Thing #23 Wrapping Up

In spite of myself I actually think that I got something out of this Web 2.0 Challenge. When I first started this I looked at the list of things and felt anxiety. I thought I would never see the end of the Things but here I am!

I got something out of it for my personal life by learning about Flickr and its uses. I got something out of it for my professional life here at the library by learning about Google Docs. I found that I learned so much about the RSS news feeds. I get this question often in the library's e-mail reference question box. Now I can easily answer this question because I understand about opening a Bloglines account to accept the newsfeed. What a great idea but who has the time to read everything.

There are many other things that I learned about but only skimmed the surface because I really didn't have the time to spend on each Thing. So I am going to go back over some that I didn't like too much like Del.icio.us and look at it again.

I guess this is what it is to be a lifelong learner. I am always interesting in something new if I have the time. I really like the Web 2.0 Challenge at the end but it was tough getting through some of them when there are so many other things to do at work. It certainly was a challenge to get through all of the Things but it was worth it!

Thing #22 ListenNJ

I do not have an MP3 player and so I tried downloading a book on my computer at work and it wouldn't work. So I used our PC Plus computer to download a book.
I went to ListenNJ and downloaded the book "Lady Susan" by Jane Austen. First I had selected Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert but there were 21 patrons on the waiting list.

After selecting "Lady Susan" I clicked on Add to Cart. Then I clicked on Proceed to Checkout and then scrolled down to Ocean County Library and typed in my barcode number. This allowed me to download the book which opened up in the Over Drive Media Console. This put it on the desktop. On the desktop was a folder with the name of the book I choose. When I clicked on the folder it opened up into Windows Media Player. The book had 3 parts so I clicked on part 1 and listened to a few minutes of the story.

I wrote all of this information down because when patrons ask me about how to use this I can look at my notes again. We get this question every so often at the Reference Desk and when answering e-mail reference questions.

I actually think I might use this because I love to listen to stories. I used to check out a lot of the Books on Tape years ago but stopped doing it because it involved so many tapes.

Thing #21 Finding & Listening to Podcasts

I went to Odeo.com and searched under Business. This is listed on the right under browse by Topics. I went down the list and found this podcast. It was really interesting about how Starbucks has to reinvent itself because there is a lot more competition now for coffee especially McDonalds. The company now has to go back to making a better product for people to spend that much money on their coffee.
http://odeo.com/audio/18570743/view
Rescuing Starbucks, Ford Sells Jaguar, Foreign Investors Move into the U.S.
Channel: TIME Business Podcast
Statistics: 80 plays since March 29, 2008

This is a good website and I am going to remember this one since the name is so close to Oreo.
I logged out by mistake and tried to go back in and typed in oreo.com. This of course came to the wonderful oreo cookie website. So now when I think of this site I think of oreo cookies!

Thing #20 YouTube & You

I love gray cats! My gray cat Henry is cute but I don't think as smart as Nora

The video I choose--
Nora: The Sequel - Better than the original!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0zgQAp7EYw

I remember seeing the first Nora movie on television and on the internet.
It was called Nora: Practice Makes Purr-fect

Thing #19 Web 2.0 Awards

I found so many websites here! What a great variety of them. Here are a few that a choose--

Biblio.com-- This is a great website! I always use abe.com that it is nice to have another website to use to find old and out of print books.

Medstory.com--This is one great search engine for medical information. I typed in a search and I got so many webpages. Many of the web pages are from Medline Plus, MayoClinic, etc.

Last.fm--Another great website! You can type in your favorite artist. I did a search on James Taylor and I got a list of his top songs. They compile a list of the top songs that people have listened to. They also have videos that you can watch and you can read what other people have to say about the music.

Cocktailbuilder.com--I am going to tell my niece about this website. She is a bartender/waitress at a local restaurant in Manasquan. What a great site you can type in your ingredients that you have on hand and you get a list of drinks. Wow even if you don't drink this could be fun!

Thing #18 Web Applications

I think I am really going to like Google Docs. I never knew that this existed until I did this exercise. It never seems to amaze me about Google. I can see that this will help with my committee Going Green. Our subcommittee has been talking about putting together a document before we get together with the larger committee. I can see that this will be put to good use because unlike e-mail we can each add something or edit a document. This will be so helpful to us.

Thing #17 Sandbox

I love the Sandbox but this certainly was complicated getting into it. Thank you Angela for helping me. I really can see the use for this. It seems like a wonderful tool for everyone adding something. Computers are so complicated though it was so much easier to play in a real sandbox when I was little!