CTLS 23 Things Program Evaluation

First of all I would like to thank CTLS for giving us the opportunity to participate in this life long learning adventure. Also thanks to CTLS Friends and Tocker Foundation for the prize. Many thanks to Kam McEvoy for the quick responses to my challenging questions I had. I know I was a challenge as I did get confused at times. Working together with staff members was also a help.
I guess if we hadn't had the opportunity , I wouldn't have known about all the good sites and resources that are out there. I understood some of the sites that I always see patrons using.
The ones I liked was Flickr and Chat. I had a hard time with Technorati. If given the opportunity again I would definitely do it again, the only problem we all face is the time to explore at greater lengths.
I would like the gift certificate to Best Buy

Audio books

LibriVox » The Spirit of Christmas by Henry van Dyke
This is the book I listened to as I explored librivox.org. I also listened to 100 Ways to Simplify your life, just a small 2 minute audio which I enjoyed under the Brooklyn Public Library. I also listened to Podiobooks.com the title Jabez: conceived in pain. I really enjoyed audio books, as my time is limited . I enjoyed the books on CD on my drive to work and going back home.

podcast

This is an extra podcast I subscribed to:
http://rss.streamos.com/streamos/rss/genfeed.php?feedid=112&groupname=lakewood

podcast

I liked Podcast.com the best because it was easier to view and listen to. I exlored Nuestro Canto and actually liked the podcast and wouldn't mind subscribing to that. I explored and listened to religion and Because Nature Tells Us. The one I really listen to is http://podcast.com/show/4675/, because I listen to the news alot.
Under Podcastally.com, I listened to Free Talk Live and I can see how this would be a good site for people who like to voice their opinions and call about any subject. In Yahoo Podcast I entered Library and most of the stuff that came up, you had to download using iTunes, Audio Lunchbox or Pay Play.Fm. Most of the Podcast I looked at related to music. I can see how Podcasting can be used for education between teachers, students, parents as you can share information about curriculum with anyone at anytime.

you tube

I explored all the sites mentioned and you can see videos until infinity and beyond. Wish I had the time to watch all the good and funny videos. I liked the fact that you can see older videos from way back when. The thing I did not like is the sex related stuff. I liked the music videos, but I selected another catagory.I selected this video because of all the pretty pictures of nature.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFp2OgH9SuE

discovering Web 2.0

I explored quite a few catagories, Food, health, classified and Directories, Music and Retail. The sites are all very useful and you can spend hours looking at everything. The one i enjoy was retail. I worked in retail for 20 years and that field is so different than what I am doing now. I looked at the four sited under retail and it was fun looking at the merchandise they offer. Sort of like window shopping. This web site was very interesting;

http://www.threadless.com/ I enjoyed looking at the merchandise. Picture courtesy of http://www.fawnfruits.com/

sally at the library avatar

Web base Apps:

I can see how Zoho writer and google docs can be very helpful. You do not have to worry about different software versions or install software. It will be on the internet as only one document. I created a document on both and sent it to a staff member. I tried to create a card, but did not have a picture of my family, but i sent it anyway. It was interesting to say the least.

Playing around with PB Wiki Sandbox

Sandbox was pretty easy to do I added a couple of of comments to movies and reference. I tried to add my blog to favorite blogs by going to edit page. I logged in and could not get any further than Wiki password/Invite Key.

So What's in a Wiki

A Wiki allows users to view information about so many topics and it allows the users to easily add, remove and edit the content. It is a faster and easier way to communicate with others than e-mail. I explored St.Joseph County Public Library's Subject Guide. It had so much information on their Wiki. It seemed very helpful to patrons and the community with a wide range of topics.
In Library Success: a Best Practice Wiki, I found it was a good source to check out other librarian successes, and useful materials and websites that worked for them. I visited Alphabetized list of categories and found it very interesting. In Library Instuction Wiki, under Find Library Instrucion Resources, I explored Teaching Techniques, Tips, and Tricks following the link; URL: http://www.carleton.edu/campus/library/reference/workshops/MurderMystery.html.
Hosting a Murder Mystery in the Library
I think most of the applications i looked at will work well with wiki.

Library 2.0 and the Web

My academic search was Technology Trends foe a 2.0 World under the following link;

Library Technology Reports; Sep/Oct2007, Vol. 43 Issue 5, p32-44, 11p
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=26824914&site=ehost-live

Librarians need to be trendspotters to be better prepared for the future. I liked the message Learn to Learn, Adapt to Change and Scan the Horizon. Web 2.0 allows people to talk to each other about all manner of things. People want to make connections. As we reach out to our users, we create experiences for them. New technologies enable anyone to create and publish content to the web using other software, like digital, video cameras, Flicker, You Tube and other sources.

