Lesson 23

Well I made it through the 23 Things on a stick. I feel I learned a lot. I understand what Flicker, facebook, wigets etc. really are. Some things I will use, others I will not. One thing I will say some of the instructions were not real clear. Not everybody taking the class is technically savy. It is frustrating to try to do something and just can't make it work. That was when I let go of perfection and did the best I could with each step. I talked to one of the library aids and she pretty much gave up because it was too hard. I think there should be a way to try some thing out with people who are inexperienced with computers to make sure instructions are clear. The thing that surprised me is that I actually finished it. It was a good learning experience. I think it would be nice for libraries to offer more classes for patrons to learn more about computers. Thank you for this experience. Good luck to all of you who haven't finished yet. Even if you can't do everything like me, you will learn something every time to look at a step.

Lesson 22

I checked out the different feeds. Some were of interest and some were not. Being a board member some things do not apply to me. It does help to keep in touch with what is happening in the library world. I agree some things are harder than others. I wasn't able to do everything and there were some things I would never use. I do have a better understanding of blogs, feed, flicker and many other items. This program has been good for me and I hope that we can encourage teens to be more active in library activities. Thanks for including board members in 23 things on a stick.

Lesson 21

I tried to read the my space for books but I couldn't get to the article. The webjunction article was good and showed how the internet can keep and library and internet users in touch. I added a comment to a post. This is the site I am entering for the ning http://23thingsonastick.ning.com/ I am not a member of a net working community. I did see a knitting group I might join and there was a crochet group that I will look into further.

Lesson 20

I looked at Facebook and My Space. I think if I had a child I would prefer facebook. They seem to have more safety protection for children. This is a good way to communicate with teens. Since this is where a lot of them spend their time it is important for them to know that the library is a good source for help with homework. A library could post events at the library that would interest teens. Since this is the way they like to communicate libraries have be part of that communication. I did not set up an account. I really didn't feel that I would use it.

Lesson19

I looked at podcast.com, podcast. net, podcastalley, yahoo, and the educational one. I had some trouble making podcast.net work. Podcastalley was my favorite. I listened to a podcast called pisceanknits. It was interesting hearing her discuss knitting. I picked my favorite from the educational podcast. It is environminutes. I liked it because it was informative and short. Some of the podcast are really long. I don't think I will do much with podcast. I am really more partial to blogtalk radio. This was interesting and not hard to navigate.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/environminute good podcast

Lesson 18

I watched several videos on U Tube. I put in the keyword flylady and saw some very messy house and their progress getting them clean. I watched a video Funny cats from Kjpar 7 done on December 28, 2006. It was hilarious. The cat jumping into the water in the bath tub was so funny. We have cats and I can see cats doing all of those crazy things. Unfortunately the cut and paste feature doesn't seem to work on my computer. I think because UTube and other video sites are so popular libarian have to be familiar with how they work. Videos of events at a library could also be posted on U Tube or Google. I keep trying to do these lessons. I think I am getting something out of them even if I can't do everything.

Lesson 17

I couldn't figure out how to get to GALE or EBSCO. The videos went to fast it was hard to follow what they were doing. Since I took out the RSS feed because it messed up my computer I probably couldn't have made it work anyway. Some of these lessons need to be simplified! I did get to net library and looked up the 101 Ways to Promote your Web Site. It took I few tries but I got it GO ME. This can be very useful for research if you need to or want to do it at home. I personally don't think I would want to read a book online but you never know. On to 18.

Lesson 16

I really like the assignment calculator. I can see where it would be helpful by breaking down a large project into small sections. It would help students by not getting behind on the project. I wish it wasn't just for research projects. It would be nice if I could use it for projects around the house. Libraries could have a handout sheet so students know about the site and help them set up the project. I like the fact that you can email yourself the assignment of the day. Really a good tool for students.

Lesson15

I tried playing pirates. The bilge reminded me of playing bejeweled. This is more the type of game my husband plays. I tend to like games like Suduko, Test twist, and crossword puzzles. I think people like to play online games. When I have been in the library I see people using the computer to play games.

kittyonlap | Profile | LibraryThing

kittyonlap Profile LibraryThing

Lesson 14

Lesson 14 had a good tour of how it works. It took a few minutes to figure out how to put books into the system. The book Therapy did not work well by title so I had to use the authors name instead. This is a good way for me to keep track of the books I have read and how I liked them. It is also a good way to find out what other people thought of a book I want to read. Patron can use this to find out what others think of a book and help others decided if a book is good or not. I am hoping I have moved my librarything to my blog.

Lesson 13

I picked Pageflake for my permenant home page. I had my husband look at it and he liked it as well. We are able to get more local information and we really liked that feature. It was easy to set up. I did try all three but this was my favorite. I personally didn't like any of the calendars. The setup seemed confusing to me. The Remember the milk seemed easier to use than the Ta Du list. 30 boxes didn't have as many features but it would meet my needs. Scrybe does a lot of things. I think I would get lost and it offers many features I simply would not use.

