hard, but not the most intuitive. I tagged the items before finding out there was a certain way to do them. It's harder to find items that have different editions or are out of print. Though, I found that you can add an item and then edit the info later. I was able to find user-submitted images that matched the editions I had. I've been having trouble adding a link to my blog and don't find that aspect user friendly at all.

Kind of neat for the organizer in me but don't know if I'd actually use it after Learning 2.0.

Thing 26 Online Generators

Christmas socks Warholized
Originally uploaded by vbpl22

This week we're playing with online generators. Details and links to the generators at this link:

http://vbpl2point0.blogspot.com/2007/01/thing-26-play-around-with-online-image.html

These take Photoshop to the next level or down a notch, depending on how you look at it. A lot of these generators specialize in doing one thing to your pictures, so you can have neat results with minimal work. This picture is of the Christmas socks run through the Warholizer (http://www.shadowfire.de/warholizer), makes a picture look like how artist Andy Warhol did it. These are neat and fun toys, but it almost trivializes the work and any sense of art or value. It would take me a long time and some work even with photo and picture editing software to produce something like this. Andy Warhol made something new and cutting edge, but now anyone without artistic skills but with a picture and internet connection can have something similar.

Here's a text generator I played with from http://www.fodey.com/generators/animated/ninjatext.asp:

Thing 25 Libraries and podcasts

Aghhh . . . one more task related to podcasts . . . enough already. It's just another of these things that appeal to different people. Pretty much, we look at more websites and discuss what we think about using podcasts and videos for the library. Details at:

http://vbpl2point0.blogspot.com/2007/12/thing-25-summarize-your-thoughts-about.html

Interestingly enough, one of the websites, the Podcasting toolbox, commented that podcasts have not lived up to the early promise of popularity, though it may still with the popularity of mp3 players. The library websites listed tended to have podcasts, but the subjects seem boring, and there are no comments left on them---is anyone looking? Is anyone interested? If I was really really really bored, I might look at them but probably never again. It's nice that the library wants to connect and offer more internet services to its customers, but, when I looked at the podcasts, I thought "boring" rather than "cool." It's got to have more personality, more pizazz, more color. Choose a catchy title, provide an exciting description, and maybe it will entice me to actually listen to the podcast.

Thing 24 Podcasts

Next task of this week's Things is podcasts. Details and useless links at (the links don't work or are being blocked):

http://vbpl2point0.blogspot.com/2007/12/thing-24-discover-some-useful-search.html

I don't care for RSS feeds or blogs, and I find myself not interested in podcasts and vodcasts. After wading through bad links, useless links, and blocked webpage messages, I found a couple of podcasts to listen to, and I can't see why people waste time to listen to these rambles. Maybe they're the ones who are interested in talk shows and radio shows to begin with.

I don't know about podcasts being useful, except in the way this whole "2.0" trend with user-provided content being the in thing. People want to hear and see info provided by other users. If the library took advantage of this tool as a way to market itself, maybe people will want to hear people who are part of the library talk about it, giving it a voice and more personal touch.