A journey, not a destination...

This week, my final exercise for CML’s Learn & Play is to reflect upon my learning journey. While I really started this program to get the USB stick (and maybe one of the other cool prizes), I’ve learned new things and stepped outside my comfort zone. And I finished, which is a personal goal. Here's some additional reflections:

What were my favorite discoveries on this learning journey?
Flickr and its toys -- for fun
Delicious -- for work
You Tube -- to interact on common ground with my tween
My colleagues

Were there any take-aways from this program that surprised you?
I really enjoyed reading others blogs and getting to know them; finding connections with coworkers. While I wanted to make connections, I have really enjoyed finding the nuggets that have opened avenues of communication at meetings, expanding my capacity. Also, having the freedom to try new things in an environment which encouraged me to learn was really refreshing (thanks boss!)

What could we do differently to improve upon this program's format or concept?
I think we all learned that not every activity took 15 - 20 minutes, so allotting more some extra time is good. Not everyone learns at the same pace. Also, sometimes I felt overwhelmed when 2 things popped up on the blog on Monday, instead of one. I was already behind and that psychological idea that now there were 2 more things instead of 1 could be discouraging.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you partipate?
ABSOLUTELY!

How has this program assisted/affected your lifelong learning goals?
In addition to the USB stick, I've got new tools at my disposal and I've broadened my horizons about those tools. I keep thinking of ways to use them.

I am disappointed that my dad hasn't been able to participate as we planned, but when I see him over the holidays, I will share some of the cool things I've learned. We might even set up a modified Learn & Play. You're never too old to learn, if you're open to the possibilities.

Thanks CML for this opportunity.

MOLDI, but not an oldie

This week I played around with MOLDI, the Mid-Ohio Library Digital Initiative. If you don't have a library card through a member library, I think you are only able to browse. I’ve looked around this resource before, but no so intently. The searching was a little awkward and I’m frustrated that newer items are nearly always checked out.

This time, I reserved Inkheart in an audiobook format. Since the movie’s coming out soon, I thought I could listen to the book and maybe even get my daughter to listen. I was disappointed that it didn’t show up on my CML account reserve list to check on it, but then I remembered MOLDI has its own log in. I just checked on it and it’s not in yet. I’m excited to try something new.

I’m not a huge fan of audiobooks. Slowly, I’m being converted. I’ve spent so long reading textbooks, I’m enjoying re-discovering pleasure reading again and I’m like a junkie! I do like reading the physical book in the evening and listening to a chapter or two in the car. I’ve learned I have to be careful during my commute because I get distracted and run red lights. Sometimes, my reading choices are not always suitable for tween ears in the car. So many books, so little time. I will remember MOLDI as an additional option when I’m looking for titles.

Thing #21: Podcasts

I was looking forward to learning about and play with podcasts for purely selfish reasons – I hoped to find podcasts related to fitness walking. I did look through the podcast directories, since I don’t have iTunes, and I found podcastalley to be a little more organized in it’s layout. However, on both podcastalley and podfeed, the user has to wade through a lot of drivel. Additionally, the search is pretty basic and I couldn’t find any way to refine my searches. I was successful in finding a library-related feed: http://sirsidynixinstitute.com/podcast.xml and I found several that provided me music for my 1 mile walks. I added all these to my Bloglines account.

What would be really useful podcasting for CML is the obvious -- putting children’s storytime in a podcast; (although there might be some copyright issues with that), book review groups, or keeping patrons updated on the many events in the system. More specifically, we could make some of CML’s classes for customers available in podcast form, so they can come to the "library" on their time, not just when we say.

I just discovered Thing 1 (my husband) has an iTunes account; I’ll be looking for more podcasts there.

Podcasts: 2 music notes.

Not 23 but Thing 1 & Thing 2

Just taking a moment to share our scary Halloween party photo, since it fit into the theme of the blog...

You too can You Tube!

When I saw this Learn & Play exercise, I knew exactly which video I wanted to share with my CML collegues: The Fredricksen Library Book Cart Drill Team. This is my mom's library (and the one from my childhood). What I didn't know is that they had a new video posted in August. I give them kudos for their creativity.



What I like about You Tube is that you can find videos of just about anything -- some good, some not so good. I liked that I could reach out and expand my network by connecting to the librarian who shared the drill team video. I opened a You Tube account just so I could send a message!

I didn't spend too much time on this exercise, since I knew the video I was looking for. I think I could spend another couple hours exploring You Tube.

I can see any features or components of You Tube that might be interesting if they were applied to library websites and we are already doing that in the Learn & Play blog. We can invite patrons to become part of our community by sharing their videos as well.

I was unable to get the entire embeddable code to copy and paste into my blog and I don't quite get why... if anyone can help me -- I'll also put a message on Twitter, since most of my Learn & Play associates are addicted to tweets. Once I figure it out, I'll post it. However, I've embedded the link above.

CML Power Tools

I downloaded the library’s tool bar the minute it was available; I have it both at work and at home. It’s great at work because I all the shortcuts I love right there in front of me. At home, I showed by daughter how to use it and she can go right to the CML homepage (I'm sure I've shocked some that my homepage is not the library's) and look in the catalog or check her account. It empowers her to be responsible for her own account, even if I still have to lug the materials back and forth!

I also looked at BoingBoing; a really eclectic collection of things. It’s like News of the Weird but global and on steroids. It’s part news, part scavenger hunt from around the world, but 90% entertaining. For example, today there was a post about NASA’s top 50 photos and the one featured on BoingBoing is the Star Trek Enterprise crew meeting the real Enterprise. I think I may have to add this to my bloglines account.

I did post a comment on the library's blog Tooling Around about the highlighting feature. However, I have to say I'm disappointed the last post on the Tooling Around blog is from Sept. 2. Although, I was almost convinced to better use my Gmail account.

Kudos to the CML Library toolbar...

And the winner is....

While not the Oscars, this week I explored almost ALL the Web 2.0 Awards nominees and even some in the databank of Web 2.0 applications as well. Some were useful, but I didn’t spend time with those which had costs associated with them. Here are my favorites:

MyHeritage: Geneology has long been an interest, so I had to try this. It was free, so I built a quick family tree which other family members can add to, expanding my research capacity, as well as being included in the social piece. I liked you could add photos, link in others’ family trees, and there was a search function I didn’t get to explore, but may be promising. In the quick moments on the site, I couldn’t find the privacy button, nor could I see my account, which was weird. I also couldn’t find how to make my ex-husband my ex, so it looks like I have two husbands. Let me know if you find it; I used sopranolibrarian for my screen name. I’m anxious for some feedback. In a library setting, you could use this on a Family History Day like CML just had, giving patrons hands on experience for building their family tree online.

.docstock: This is an administrative assistant’s dream! I was particularly impressed with the Creativity Link, which had oodles of powerpoint templates available. There was some drivel in each of the categories, but you can upload what you’re looking for or keep it in a folder on the docstock site. I didn’t create an account, but it has potential to be a good place to go when your boss says “Find me an RFP template,” instead of a web search, where there is even more drivel to wade through.

Imcooked: The place for budding Food Network TV stars to launch their careers! I was amused by this site; cooking is another one of my passions. This site was free, though I didn’t create an account there either; I was mostly interested in how it functioned and if it would be useful. If you're inclined, you can make your own cooking demo video and a whole community of foodies can watch you. I did find some cool new recipes, so I bookmarked this with my delicious tags.

Fixya: This site is a toolbox for just about anything. If you need something fixed, you create a post. Someone else on the site may know the answer and tell you how to fix it. It’s like a community of handymen, helpdesk gurus, and car folks. They proport to have a huge database of manuals, but I couldn’t think of one to look for. But now I know where to look. Good for librarians who get those reference questions on how to fix things.

I’ve tagged the Web 2.0 awards site, so I can continue to find applications to assist me at work and at home.