Summary

1. The most important thing I learned in Web2.Huh? is that for me you can remove the “Huh” now- well, at least some of it. The Web for me was pretty intimidating and I did use it to some extent for work and just looking up stuff, but now I realize it’s much more approachable and useful.

2. The most challenging thing for me was just getting up the nerve to start. I was so busy in December and I didn’t want to spend time on the computer. I knew if I started, I would need to finish, and I thought it would take forever to get through everything. I also found that publishing and linking my tasks was somewhat a challenge, and I had to ask LL for help. But she was great and always there when I needed her.

3. Web 2. technologies is the way to go, now that I’ve had a taste. It would be great for marketing the library in any way. YouTube and Flickr could be used to advertise library programs and events. Staff teams could use Google docs and Wikis to work on projects etc. We can use Tagging to bookmark web pages that we need to access quickly. RSS feeds would keep us informed and up to date on current news and knowledge. Library staff can pass on what we have learned to our patrons.

4. The self-directed learning model was very successful for me. The key to it all was that LL was there to help if you needed it. I am not very computer literate, so having LL around, Web 2 FAQ’s, and the straightforward way the tasks were laid out, made the whole process pretty much user friendly. I can’t forget the reward at the end of all this, either. That MP3 player is just what I wanted. Now I just have to use my expertise and get some music on it.

Well, I've done it! I wouldn't have thought I could, but I did! Thank you BPL and LL.

Facebook

Signing up for a Facebook account was one of the easiest tasks I've done on Web2. Maybe because I'm almost done? I did search some names of people I know and there are a few on Facebook. There are lots of people out there that you can keep in touch with-know what's going on with them and what's happening in their life-but it's all too personal for me and I do spend enough time at the computer now. I think it's a great tool for mainly the younger crowd-I don't see myself using it.

Wikis experience

My suggestion to relieve stress at work is:
Try doing Tai Chi - you can just "zone out" - stretch your body and your mind - relax - find your inner "Chi"

Working all day at the computer can cause you some serious muscle and eye strain-you need to relax-get up-stretch-forget who you are and where you are-zone out for a time. Wouldn't it be great if at 3:00 o'clock every day we can all just stop what we're doing-get up out of our chair or just stop working and stretch your body and your mind!

Wikis have already shown me other ways that I can stress out at work.
You can see ideas that others have on anything-be it a common work problem, planning meetings, get togethers, lunches etc.
You don't always want to speak your mind in front of a group, but typing it out online can be less stressful.

Creating my Wiki identity turned out to be much more difficult than I thought it would be, but it finally worked with some help from LL and now I can go to my "next to last" Web2 task.

Library thing

Here's the link to my catalog:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/lfpark

It would be a great tool for us to review books that others have read-we could recommend it to our patrons and we could decide if we want to read it for ourselves. It would be great for book clubs-you can have online talks and you don't even have to meet the other readers. I'd love to have a list of all the books I've read and have a short review about, because my memory isn't what it used to be-did I read this one before??
We could recommend Library Thing to our customers-we've had many queries asking if the library keeps a backlist of what they have checked out.

Tagging

I found that my tagging experience was much easier than my Wikis experience! (which I skipped right now because I have a problem with creating my identity). Anyway, I'm already used to saving my favourite sites-but they are not really "fun" sites, mostly "necessary" sites and they're not tagged. But it did take quite some time to come up with a username not already used! It will be great to access my Del.icio.us "fun" sites fast when I'm in the mood for relaxing and stressing out-with my favourite music and YouTube, etc. I'll keep these sites separate from my "necessary" favourites sites.
Tagging would be great for anyone young or old-researching anything! Students could tag all the necessary sites for their projects so they can keep going back to their work and the info they need would be there at the click of the mouse. It would be an invaluable tool for researching, say, your family history-there are tons of sites and when a personal tag is added, it's a fast and easy route to the specific information you need.
I think it's probably easier than bookmarking because having your own personal tag attached to a site will direct you to exactly what you're looking for at the time.
I'll probably keep using Del.icio.us for my "fun" sites.

Book review URL

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dc5zq7qn_3dwzw4m3d&hl=en

Book Review: Sarah's Key by Tatia...

Book Review: Sarah's Key by Tatia...

Youtube video clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gxrjMkowrs&eurl=http://www.brianmelo.com/

I think it's a great opportunity to check out sites of things you're interested in but don't know too much about. You can keep up to date on your favourite people in the news. I watched most of Canadian Idol last year and to watch Brian Melo win was really exciting. I grew up in Hamilton, so watching Brian on TV was great. It has to be great for anyone keeping in touch with family that live a distance away-you can see and hear them right on your screen.

I think having video clips of library programs and events on Youtube would be great. Patrons can log in and check out samples of storytimes, programs, and classes, author readings etc. Patrons would be more willing to come out to the library for a program if they can have a visual/sound view of what to expect.