Week 13: Bonus

I only occasionally listen to the radio (even while driving), so I don't expect to do so online. Once again, it's a matter of limited time.

I have a Shelfari account and have wondered about Library Thing. I found the articles comparing Shelfari to Library Thing to be interesting and informative. I find Shelfari to be visually appealing, but it seems quite slow (perhaps because of the graphics?) and somewhat limited. I've now opened a Library Thing account and look forward to using it.

Week 12: Phun Photos

I explored the websites and will save them on my Delicious account. Having an art background, this looks like a fun thing to play with. Thanks for the great links!

Week 11: Online Productivity

We've used Google Docs in our department a bit, so I'm familiar with it. I like the idea of electronic storage, and think that as we all get used to using it, collaboration will be simplified.

I seriously plan to use Google calendar so that all scheduled events in my life can be seen in one place. Woo hoo!

Week 10: Tagging/Social Bookmarks

I've been curious about delicious, and found the lesson most informative. I like the idea of having a place to bookmark websites in a place that can be accessed from anywhere--I can stop sending those incessant emails to myself, and it should eliminate some clutter. I opened a delicious account and have bookmarked a few sites. I expect my appreciation will grow as I continue to use it.

I'm not sold on the social aspect of bookmarking (i.e. tagging), but perhaps this will change as I become more familiar with it.

Week 9: Social Networking

I've been on Facebook for several months now, and have enjoyed reconnecting with old friends, distant family members, and local acquaintances whom I don't see very often. I've moved around quite a bit as an adult and have never liked losing touch with old friends, but life is busy. I don't like talking on the phone. I've maintained a lot of contacts via email and find Facebook to be another managable avenue for doing so. Now that the initial excitement has worn off, I don't allow it to be a time waster--I can quickly check it once or twice a day (just as I do email), and move on. I still connect with one or two people a week, and learned last week that a former student who is my daughter's age will be attending the same out-of-state college. I doubt I would have learned this without a Facebook account, at least not until they ran into each other on campus next year!



I found the articles regarding privacy settings most helpful--I am careful to only post information that I would not mind my mother (nor my mother in law) seeing, but I plan to sort my friends into different categories--when a 15 year old son of a friend "friended" me and I accepted, his angst-filled news feed quickly became something I didn't want to read, nor did I want his posts appearing on my wall. I did some digging and figured out how to set limitations, but I want to do a more organized, thorough job of this.

Week 8: Gaming

I'm not a gamer--never have been, never will be.

Week 7: Wikis

It was nice to be in somewhat familiar territory this week, since we've been using the programming wiki for awhile.

I checked out the links to wikis that were shared with us in the lesson, and have concluded that the more specific a Wiki, the more appealing it is to me. The SJCPLGuides had so many links to information about so many topics that I found it cumbersome and overwhelming. On the other hand, the Durham County Library Strategic Plan was much more concise, dealing with a specific topic. And because I remembered a group from Durham County touring Tuckahoe a couple of years ago, it was interesting to read their impressions and personally relevant.