Thing 23 Wrapping up

These exercises reinforced that which I already knew--that is--if you really want to learn something you have to do it again and again so you can master it. Blogging is a lot easier than I thought it would be and that is because I did it after almost each tool I learned. I cannot see myself being a blogger but it's nice to know that I could be one if I so desired. Web 2.0 is here. As a librarian I will need answer questions about how to use it. After these exercises I am better qualified to do so.

My favorite things are:
LibraryThing because I will use it to keep track of the books tha I have read.
BlogLines because I can find blogs to read regarding issues of concern to me.
Podcast.com because I can listen to radio broadcasts that air I when I'm unavailable to listen.

My least favorite was when the websites had technical difficulties --Odeo and Flickr. This was especailly true for Flickr because it was an exercise that we had to do almost at the beginng. I can see where the problems with Flickr could have discouraged many staff members from continuing with the other exercises.

It seem that Google.docs ansd Zoho could be useful for staff who are committee members.

haring Web 2.0 with my friends and family is something Ive just started to do. I started to use ListenNJ today and shared it with my husband. I intend to share LibraryThing with the members of both books club that I belong to when I see see them.

Thing 15 Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 Unanswered questions

Web 2.0 has certainly arrived and many people are using it. I'm not sure that I want to spend large chunks of my time using it. I would prefer seeing and talking to those I know than strangers who may not even be those they say they are. I can see some value in some of the blogs, especially when I know who created them. One thing I learned of value about Web 1.0 is that I want to know who created the information and when did they last update it. In many of the articles in wikipedia I have no idea who created them and therefore am hesitant to rely on the information they present.

Input from customers has value but if we reach the point that we are concerned by the customer's input we diminish our own standing. This buy into the argument that everything is available on the Internet for free. As librarians we know this is false. As long as there are commercial enterprises and copyright Web 2.0 will never provide everything for free.