Guy. Gal. Song. The Best!

More to Learn

My friends have been begging me to do SOMETHING, ANYTHING to my MySpace page for more than a year now. I only created the account at a friend's urging and use it every once in a great while to get in touch with old friends. Searches were all I knew how to operate on the site. But, now, jaws will drop in wonder as I wield a world of Weblogs before their very blurry eyes (too much time on the computers, kids!).

OK, so I'm not quite there. But, in a short period of time, I am way further along than I ever imagined I'd be at blogging. When I started, I was pretty sure I was not going to know much within Library 2.0, considering I wasn't even sure what the whole 2.0 reference was (I'm very grateful for the Web 2.0 task, as you might have guessed).

Going back to my first post, the more I learned with each new task, the more I realized how little I knew. I would have to say that out of the nine weeks' schedule, I was unfamiliar with six weeks' worth of tasks. I plan on going on to learn more because I think that without a guide like Library 2.0, it will be difficult to get an overview of what's out there. How on earth do people find the time to keep up with what's on the Web? I know, I know. Through wikis and del.icio.us and Flickr mash-ups and podcasts and blogs and...

Thanks for sharing this, Louisa! I can't wait to pass on what I've learned to family and friends!

E-Books & Audio Books

I've never borrowed E-books or audio books, although I'm pretty familiar with the concepts. E-books just don't appeal to me. I would only resort to reading a full book from a screen if I was in dire need of the book (and fast), there were no hard-copies of the book available at the Library and I was too poor to go buy a handheld version. I like the portability of real books. But - before you say "laptop" - I more importantly just like old-fashioned books. Now, I do listen to books on CD, but I still prefer reading over listening. Books on CD and audio books are just convenient for traveling and multi-tasking, when you can't read a book either way - by hand or on-screen.

Podcasts

I'm sure there are many podcasts out in the WWW that I would appreciate, but the problem is finding them. I had such a hard time searching for what I wanted in all three podcast directories that were suggested for the task. I left one, hoping for better results in the next, but was disappointed each time. I've GOT to be doing something wrong. Did anybody else feel the same way? Maybe I'm just searching for topics and people that are too old?

Despite this, I did happen upon Steve Young's Hall of Fame acceptance speech, which I've been wanting to hear since he was inducted in 2005, so I was pleased with that. And, I added a feed to my Bloglines account for the San Fransisco Gate's Chronicle Podcasts about the 49ers. Now that I'll be regularly informed, I can help coach my team to another (long-lost) Super Bowl.

YouTube

This is a Web 2.0 element I actually used before starting the 23 Things! My younger brother and sister introduced me to YouTube and we have spent tons of time checking out cool clips together. That's the thing... you could spend all day in nostalgia land or silly mode looking up old TV shows or hilarious footage. The fact that the site is so easy to search contributes to the addiction-factor. Just pop whatever you're looking for into the box, and bam! There's your clip. If you're looking for a a funny comedian or a specific music video, narrow your search by going to categories or channels.

I like looking for clips from my current, favorite TV show, "The Office." The first clip I added to my blog is probably one of my all-time favorite television scenes. If every office had a Jim, work would instantly earn 1,000 fun points. Probably more. Fellow Library employees, let's laugh together!

I picked the next clip because I love cookies. And libraries. Good things belong together. That's all the monster's trying to say (I'm awful fond of him, too). Oh, and the scene takes me back to my childhood, cross-legged in front of the TV. I almost feel like I'm there again when I watch this.

Cookie Monster Needs to Visit Austintown and Poland Branches!

Great Stress Relief: Go to a Jim!