Is this really the end?

Well, here it is, the 23rd thing. I have to say that I found this journey very interesting. Some times it was very exciting and other times a little boring. I have learned alot of new things that I know I will use in the future, such as, Flickr, bloglines and Lulu. I had fun blogging! I think the 23things program was set up really well. The only thing I had trouble with, was finding the time at work to do it. I had to do weeks 6-9 at home on my days off. If another discovery program was offered, I would participate again. This program has introduced me to alot of things I probably would never have found on my own.

Audiobooks and the Digital Collection

I have looked into our library's downloadable audiobook selection fairly recently. Unfortunately, I am an iPod owner. I have been considering getting another player to use for audiobooks. I did notice that some of my favorite authors do not have anything available in the collection and that alot of the latest bestsellers are not available either. Until the offerings get better I will be sticking with the books on CD, there is a much better selection. I listened to an excerpt from Harlan Coben's Hold Tight, it was very good and I look forward to hearing the rest.

Take a listen.http://excerpts.contentreserve.com/FormatType-25/0857-1/144858-HoldTight.wma

Finding Podcasts

For this exercise on podcasts, I settled on the NPR Podcast Directory. They have a Books Podcast that has book reviews, news and author interviews. It was very easy to add this podcast to my bloglines account. I've included the following link to the podcast about the new David Sedaris book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91814075

YouTube

I have used YouTube before, mainly looking at music videos. For this exercise I decided to look up what this site had to offer when I used "library" as my search word. Needless to say, there were an endless number of videos to pick from. There was an old Sesame Street skit that I think I actually saw when I was a kid. There was also a very funny skit from Mr. Bean. I picked the video below because it was funny and not too long. I hope you enjoy it!

I think educational videos from YouTube embedded in the PBCLS website would be helpful to patrons, just like the ones that have been in our 23things blog have helped us in our Web 2.0 exploration.

Web 2.0 Awards

Lulu logo
Originally uploaded by flickr_window

This assignment was to explore any website from the Web 2.0 awards list. I looked at several, but my favorite was Lulu.com. Lulu.com is a self publishing site. You can upload books, photo creations, or digital media, and then publish and sell them. They also offer services to help you publish and sell. This site is perfect for all the library people who have been heard saying " I could write something better than that! (come on, you know who you are) Here's your chance! I think a workshop about this site could make an interesting adult program for the library.

Zoho Writer

This week the first assignment is about web-based applications such as Zoho Writer.  I have had very limited experience with any word processing programs, so this is all new to me.  At first I had some trouble when I tried to change fonts and colors, but then I got the hang of it.  The light dawned, so to speak!  This was kind of fun but I hope not to have to use it that often. 

Playing in the Sandbox

This latest assignment was to play around in the PBCLS Exploring Web 2.0 wiki. It was fun to see what other peoples favorites are, and to add my own. I made entries in the favorite books and favorite animals sections, but browsed many of the others.