Thing 21 - Wikis

I enjoyed watching the Common Craft video on Wikis, I felt that it was informative and a useful demonstration on the basic workings of Wikis. While I had a general idea about Wikis, like many people, I was previously mostly familar with Wikipedia. Although I knew Wikipedia was wildly unreliable, I never truly understood exactly how wikis work to put together why they are unreliable.I feel much more comfortable with the ideas behind wikis now. After learning about wikis in the video and the Thing 21 discussion, I went to the wiki for area restaurants that was created for us to practice on. Since most library employees had already completed this project, I found most of the restaurants around here to be already listed. I have only actually been to two of them so far, as I don't live in Frisco and am a pretty new employee. I went to the wiki page for one that I have been to, Icehouse Grill, and decided to update the information on that page to include a link to the website. I found the website, copied the link, then selected edit on that page in the Wiki. I then pasted the link there, and chose to save it. When I reviewed the page, the information I added was right there. I found  the experience to be very easy and user friendly, especially after the brief video tutorial. I have not used wikis before (creating or editing) but I am glad to know how it's done and may find it useful in the future. I don't have a specific example right now of how it might be used in the library (other than the Youth Services wiki that already exists) however I am glad to know how to create them, as it may be useful in instructing patrons.

Thing 20 - Podcasting

I have had no real exposure to podcasting prior to working on 23 Things. As part of this exercise, I took the opportunity to explore several podcasts, and definitely feel more well versed in what they are and what's out there and/or possible. I used the link to go to the Library Success podcasts, and found a wide variety of podcasts available. Some of the libraries have podcasts that teach something, such as how to use an electronic source. Other libraries have podcasts with story times or chapter- a-week podcasts. My personal favorite of those I reviewed was the St. Tammany Parish Library. Coincidentally, I grew up about an hour away from that library system, however this is not why I liked their podcasts the best. I was impressed with their podcasts for a number of reasons: the person who hosted the podcasts had a cheerful and engaging voice and attitude. While it may not seem like a huge deal, when something is strictly audio, voice and tone do matter. Some of the other podcasts I listened to had hosts with boring and droning voices that did not make me interested in what they were saying. Another thing that I liked about the podcasts from this library was that they were promoting their libraries, did it in an interesting way, and had a variety of information included. There was an introduction to their upcoming storytimes with recommended books for children to read. There was a clip from a teen, encouraging other teens to come to the exciting upcoming teen programs at the library, and then there was a guest speaker, who gave about a five minute talk about some local area history. Overall, I was very impressed with these podcasts and felt that other library systems could do well to do similar things. I did not subscribe to this podcast or any of the podcasts that I listened to, not because they weren't interesting, just because it's not really something that interests me. I prefer to seek out information when I want it. But I do think that podcasts can have a place in libraries, and think that many of the things that I heard could be tried by our library - such as advertising for story time and upcoming programming, as well as how-to modules on using many of our e-branch services, and even stroytime or chapter-a-week podcasts. I'd be interested to see how successful these are if tried.

Thing 19 - Hulu

I have never before watched any shows on Hulu. I had a vague idea what it was before this exercise, but no real familiarity with it. When I went to the Hulu website for this "thing" I was definitely amazed at the quantity and variety of videos available, I had no idea the collection was that vast. I looked around at what was available and eventually decided to watch part of the tv show Chuck, the same episode that I had watched the evening before. I chose to do this so that I could truly compare the experience to watching it on tv. I watched about 15 minutes of the episode. There was a commercial before it started and a 25 second commercial after about 12 minutes. While I think it is great that this is available, I don't think it is better than watch something on tv. The picture and sound quality is definitely not as good as at home (although the sound degradation could also be due to the shoddy headphones at my desk). It's very conveient that the commercials are so short, however, I don't feel that this beats recording a show on my DVR, watching it on the big screen, and skipping the commercials altogether when going backt o watch the show. I do think Hulu is great for either someone who doesn't have DVR capability or doesn't have television/cable access. I can see myself using Hulu only in two scenarios: one would be if for some reason I did not catch something on tv or DVR that I want to see, and the second would be to watch something that did not come on tv. Personally I wouldn't want to sit and watch an entire movie on my computer, unless on a plane or something of that nature. However, I do have the capability of streaming something from my iPad through a connection to my tv screen, so I guess I could essentially download something from Hulu and watch it on the big screen...I still don't foresee this being a regular occurenece for me. However, for libraries overall, I think an eventual decline in DVD circulation is likely, but not necessarily something we should expect immediately. I think we may see more people in the future download things online and watch them in libraries, however, as long as there is a large number of the population without computer/internet access in their homes, we will continue to see DVDs circulate.

