final thoughts

Some people might take this opportunity to complain about all of this and even things that have nothing to do with this project. I thought about it. But what good will complaining do?

Instead, I'll take this opportunity to say it was fun when it was and wasn't when it wasn't. Adieu.

audiobooks

The PBCLS audiobook site thing is great if you want some popular, known titles. Otherwise, not. Downloading audiobooks is a good idea if you have the right equipment. Otherwise, not.

podcasts

Podcasts are great if you're bored and have nothing to read or watch. Finding podcasts is easy, too. I use iTunes to find some cool timewasters like Pod Crawlers. Great show.

YouTube

I've wasted countless days on YouTube looking at everything from faux movie trailers to stuff like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bpCjjgUSrE

Awesome. Just awesome.

YouTube is easy to use and you can find just about anything on it.

playing with it

Oh look! Google Docs. The site I was just talking about! Simple, just a click away, Google Docs is my kind of site!

Zoho

Zoho is an online word processor thing. Great for people who don't have access to Word and would also like to share their documents. However, Google Docs is available without having to sign up for another account and I prefer that much more than having to sign up for another account when I'd be only a click or two away from Google Docs. Cool idea though.

PBCLS Wiki

Easy to use, but pretty useless considering the same information can be found in several other places.

Wikis

I personally wouldn't use a wiki. The information is entirely suspect. ANYONE can add info to one and this info could be wrong (in my experiences with wikis, most times it is).

I wouldn't recommend wikis to libraries or any other base of knowledge that is worried about ruining their respectability. However, if respectability is not an issue, then wikis could used to give wrong information about branches' closings and openings, a bookmobile's hours of operation, or any other info that a taxpaying public would like to know.

Web 2.0 thoughts

Web 2.0 - It's many things to many people. What does it mean to you?

It means that no matter how much people sugarcoat it, libraries are a dying species. Evolution is no guarantee of survival. The individual is the new librarian. Log on, Google, find, happy. Granted, there must be someone to place this information on the internet, but all it takes is one. Not a group of educated people desperately hanging on to an archaic tradition.

I love libraries. I always have. But I also loved old-school video stores that only carried videotapes. A new technology came along and wiped the old one out despite all the desperation and trepidation. That's what's happening here with libraries and all this Web 2.0 nonsense. Web 2.0 is just another name for a meteor destroying an age or a plague wiping out a civilization.

Future (but not too far out) generations will probably say the same thing about this Web 2.0 and internet antiquity. Move on, latch on to the next stage, and ride it 'til the end.

Technorati

Technorati. I found 73 blog reactions to www.pbclibrary.org. I'm not sure what the significance is. Tags make information easier to be found. However, it takes time to place those tags; time that the average person doesn't have. Cool idea though.

del.icio.us

I like the idea of del.icio.us. I see its educational and entertainment potential. I think it's great that the links added to a del.icio.us profile can be viewed by any interested parties. However, I do not think it will supplant any existing method of sharing sites due to the face that using it means remembering one more user name and one more password. It would be easier just to email interesting links to interested parties on an as-need basis. Organization is awesome, however, del.icio.us is just another wheel.

Last two. I promise.

I had too much spare time.

WebFeat

WebFeat is a great site for those who are looking for a serious time. Great for research. Not for fun.

I looked up West Palm Beach and found some business articles. Nothing too interesting.

LibraryThing

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/handye23things

I'm not big on cataloging books I've read or want to read (once I read something, I rarely revisit it). I'm more interested in movie cataloging sites. I'm such a geek.

LibraryThing was great for what it is. Easy to use. Good times.

Image Generators

The Flickr Toys and The Generator Blog sites were fun and extremely time-consuming! I spent half an hour on both and didn't even get past the first couple of toys! My favorite of the few I played with thus far is the Speech Bubbler (http://www.coverbrowser.com/bubbler).

RSS

http://www.bloglines.com/blog/handye

There it is; my newsfeed thing. I'm not a fan of feeds. For those who want their information in one place at one time, feeds are fine. For me, I prefer to visit each site at my leisure, if I even want to. Same thing goes for podcasts; subscribing's okay, but I might not want every episode of a series.

Technology Interests

I'm most interested in the Internet as entertainment. Whether it's YouTube or iTunes or just the ridiculousness of the Internet itself, I think TV and radio as they're traditionally known are on their way to oblivion. The Internet is in the hands of its users. The content and viewing of that content is not governed by anyone. Freedom of choice. Freedom of fun.

Flickr image

I like castles. I like moats. I love them if they're haunted, too.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hansvandevorst/392197839/

Blogging In Libraries

All blogging is is another form of communication. It's not as immediate as face-to-face interactions or a phone call or even an email. While the information is important, there's no immediacy on the audience's part to receive it.

Libraries can use blogging to inform staff of upcoming events or past events which may be of some interest. Patrons and other interested parties can also be informed of events or be allowed to voice their concerns over policies or anything library-related. Anything that doesn't require an immediate response can be communicated through a blog for all to see and share.

71/2 Habits

Finally! A method of learning that I've always thought was more beneficial and more pleasing than the old, dusty ways. Why should modern-day students be taught with outdated methods that worked "back then," but have no room to accept modern-day thinking?

I think that remembering that there is really no right way to get to the goal of whatever is to be learned will be the most difficult part in this experience. Whole generations have been brought up on the notion that there is only one or two ways and they are the right ways. Not anymore.