New Opportunity

I have been given an opporunity to be part of a work-from-home trial group. As it is a pilot project, I need to keep track of perks and pitfalls, what goes well and not so well, etc. I think I might create a new blog to do so. Will I have enough to write about though? Have to think about that.

Also wanted to note that some of the things I learned through this program came up yesterday and I was really glad I was in the know.

Wiki Project Underway

I put together a wiki of our company/industry terms for internal use. I used SharePoint, but will also set it up in PBWiki for comparison before I present it. It was surprisingly easy to set up, except that I couldn't import a table and have it still be a table (data only transferred). I'm pretty sure that I'll need to do a training session before anyone is going to look at it, much less add to it, but I'm happy to share the knowledge now that I have a better understanding of wikis.

Thing 23. Final Thoughts

Well, it is with a sigh of relief that I write this. There was a whole lot more to this program than I thought. Some of it I will find useful, some not so much, but either way good knowledge.

I really like ImageChef and all the photo tools. Del.icio.us will be a great timesaver. I love the ProQuest web publisher tool. I've really gotten to like blogging! And I had a lot of fun with LibraryThing and hope to continue using it.

I was impressed with the amount of networking these tools can provide. This is especially important to those of us in smaller libraries for knowledge sharing. However, I thought more people that I know would choose to participate. I suppose it was a matter of having the time, but I really think they missed out. I'm so glad I had the support of my manager in this.

I would absolutely participate in 23 More Things, and/or revisit this program and take on more of the optional challenges.

Thing 22. What Did I Learn Today?

I've learned a lot. Had to crunch there in the end, but still got to try most everything.

I will continue learning by:
- Using del.icio.us
- Creating a wiki for business use
- Staying updated with LinkedIn
- Trying more of the photo options
- Keeping up on my blog
- Reading other people's blogs
- Exploring WebJunction
- Sharing my knowledge with friends/coworkers
- Reading, trying, playing with new tools!

I'm getting used to blogging ... I think I would miss it if I stopped now!

Thing 21. Beyond MySpace: Other Social Networks

I joined the Ning group, started a discussion, and posted the badge in my blog. Seems OK but I think I would just have to choose one network and stay active in it and learn all the bells and whistles. They all have different features and it takes some time to get set up, find friends, etc.

One network that I'm active in that I really like is LinkedIn. A lot of my colleagues, current and former, are on this network, and it's focused on professional networking. You can link to it through the button on the sidebar.

I also tried 43 Things for fun. I'm happy to know that 2170 other people want to pay off their student loans!

Thing 20. Libraries and Social Networks

I joined Facebook. Sort of scary to be out there!

I found some other librarians, and some other friends that have "real" accounts. I found one friend via her email who has an account under a fake name, so I didn't "friend" her since she seems to want anonymity. I joined a couple of groups: 23 Things on a Stick, and Librarians Using Facebook. Apparently this is different from a network (Mpls/St Paul). I couldn't find some people at first that I knew were on there, but I think it was because I hadn't joined a network yet?

I would believe it may be the fastest growing social network. My high school neice has hundreds of friends on there, and she said that's how everyone is sending out graduation party invites. It seems like that's also the way gossip is spread and feelings are hurt etc. As an adult, I feel silly being on there.

It's cool that the public libraries have MySpace pages, but even better if they offer a portal to resources and act as an extention of the library web page. I think a lot of them accomplish just that.

Thing 19. Podcasts

I found it difficult to search podcasts. None of the directories seemed to have great capabilities. However, I'm really unsure of what I'm searching for. My prior experience with podcasts is limited.

Anyway I started out with Podcast.com and found a few things there. I listened to someone commenting on the latest episode of "The Office." I also found Seattle Public Library's podcasts with lots of author readings! I listed to Tracy Chevalier reading from her latest novel.

I found that if I double-clicked on the podcast, it would open in a new window in Windows Media Player. The other option was for it to play right on the site. I didn't find a way to fast forward in either. (I accidentally clicked out of podcast.com, so the podcast stopped playing, and when I went back I didn't want to start over at the beginning. Too bad for me.)

So I'm excited to hear more authors, although I enjoy seeing them in person, but this will be a good alternative. Perhaps my interest in podcasts/podcasting will grow from there.

Also, I added an MPR podcast feed to the sidebar - very easy to do!