Week 9 Thing 23 The End

For a while I was so behind, I thought I'd never reach THE END, but here I am! I started out not terribly enthusiastic about doing this project, but I'm glad I did. I learned many new things about different services on the Internet that I never knew existed. Some were useful, some were fun, some were a little of both. And sometimes I felt like my brain was on "overload". I'm definitely not a techno-geek and was unfamiliar with alot of the techie lingo. Thankfully, I had a few coworkers who were willing to take my hand and lead me during some of those confusing parts. But most of it, I did "all by myself"! Being a part-time employee with lots of duties, plus being out on vacation for 2 weeks left me with little extra time to do this assignment. I know other colleagues who feel the same way -- they'd like to do this, but where do you find the time? But I got thru it, and I hope to have more time to spend reviewing some of the things I learned. I liked having the freedom to be able to do some of this at home, and if another program of this type were offered, I'd be interested in participating.

Week 9 Thing 22

AUDIOBOOKS I browsed the titles in Overdrive (available thru CCPL on the library website). There were a few things I may be interested in. I occasionally like to listen to books while driving, or while I'm working out. Although we don't have access to all titles in Overdrive, there are many authors I like that are available. I also briefly took a look at Gutenberg. Treasure Island is on that -- we can let patrons know, since it's the next "Carroll County Reads Together" book.

Week 9 Thing 21

Podcasts I looked at some of the sites that display podcasts. I found a news talk radio podcast on Podcast.net and subscribed to it on my Bloglines account using the RSS feed.

Week 9 Thing 20

YouTube Fun! I downloaded a video that my son and some of his friends made -- a project for his science class. Yes, it has serious information in it, but it's also very funny! I think there is a use for YouTube and other video sites at the library. Lots of local groups and individuals post videos of their activities, and so there would be an interest in the community. We could use it to show some of our activities (programs, etc.) or to highlight things we're doing (such as upcoming Cultural Awareness).

Week 8 Thing 19

I played with 2 of the sites listed. My son had told me about StumbleUpon and that was fun. After signing up for an account and listing your "interests", StumbleUpon will link you to sites it thinks you'll like, according to your listings. You can give it a thumbs-up if you like it, or a thumbs-down if you don't. It will continue to link you to other things if you want it to. Cool! Also, I really like Yelp. It is a site where you can add your own input about local businesses. So, if you loved the meal you just had at a local restaurant, you can give them a little plug. Not thrilled about the service you received somewhere? You can note that, too. You can use it the other way as well -- if you're considering using a business, look at the ratings it received. They may help you to decide. A valid community service! Both sites I looked at were social sites, and you can add your profile, photo, etc. and talk to other members.

Week 8 Thing 18

I tried out Zoho Writer and was very impressed. Easy to use as Word, but you can save your work and access it from any computer. I liked the features that enable you to share documents with friends and publish them. I also tried Zoho Show, which is like Powerpoint. Many times patrons will want to use a word processing program or a power point-like program but haven't a disk to save it. This will be a great help to them!

Addendum to Week 7 Thing 17

Yay, it worked! I'm at work and now successfully added my blog to "Favorite Blogs" on Sandbox.