Method 11 - Podcasting

I found this unit a little more difficult as far as navigating and finding a podcast I wanted to view/listen to and getting it to work. I really liked one I found through the Bridgewater State College link in this lesson. It was from OCLC and was of Helen Blowers speaking to a group. I found another good one that was Book Talks, Quick and Simple. My library does use podcasts, as teaching instruments embedded in online classes, and as tutorials on the library website.

Method 10 - Wikis

I really liked the In Plain English video about the wiki used for planning and collaborating. I totally agree that e-mail is a mess to try to do this. In a class I have used e-mail for group projects, and it is so confusing trying to figure which is your current e-mail and which one to use to respond to. Then we used Google Docs, which I don't if it technically a wiki, but it allowed us to all work on the same document and add to it or edit, save our changes, and see what the others had done.

When I posted my favorite blog to the wiki, I had trouble getting it to show up under the View tab, even though I had Saved and I could see it under the Edit tab. I finally had to delete it and redo it.

Method 9 - Chat & IM

I did the Meebo chat embedded in this lesson to chat with Naomi. It was easy, but I did not notice at first that she was not online and had to wait until she was online. I have used IM as a student to ask a reference question and it was very easy, quick, and helpful for my assignment.

Neither the library I just came from (small public library), nor the one where I currently work (academic library) have IM Reference. I imagine the reason is because of trying to arrange staffing for it. But as someone pointed out in one of this lesson's readings or videos (I can't remember where, or I would give credit), IM reference service doesn't have to mean 24/7. We can post our availabilty hours on the IM box, and just assign reference duties for someone to sign in to be available during regular reference hours. I can see that this may be a possiblity in the future, especially at the academic library since there are more people to staff it.

Method 8 Social Networking

I think social networking sites are great for those who like to use them, as long as they don't "air their dirty laundry" for all to see. I do have privacy concerns and would be unlikely to make a personal site public for all to see. I created an account very recently because everyone at work is really into it and talking about it. But then I forgot my password (!!) and forgot about Facebook altogether. It just hasn't been a priority.

OK. Gotta new password, logged on, looked around, sent a few Friend Requests (my kids), Confirmed a few Friend Requests. OK. Now. I guess I'll log in later to see if my kids will let me be their friends! I also need to tweek my profile and privacy settings. Some of the things I just read on some of my Friends' sites, make me think I don't want someone posting something like that (embarassing) on my site and then have everyone able to read it!

My library does have a Facebook account, and I need to and plan to get more familiar with it and the amount of usuage it gets. It looks like its used for announcements, events, photos, etc.

Method 7 Social Bookmarking

I had created a Delicious account a year or two ago in another training, but had not really used it. So I dug out my password, viewed the tutorials, explored the site, saved the Delicious and Tag buttons to my toolbar, and saved a bunch of my favorite sites to my Delicious account.

I had a computer crash recently, so I lost all my favorites saved on it. SO - I really wish I had saved them in Delicious. Now I will start saving them there as I come across them again!

Method 6 YouTube

I haven't done much with YouTube, but I like this video showing college students what the library has to offer them.

Method 5

Method 5: I was off 3 weeks for Christmas and I think I've forgotten most of what I learned about blogging! Anyway, I just wanted to say that I plan to post some of my photos on Flickr and hopefully start using it for all my photos. It seems like a great way to store, share, and organize them.