The last post

Can you hear the trumpet?? Not to mock the seriousness of the event which the last post is generally played but I feel the fact that me, computer moron, has completed the webolution with minimal tears and has actually gained something. If nothing else it has bought on some thoughts about the net in general, how it affects me, society and the whole disadvantage of those who cannot access the web. It also makes me wonder what it will be like in a few years when (as horrible as this sounds) the oldies in our society who have no web skills and minimal if any general computer skills will not be with us any more and people like myself will be the new computer illiterate. I know programs like this are designed to keep us up to date but as someone who considers herself quite competent there was a lot I didn't know. Its a great big web out there.............

I-pod this way please..........

I have been converted!
I was strictly a CD only kind of person but have found that after perusing the i-tunes, learning about podcasts and the different places to download music I am very excited. Bring on an I-pod I say, I already have a few plans and some songs I had totally forgotten about.
As for Utube it was something I had seen before as I had worked in a school and heard kids talk about it non stop. Like all these web "services" there are people out there abusing it and there are also people who are able to share there funny ideas, talents or general genius in an appropriate place. I think of that guy who danced his way around the world, or Sandi Thom who played her music and got a recording contract through there u-Tube postings, but take it with a grain of salt as it takes some time and talent to sift your way through the thousands of postings of teenage boys staking on there skateboards or beating each other up.
As far as u-Tube and these things in a library capacity, I think it is a great way to appeal to many people in a short amount of time. How great would it be if we could put the library's latest events as a podcast for people and mabey appeal to more of our teenage users, or put a video on u-tube as to how to print so people logged onto the computers can get a current and immediate demo and reduce the amount of errors.

Go Zoho

What an interesting program. I have found recently that there are a lot of programs out there that you would possibly call anti windows, but this one seemed a bit better as it allowed you to combine and make them more universal rather than having to pick one and then be restricted. As someone who has worked on the desk and had shifts in which I have been bombarded with patrons asking how to work programs, why cant I use my such and such program on this computer and so on I as excited by this program. The only hiccup I had was it made me save stuff before it would let me do anything which I found a bit...rude mabey, I am not sure. I get the point but at the same time I didnt like the idea of being forced to save my "experimenting". The other thought I had, fleeting and possibly incorrect but I would be a tad concerned personally about the privacy factor in using this if I was trying to do something more personal like an essay for uni or something. But as a library staff member I think it is great for the public as well as someone who is on different computers frequently.

Wiki wise

Am feeling somewhat virtuous, I have contributed in the world of wiki even if it was a small one liner. Katie will have to insire myself to a photo like yours lol.
I was bragging about this small achievement to someone and they raised a very good point about wiki. The general wiki that a lot of people look up to gain information about things i.e a breed of animal, a celebrity etc run the risk of gaining a lot of misinformation as anyone can add whatever they want to wiki. I think it would be lax of us to assume people to not print errors, whether intentional or not. But it has insipred me as a (potential) librarian to ensure that I inform wiki users of all of the ways of gaining information, not just depending on wiki. Kids doing school assignments springs to mind with this.
But on a more personal level, I have greatly enjoyed the wiki activity, and found it very interesting gaining information. I particually liked the Library Success wiki and some of the articles on that. The article of books post 9-11 was particularly interesting.

Getting off topic......

I am going to get off topic here, just a bit but please understand, this rant has been bought on by my completion of this activity (week 6) as well as some TV I have been watching. Firstly, to keep to the topic slightly, I completed the activities and thought it was very interesting and did learn some things I have never learned before. But here comes the rant. These things are great but I am finding it increasingly more sad that in order to be "up to date" we have to learn how to work through the computer and communicate with people we don't meet or see, and everything becomes so solitary. What happened to going to a park and chatting with people about the book we are reading rather than sitting on our own and writing it down and then posting it out there. For one thing, it scares me a little that I don't know who is reading it. And I would also like to think that I am a reasonably active out-there kind of person (stop smirking some of you) and I have better thing to do than sit at a computer for hours on end just to be up to date.
Please note that I do have a positive spin as well and wouldn't bother with this if I felt that there were not advantages, but thats another blog......

Week 5

Okay, I spent my time doing the week 5 activity and initially two things have sprung to mind. Firstly, when I am logging onto things and signing up and what not they keep asking me to prove I am human. What the??? I would have figured it was a given and if I wasn't then it would be very exciting that I was a cat smart enough to create accounts on the internet. Secondly, it was nice to find a collection of things that I could fool around with. I have often wondered how stuff like that got done, didnt realise it was that easy. So I think I will end up using it a lot in the future. I made a photo of my sister on her trip in England but for the sake of my own life I figured I better not put them on my blog. She is smarter than me and would probably see I had done it and cast some form of revenge. But please do not be too threatened by my sign.......

As for the Library thing site, I really liked it, if for no other reason it made me realise I had read a lot of books this year, therefore achieving my new years resolution. Yah. I think it is interesting being able to see other peoples perspectives but I am not sure that I would be able to look at others and make assumptions and judgements about things I saw on there reading lists, therefore making me a bit paranoid about my own. But its a great tool. Check out my list

www.librarything.com/catalog/WhatsLeft