Week 10, Final Post

Hooray, we have reached the finish line!!! The finale video is most appropriate. It has been a great ride, both enjoyable and informative. At times it was tough finding enough time to get the exercises done, especially since we have been shorthanded recently, but the effort was worthwhile. I saw many possibilities during the program that previously were unfamiliar to me.

The information on internet safety was timely. The safety concern is my primary objection to the proliferation of social networking sites. I think the Flickr site and photo editing tools might be fun to play with more. Also the avatars were fun. Zoho is a great word processing program that is available free. If I didn't already have Microsoft Office, I would be very interested in using it for word processing. It would be way too easy to waste a couple of hours on YouTube. There are some funny things on that site. I like Bloglines because it lets me access a lot of sites of personal interest from one location, but I probably won't use the podcast audio feature much. I would have more opportunity to read the posts than to listen to them. I had already been looking at some of the library blogs occasionally, but having them all right there at my fingertips is nice. I will use this site frequently. Library Thing has definite possibilities. I don't like the way Library Elf displays in Webmail. If I switched it to go to my home email, I would probably like it better.

I read one post suggesting a Wiki for Harriet, and think that is a good idea. Wikis could also be used for patrons to post book reviews and suggestions for other patrons to read. Of course, we are already posting pictures on our website using Flickr, so hopefully, that will continue and become more widely used. Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 are the wave of the future, and we must adapt and respond to the needs and interests of our patrons if we want to remain viable. I don't think libraries are in danger of extinction, but if we remain mired in the past and refuse to adapt to our changing world, our influence is sure to be limited.