Final Thoughts

When I made my first post back in November, I knew very little about Web 2.0. Today, I feel I've come a long way. At times I was frazzled with all of the information, but I kept at it and constantly asked my co-workers for assistance. There were also times I felt that I learned more from them then I did from the actual readings for the various "things".

There were a few things about Library 2.0 that I thought could've been improved upon. For example, it was frusterating when I couldn't access the excel sheet because someone else was using it. There were many times that I couldn't look at certain sites because they were blocked or wouldn't come up for whatever reasons. There was a ton of reading, some of which was very interesting, but not enough visually. For instance, the use of You Tube videos when explaining a particular term was extremely helpful. I loved the video that described tagging. I was having the hardest time understanding this concept until I watched the video. That put it all into perspective for me.

Other than that, I liked that we were able to work at our own pace but I still felt really pressed for time. Having this take place over the holidays wasn't such a good idea in my opinion. It was difficult to find the time during a normal work week to work on this. After some holiday leave, I really felt overwhelmed coming back and having all of these blogs hanging over me. I never thought I'd catch up.

Will I participate in another adventure like this? Absolutley. I just think it needs to be thought out a little more. After looking over several of the blogs, I believe everyone did a great job and put a lot of thought and time into Library 2.0.

My 2.0 Experience

I have mixed emotions about my experiences with Library 2.0. First, I'd like to thank my co-workers for all of their suggestions, thoughts and insights. I couldn't have done it without your help!



I was really excited to get started in this adventure at the beginning. I was interested in learning more about Web 2.0 and thought this was a great place to start. After the first couple of weeks though, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. There was a lot of reading that went along with each thing, but that wasn't what I didn't like. It seemed that we were expected to have prior knowledge regarding many of the terms that were used and researched. For instance, I had no idea what a blog or a wiki was to begin with. I felt like I was lost right from the start! The info. that was given just didn't do the job for me personally. There were times when a You Tube video was included in our activities and that was great. I am a visual learner.



Still, I feel I learned quite a lot in my Library 2.0 experience. There was surely a lot of thought that went into this and the information was useful. I'm very proud of myself for getting this far because I felt very overwhelmed with all of the info. and I began to dread the thought of having to blog on each activity.



I'm glad I stuck with it because I think I'll use this information in the near future!

Rollyo

This site reminded me of others we have explored, especially bloglines. It's the same idea of grouping your favorite sites together for a quicker search. I wasn't all that impressed because it wasn't really a new idea. I searched other people's search rolls and found some interseting web sites but I chose not to create one myself. I know I wouldn't use it, much like I haven't gone to my bloglines account since it's been activated.

However, I can see how this may be beneficial to information specialists who have specific sites they visit to answer patron inquiries. Still, it could be just as easy, if not easier, to just put the sites under their Favorites.

LibraryThing

I've checked out this site a few times trying to get ideas on the next book I should read. It's a cool site for those who are really avid readers and interested in others opinions on various books. Now that I've created an account, I see that there is much more to LibraryThing than book reviews. There are book groups, loads of information on the books themselves and suggestions for other books that I may enjoy. It's really an enjoyable and informative site that I will probably visit often!


http://www.librarything.com/catalog/EWallace

Online Image Generators

This was fun! I found so many neat images but just had a hard time finding something clever to say with the image. I never knew anything like this existed. Now that I know it's there, I may take advantage of it when e-mailing friends or for just something fun to do. Here is the link to the image I created at imagegenerator:


http://www.imagegenerator.net/image/81682/Think-for-yourself-.jpg

Podcasts and Libraries

I couldn't open many of the podcasts examples on the discovery excercises but I did enjoy checking out the podcasts on the Denver Public Library web site. I love the idea of having children's books available for little ears to listen to. Still, it is much more fun for children to actually be able to take part in storytimes at the library. This is a great way to get information out to the public. It's another resource that is out there if you know it's available and know how to use it!

Podcasts

There are a ton of podcasts out there. It seems that there is a podcast relating to just about everything - just as there are blogs. I subscribed to a couple of the news podcasts because I like to be updated and this is a great and super easy way to check out current events and entertainment news!