Lesson 12

I looked at all the home pages. I was not able to run the tour on MIX. The Stumbleup site looked interesting but after I had trouble with the RSS feed I am nervous about putting it on the computer. I was unclear how to share the feed on an article so I put it in the del.icio.us account. I am happy I could at least do that. Using these sites could be helpful for research. I also think you can get bogged down with too much information at times. I read one article that was interesting. I think libraries need to know how these tools operate in order to help patrons use them. I talked with one of my fellow students and I think she is so frustrated she is going to give up. Some of these lessons are so frustrating. I am glad I have kept trying because lesson 11 and 12 have been easier to do.

Lesson 11

I really liked lesson 11. It had good instructions. I was able to do it without becoming so frustrated. I can see may uses for people who are working on similar projects. The tools are easy to use. It would be great for finding a list of good books or research study.

lesson10

The wikis video was very helpful. I wish all 23 Things came with such an easy to understand video. I think this would be very helpful to library patrons. I really understand the problem of people hacking into sites. I guess each library has to weigh the pros and cons and make the best decision for their library. All the places were wonderful and easy to navigate.

LESSON 9

Zoho would not let me upload the document. Not very happy with the Zoho site. Google reader let me up the document but I could not do any editing to it. I don't like the idea of editing the Declaration. To me it seems disrespectful. I can see a use for the editing process if several people are working on the same presentation.

Lesson 8

First of all I had to take off the toolbar for the RSS feed. It kept making my computer freeze up.
Thumbstack seemed less complicated but wasn't able to guarantee that you wouldn't have problems. Zoho looks complicated. Picture trail had very poor instructions. All of these were impossible for me to navigate. I think this area is only for very experienced computer people. I am getting more and more confused and frustrated.

Lesson 7

Emailing can be a good tool to contact people about overdue books and books that they can pick up at the library. It is also a good way to contact people with messages. It is important to limit the time you spend checking email. If it is not important just delete the message.

IM will probably work best when the library is large enough to support having tech people in it. Small libraries will probably have trouble with staffing . I have tried IM and really don't like it. When I am focusing on email or doing things on the internet, I prefer not to be interupted.

I don't have a cell phone so I am not able to text message. I do think text messaging is more polite in public places.

I liked opal. This could save a lot of time and money for libraries by doing conferencing on the web. I do think you need to have some face to face contact.

Lesson 6

I finally figured out how to move the URL as you can see from my last post. Went to Huge Labs.
I couldn't figure out how to get a picture there. Totally frustrated!!!!! I will be glad to move on to something else. The directions for everything dealing with the pictures have been terrible. This is really designed for people with computer knowledge.

I can't believe how dirty your face is! on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I can't believe how dirty your face is! on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

LESSON 5

Playing with the different images was fun. Again I could not upload anything into the blog. There are not clear instructions. I got the image into my desktop but all the screens are big and I couldn't get any images moved. I have decided there are not clear instructions. I am frustrated. I have spent over 2 hours trying to upload pictures. This exercise has been VERY VERY FRUSTRATING. These lessons need to be simplified for people without a lot of computer experience.

Lesson 4

I would love to upload a picture of " I can't believe how dirty my face is". I found it impossible to do. There were no good step by step instructions . I could get the picture up on flickr but I could not figure out how to upload it. I am not very experience and after working on it for almost an hour I decided to just forget it . Maybe I will go back later and see if I can figure it out. The cats remind me of our cats when they wrestle and wash each other at the same time. Sorry I couldn't make this work. I guess they figure I should know how to do some of these things.

LESSON 3

The bloglines was easy to set up. It was more difficult to figure out what blog and newfeeds to use. Too many choices. I did pick 3. Since we have 4 cats I decided to try about cats. I took a news and TV squad. This is probably not something I will use very often. I don't do a lot of reading on the computer. A local library could have a blog set up to comment on books they have read. It does provide a lot of information. I think the Google was easier to use than the bloglines search. Onto the next project.

LESSON 2

I enjoyed Steven Abrams interview. I will set my timer and do 15 minutes a day. ( The Flylady way). I am doing this because I am a member of a library board and I think this will give me a better understanding of the challenges facing libraries. I am not very knowledgeable on the computer so I hope to learn how to do more things on the computer. I spend almost too much time playing games on the computer. I also follow the Flylady cleaning system and it has really helped me with time management and learning when to rest. I know very little about library 2.0 . The articles have given me a little better understanding of it, but I realize I have a lot to learn. I think our library will benefit from 23 Things on a stick. Libraries are having to add more resources and not having suffient money to always add these resources for the patrons. It is important to keep things simple so new users will understand new technology. Combining information could save money for libraries and have more information available to patrons. I think there will always be a need for people who like to turn the pages of a book. At the same time we need to meet the needs of people who like to listen to a story. I am off to try a Playaway book for the first time. Wish me luck.

set up my blog

I am so excited that I was able to do this. I have very little computer experience so I am hoping to learn a lot from this experience.