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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