Libraries must change the way they craft their services to meet this needs.

Technorati Parti

As I explore the blogosphere the difference I saw was in Blog Directory the results were over
5, 000, in Blog post a little over 1, 000 and in tags over 7oo. I searched learning 2.0. I read about web crawler, did advanced search. I really liked the most popular tab with options for movies, videos, news and other topics.

delicious tag

I think the tags are great, because we already use favorites, but to be able to use any computer and share with others is an added bonus. I created my account and added two tags under storytime;sallydiaz's Tags . I will use delicious for storytime links i always look up.
Bookmarks Network Tags Subscriptions Inbox
Bottom of Form
1 Tags
Delicious.TagScopeNav.init();
Sort: Alphabetically By size
storytime

It way very interesting to explore this site.

picture courtesy of google image.

Online games

Online games was fun, and there are so many games out there to play. I made a few puzzles and I tried to blog one but didn't quite learn how to do that yet. I went under Bookworm Adventures and play Alice Greenfinger but it was too easy, I tried to do Library Arcade, Super Collapse and did Free Rice and that was easy and educational under English grammer and vocabulary and did the easy math. It was interesting to say the least.

Social Networking Sites

I visited My Space, but at this moment I do not want to create account. I will explore it further, because most of my family has a My Space account and would like to know more about it. Every day patrons come in to check their my space from every age. I feel like yahoo mail is outdated compared to My Space. I looked under the music tab and search one of my favorite christian artist Salvador. I listene to their new song (What would it be like) and really enjoyed it and want to buy it. I selected different albums under the tab and listened a little at some of the other songs. Salvador's home search was in Austin, TX. I enjoyed looking at the photos also.

Chat

Chat was really fun. I think it was one of the easiest to do. I had so much fun, I did not want to stop and go to lunch. I have had patrons ask me about chat before and I was'nt familiar with it at all, so I was unable to help them out. At least now I know a little about it and some chat sources.

Finding feeds

I researched finding other feeds and to tell the truth I was pretty confused. I added another newsfeed GigaOM link, http://gigaom.com/2008/11/24/the-auto-bailout-and-some-common-sense-lessons/. I found and interesting topic dealing with the economy, The Market Meltdown.

I added this feed to my google account also. I researched other feed sources and I finally went under Synctic8.com and find a feed.

http://gigaom.com/

RSS

My three picks from Google Reader

http://newyorktimes.com/
http://abcnews.com/
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/
I selected New York times because it has so much valuable information relating to world news, science, arts, style, it has a listing of the most popular topics, movies and a topic page that collects all news, photos, graphics on just about any topic or subject you pick.
ABC News is much the same, with breaking news, America and world wide news, Prime time and Night time.
National Geographic inspires people to care about the planet. It has beautiful photographs, history, facts activities and is used by teachers for school activities.

My creation

My creation
Originally uploaded by mustangsally5

This is my trading card i created and enjoyed making.

Quotes and Inspirtion

Quotes and Inspirtion
Originally uploaded by aceman3006

I found this beautiful picture in flickr and just wanted to share it.

Flickr

I found this beautiful picture in Flickr under link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13571173@N00/411653343/sizes/m/

Flickr and Picasa almost have the same features, uploading pictures, organizing pictures, able to do fun stuff with digital photos, create posters, badges, calenders, image and video hosting website. There is so much you can do on both sites.

I think trees are so fascinating and I just love trees. The beauty of a tree is so amazing and so much joy to look at. They can live and grow forever. They have curious traits and I love to look at the different shapes. The way they develop an extensive root system that they are able to withstand so much from nature. They are so beautiful in the fall with the so many awesome colors. Trees have been here since the beginning ot time. In the bible in Genesis it talks about the two trees of very special importance. The tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I remember when I was younger and would live in Minnesota, I would climb the tall trees and just look out as far as I could and feel the wind just blowing. I love to listen to the rustle of leaves at home from my big oak tree.

Google

Google is one of the greatest tool we use almost daily. I mainly used it as a search engine for different things, maps, and images. I did not realize it had so many other helpful functions.
I will certainly have fun exploring books, calender, documents and also will now use my gmail.

Life Long Learning

The hardest habit for me would be using new technology. Most of the time I have to do something quite a few times beforeI really get it. I know eventually I will learn it with practice.
The easiest habit would be Play. Being able to play and learn at the same time while at work is great.