#23 My experiences and thoughts about the 23 Things Challenge

I really love that Infopeople did this -

We were discussing how we could set this up for our system, on our own, and like many libraries we were confronting shortages in time and staffing. When Infopeople announced their challenge it was a great way to get more staff involved and participating in learning new things. Some of our branches were starting to look at doing something at a branch level, and with Infopeople providing the structure, it became really easy to get things going.

I don't know how many of our staff have participated, but I do know that there is a greater familiarity and comfort with all these new things out in the field now. Thank you for helping us out - and we are looking at how we can take your framework and implement it on an ongoing basis, with local incentives, to get even more staff members up on 23 Things.

#22 Teaching people about Web 2.0

I've actually been doing this more or less ever since the original 23 Things came out of Charlotte Mecklenburg County. I've talked about Wikis, set Wikis up, trained people in how to use Wiki's, etc.

I've taught people how to set up Bloglines. I've talked about Flickr and what we can do with Flickr. I admit that teaching is one of my challenges - I can be a bit impatient and so I may not be the best of instructors. But I can definitely turn people onto the possibilities of new technologies. I am proud of the fact that more and more of our branches are setting up their own Wikis, to share information about their branch practices and information. I'm pleased that more and more staff members are tracking new trends and bringing new tools and new technologies up in the meetings. I like to think I had a little to do with this, as I've been talking about and introducing a lot of this stuff to staff and colleagues. And I think I've done a pretty good job spreading the word as an Administrator - I rarely get the chance to go out and deal directly with the public anymore.

#21 Podcasts and podcast search tools

Okay, it is something of a bummer that Yahoo is closing down their Podcast site.

I like the listings they have here and I like seeing what is "most popular". There are lots of podcasts out there. Radio has definitely figured out that podcasts are a great way to get their stories out there. And then there are all the other interesting subject podcasts -

For the library, I can see all sorts of fun applications. You can have podcasts on how to research a particular subject that you could set up as a loop on a computer - imagine a podcast on how to find information on a CA Mission during the Mission assignment rush! You could do mini audio trainings on the catalog, the Internet, particular programs, etc.

Next we just need to do little Webcasts - with both sound and pictures. :-)

#20 YouTube

I adore YouTube.

I keep finding fun things on it. You can post slideshows, find weird Librarian videos, and generally waste lots of time on YouTube. A good friend of mine entertains her 2 small children with YouTube. There are so many fun things.

From a Library perspective, it is a great way to get images of your library out there. You can publicize events, do great PR pieces (like the Denver Library reading cat video). It makes me want to go out and buy a video camera...

#19 Google Maps and My Maps

I really love Google Maps, and I like that I can create a customized map for people. I really like the customization feature because Google Maps and all the other GPS systems all get the location of my house WRONG! Our address always shows up in the middle of the street when we are actually at the end of the street. It is rather annoying.

But with customization, I can let everyone know that the satellites are all screwed up. :-)

Well, I just tried a really silly quiz off that I heard about through another blog - it isn't exactly 23 Things, but I HAD to find out which Sesame Street Character I am.

Looks like I'm Big Bird -

Which Sesame Street Character Are You?
	You are Big Bird. You are something of an eccentric, and not everyone always gives you credit for your inventiveness and intelligence. You may not always know everything, but people turn to you for your sound, unique logic. Plus, you have a big heart. Really big.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

#18 Online Productivity Tools

We started tracking Google writer and Zoho almost a year ago - our staff developed a comparison/cheat sheet on the products, so staff would know what they could do and what they couldn't.

I think it is fascinating that Zoho keeps adding applications - not only can you do word processing, spreadsheets, etc. but now you can ALSO use Zoho Project for project planning and management, Zoho CRM, Zoho Wiki for easy Wiki development and much more.

In our libraries, this is a good resource for those people that don't have a PC at home and are working on something over time, and they don't have access to an external drive or storage device. Using one of these online applications allows them to work on a novel, a large report or assignment and save it. Granted if something happens to the application provider, you could lose data. But it is definitely useful, gives you easy access and is better than not having anything.