Thang #16 - YouTube

It's not the newest video, but it sure is fun! It's self-deprecating, engaging, and serves a real purpose - that's why I chose this one. In the back of my mind, this is how I picture using YouTube and similar technologies in our library - to draw users and potential users to our library through video tours, tutorials, and the like.

Thang #18 - Facebook

I am already a pretty loyal Facebooker and am grateful to FB for connecting me with long-lost college friends. Some months ago, I did create a FB presence for our library but have since withdrawn it as I didn't have time to maintain it. We may revisit it again if one of our staff members can keep it fresh and current.

I have joined some FB groups and did enjoy some of the 23 Thing group suggestions for librarians. As I'm sure we all know, FB can be very addictive. It can create work place issues for library employees and the managers who supervise them. Who'd have thought just 5 years ago that we'd be facing this situation?

Thang #14 - Being Productive

I liked iGoogle's start page because Google's interface is familiar, simple, and not as advertisement "heavy" as others.

However, as far as online productivity tools ... Call me a curmudgeon, but for me personally, it's easier to do paper post-its, to-do lists, and calendars than to invest the time in orienting myself to the online versions. Gotta tell you - there's also a certain satisfaction in checking off/throwing out paper lists of items that have been completed!

The countdown clocks were just creepy to me - sort of the whole Doomsday countdown sort of thing!

I looked at the about.com "Top 10" list of productivity tools. I have used TinyURL and really like that. It's a keeper.

Glad I looked at this "Thang," but I think I'm okay right now with my present organizational strategies.

Thang #13 - LibraryThing

YAY! Here's a "thing" that I had previously explored. LibraryThing is always helpful in jogging my memory on what books I've recently (and not so recently) read. When I first opened my LibraryThing account, I had fun creating tags for my entries although my "twitchiness" in creating the most appropriate, correct tag sometimes got in the way. I must confess that I'm not too faithful about keeping up the information.

Here's my LibraryThing book list:

New and pretty interesting was the library/librarian-related blog, which I enjoyed lurking. I think LibraryThing is a great personal resource for avid readers and readers interested in expanding their reading. I like the user-created content. I think our ILS is implementing a number of LibraryThing's popular features (reviews, reading lists, etc.) Therefore, LibraryThing may duplicate what the ILS is already doing. I think, though, that it's a great site to introduce to library users who may not already be familiar with it.

Thang #10 - del.icio.us

Okay, I added tags (labels) to the rest of my 23 Things blog posts (I had previously done some but not all). I see the value of user-created tags; however, the inconsistency of them makes me "twitch" just a little (singular v. plural, misspelled words, etc.)

Question (because I don't know) - Is del.icio.us utilized as much now as it was? As I was clicking on links and looking at other libraries, it seemed that many had not been updated in quite some time.

I see the advantage of being able to create a bookmark list that is accessible from any computer, and that can be shared with others (students, patrons, others with similar interests). I think my library might utilize this technology in reader's technology to link readers with themes of interest. Our ILS and its overlay do implement tag clouds and personalize information for readers.

Finally, I didn't find del.icio.us particularly easy to navigate and wasn't really interested enough to spend a lot of time on following through to use it .

Thang #9 - Share and share alike

I'm glad I was introduced to PictureTrail. It was easy to navigate, and the product is fun for sharing pictures (especially related pics from a vacay or event). I've not used other photo sharing tools before this, and I think I will definitely try it again.

Thang #8 - The Message

1. Instant Messaging - This is a 2.0 component with which I'm already familiar so I didn't do the activity. I enjoyed the LJ article, and admit that I remember when telephone/fax reference was "controversial!"

2. Texting ... have done it but am too cheap to pay for the service on my phone ... so avoid it as much as possible.

3. Web conferencing/OPAL - Can't speak highly enough about this delivery method for continuing education and for distance attendance for meetings! Especially with the IL library system financial crisis, web conferencing may be the most viable way to deliver CE to staff.

To answer the blog prompts, I like e-mail as a communication tool @ the library. Besides the obvious "green" benefits, it provides an immediate way to communicate information to staff, trustees, and patrons. It's a time-saver (and money-saver in postage) for sending monthly board packets, financial reports, and other supplementary materials as attachments. We can send mass e-mails about programs to those who are interested in the information. We are currently not using the texting tool as it's still too cost prohibitive for us; however, as the technology comes down in price, it will definitely be worth investigating.