Reflecting on the 2.0 experience

Discussed the 20 for 2.0 project at district meeting yesterday: It was considered valuable, but everyone expressed difficulty in keeping up and the feeling of “snowballing” as the weeks went by quickly. Libraries that scheduled time for training were most successful - that was certainly my experience. All agreed that it should be made available for public.

Most useful applications: blogging, Wiki’s, streaming and downloading media and delicious (tagging). Here is Oak Harbor Library’s delicious bookmarks address - www.delicious.com/oakref. Joyce is working on this site, converting our extensive Explorer Favorites to delicious while also verifying each site. Most loved application: Facebook - look for me under Mary Campbell Purcer (I need more friends!)

Gaming

Well, I do enjoy the Sudoko - it's almost as good as reading to soothe those savage brainwaves before sleep comes. I'd rather do it on paper though - the yahoo site has too many sound effects. I've also convinced myself that it's the process rather than the product - i.e. the brain is exercised in exactly the same way regardless of whether you get the final answer right or not. Seeing things from every angle does come more easily now - we've been reading left to right for so long, it's about time we stretched in a different direction.

Gameplaying for all ages is certainly a reasonable thing for libraries to provide. It's really an extension of social networking. People are connecting to their neighbors, friends and, yes, to strangers, in new ways. The library's role may be to find alternate games that are not all about sniping, killing or stealing cars (all my kids' favorites). We can also use games to teach skills. Teens may have as much fun creating their own games as they do in playing them (and certainly learn a lot more about technology and about themselves).

Google Earth

This is such an amazing product. I've used it many times to help customers over the years and it gets more and more sophisticated. The tour informed me of the new "see the sky" feature where you can start at earth and head out to the galaxies via hubble images - fantastic!

Last time I used google earth at the library it was for two older couples who came in to ask if we had a map of Chicago. When I asked a few more questions, I found out that one of the women had grown up there and wanted to show the others the street where she had lived. Imagine her amazement when we were not only able to pull up a map, but to zoom in on the view from above, then look at the 360 images of the buildings, cars, etc. all around. She saw the building where she lived, the school she attended and the park where she played. Much joy all around.

I also noticed that the gps coordinates and elevation change as you move around the map - very cool.

Avatars

I don't even have time for my first life... let along a second life! It was fun to create an avatar, though. The Doppelme site was easy to use. I've done one on Meez, too, and was going gangbusters with a great triathalon look until I somehow lost all my clothes! Here's my doppleme:

Online Apps

Google Docs seems like a great idea, especially for working with community members who might not have the same software or version. Since we switched to Office 2007, for example, I've heard that some board members and other committee folks in the community cannot open minutes or spreadsheets I send via email. I was surprised to hear, though, that people who are learning to use software are adamant about learning the Office products - i suppose it's because that's what employers are looking for. Zoho and Google Docs seem easy to use once you've learned Office. I noticed that Google has added a Reader to organize RSS feeds etc. Sound familiar?

Search Engines

Okay, I admit it. I am addicted to Google. It's fast, it gives good results (for example, when you search for consumer health topics, MedlinePlus usually comes right out on top) and better yet, it loads really quickly even when things are running slow. Interesting (and smart) that the new search engine that gives to charity, goodsearch.com, comes up when you start typing google - unfortunately it takes a lot longer to load. I learned three new things at the google site: +, -, and I feel lucky. Thanks!

Podcasting

I listen to NPR podcasts pretty frequently, especially when I've caught part of something I want to hear more of. It's probably a useful tool for Sno-Isle Libraries, although most of our customers would rather have images as well as sound. Podcasting seems to lend itself to stories, read alouds or speeches. For example we could podcast an author doing a reading from his or her book. We have Sam Green, Washington's Poet Laureate, coming to Oak Harbor in November. It might be fun to record and podcast him reading his poems.

Image Generators

Had fun with this one - I really like the generator that takes words and google images and puts them together in creative ways. Here's my very own Read Poster: