Thing 10: Virtual Library

The last one! Yea!! I think the SPL website is truly amazing. My favorite aspect is the Kids pages - it has so much to offer. Sometimes its hard to locate things, but I think that's because there's just so much there. It would be nice to unbury certain elements, such as booklists for kids. You have to click on several other things before you get to that section and if you don't know what to click on, you may never find it. I really don't have any ideas for new services.

Thing 9: Google Tools

I like this one a lot. Too much information, but very useful stuff. I like Google Earth - could be a great teaching tool for students. The Product Search is good for comparative shopping - didn't this used to be called Froogle? Also, the Web Search features is extremely helpful for finding all kinds of information.

Thing 8: Wikis

Basically, I'm not crazy about wikis. I understand the concept of the community monitoring the content, so that the information posted is accurate, but I'm still distrusting of it. I'd rather use a recognized source if I had to do research. I guess I'm not overly trusting. Thus, I don't think its appropriate for libraries. To me, it seems like another form of blogging.

Thing 7 Podcasting

I like the idea of podcasting. I htink its a great way for people to share information and can be a very useful educational tool. I think SPL could podcast some of their programs or meetings that are held in the library. Patrons might be interested in the concerts and programs by authors. I have little experience with podcasts, though I have listened to some music that was podcast.

Delicious Thing

Delicious was an easy one. I was actually able to do it.

Flickr Blog

So, as usual, I had some trouble with this Thing. I did manage to upload a few pictures onto Flickr, but then got stuck when it came to posting the pictures onto my blog. And I thought I had created a blog on Flickr, but now I can't find it and I've never removed it from the list of blogs on the Flickr account. Sigh.

I created a Facebook account because my kids are on Facebook and I wanted to freak them out. It worked. They both think its the weirdest thing to have their mom on Facebook. But, they both accepted me as their friend and one of their friends even poked me. Its kind of a kick to see what they're up to, but I really have no interest in posting my information for all the world to see.

Thing 3

I had trouble getting into Google Talk. When I clicked on "Launch Google Talk" the computer kept trying to load, but never succeeded. And I tried several times. I am finding that the directions on the 10 things @ SPL page are not easy to follow.

RSS is interesting and it was easy to set up. At this point I don't know how I'll use it in my work, though at home it will be handy to seethe things I'm interested in pop up in one place. I suppose libraries could use it by subscribing to library sites and getting the news from these sites easily.

Update of earlier posting

I did not have an easy time setting up my blog. In the middle of creating my template, I somehow quit out of everything and then, whenever I tried to log back on, the site , instead of loading, kept flashing on and off. Very frustrating. I looked at some other blogs and they looked good - better than mine. I can't quite figure out how SPL can use blogs - I am not comfortable with using them as anything other than reading what other people are thinking about. I don't think they can be used as authoritative.

This is my first blog posting. I'm not very comfortable with it and don't have a lot of time. So, for today, this is it!