Thing 19: Other Social Networks

What, we're moving past Facebook? But, I can't. I'm stuck there. I j u s t c a n ' t p r y m y s e l f a w a y f r o m i t . . .

Okay, back to reality. I looked around for a few social networking sites that might interest me. It seems like Ning offered quite a few interesting sites. I didn't join anything since I didn't have too much time to look around (since I was stuck in Facebook - just kidding.) I will definitely come back to Ning later since I registered and find some interesting networks to join. The Library 2.0 network looks like a great place to share/read information. This could be a great place for librarians to get more information about the ways other libraries are reaching out to their patrons and how they are using today's technology.

Thing 18: Facebook and MySpace

So, I finally did it! I joined Facebook after countless times of being asked, "Where are you?" I decided to wait until I reached this point in the 23 Things to create an account. I have been thinking for a while now about how scary it could be. You basically can't hide anymore once you exist on Facebook. Everyone goes looking for you! Will people I don't remember, don't know, or don't want to know want to be my friend? UGH! I don't want to mess with all of that. I just want to friend a few people (real friends and family) and that's about it. I guess that doesn't work here.

I added a few friends (people I talk to often), joined the Library 2.0 Interest Group, and posted my "I'm here" stamp on my wall. Now I can be as cool as everyone else (Ha Ha)!

p.s. I have come back to edit this post because I have more to say after my journey through Facebook yesterday and today. I can't believe how many "Friends" they suggest! Anyone from people who went to my college to friends of friends of friends friends! It was fun to see everyone that was related to my profile in one way or another, but truly overwhelming! The funny thing is that there are way more people out there that I could search for (that I really know) that Facebook wouldn't pick up on. The problem is that I could be here for HOURS looking for friends (which is what I think a lot of people do). Hopefully the answer for those that want to spend loads of time socializing on the Net is Twitter. I guess they will leave me in the dust as they speed off to the next big thing on the Net.

I should add a bit about why Facebook is the fastest growing social network. Since I am just a beginner, I haven't had the opportunity to explore all of the bells and whistles of Facebook. But, just from my early experiences I would say it's because of how easy it is to connect with EVERYONE! The question is where do you draw the line? Do you befriend EVERYONE or only specific people and will he/she be mad if he/she finds out you are there and don't want to be his/her friend? This could be fun and dangerous all at the same time . . .

Thing 17: Podcasts

The first podcast directory I tried was podcast.com. I used the "Browse Podcast Collection" on the right side of the screen to browse for foreign language podcasts. Then I briefly listened to several of the podcasts featured in the German collection. I chose a few in the Zicklein und Familie (kids and family) collection and several of the DeutscheWelle selections. A few of the podcasts had audio and video, but most were just audio. I guess I just prefer watching, but I am not a big fan of just listening to news, cartoons, or shows. I prefer to watch television for these types of things and so the podcasts just didn't appeal to me. The selections that included video didn't seem very "professional" either. I prefer watching professionally produced television programs and movies to "home-made" programs. Basically I only enjoy listening to music and sometimes comedy, but not much else. I think if one was trying to learn something specific (learning/practicing a language) or liked listening to certain types of "talk-radio" (gardening tips) a podcast might be the answer. However, I am not sure that I would download or especially spend money to download most types of podcasts out there.

I liked the directories in which you could browse for podcasts (podcast.com and Educational Podcast Directory) more than the "search for a podcast" directories (Yahoo podcasts). It was kind of interesting to see all the different subjects of podcasts out there and get ideas on what ones I might like to listen to.

Thing 16: YouTube

I could not find the "Embed" box on the YouTube page for the video I wanted. The only "Embed" box I could see was on the right side of the page under another video on the history of the University of Florida. But, I copied/pasted the code anyway and I see that it is the one I wanted. Anyway, the video I embedded is from a set of videos created by a few of our librarians to offer patrons a quick overview of the collections and services at each of the libraries at the University of Florida. This particular video is the "Introduction" to the series. I thought this was a great example of how YouTube can be used in the libraries and our staff did a great job with the videos!