Thing 18 - YouTube

For Thing 18, I learned about YouTube. Of course, I've seen YouTube videos before, but I definitely didn't know all the details about it, such as the EDU channel. I watched some of the Librarian videos on YouTube as part of this exercise. The Adventures of Super Librarian and Super Librarian were definitely funny although I liked that it had a good message underneath. A Librarian's 2.0 Manifesto was more along the lines of being thought provoking. On the Allen County Public Library Channel, I watched part of a video that appeared to be an interview with a children's author. I don't feel that video was well introduced or explained; after a couple minutes of being confused about what I was watching and what the point was, I exited that video. I can see how items like that could be useful, but I guess that is maybe one of the problems with YouTube - nothing's cataloged, and everything's just all jumbled up together. I realized at that point that the Allen County Public Library had multiple videos listed underneath to chose from, I didn't have to watch that particular one, but when you click the link to go to their YouTube, it automatically queues up the the most recent one. Libraries could definitely use items like this to their advantage: online storytimes, advertisements for programming, how to guides and much more could all be put on YouTube by a library, but then of course they would need to also promote these for them to be of value.

Thing 17 - Music Streaming & Sharing

Thing 17 is another "thing" that is not new to me. I have used Pandora and Slacker quite a bit on my iPhone. When we take road trips, my husband and I always sync our phones to our car stereo so that we can listen to one of these on the trip. Slacker was the first one we used, and I liked it because I could skip songs I didn't like, and I could also "ban" a song I didn't like so that it would never play that song again. Still, the Slacker stations weren't that different from regular radio stations besides the lack of commercials, in that you pick a station that plays a genre of music and you may like some songs and not others. When I discovered Pandora, it was a whole new world. I really like that it creates custom stations based on what music you like. I have to say I think it is very smart technology. The station I use most often is one that plays Cowboy Mouth type music. Basically it ends up being a lot of 90's rock, but I have to say I like almost all of the songs it chooses for me, so it seems very intuitive. I haven't bought a cd since I got my first iPod several years ago. And now that I've discovered music streaming to my iPhone, I can't imagine a reason why I would ever buy a cd again. I see that the library has already reduced the cd collection and it seems to be on the verge of disappearing altogether. There is just no way to beat the free, 24/7 accessibility of music streaming. I think the cd as a library material to be checked out has all but died.

Thing 16 - Google Docs

I have already used Google Docs, but only very recently. When I started with the FPL a few weeks ago, I setup a google account and was added to the shared list for a document we use for scheduling purposes. However, this was my first experience with Google Docs, and I haven't done anything else besides log in and view this one shared document. Today, as part of thing 16, I logged into Google docs and explored. I created a new document, and found the functionality to be very similar to Microsoft Word. Some of the options are more limited than working directly within Word, however most of the basics can be accomplished here. Additionally, what makes this really useful is the ability to publish and share documents. The whole idea of cloud computing really comes to life with Google docs and makes it a reality for anyone that wants it. I can't imagine why it isn't used more often, and I'm surprised that I haven't encountered its use before in previous positions at other companies. It seems like an excellent solution that would benefit almost any organization or company, as well as individuals.

Thing 15 - Google Maps

I think I may have used google maps in the past, but I more frequently use Mapquest as my online map tool of choice. For this Thing, I took the opportunity to use Google maps instead and familiarize myself with that tool. It is a bit different than the Mapquest site. I like the traffic options, but there is also a similar option on Mapquest so that didn't end up being too new for me. I do really like the tool that allows you to see the "real" view of a location, for example I typed in my home address as the starting point for a location and then clicked on the marker icon and it showed a picture of the front of my house...almost a little creepy, but cool too. Overall, I would say that Google maps probably has more functionality than Mapquest, so I will probably try to transition myself to use Google maps more often, although it will be hard since I'm so used to Mapquest!

