#23 Is this really the end? Or just the beginning ...

This is like the 23rd Psalm ... after all that effort I am really only fit to lie me down in green pastures, etc.
What a journey!
It has been frustrating, fun, annoying and incredibly time consuming as well as thought provoking.
On the plus side ... I have been forced to try out things which I thought were totally irrelevant to me , and I have adopted one or two for actual use! I had been meaning to sign up for Flickr for ages, so I was jolted into doing something about that.
I think the programme has given me a better insight into what we could do in the future in public libraries and what is actually realistic right now. Things like wikis and blogs we can use immediately as work tools.
There has been much discussion generated, about futures, about varying abilities to get one's head around the programme, and about relevance on a day to day basis.
On the down side, the shelves are a shambles - shelf tidying or shelf reading have taken a back seat to getting on with the 23 Things. This is now calming down a bit as people start to go at their own pace and try not to think about the prizes!
I am so pleased to have done the 23 Things and to have been challenged to move out of my comfort zone.
I will be very disappointed if there is not a prize for the most boring blog. I think I might have an excellent chance.

#22 Audiobooks (or "The end is in sight")

All I can say is ... save us from American accents!!!
I don't know which is worse, the real readers or the electronic readers.
I chose a Shakepeare sonnet (no. 100) from the list in Project Gutenberg, to listen to a real voice. Poor Shakespeare. I cannot imagine he intended the sonnets to be read by a voice with a twang like that.
Having just attended the final five countdown concert for the ABC Classic FM's Top 100 Concerti, and listened to the wonderful Emperor Concerto which came in 1st, I chose to listen to something called "Beethoven the Man and the Music as Revealed in His Own Words" (not my capitals!) The mind boggles doesn't it? Poor old Beethoven speaking from the grave in an electronic voice. He discussed Bark and Mewssart and much more besides which I found extremely difficult to decipher. It was enough to put anyone off Beethoven for life.
I listened to both via Windows Media Player.

Until I actually listened to these pieces, I was excited by the concept of putting audiobooks on MP3 for patrons. Now I think we may possibly have a way to go before the patrons will want to know about them. If the quality is all like this the patrons will be scared off technology forever.
The list is incredibly unexciting too.
However, the principle is a great one. We clearly must find a new way to deliver sound and image via the public library if we want to stay relevant.

#21 Podcasts, Smodcasts!

I have found podcasts to be a mixed blessing. It is really great when they work, and I can get on with a boring task while I am being fed information ; however, particularly with Learning 2.0, the slow speed and constant stop-start have been very frustrating. I have mixed feelings about their usefulness in a library environment.
I am convinced they CAN be useful, I'm just not sure HOW at this stage.
I have added an rss feed for the ABC radio PM program to my Bloglines account. I will enjoy using this - listen to the news at teatime - it is often quite useful to know what is going on in the world before heading to the Info Desk.

#20 You too can YouTube

Here is the cutest reference training video I have ever seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp0ldGHhJTs



These little clips would be seriously useful for reference training ... especially filming someone while they were really doing it wrong ... I wonder how illegal that would be?
Or we could use them on our website for showing patrons how to search the catalogue or reserve items. Or we could use them for getting a message across in another language. Or we could use them for fun.
They could save lots of library visits - we could send each other little films of our new kiddie corner or new information desk.
Yes I know ... all this is already happening ... I do it myself. So how come we still travel around so much to check out each others' libraries? Maybe , just maybe, technology is not the answer to absoultely everything.
YouTube is still fun though.

#19 Discovering Web 2.0 tools

Ienjoyed looking at the amazing array of things on the web. I selected Upcoming which was in 1st place in Events, thinking this might be a useful quick reference for concerts, sports events, etc.
I was quite impressed that it defaulted to Melbourne as home location on opening. (Several other sites I had checked didn't even seem to have heard of Melbourne.) It was quick and easy to change location and date (via the calendar) and the listings were easy to read with plenty of links.
However I was disappointed that the site included only limited numbers of events. For example, it told me there were no events in Adelaide in December. (there are those who might think this would be quite accurate, but I am forced to believe that there is simply not enough data input)
I tagged the site and added the post about the Boxing Day Test to my rss feeds.
I will keep an eye on the site but I think I will continue to depend on The Age for the time being.

#18 Web-based Apps

This is my zoho doc - posted to my blog

Well this is a revelation! Think of all the money I can save not having to buy a new MS Office suite every couple of years! And the screen looks pretty too.

And here is my Google docs spreadsheet!
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pgc_zcf5VDv7V-c3hJre5Gw

#16 Wikis & #17 Playing around with PBWiki

The most fascinating thing I learned in this exercise is where the word wiki came from.

The second most fascinating thing I learned was that here is a solution to the ongoing nightmare of policies & procedures manuals.

I am flabbergasted by how easy it is.

At least it is easy for the contributor ... I'm sure it's not nearly so easy to set up and moderate.

We will be able to create FAQ files, community information files, all sorts ... and let the public do the leg work.

I have now made my immortal contributions to Favourite TV show and Favourite Book - I'd better go back and contribute to Favourite animal or the Poodle will be very annoyed.