Week 9 Thing 20

I checked out YouTube, and it was just what I thought, I had trouble stopping. I found some old music videos of musicians I like that I thought I would never be able to see again, and found some new ones. I can see why so many people like YouTube, and why so many go to the site everyday.

I also realized, how besides just being fun and entertaining, it could also be used for teaching when a visual would be so helpful. I checked out some home improvement how to videos, and another thing that came to mind, since my son loves to pitch in baseball, would be video instruction on how to throw certain types of pitches. I think the uses could be endless. So, then I checked for some, and there are some on YouTube. The one I watched was how to throw a curve ball. It worked well, and did give a good lesson on how to throw a curve ball and best locations to throwthe ball. There were other videos that I did not watch, but it appears that instructional videos are available and work well, at least for the subjects I checked out. I think this would be one way they could be very helpful for libraries. Even if it is just to let customers know of the possibilities available from videos on the Internet.


This was a really fun activity and I will probably go back to YouTube when I have a chance, but I must not get too addicted, I can see how it could take over all my spare time if I am not careful.

And here is one of the videos I found that I like - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPk11AugG4c

Week 8 Thing 19

I checked out Pandora, since I love to listen to music so much. I entered info on a certain musician I like. It did work, but I was not completely satisfied with their selections. Another librarian told me that you can kind of train it to play more of what you would like by telling it when you do not like something they selected. She said it than works really well.

I am amazed how you can just get music free this way and kind of set up your own radio station. I am not sure how or if I really will use it much, but I feel it is a great program and can broaden your horizons in music without taking it too far away from your likes.

Week 8 Thing 18

Well, I decided to use Google Docs to create a document. I found it very nice, and I went into detail on the document about what I think of this online word processing.

I decided to add a table to get an idea of how that works and imported a graphic from this blog. I had to try a number of times before I got it right and got use to how it works, but I persevered and got it to look the way I wanted it to look. And best of all I learned some things about Google Docs.

This exercise was very practical, and one of my favorites since it showed me something very helpful and useful that I may not have ever found on my own.

Here is the text of what I think about Google Docs:

"This is my test document for the "23 Things Project." I am so excited by this ability to create documents online. It sure solves many problems. I was looking into buying a new computer, but most of the reasonable priced do not come with MS Word etc. But now I will not have to have Word to create documents. And it is so nice that if you have the Internet you can access your documents. I hope I can get used to it so I can maybe use it in place of Word."

Week 7 Thing 17

I set up a Wiki through Sandbox, and I put a link to my Blog on the Favorites page. I got some help from a fellow 23 Thinger, when adding my Blog. Boy, some people can figure this stuff out so much better than me.

And that brings me to my Wiki I set up. I decided that a Wiki page about home improvement (not the show, the real thing) would be helpful. I figure that you could get the knowledge and help from others that have tackled a certain project. There could be a subject, and others could add their thoughts and opinions, or explain how they did something.

I feel a Wiki would be a good method for home improvement, because things change regularly and you want the most up to date information. It is also good to get the experience from others , and this is a way to do that easily. This Wiki would than be helpful to others working on the home.

This Thing was not too hard, but as with others it took some exploring, trying, and getting help. Just like most of the 23 Things. But that is the way we learn, isn't it.

Week 7 Thing 16

I find the idea of Wikis interesting. It certainly can save great amounts of time if anyone can add to a document (website), or can impart their knowledge on a subject. It would make group projects that much easier.

Controls is the first thing that came to mind when I thought about Wikis. Someway to keep things from getting out of hand. It appears that most Wikis do have that control in place with someone checking on content and cleaning it up if they must.

I think in the library Wikis could be used to get content or ideas about any subject that is currently being discussed in Administrative Council, MOB, MACO , etc. It could make it open to anyone on the library staff to add their thoughts, without needing to go through another person. Some may not speak up, but they may write about something.

They could also be used to generate ideas for an infinite subjects. A branch may ask for ideas from other branches and departments.

I feel as if it is a way to brainstorm in a broader and easier way. If two minds are better than one, many minds are even that much better. Wikis make that work and in an easy format. That can be very powerful.

Week 6 Thing 15

My first thought on these articles in general is that we are in the beginning stages of all of this technology in regard to how the library will use it and adapt to all this Web technology. I agree as, one article stated, we should not wait to investigate how libraries fit into the technology, but I wonder if things may change and maybe we will just need to change our strategy.

I also wonder how many people are as Web savvy as the articles seem to feel they are. I am not saying I don't think they are, but I just wonder how many are. I can not go by my own level since I am not to with it when it comes to all the possibilities on the Web.

I do hope we are not heading into even less socializing than we already have. My fear is that all this technology is allowing people to remain in a kind of vacuum and not needing to depend on others in person. We can get so much from the Internet without talking to a person face to face.

Finally, I am always concerned with authority. Who is really putting out this information. Are they really knowledgeable on the subject. Where are they obtaining their information etc.

Week 6 Thing 14

I am really confused by this one. I was not sure how to get Technorati to search for blog, posts etc. I was surprised by the more popular Blogs, but then I do not know what many of them are about or what content is on them.

Week 6 Thing 13

Explored Del.icio.us and was a little confused at first but then got the hang of how to save some sites in bookmarks. I did all music sites I like to visit to try it out. Am looking forward to accessing them from any PC. And here is my list:

http://del.icio.us/jcurreri

Week 5 Thing 12

Rollyo took some getting use to for me. I was a little confused by how to find sites, since I only knew of a few, but I figured it out with help from my very helpful colleagues.

I used home improvement as my subject. I enjoy home improvement and it would be nice to search within just sites dedicated to that subject alone. So I put some together, mostly from others that have a Rollyo for home improvement. My problem though is that I just keep wanting to know of the absolute best sites to add. I know this is probably a matter of preference and just exploring to find the best. I keep thinking I may miss that one site that will help with a particular project. Oh well that is just how life with the internet is. I think through use and seeing others I may be able to hone it to just what I need. And here is my Searchroll:

http://rollyo.com/jcurreri/home_help/

Week 5 Thing 11

Well, LibraryThing sure will be useful in our jobs. I think it is great how you can connect to others that read like you. It was also interesting to see how many others in the database read a particular title. I have some titles that I thought sure there would not be anyone else that had read the title, but more than I expected had.

It did take me a little while to learn how to navigate around in LibraryThing, but that is how it usually is with all these new databases, web sites, etc. I always need to just explore to get an idea of how they are set up and how to use them in the best or most helpful way.

I need to explore LibraryThing a little more but I like what I have seen so far, and here is my catalog:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/jcurreri

Week 5 Thing 10

Well I checked out the image generators and did have some fun. Put two items on my blog. The surfer dude and the M & M guy. I am not really a surfer, but, as it says underneath, I do love summer and like the beach. I have never even tried surfing, but I did like creating this character. I do need a wet suite when getting in the ocean since I am always so cold. I don't think anything would keep me warm, but I have been told a wet suite really would.

I had a good time with this thing. It was easy and was fun to add some different, graphic, elements to my blog to make it a little more interesting.

I looked at the Meez but the look of the characters you can make creeped me out, so I decided to pass on that one.