Thing 23: Final Thoughts

It is wonderful that I finished with the 23 Things on a Stick. I cannot believe that I achieved it. But the steps were so detailed and most of the time the web applications that I selected had user friendly interfaces. I really thank the organizers of this program for the big impulse that they gave me to learn Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools. It was such a big learning process for me and this learning was so intensive. Now I know the many web tools on the Internet. And with Library 2.0 tools I will help the patrons at the library even more. I am very sure that from now I will be in touch with what is new in the web tools and I will learn them.

Thing 22: What Did I Learn Today?

I am glad to participate in 23 Things on a Stick. I have learned so many Web 2.0 tools. This learning process has been fun for me. What a lot of new stuff for me! I feel more confident than the first day that I started. I can say that I sometimes struggled with some of these tools, but I have accomplished it.

I am sure that I will be back to check again some of these Library tools to maintain my blog. I will keep in touch with other blogs and I also will keep up with my RSS reader. Now that I know the social networks, I will be connected with library groups, and library 2.0 groups, and I will continue improving myself by attending Webinar sessions.

Thing 21: Beyond My Space: Other Social Networks

In this Thing 21 I read the documentation suggested. I joined the 23 Things on a Stick Ning. I read the postings of other members and left a comment in one of them. Then I added the Ning badge to my blog.

I checked out different social networks. The Teacher Library Ning is an interesting education site, and The Craftster is a hobby social network. I will get back to these social network resources and work with them again.

Thing 20: Library and Social Networks

I took a look at Facebook and MySpace. I prefer to work with Facebook. I set up my account and my network. Then I joined the MSB and Library 2.0 groups. I found students at MSB and librarians participating in 23 Things. Also I found participants in 23 Things from Australia. That was interesting. I found a friend from the Mayo Clinic group and I sent her a message. I will check my profile in Facebook more frequently.

This social network as a web tool for libraries is an option to be in contact with the young and teenagers. In addition, it is a way to openly post exchange of ideas between librarians and patrons. Also, librarians can be in touch with colleagues through these social networks.

Thing 19: Podcast

This Web 2.0 tool is an audio or video broadcast over the internet. I took some time to listen a local podcast: On the road with Minitex by the reference staff. This is a topic that I am interested in right now. Also I visited the directories and the one best I liked was podcast .com. I prefer this directory because it was easy and very user friendly. I searched by some subjects and a list of podcasts showed up. Then I chose the ones I wanted from the list. I subscribed podcast.com to RSS to my reader to access this link more frequently.

Thing 18: You Tube and other online videos

This is the first time that I have worked with You Tube. This is a very good resource to use in libraries as a visual support.

Thing 17: ELM Productivity Tools

The Electronic Library of Minnesota consists of library databases available online for Minnesota libraries. In this Thing 17 I did my search in Gale Database, but when I tried to set up my RSS to my reader it gave me an error message. I will try this later.

Then I tried with EBSCO database. I created my account. I did all the steps successfully; I created my personal folder in Academic Search Premier, and I sent the contents to my e-mail at work. Also I saved it to my flash drive. Next I tried the Net Library. I found the e-book, and opened its content. I made the note there. This Net Library database allows you to share it, so you can work in collaboration with other colleagues. Finally I went to Pro-Quest Newsstand Complete; I searched in this database for full text in the Washington Post. I marked my selection and from my search tab I created a web page. I e-mailed to myself the html file and I saved the text document to my flash drive too. In the Academic Library of Minnesota School of Business, we use these databases. They are a very helpful Web 2.0 productivity tool for Reference service librarians and as a research resource for students and instructors.