Summary

This has been an interesting ride. I have done things I thought I would never do, such as sign up for a MySpace account and design a blog. And although I am glad I have experimented with these things, my distrust of technology is alive and kicking. In other words, I am not convinced technology will save us. And I definitely would rather be outside and interacting with real live people versus a computer screen. Now to contradict my own beliefs...there may be something here for libraries.

If nothing else, we need to improve our website! To quote Shrek our site is like an onion. And frankly, there are too many layers to peel. Our site needs to be more vibrant, colorful, and interactive. It needs to be easier to navigate and more engaging. We have a great library, but our web interface does not reflect that. If I learned anything from this experience it is that libraries should have a more interactive web presence (electronic public forums, podcasting, video, book talks with Barbie...). Sadly, there are people who live life through their technology. The library can not reach those individuals unless we step up and let the creative juices flow.

Podcasts

I found Podcastalley.com a useful site. When I searched children's book talks there were many many podcasts to choose from. I included "children's book radio" and "book bites for kids" to my Google Reader. In contrast I found Yahoo! utterly useless. When I typed in children's book talks I got a bunch of random nothing. I suppose if I spent more time playing with the search I may be more successful, but I didn't and I won't...

Youtube and Me

Over the past few months I have been introduced to Youtube. The video I have watched has always been entertaining. I have not spent much time browsing, but imagine this too could suck me into a vortex of wasted time. I prefer to watch a video recommended to me and not spend hours looking for videos to recommend to others.

As for the library and Youtube. It seems there is great potential to snatch unsuspecting browsers. Like these book talks by Barbie...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWs_i-oHXD0
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rio_XlX-Kd4
Or Library Ninjas...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZdeVuEJ-s0

We are only limited by our lack of imagination.

Week Nine (part two)...Google Labs and Web 2.0 Awards

I browsed Google Labs and the Web 2.0 Awards list today. I must admit this was an entertaining way to waste time. Google Mars was interesting. Google Suggest was annoying and Google Scholar and Page Creator were intriguing. I did not experience any difficulty navigating any of the prototypes. Google Mars was probably the most entertaining. I suspect this one will graduate, considering the popularity of Google Maps. For the average Internet user, I suppose Google Suggest could be useful - I just found it mildly irritating. I have a bad habit of finishing other people's sentences. I find it annoying in me and equally annoying that Google presumes to know what it is I am searching for. I typed in "Ant" because I was searching for information on ants and instead Google decided I was looking for "anthropology" among other things. My favorite prototype was Google Scholar. I think this could be a useful tool for students and anyone looking for more scholarly sources.

On the Web 2.0 Awards list I browsed several websites. I was amused by One Sentence, a site where one may write a one sentence story. The stories included a gamut of topics, emotions, and scenarios - some were quite profound. Google Maps was both fun and a bit scary. Not sure how I feel about someone having the ability to look up my address. I really liked Care2, which incorporates petitions, donations, groups and tips. I have a thing for signing petitions and am always looking for legitimate and productive non-profit organizations to support. So there you have it.

Dabbling with GoogleDocs

Greetings fellow travelers. I am writing this from Google Docs. It seems to be a basic but sufficient word processing service. Let's see how it translates onto the blog...I like the idea of not having to worry about compatibility with different software programs and the idea that no matter where I am, I have the ability to access documents I am currently working on.