Completion

There have been several surprises, and Google Earth was one of the best. Most of the pieces of 2.0 have not been part of my regular work/or play life, so it was very enlightening to learn about what our patrons use/do each day, and a couple of pieces I will want to explore in the future on my own. Setting up a Flickr site was really fun, and I think that is one area where I will continue to explore.
I do have to say that as a part time staff member, it has been a struggle since the first day to actually have time in the work day to complete these assignments, and I know that in many instances I have just touched the surface. Sometimes with 20 assignments sitting in front of me, it was daunting. I would suggest a more confined/less lengthy program for the future. I have certainly not had any opportunity to go back and explore some more during these months.

Podcasts

I think it is a wonderful idea that we have podcasts of children's books on our own website. It's fun to hear our own staff voices. It's a natural.

Gaming

I expect that more than 50 percent of our patrons play games on the computers while they are here. We have had obsessed young teens in here all summer playing Runescape. I think people often relax that way. I see that in the adults. It is amusement. I enjoyed looking at Funbrain and the primary games, and saw a nice list of curriculum games that could be useful for teachers. I tried a couple and got entranced making a bee move across the screen. Could be addictive.

Avatars and Secondlife

This one escapes me. My mind is full of fun fantasies, and ideas. I find it hard to put in the time to create a life on the screen. I have a son who is a movie maker in his spare time. I know he can see the value and fun in this computer world. It's just not for me.

Overdrive

After several tries to download a book, I will need to look for additional help from staff. We have a great list of titles and many great children's books, that can be listened to. A patron I talked to recently said that she loved the voices on an Anansi story. When time is more available, I will try again to download a book myself. I downloaded the software, but then got only error messages in trying to download the book.

Applications and tools

Wow! Lots to explore here. Just got a hint of what can be done. All online. Got to think about this one.

Search Engines

This was interesting. I did the same search about the U.S. Senate and the FISA bill, just in the week that votes were being taken. I was really pleased with the results from the search in Dogpile which was so much more substantive, current and relevant than the other search engines. I will use it in the future for reference requests.

Online image generators

This was interesting, but not something I am likely to be using. The scrapbook generator seemed like fun.

Maps and Geotagging

Now this is something really fun. I saw my own house, with the iffy landscaping. Easier to move around than I thought it would be. What a great tool.

Tagging

It took me several tries to complete this tagging session. I have my del.icio.us account and can see how this would be very useful in condensing and keeping information at hand, especially useful in connecting with other children's librarian topics/issues.

Wikis

I would have loved to have WIKIs available when I was planning some backpacking trips with friends a bunch of years ago. I can see how it would be useful for future trips with friends. I can see its use within our library system, perhaps in the area of Collection Developement. We have an annual tea for the Friends of the Library, and all of the staff are involved. We could really simplify our planning with a WIKI. Maybe I will suggest it for next year.

UTube, Hulu et all

I don't watch television except for Masterpiece Theater, so Hulu and Fancast opened a whole new world for me. Most shows seem fast and loud quite frankly. But it gave me a chance to sample lots of things patrons talk and ask about. Like "Family Guy". By going to these sites, I can sample a little of this and a little of that and perhaps even guide them to the site, or answer questions at the reference desk, using these sites.
U Tube is quite fascinating, now that something can immediately be out there (thinking of politics). I saw a video from a library in New Jersey. It was really a nice way to be introduced to the library. Next time I am travelling, I will look to see if the town library has such a thing. How about Sno-Isle. Here is a link to one of my favorites--- It has the muppets of course. Called No Cookies in the library.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJlkplvYdgA

Flickr

Flickr was fun to look at. I would like to put together some photos for a family member. I had some trouble with the uploading, and think I need to spend a bit more time, and maybe get some help from one of my colleagues.

Facebook

Facebook seems easy and fun. I looked for a few old classmates but had no luck, but I did find out that my son has a facebook file and I could send a message to him. He was surprised.

Music

I signed up for a Pandora account. What fun. This is one aspect of our training that I will continue to use. I have a couple of anecdotes from family members as well. My sister is a confirmed non computer user. However she owns a small retail business and must use a computer at work. She is finding that setting up a whole set of music for the day in her shop allows her to have music for the customers as they browse. And my niece who has an eighteen month old boy puts music on the computer each morning for him to listen while he is playing within the house.

RSS Feeds

I signed up for only a few feeds. Have enjoyed looking at a discussion of gaming programs for teens, pros and cons. Patrons might like such a feature from the library. New books, parenting issues, children's programming are some topics that might be of interest.
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Instant Messaging

Instant messaging is really fun. I was able to download a URL from utube and send it to my partner. Maybe pictures next time.

Coupeville Carol online

After a few tries, I have finally created the first posting.