You Tube

This is actually one site that I have visited many times in the past. It's very entertaining to watch the many crazy things that people videotape. I enjoy searching for my favorite musical groups and watching videos or live performances. You Tube has also been very beneficial to me in learning more about Web 2.0. For me, visuals are a great way to learn something new. This is the best educational thing about You Tube. Everything else is strictly for entertainment value - and that's important too!

Flickr Mashups

I enjoyed Flickr color Pickr the most and I spent a lot of time on it! It's fascinating to think that someone just came up with this mashup. I had fun picking some of my favorite colors and then seeing these beautiful pictures that popped up with the same colors!
The Mappr was pretty neat too but didn't entertain me as much as the color pickr did. Flickr is a really awesome site and the possibilities that go along with having an account on Flickr are numerous!

Tagging and Flickr

This is a really great site. There are thousands and thousands of pictures - even more. Without tags, users would probably be lost if they were searching for something specific. It's so helpful to search the tags when looking for pictures or trying to find something of particular interest.
I enjoyed the articles about how Flickr could benefit the library. There are some great ideas mentioned. I liked the photos which displayed library materials and the virtual tour of a library. What a great way to promote awareness and interest in what your local library has to offer. With the popularity of Flickr and other photo sharing sites, this could definitely be a great thing for the library to embark on!

Flickr

This is a really neat site. I could have easily searched the photos all day! It's interseting to check out all the different tags and then check out the photos with those tags. If I were to join anything it would probably be Flickr. What an awesome idea! Who doesn't love to look at photos that are posted from all over the world. Neato.
There were many beautiful pictures but this one left me breathless. Check it out!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/soylu/2181575286/

Checking out the Awards List

I had the most fun checking out a couple of the sites from the Web 2.0 Awards List. It was very helpful that everything was grouped into categories. There was a lot to choose from so this was a lifesaver. I right away went to the hosted wikis and found one that is awesome! Wet Paint was full of neat ideas and information. There is a wiki out there relating to absolutely anything you could be interested in. I checked out the lifestyles and found a great wiki just about book reviews. It even had a review of my favorite book! This was a lot of fun and I know I'll be frequenting some more of these in the near future!

Technorati

OVERWHELMING! Well, that's how I felt after exploring Technorati. There is so much information that it is confusing. I definitely feel like I need to take more time trying to navigate the site. I was a little lost to say the least. I tried searching for Learning 2.0 which left me even more overwhelmed with information. I think in order to really get to know my way around Technorati, I need a little 1 on 1 assistance!

Tagging

Before Thing 17, I knew absolutely nothing about tagging, folksonomy or even bookmarking. I feel I learned a lot about tagging and I really enjoyed the YouTube video with the two little girls. It was a great and simple way to show what tagging is. I also felt the YouTube video on social bookmarking in plain English was very easy to follow and defined the subject well. As for del.icio.us I was completely lost. I didn't know how to bookmark or even where to locate the VBPLL2. I found the whole thing very confusing.
I feel I learned some good information regarding tagging though!

MySpace

I have a little experience with MySpace. My younger sister introduced me to it a while ago when she was searching for an old boyfriend. I must admit, it was fascinating to see what some of these people put out there for the world to see. I myself am not the least bit interested in creating a MySpace account. It looks like the majority of people with accounts are young, hip party-goer types and I don't fit into that category nor do I care to. Sure, there are exceptions but it doesn't interest me at all. Maybe if I were in my late teens or early twenties and had a circle of friends I might think differently.

Social Networking

I definitely think that VBPL would benefit with developing a social networking site for teens. I learned a lot while reading the various articles regarding social networking, especially those concerning students. There are so many positives that go along with social networking. For school, these can be getting the students "outside of the box", introducing them to new and different kinds of students and helping them to express themselves better creatively. For the library this also is true. Teens are a very important demographic for us to reach and what better way than through social networking! Teens are hip to it and like to experiment with the whole Web 2.0. So should we!