Thing # 16 - YouTube!

Oh, what did the world do before youtube? I think the only thing I don't like about youtube is the comments section. I think some people make it their sole purpose in life to annoy and insult people via the Internet.
Other than that I think it's pretty great and I can totally see the library getting in on this. It would be great to see really popular programs at the library filmed and then downloaded to youtube...Just a thought.

Now I leave you with this awesome video of sheep strapped with LED lights...where else could you find this stuff? I love their name too, "BaaaaStuds" you have to say it out loud to yourself to get the full comedic effect.

Thing Fifteen - Rollyo ate my brain

I think I might have ADD, or at least a slight form of it. I really tried to learn about Rollyo....I did really. But the whole concept is beyond me..why do I want to make a searchroll? Why can't I just save stuff to my favorites. Why do we have to make it all time consuming and somewhat confusing?
I'm sure I'm missing something here and if someone was to properly explain it to me I would be like "Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, I get it now!". I have no one to ask at the moment though and my attention span pleads for me to move forward.....

Thing 14: Online Productivity Tools

Okay, so I don't want to sound like some snobby Mac ad but widgets are nothing new if you've owned one in the past 5 years. Pageflake and igoogle and myYahoo! are basically the same as the "dashboard" feature on macs, they've even got the sticky notes thing. Even cooler if you have an iphone you can download all these cool little widgets to your phone and take them anywhere! (Geez, I am a walking mac ad, Steve Jobs would be so proud.)
These applications however are great for PC users and people (like me) who can't afford a snazzy iphone. For my PC here at work I signed up for igoogle, which is super simple to do.
I had fun adding all the little gadgets, I love the music gadget that lists all the live shows in your area, it's something I will actually use! A few of the ones I added no longer worked, so that was a let down. Also, I think the to-do lists and sticky notes are little useless, there's no point in me making a list that I can't take with me. Maybe one day when I have that iphone.....

Unlucky #13 - Librarything

Well, I'm on the fence as to how I feel about librarything. It is pretty simple to use and would be a great way to keep track of what you have read. I also like the recommendation part but I don't think it's quite as effective as say Netflix's similar feature for DVD's.
I also had a little bit of trouble when searching for authors, you have to get the spelling EXACTLY right or it won't find zilch. Google it is not.
I can still see myself coming back to use it in the future to find some new authors, or perhaps even when patrons ask me for recommendations.

Thing 12 - wikis

I have a love/hate relationship with wikipedia. I love the fact that you can find absolutely anything on there. Like for instance did you know that Mike Rowe, the host of Discovery Channel's show "Dirty Jobs" once sang opera and sold diamonds on QVC? Fascinating stuff! I do hate the fact that anyone can edit and add to it though and I can definitely understand why teachers would not accept it for as a source for research.
I've actually already utilized wikis here at work. They're great to find the particular order of a series, or quick facts about a certain author and release dates for books.

Thing 11: social media...again?

Umm, is it me or is this stuff getting kind of repetitive?
Honestly I don't use any of the sites listed, I'm a slave to stumbleupon and for years I've been using the "most popular news" feature on yahoo.
As with delicious, I can see where this could be useful on updating folks with library news but I really think it needs to be all narrowed down to one site or else it's just going to be one jumbled confusing mess. Much like that run-on sentence I just wrote.

Thing 10 - My delicious headache

First off I have to mention how sad the delicious site looks, it reminds of those sites you end up at when you've typed the URL in wrong. You know what I'm talking about.
Anyhow, I'm trying not to judge a book by it's cover but in step 2, where you can supposedly add some handy dandy delicious buttons to your browser toolbar, it just took me to a defunct link.
Ohhhkkay, moving on to step 3...okay i give up on step 3 too because apparently delicious is not a firefox fan.
Okay so I've been fooling around with this thing for about 10 minutes now and it reminds me a lot of the application StumbleUpon minus the user friendly and fun parts. For me personally the delicious thing would only come in handy if I wanted to view certain bookmarks at any computer anywhere, as a leisurely activity to find new sites that might interest me, I think it somewhat fails.

Although, after browsing other library's delicious accounts I can see how this might be a useful reference/research tool for patrons. However it seems like it would need constant upkeep for whoever was in charge of it.

Thing 9

Urgh. I have really put this one off, at this point if anyone even whispers the word "flickr" my left eye just starts involuntarily twitching.
Therefore I opted on trying something new and signed up for picture trail for my slide show endeavor. Which, of course, in hindsight was a mistake because during the registration process I had to go through several pages of annoying/spam-ish ads to get anywhere.
When I reached my final destination it was clear that picture trail is geared more towards the pre-teen set. I have nothing against butterflies, glitter and rainbows but I would have liked to have seen some more streamlined options here for people over 15.
That being said, my slide show is pretty plain and honestly I can't come up with any good reasons of why and how this should be used in the library, I'm towards the end of a 10 hour workday...sue me.

PS- The pictures in my delightful slide show below are photos of the jewelry I make in my spare time...gotta love shameless self-promotion