There is a proverb that states: Every end is a new beginning. I hope that everyone who embarked on this journey through 23 Things will continue to explore and come to the understanding that learning through experience is indeed a constant beginning.
Tick!Tock!
Only one week left ’til the end of NEFLIN’s 23 Things!! Can I get a big wOOt?!?
For those of you who’ve made it this far, way to go! For those who’ve wandered off… hopefully you’ll revisit the program when it is convenient. There is SO MUCH to learn from this program! Practical tools to use both personally and professionally and the best deal???…. it’s FREE TRAINING! Can you say: professional development?! Ya gotta love that!
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Thing #22 Staying Sharp
Based on the readings of everyone’s blogs, I’d say there’s been a lot of learning going on at SJCPLS! So many of you have stayed the course and made wonderful discussion posts about the Things. The NEFLIN posts have prompted us to consider real-world uses for the technologies impacting libraries. Some tools are already implemented, others are being discussed, and some are ready to be used.
Bloggers have definitely found use for most of the tools both in their library world and in their personal lives. Photos have been posted, images created, and ideas shared. One thing for sure, these technologies are going to continue to grow and morph and as information providers, it is vital that we stay sharp of these changes.
Hopefully through RSS, we will have the latest and greatest news of our field delivered to our monitors. May the news keep coming and may the Things continue to compliment our work within libraries.
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Thing #21 The Organized Student
Teen programming is a challenge, am I right?! How do parents feel about programs that benefit their students? They’re all for it, don’t you agree?
Including these Student 2.0 Tools is a great way to include young adults AND their parents in teen programming. This subject matter may not be highly desired by students, but I bet they’d appreciate it all the same and they’d definitely benefit from it.
Pair up with a local school media specialist or teacher to arrange a program that will introduce students to these handy tools to help stay organized. Presenting this topic in a workshop environment that promotes collaboration very well may be a hit. It’s worth trying to get students to work together to make student life a bit more manageable. Have snacks and an open forum to share what they’ve learned. This is just another way of including the library as a meeting place for the community.
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Thing #20 Read Alongs
Wow! This Thing offered SO many useful sites and gave us lots to think about in regards to how we read. These tools, these sites, are great as stand-alones or as an addition to any book groups that meet face-to-face. Isn’t it interesting how such an activity of solitude –reading — can become a collaborative event??
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Thing #19 Getting Social With It!
Whether your interests are gardening, music, or reading, there are countless ways to connect online with others who share an interest. Thing #19 listed many of the most popular social networking sites of a broad nature as well as those with a specific interest. I’ve included a few more to check out, if you’re feeling social. 
COOKING & BAKING
BakeSpace
epicurious
GroupRecipes
KNITTING & CROCHET
Cafe Crochet (on Ning)
KnittingHelp.com
Ravelry
MOTHERING
CafeMom
Mommy Talk
Work It, Mom!
PHOTOGRAPHY
MyShutterspace
PictureSocial
Shutterate.com
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Thing #18 Face It
Social networking sites, such as Facebook, are technologies being used in creative and positive ways to connect with people. Some of these “people” are patrons of the library or possible patrons of the library and that is what matters the most about these tools of technology. They offer ways to connect, collaborate, share, and build relationships with a library’s customer base. These relationships are vital to a library and for that reason alone these tools are of importance.
David Lee King shared how the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library is using Facebook to reach an online community of library users. Facebook is a FREE format to promote library events. Who can deny the value of free press??
I am excited to announce the SJCPLS will be introducing a Facebook page in the near future! It is currently in the works and will feature event announcements, search tools, photos, and much more! Be sure to become a fan of the page once it is live and visible on Facebook!
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Thing #17 Say What?!
Podcasting in libraries is HUGE! Thanks to this Thing, we have learned about super easy to use programs that allow us to chat up a topic and save it to share for others.
The Boulder Public Library (CO) has a Teen Webcast page but I found a variety of PODCASTS there, created with Gcast. What a great idea and way to encourage teens to contribute to our branches.
The Kankakee Public Library (IL) hosts a podcasts & vodcasts page. Their site shares a wide variety of recordings, including an author visit.
Here’s an example of how a podcast is being used to promote a county-wide book read at the Pierce County Public Library (WA).
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Thing #16 Video Killed the Radio Star
There’s no doubt that music videos are a hit on YouTube. But for those of us in the information world, sites such as YouTube serve as a portal of information sharing. Libraries are using YouTube to promote programming and services as well as offer instruction through online tutorials. SJCPLS will be uploading tutorials to the website and YouTube in the near future!
Vimeo and YouTube are both great sites to find libraries! Check these out:
An online tutorial:
A book talk:
03/16/2009 – Book of the Week from GreeneLibrary.info on Vimeo.
A library branch tour:
Turner Video Tour! from KCK Public Library on Vimeo.
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Thing #15 Customized Search Engines
In this Thing, we explored Rollyo. There are a couple of other customized search engines that may be of interesting, including Google Co-Op and Eurekster.
Possible benefits of customized search engines:
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