Thing 8: Facebook

Interestingly Facebook knew just who my friends were already since I used an ancient email address for the signup. I am a very privacy minded person so naturally I gave them a fake name. Apparently they recognized my email address and listed quite a few people I knew. I assumed my fake name which was Way oftheBook was blabbed out back to them. Naturally not wanting to be a Grade A moron I had to post my real name and not much else since they had all that info already. Not too happy about it. I did not let them check through my email by the way. This is great for marketing and virtually a Petri dish for studying every social connection you make. Now I get to be categorized 100 different ways unless I just don’t participate. The dark side in Web 2.0 is the loss of privacy.

Thing 7: RSS Feeds

RSS is a fairly old system that many people never use. What is great now is that there are readers to capture these and use these to update. RSS can cover many different websites and I did choose to add Unshelved to my Google Reader for the purpose of Thing 7. Much like Thing 6, I am not sure I would want to add too many things to Google Reader since I would likely add way too many things and get overwhelmed with stories and updates I might not necessarily want to read. I realize that can speed up your Internet use, but I do like to see all that a website has to offer instead of a truncated update. The RSS feed can be great fun if it is a small content update like Unshelved or a blog post, though I still enjoy looking at the full website for now. If I feel I need to go faster, I will switch to using more feeds in Google Reader now that I know it is there.

Thing 6: Blog Readers

This is a neat little system. It is apparent that Google is trying to become a one-stop shop for just about anything. I do like how it works, however I may not use it that much since I tend to just go to the website in question instead of looking to see what was updated on Google Reader. It is a good way to track what has been updated, especially if you are short on time, though I don’t see too many librarians using this except the most technologically savvy. While I realize it may be faster to look for updates from Google Reader, I do still enjoy looking around the other sites as you can quickly get bogged down by new information on Google Reader if you have a lot of blogs to read through.

Thing 5: Image Generators

I like image generators for quick gags mostly. Image Chef is easy to update and it loads pretty quickly. The pictures are easy to manipulate. I like the comic strip generator and its many choices. However, BigHugeLabs seems a bit unwieldy. By the way, the FD Toys link on the 23 Things page is not the right address as it goes right back to BigHugeLabs.

Image generators can be a useful tool but I imagine they are used more for laughs than anything else. Much like the Flickr mashups, these links are pretty fun and depending on the website it can be quick and easy to make a picture that has the text you want with it. Unlike Flickr mashups, this will work well on posters, flyers, pamphlets, and signs so that you can get the customization you want for your message without having to manually edit a picture in a photo program. I might be using more of this! These images are from Image Chef.

Thing 4: Flickr Mashups

Flickr Mashups can be a lot of fun. I ended up spelling my name here. The Flickr mashups at least to me don’t have much portability to blogs. The sketchpad link seems to me to simply jump back to regular pictures and doesn’t have that much utility. The ability to transport these would make them more fun, though maybe I am having errors with it. Image Generators have more portability so I would see them as more useful overall. The copying and pasting parts don't seem to be working out for me as well as saving them, so I have the picture up above. Maybe it is my browser?

Thing 3: Flickr

Flickr is a great site to look at many photos of many different things. You can find nearly anything you are looking for from created photos to artwork to photos taken by a camera in a tour. Nearly everything can be loaded onto Flickr, as long as it doesn’t violate the terms of service. There are many competitors like Webshots, but Flickr has definitely taken a large share of the market for Web 2.0.

I found that my favorite is the Library of Celsus in Ephesus, Turkey. Built in 135 A.D., its ruins are majestic. There are many cute puppies and all kinds of Texas oriented stuff from flags, boots, the state and more, but it is the historic ruins that caught my eye on this search.

Thing 2: Learn about Learning 2.0

Hello all!

Seeing as how I completed setting up this blog, I feel I've completed Thing 1. Now on to Thing 2!

As a note aside, I had actually completed these 23 Things sometime before, I simply had not posted them to the blog but kept them on notepad since I really had to have the appearance of working and not blogging at the moment :) I would argue it is part of my work but I do have other duties to attend to that are far more pressing honestly. With that though, here is my thoughts on Learning 2.0

The thought of Learning 2.0 is challenging and fun. For myself, quite a bit of the information has been learned a long time ago. Functionally, Library 2.0 is truly adapting the Library to the challenges, technology and relevance of the future. As Web 2.0 further develops, increasing mass participation in information and content knowledge and dispersal, the Library will be increasingly needed to allow individuals to process and harness that information to their own ends. From viewing and creating their own videos in Youtube to peer to peer communication in anywhere from MySpace, Facebook, chat programs and more, Web 2.0 is a vast information trail that will change how the library functions and how patrons will use the library. Books will be online, social networks and others such as Twitter and Delicious will allow patrons more access to information than ever before.

Ultimately, as John Blyberg says, the libraries have to adapt to patron’s new needs with technology and sifting through that new information that is coming through the forefront with wikis and more. Large segments of the public to this day are still computer and information illiterate and will need guidance and support in accessing the information that they need in their lives. Ultimately, Web 2.0 is a virtual place for people to congregate, share and stockpile information that is relevant to their lives. Libraries need to know how to tap into and guide people in that virtual place.