23 things final post

Well, I have to say that I am very happy that I decided to participate in this class. I am also very appreciative to all of the mentors and anyone else behind the scenes that made this possible. There are so many things out there on the web that I had never heard of and so many of them are extremely easy to do. Just don't be afraid, jump in, and have fun. Here are some of the things I learned:

1. Do not be intimidated. Sure, new is scary but if you just go in with an open mind and follow what are pretty much always simply instructions, you can learn to do just about anything.

2. Explore, explore, explore. I had no idea what was out there.
3. You can go to just about any computer and access just about anything you need without saving to a flashdrive. Google docs, delicious, picture storage, cloud computing.
4. Blogging is so much fun. Now if only someone cared about what I had to say :)
5. You can find a blog on just about anything that you are interested in.
6. I loved making the animoto slideshow. I would seriously be tempted to pay so that I could make longer slideshows to sent to family that all live out of state.
7. It really isn't hard to post something to youtube.
8. Wikis are great for editing lists and documents if you have several people involved.
9. Shelfari rocks! I love listing and reviewing books. And it's really nice to see other peoples reviews.
10. There are still several areas that I need to continue studying (google docs, RSS feeds, etc.)
11. It was kind of strange having homework again.
12. I still haven't learned not to procrastinate. I would sometimes do 2 to 3 lessons per week instead of just keeping up.
13. I'm still excited to learn!
14. The younger generation is so far ahead of me it isn't even funny :)
15. How important privacy settings are.
16. There is something out there for everyone. There are tools for businesses, hobbies, organization. From homemakers to college students to CEO's there is something that will make your life easier.
17. I'm scared and excited to see how much things change over time.
18. How much we depend on computers and the internet. It seems like we couldn't survive without them and yet somehow, we did.
19. I miss an actual classroom setting. Weird, I know but I like being able to physically have someone there to answer questions and guide me.
20. I wish I had more time to play on the computer.
21. I really hope there are more classes so I can continue learning and growing.
22. There are hundreds of us out there who are willing to learn and help their fellow librarians learn and grow. AWESOME!
23. I really had no idea how much fun this would be. I thought it would be educational and helpful but I had no idea I would discover so many fun things and fun people. Thanks everyone for your time and effort. You were great!

WIKI

Okay I have to admit I've totally been putting off the lesson for Wikis. It's not that it's very hard but I had no idea what wiki to edit and I just wasn't very comfortable adding content to something that somebody else started. I did a little searching and finally settled on a scrapbooking wiki that on found on Wetpaint.com. The nice thing about this site is that I was simply including a helpful hint. I didn't have to come up with a specific fact or anything difficult. It was simply my opinion. Wetpaint.com is insanely easy to use. I have a facebook account so I could sign on that way. When I found my wiki I just clicked on easy edit and started typing away. Just doesn't get much easier than that. Ok I finally finished part 2 of the Wiki lesson. I had a little trouble navigating but thanks to everyone who posted their questions and rewponses, I was able to figure everything out. YAY!

Shelfari

This may be one of my favorite lessons. I really think that I will continue to use this website long after this class is over. I am really looking forward to reading other readers reviews and recommendations. Thanks 23 things for makine me aware of this website!!! My url is www.shelfari.com/mikkilane.

Slideshow

Ok, I have to admit this lesson was a blast! I have been so intimidated by the last few lessons but when I actually get into them I realize that they aren't difficult and a lot of fun. I never would have known that websites like animoto or screencast-o-matic existed but I am glad I know now. I could really have a lot of fun putting videos together and sending them to family members that live far away. I created my slide show about my kids and here is my link. Enjoy!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Screencasting

Oh my my 23 things is getting quite difficult for me. This weeks screencasting was quite a challenge for me but I have finally accomplished our task to the best of my ability. I was not able to put audio with my video since I didn't have access to a microphone. Once I was able to load screencast-o-matic (my computer was a little slow until I disabled watchguard), it was really quite simple to do. It was nice to be able to pause and start and redo as much as I needed to. I may use this again in the future and I would really like to experiment with audio. My link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6u9kpH_oeQ

VIDEO

Okay here we go. I'm not totally new to video I just don't do it very often. I have used my digital camera and it's very simple. I know that I should probably do it more but it eats up my memory card so fast and I have like a billion pictures. I'm going to try to embed three different videos on here so you can know a little more about the things I am passionate about and adore. The first video is of the Nebraska softball team. I am a HUGE Nebraska Cornhusker fan and an even bigger softball fan. I played softball for 10+ years. When I was a teenager, I ate, breathed, lived for softball. I played on a traveling league and when there wasn't a game, I was practicing (either team or on my own) and when I was actually doing that, I was watching it.


The second video is about scrapbooking and rubber stamping. This is an addiction of mine and a quite expensive one at that.

The last video (and most important) is of my two little girls Aryel and Autumn. I adore them and spoil them as much as I possibly can. In this video they are 7 and 3 years old and listening to lullabies at the Coffey County Library in Burlington, Kansas.

Instant Messaging

I'm already pretty familiar with instant messaging and I really like it. I use it to keep in touch w/family member and friends who live far away. It's a really nice tool because unfortunately our schedule never seem to match up so that we can actually talk on the phone. I tend to use facebook the most. That seems to be the site that everyone goes to and I've been able to get in touch via IM with friends I haven't spoken to in years. In the past I would use hotmail quite a bit and it was very easy as well.

I don't think there are many concerns with Instant Messaging. Like anything else you should make sure that you know that person you are talking to. Don't just accept every person that requests you as a friend. If you don't recognize the address don't say yes. My only other issue is that sometimes I really need to get work done and I get sucked into a conversation. I like to keep the internet up a running because I do use it so much but I don't always have time to chat :)

In general, IM does not affect my work one way or another. The number of workers is small enough and we are usually in pretty close proximity to one another that we really don't need it. However, it really does come in handy when you have a patron that will not leave you alone. A coworker can send you an IM to see if you need rescued and really helps the situation.