Wikis (Thing 21)

Creating a wiki to review the restaurants in the city of Frisco sounds like a great project. We should seriously think about offering something like that to our patrons. Or if this sounds like a big project to undertake right now, it will still be fun if the staff continues making comments about area restaurants on this wiki. I can see wikis being very helpful to update policies and procedures too. The big problem with wikis is the fact that anyone can esit them and this makes them less reliable.

Podcasting

I listened to a few podcasts...But I didn't feel it! I guess I'm not a radio listener. However, the one that I liked the most was the Education Podcast Network. "Who Are You Really?" was the title of the podcast I listened to. Even though I wasn't able to listen to the whole podcast I found it interesting because it relates to becoming a better person.

I might listen to educational podcasts but I think I would prefer to download them on my I-Pod and listen to them in my car. I'm not sure that I would like to use this in our library. I think I would prefer videos and that is because I'm more visual. However, I think it might be helpful if the podcast is geared to fulfill the needs of our patrons. Maybe having teen podcast reviews for other teens could be fun. The Orange County Library System in Florida has my favorite page when it come to podcasting. And the reason I love it is because it also includes videos. I think this is something we should definitely use to promote programs such as storytelling, teens' programs, and to let patrons see what we do at our library.

Hulu

An interesting concept!!! I've never used Hulu before. I tried to watch something but then I felt guilty of wasting my time at work watching it. I think I will try to watch some episodes at home using Hulu now that I know how it works. However, I think it will be a while for everyone to want to completely move to watching episodes in the computer. I think people still likes big screens. Otherwise why are the TV screens getting bigger and bigger. A lot of people have a home theater and entertainment system. Yes, it is helpful to watch missed episodes but not the whole season. Then, I think we will have to order DVDs for a while yet. They might become smaller but people still enjoys watching movies in big screens.

Drinking at the New York Public Library - You Tube

This was a video I watched on You Tube...The New York public library having a cocktail party! I guess this is a great way to know what other libraries are up to! I like to watch videos on You Tube but I don't use it often. I think creating a channel for our library will be a great way to promote our programs and services. It will be nice to have some puppet shows and story times available for those patrons that can't make it to our library sometimes. Or how about having some available in different languages?

Pandora and Slacker

Thing number 17, music streaming and sharing, was fun! I had the chance to listen to Pandora's selections for a surprise party we had for my sister-in law. Since she is from Pakistan we tuned Pandora for a good variety of Indian and Pakistani music. The crowd attending the party was greatly surprised when we told them that the music playing was from Pandora. I also had the chance to listen to Slacker in the Teen room, since David gracefully offered to show me how it works. Now every time I'm in the Teen room I listen to Slacker.

This new trend will definitely change how we do collection development in the future. CDs might become a thing of the past, and downloading will become part of our future.

Google Docs

Love it! I think I'm going to write one of my papers for school using Google Docs. I have used Google sites to make websites and I find it very easy to use. I will let you know more in detail what happens when I use it for my next project in Library School.

Well, I did use Google docs to work on a paper. It worked great! Everyone was able to change their parts and edit the document. I think I will be using Google Docs in the future and teaching patrons how to use it.