23 wrapped up.

What amazed me about this was how many of these things I already knew, but did not know I knew. I think we take for granted how much we alreayd know when we sit down to do an assignment like this. I was glad this blog made me start my LibraryThing account (I may actually start adding the books I own when I get some time). And it has been interesting to read other peoples experiences with the project.

I enjoy blogging, as does my wife who is keeping a baby blog going for the people that live out of town to check up on. It is neat to think that someone else will be reading what you create, even if it is for a class project.

-alex.

Keeping on the Learn

I'm in no mood to stop learning.

Though at times I get frustrated by the experience, learning about new ways to spread knowledge and help people find information is a joy to me. I want to help others be able to find what they are looking for in the world, and teach them the skills they need to be able to consistantly help themselves.

I currently work as a circulation clerk, and the experience of being in a library everyday has taught me many things about how the day to day operation of a library is very different from what we learn in our program. It is through the combiation of learning at school and learning at work that I hope to be able to teach and help others every day at my eventual job.

Creating new spaces

I like the idea of customizable spaces. Could these new social media constructs be where kids start to spread their own ideas? I know that Facebook and Myspace were where kids would gather, but I think once adults started showing up they quickly moved on (I enjoyed learning about the Creepy Treehouse concept earlier in the semester). Will there be a day when each person is able to create their own space, and link that space to other peoples social networks? Sites like Facebook do an okay job of this already, but what will the next creation bring?

The problem with getting involved with new networks like this is many times there are not really all that many people there. You may find that you even if you know one or two, there is not the same level of participation you would find on a website like Facebook. And this makes you wonder, Am I part of the leading edge of social content, or is this not going to be a place where people gather?

But who knew Twitter was going to take off like it did?

Myspace vs Facebook.

As I've mentioned in a previous post, I have created accounts on both of these networks. I was slow to do anything with either of them, as I felt like they were just for kids. Myspace seemed to be full of spam and very very ugly interface. Facebook is much more enjoyable, and many of my college and even high school friends have an active presence there. My wife and I use Facebook to send out game day party invites, and to keep in touch with family that lives elsewhere. We even taught her grandmother how to use it, as a way to keep updated on baby news and for her to interact with her church.

I've wondered if our library could use this for spreading information, but I feel like the librarians and/or management would not be quick to adapt to using this new technology (though my manager did mention twitter the other day, though it was to say she did not use it).

Podcasts are for listening.

I always start off with great ambitions. I have more several podcasts downloaded on my main computer, with many subjects covered. From history, to NPR, I often just look through iTunes for interesting sounding podcasts.

How many of these have I actually listened to? Very few. There is a music one that I like, and another one from webcomic that usually is quite funny. All the interesting educational things get left by the wayside.

That said, podcast.com is a nifty website that was linked to by another classmate on her 23 things. I like the interface and could see using it if I wanted to find a podcast and did not have access to iTunes (at work for example).

Because Cookie Knows.

Everyday at my library we have to go over part of our service principles. For the first few weeks this was interesting, but now that we've gone over them a time or two it starts to be less interesting. In an attempt to make it more lively, we often look for funny/wacky youtube videos to spice things up. I found this one the other day, and it combines two things that are great in the world, libraries and Cookie Monster.

Adding this to the blog was easy, as I just had to cut and paste the code into the blog. Simple simple simple. Like cookies and milk.

Oh databases, how I <3 thee.

My mind is full of databases this week, as we have been working on indexes for my reference class, and I really think I may dream about them this evening. This goes back to need for quality instruction. When I started my Masters program I had no idea how to search for things. I just would randomly type things in Google and hope for the best. Now, thanks to a year and a half of classes, I feel like I don't suck quite as bad as I did, but I still have miles to go.

Early knowledge of how to work these databases and do a good quality search will not only save time and heartache in a students life, it will increase their ability to find even simple things.