I used Google maps to map from my house to the Frisco library. I was surprised to find that the route I take to work is actually the route they suggested. They do have an alternative listed which includes using the TX121 tollway, and I would have guessed that this would be their first or recommended route, but it's not. The link to this map is:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=2100+Torrey+Pines+Way,+McKinney,+TX&daddr=6101+Frisco+Square+Boulevard,+Frisco,+TX&hl=en&geocode=FYhe-gEdzEI9-in1iDvY7hNMhjGBTyLQICrodA%3BFczW-QEdh2s6-ilb02r6BzxMhjHm72CvmFkAwA&mra=ls&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=46.630055,78.662109&ie=UTF8&z=12

Thing 14 - YouSendIt

I found YouSendIt to be a helpful resource, although not something I currently can see myself using on a regular basis, simply because I'm not aware of having a big need for it. It is however one of those tools that is great to know about, because when the need does arise, I know about it know and will easily be able to solve my problem by going to YouSendIt.

Thing 13 - Tiny URL

I've seen and used tiny urls before, but I've never created one. It may have been my first time using this tool, but it certainly will not be my last! I had no idea that it would be so simple to do this. What I like about it even more is that it allows you to create url "shortcuts" to the portions of websites that you really want to go to. So rather then always having to go to a home page of a website then click on three different links to get to the actual page that you want, you can create a tiny url of the long obnoxious url that represents all of those clicks within the webpage. I will definitely be using this again.

Thing 12 - Facebook

I already have an active Facebook account, complete with profile, photos and lots of friends. I don't log into my Facebook account very regularly, it's more of something I look at on occasion when I'm bored, to see what my friends and family are up to. I do have several friends and acquaintances who use their Facebook account religiously, almost like Twitter they update their Facebook every time they go somewhere or do something, or even think about something. As far as organizations "humanizing" their Facebook pages, I think some do it very well and others don't do it at all. For example, a coffeeshop I once worked at in college is fantastic at humanizing their FB page. At least once a day there's a status update from them with some tidbit of information, sometimes it's the coffee blend of the day, other times it's about a new treat or piece of merchandise they're stocking, and sometime's they use it to advertise specials. I live 600 miles away from this coffeeshop now, but I know what's going on there as if I stopped in for a daily cup of joe. On the opposite side of that is the SLIS department at UNT. I've belonged to their FB group for well over a year, and I can't tell you when, if ever, I have ever seen a status update from them. I think it could be used much more purposefully than it currently is, even with mundane things like reminders about school deadlines, updates on social events, and advertisements on new class offerings in the upcoming semesters. I think the FPL FB page could be used in a similar fashion, to advertise upcoming events and programs, to post information about new books that have just been stocked, to give early literacy tips for kids, and much more. The article about humanizing FB pages really stresses that it's important to post lots status updates and I think this is something that could easily be done.

Thing 11 - LinkedIn

I have had a LinkedIn account for several years, so learning about this "Thing" was nothing new for me. I had not updated my profile recently, since beginning my position at FPL, so I did go ahead and log in to LinkedIn as part of this exercise and update my profile with my current information. I think LinkedIn is a useful social networking tool for some people, but it definitely does not hold a purpose for everyone. I created my account long ago, because it was the thing to do at the time, but since then I have probably only logged in a handful of times. I believe many people use this site to either recruit for positions at their company, or to try to "link" with a recruiter to find them a job. People also use this site to "network" more in the traditional business sense of the word rather than the common "social networking" found today through MySpace, Facebook, etc. I can see LinkedIn being useful for people and I'm glad I know about it so that I can share this with anyone whom it might seem helpful for.

Thing 10 - LibraryThing

LibraryThing is awesome! I've never heard of it before (I don't think). I went to the site and explored for awhile as part of the 23 Things exercise. Then I signed up for an account and added a few books to my library, and then I added tags for those books. It was fun to be able to tag them with whatever I want. I don't however see myself using using that feature on a regular basis. I will probably use LibraryThing as more of a reference to look up books, find reviews of books and other information. However, regardless of how I use it, I believe it is a great resource and I'm glad to know it's there and how it works. I could also see it as a good site to recommend to patrons to find information on books, reviews and more.