Thing 15: Rollyo

I created a Rollyo to search several publisher websites at once. When searching for music scores and recordings to purchase for the library, I often have to explore several different sites to find items and compare prices. My first Rollyo contains several different music vendor and publisher websites. Hopefully I will be able to use my Rollyo to search several websites at one time and compare prices, etc. from one screen.

I checked out a couple of the other examples of Rollyos that were created. The Rare Book Library Search is similar to the Rollyo I created. In the past I have used several sites to search for rare or out of print books for library purchase as well and this Rollyo might be useful to me or other librarians/collection managers looking for hard-to-find materials.

Thing 14: Online Productivity Tools

I chose Yahoo as my start page because I already had a MyYahoo start page set up. However, it had been a while since I had edited and I found there were many more "apps" I could add to it. So, I played around with it for a while, adding my favorite team's baseball schedule, added cities for the weather forecast, adjusted my t.v. listings to Eastern time, etc. I also read a few of the news articles. I guess I didn't have to do too much work on this one since I had done this a while ago. As I said before, it had been a while since I had used my start page. I don't use it much and had forgotten all of the stuff that was there. I guess I could have used it many times to look for game times, news, and t.v. listings. Bummer! Well, hopefully I'll use it more now!

I didn't try any of the online calendars or sticky notes because our email program at work, Microsoft Outlook, does most of that for me. I move around to different libraries and rely heavily on my calendar and tasks to remind me where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to be doing! I also have a paper calendar and a calendar on my phone that I try to keep up-to-date in case our email system goes down. So, I don't really need ANOTHER calendar.

I have used Basecamp in the past, though. A committee that I am on used it last year to plan a library event. It worked great for us. We were able to assign tasks (to-do's), post comments, share files, and keep up-to-date about what we had completed and what we still needed to do. It was a great tool!

Thing 13: Library Thing

I had a lot of fun at LibraryThing. I created a library and played with my profile a bit. I also added a My Library widget to this blog sidebar. The first idea I had in my mind when I read about LibraryThing was to create a place for my book club members to keep our books (virtually). We can never remember the titles and authors of the books we have already read nor the titles of any of the books we want to read in the future. So, I added all of the books we have read so far with the intention of creating a group and inviting my book club members to join. We can also read reviews of other books and help get ideas for future reads. Finally, a site I might use every now and then!

Thing 12: Wikis

My only practice in the world of wikis has been in pbwiki. Our library has several wikis set up through pbwiki for staff use (and I already have an account - YAY!). I have edited pages on several of the wikis there before and it was an easy task - after being invited, registering, and setting up my preferences of course.

The wiki world seems to have served our library staff well so far. Many people are using the wikis for one reason or another. One main use of the wikis has been for scheduling reference desk hours. Staff members are free to "adjust" the schedule as needed for trades, subs, etc. The wikis have also been used as a source of information for new procedures and practices in the libraries. Staff can go to the wikis to view instructions, captivate videos, training guides, policies, and announcements. I probably use the wikis a few times a month to view a few of our training guides and edit the schedules, but I am definitely not a daily user. So, I don't do much heavy editing or creating of new wikis, but I do understand the process. It is so much better than trying to organize anything through email!

Thing 11: Social Media

So, what news is worth sharing? That was the hardest part - finding an article worth sharing. I was able to find something fairly interesting and then easily "recommend" the article within the news service itself. Simple enough. Sharing the article seemed simple enough, too. Just click "share" and then click one of the social media icons right? Not so fast!! Here we go again with registering at ANOTHER site in order to use the service. I chose Newsvine since it seemed more professional-looking and news-oriented, not popular media oriented. However, I have yet to be registered since I had to give them an email address and wait for an email from them to "complete the registration process" and I have not gotten the email yet!! So, I have not been able to share a news story yet via Newsvine. However, I went ahead and tagged and shared an article I read in Delicious since I already have an account set up there.

I am not sure how useful these Social Media sites would be to any library. I guess a link could be set up from a library homepage where patrons could quickly access the most current news or even a place where patrons could "edit" the news. It might be good for a college or university to keep students up-to-date with current school news, activities, etc. I don't know, I'm grasping at straws here and trying to keep up with all of the sites I have registered an email, username, and password with now!!!