Thing #22: Staying Current aka "Kowabunga, Dude!"

Like riding the surf, this has been an ever-changing tide of emotions. Some elated because of newly discovered toys and tools, and some that sinking, sort-of "oh-crap" feeling when the technology just plain failed me. Lots failed me, or I found incredibly redundant. I may have scared off a few people with my "Adult Content Warning" but, hey-- I've seen worse things on our public internet stations!

That's not to say I haven't learned a lot here-- I have.
Looking back to the very beginning of my 23 Things blog, I can only quote myself again:

"I am personally not afraid of the technology, I am just unhappy that more often than it should it does not work to full capacity. We get the same complaints from our patrons, OFTEN!"

I have embraced the technology, I just don't think it embraces back!

Until I find the Web 2.0 products that actually have some staying power, I'm definitely not in any hurry to keep jumping on the next great bandwagon. Never was, never will. Neither do I want to sign up for more spam e-mail, worms and viruses. Can you say "Conficker" or "twitter-worm?" Definitely job security for our Automated Services folks!

The odds of me keeping up with this blog are slim to none, but the reality of me learning about and using new technologies is always a definite maybe! I learn something new everyday on this job. You HAVE to. It's a given. In fact, I was just emailing a soon-to-be library school graduate that when I was in school there was no internet yet. No online catalog, no databases, no downloadable anything. This job is "beta forever!" In order to function at all I have to keep learning...
In contrast, his degree was entirely online. Who do you think has had to learn more?

I only hope that NEFLIN keeps its promise by keeping the 23 Things website intact and all the attached bloggers blogs up, because realistically there was no way to go through everything that was listed. I would like to be able to refer back to some of the lessons and read some other writings at my own pace instead of based on a deadline. Looking back now, I can use some of the tools I learned about and I'm thankful that the creativity of others actually made this somewhat fun! There are some really talented writers out there. Maybe they will continue blogging? For me, I've got patrons to wait on!

Oh noooo, here comes another wave...

Thing #21: Gun Salute (Student 2.0 Tools)

I have never been one who has been military-minded, but this whole challenge has been sort of a test of our organizational skills. We've had to be more disciplined, (not unlike our soldiers) and set aside devoted time every chance we could to these 23 Things. Now all I have to say is, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can... I'm actually seeing light at the end of this 23 Things challenge!
HOORAY for me!
WOW! How cool is the Assignment Calculator? I wish I had something like that when I was in school. I feel so cheated sometimes, not having the internet, not having online classes, not having Web 2.0 back then. I guess this challenge sort of helps me make up a little for that "lost time."

Because I live in a college community and many of my patrons are college students, I'm sure this can be useful. I don't see it as the perfect organizer because it is limited by predetermined Subject areas of the assignment, but for those students who just don't know how to get started on their research, it looks FANTASTIC! The beta version looks promising too. If they ever get a keyword search capability it might be even better.

I am going to bookmark it as a favorite for sure. University of Minnesota Libraries also shares the Open Source Code for the calculator, so Kudos to them for being nice enough to share!

I didn't find the Research Project Calculator nearly as exciting, but I think it was more about the "process" than anything else. The teacher resources may be more useful, but our Youth Services staff tend to deal with teachers more so I doubt I'll be going back to this supplemental page unless I get a teacher/patron who needs some support material or planning advice.

Can you think of any uses for library projects—could you use it to help manage a timeline for a project of your own? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...ROTFLMAO!!!