Maybe I'm insane.

It could be true. In an effort to keep up with all this technological stuff that I said I would do, I've been tooling around the Internet. I've found some things I like. I've found some things that I think are ridiculous.

It is the ridiculous that intrigues me the most.

I may have to start a new blog, one to record my thought on all things not technological. Maybe.

T23: fine

As in, from the Latin, 'finis' or end. Used in music when the end is not at the end of the score.

Appropriate, because if I handle this properly, this will not be the end of the blog or my 23 things journey. But it is the 23rd thing, and a final post is necessary.

What did I learn? Lots of tech stuff. Some I'll continue to use, some I'll make myself go over again, some I'll just want to forget.

I also learned that I'm an old-fashioned girl. I like face to face interaction. I like talking to people, working with them and by "with them" I mean next to, in person, not across the country via Internet. This too has its place, but is not my preferred way to handle things.

I would be interested in trying other similar programs. What a great way to encourage training and continuing education. I learned and part of the learning was stepping out of my comfort zone. As Martha would say, "It's a good thing."

Thanks to those who put the program together, who maintained the program and who checked up on me from time to time. I valued your input and guidance.

This isn't the end of Things To Shake a Stick At. I still have ideas to work through. So until you see the D.C. al fine, there's more Headfones to come.

T22: Keeping Up

That's right. Thing 22. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. And, as a little aside, I may or may not be hooked on Facebook.

Keeping up with some of these things is going to be easier than others. I like RSS, blogs, facebook, del.icio.us to name a few. I subscribed to a feed to help keep me on top of library/online things.

Then there are the other things, the ones that I struggled with the first time around. All those photo shop things that just weren't up my alley. Those are the ones I should commit to trying more, experimenting with more, utilizing more. I'll try, but I make no promises.

Have I mentioned that I'm not into pictures?

Some of these "things" are going to be more useful in my other positions. I have really enjoyed the transfer of knowledge with this project. I don't know that I'll work through all 23 things again, but I will revisit several of them, looking for new applications and just trying to see what I missed the first time around.

T21:Socializing

I accidentally joined Ning a couple of weeks ago when my branch manager was a few steps ahead of me on this little endeavor. So that made this easier. I looked at 43 Things, but opted to not join. I guess that's okay. I'll finish these 23 things before I try to accomplish 43 life goals.

Baby steps.

For as much as I love the internet and all the freedom it has given me, I'm having a really hard time socializing in cyperspace. I'm waiting to see what happens, but I'm sure I'll only get out of it what I put in. I'm more curious to see what happens with Facebook than I am with Ning.

Social networks are another aspect of technology that are making the world seem smaller. Swapping recipes with someone on the other side of the world, playing Bingo and chatting with someone in California, finding the ex boyfriend I haven't thought about since high school. Suddenly, the world is smaller than ever.

Is that good? The jury is still out.

T20: Facebook

I have a friend who told me 6 months ago to get on Facebook. I hemmed and hawed, not wanting to put myself out there. What if no one writes on my wall or invites me to be their friend? It seemed like another way to promote rejection of myself.

But because I really want to finish these 23 Things and because after reading about it, Facebook seems interesting and because maybe my boss at a different job told me having a Facebook account was a really, really good idea that she strongly recommends, I did it. Facebook. There I am.

I still have trouble putting personal details of myself out there. It freaked me out a little when Facebook was able to access my email address book and send emails to potential friends. But really, a pretty painless procedure.

Now I can wait for something to happen. And maybe find a few people that I had lost years ago.

I had a MySpace account awhile ago, for some weird reasons that I won't go into. I think Facebook is much easier to use, to set up and to play with, which may be part of the reason it is growing so fast. I like the idea of networking, I just am not very good at it. Hopefully, this will help.

On a personal note, I'm in the home stretch, with only 3 things to go. Two of them are opinion based and I have plenty of those, so I think I'm wrapping this up. Yay me!

T19: Podcasts

Is it just me, or can you add anything to your Google account? Google, now with Podcasts too!

I listened to some very inappropriate humor via podcast and there were a few times that I did laugh out loud. Not gonna lie to you. And I couldn't believe the topics available. If I was interested in something there was a pretty good chance that there was a podcast about it.

This is good, but it presents the same problems that other online resources have. Anyone can have a blog, a podcast or a website. How can you be sure that you are getting accurate information?

As part of my interview and then training to be a librarian, I was informed that Google was not the best place to start looking for information. Because I am an educated person, I am able to tell the difference between a decent source and a poor one, so I believe that I am a careful connoisseur of internet resources. What about kids doing research?

"Well, I heard it on a podcast, so it must be true."

As with all things, not just technology, I am a firm believer in "just because you can, doesn't mean you should." I love the vast array of resources available. I love that everyone has a voice. But having a voice means having responsibility for it.

Off my soap box, back to the Blog prompts. I used Podcastalley and found it to be easy to navigate. I have no desire to create my own podcast, but right now, I have nothing to say that I think will benefit the world at large. That ability to censor myself has saved me on more than one occasion.

T18: I Tube, You Tube, We All Tube...

I'm a bit of a YouTube junkie, which is the only reason there is a third post today. I use YouTube all the time for my other job. I'm addicted to Blog reading which exposes me to all kinds of videos. It was hard to pick just one to post, so I didn't.



I love the Muppets. I love this song. I love Harry Belafonte. What more is there to say?



I found a youth devotion about this video in a magazine and it made for some great discussion. And who doesn't love a good tuba solo?



And this is just because I like to put my social agenda out there from time to time.

Did I mention I love YouTube? I have it bookmarked on my quick links. Ridiculous, but I like it that way.

T17: The Tree of Knowledge

I have only been a librarian since January. And really, like we joke in our branch, I'm not a real librarian. There's no MLS attached to my string of degrees and post college classes. I have a lovely 4 year degree in a content area that I have never used, and since then I've made it a point to take classes, generally community ed classes, in whatever subject or topic interests me at that moment. Even as an undergraduate, I wasn't exposed to any library science courses. I keep thinking about graduate school, but first, I have to decide what I want to be when I grow up.

So. I've been a librarian for a shade over 3 months. Prior to that I was a shelving aide. I knew about the databases included in ELM, I liked to tinker with them for my own amusement, but because my position as aide had a "no patron contact" clause, I tried to keep to myself.

After the position change, the kid gloves were off and my tinkering was necessary to figure out how the databases worked and how to get the info to the patrons who needed it. Lucky for me, I've always been a bit of a nerd.

I love that there is a central location to find out the most current information, as well as to dig back in time. I've used ProQuest to help people find obituaries, WorldCat to help with interlibrary loans and EBSCO to aid in academic research. It is amazing the information that is available, if one can only figure out where to look for it.

I think a great service to our patrons would be to teach them how to use these resources, such as by having a database class. The problem there is that just because I can find the information, doesn't mean I can teach others how to do it. Still, the idea is worthwhile. Accessing a 2 month old journal article has got to be better than requesting a 10 year old book.

T16: Keeping track

I am amazed at the number of people (read: kids) who come into the my library an hour before closing and need information for an assignment due the next day. Like many Minnesota libraries, mine is a branch of a larger system, which means that the resources needed many not be in my branch at that exact second.

Apparently this is my fault. Several of them have told me so. Time management has nothing to do with it.

I like the idea of an assignment calculator like this. The concept is great. What a great way to help students learn to budget their time. If used properly, I think this tool and others like could really help students of all ages meet deadlines.

Here's my problem with it. If used improperly, it isn't a teaching tool. It is a crutch. I don't know that it actually teaches time management, a skill I see lacking in so many students. All you have to do is plug in a start date and an end date and the project is completely spelled out for you.

Now, a person could use the example of one project's time line and apply it to another and then I say, "Yes, that's learning." But if someone just plugs in dates, then no one is learning anything about time management.

It's just my opinion. But it is my blog. So I'll express it.