Thing # 47 Evaluation

I really enjoyed a lot of the graphics tools (Scrapblog, Animoto, etc.) and it reminded me that new generators/tools and websites are going up ALL. THE. TIME. That if I find something I like I need to not forget to research again later for something else because it is evolving constantly. (That is one of the challenges and joys of the internet...maddening and great.)

I lost some of my spunk somewhere in the middle of these Things but it came back. There was less exploration of new concepts for me this round (as it should be). A lot of the tools I had already been aware of and been using. But that was alright. I would have liked to have seen more out there things....but maybe we're running out of those?

One thing I think people could have benefited from would have been some scheduled chat nights at a chatroom or some such. I think that would have been a new experience for a lot of people and it would have given us a chance to "meet" online.

It was beneficial - if there is ever a 3rd Things I'll keep participating as it's always worth it and I really appreciate that this experience was possible. Thanks!

Thing #33 Travel 2.0

http://www.boo.com/ the "collective wisdom" website had NO knowledge when it came to me trying to find information about places I'd like to travel to.

http://www.greenroutes.org/ offered some interesting places to check out the next time I stravel up to Duluth or to the Twin Cities. The nearest green location on the map from where I am is in New Ulm at Morgan Creek Vineyards (I've been there and it IS neat!).

http://www.igougo.com/ I'd visit this site again if looking for info on places I'm travelling - would easily choose it over http://www.boo.com/.

http://www.mapness.com/ I am now debating between using mapness or MyGoogleMaps to create a mashup of places I visited on my honeymoon. (There were a lot of places!) Mapness lacks some of the bells and whistles that MyGoogleMaps does, so I think I will keep to that but will keep Mapness in mind.

http://mykugelhopf.ch/ I could easily surf My Kugelhopf for quite a while. The pictures are great!

Some of my favorite travel sites:

www.exploreminnesota/myfavoriteminessota/ - Explore Minnesota is awesome but making it even better is My Favorite Minnesota - people can make lists of their favorite places and share them - I've found some great lesser known places to go visit that are much closer to me. Very helpful and fun!

*ExploreMinnesota is one I regularly recommend to patrons who are surfing OR purposefully searching for Minnesota travel information. It is a fabulous site with so many tools!!!
Also I've found Babelfish useful when it comes to translating http://babelfish.yahoo.com/ ...haven't had a chance to travel and use it since I haven't gone far lately but I do use it now and then.

I also enjoy searching based on a location and "food blog" - you never know what you'll find. Half of the memories of a trip is the great food you ate. Mm, like the pasties I had up at Two Harbors at Vanilla Bean.

Thing #26 - Ning

I joined the Ning in round 1, but sadly didn't do much with it. When I revisited it this time around I was glad to see some people I had met at a workshop - so I was able to have some Friends. (Yay!)

I started a discussion topic for Teen Tech Week. Someone has responded - hopefully that will see some more action. I didn't see any groups to belong to...so maybe I'll start one. :o)

I can see using a Ning in my personal life, specifically, some of my friends from high school and I are in charge of our next high school reunion - this might come in handy for getting organized and reconnecting classmates.

Thing #24

Well, as you can see my blogging has been sporatic at best....at worst I had I three month dry spell. What I enjoyed most about blogging was the fact that I had a place to put useful information so I could refer back to it and maybe it'd be useful to someone else. I like those kind of two-fers.

What I am really going to do is start communicating with my 23 Things peers on their blogs. That was one of the reasons I got involved in the first place, I wanted to network with people. Have a small online peergroup that was interested in throwing out ideas, brainstorming and sharing information. So, better watch out. Because I will come find YOU! ;o)

23). Summary

Holy cow, I made it! *Happy dance!*

This experience has helped me find tools beyond what I knew. One of the best ways it helped me was that I felt justified in seeing more of what's out there - our library director was very supportive of this program.

My favorite discovery...well, I guess it has to be GoodReads or LibraryThing. The social networks were great - I'd belonged to Yahoo! groups in the past for hobbies and interests and to see how slick so many of the social networks have become. Wow.

I'm still looking for others to network with. If anyone wants an ear for a program or wild idea you've got rolling around in your head I'm here. And, once I've got all my ducks in a row I'll be happy to be a resource for anyone else building a podcast at their library. I've been researching this for a while now and am actually into the doing part so I have a lot to share. :o)

I'd really love to see a website dedicated to the 23Things or a wiki that we can start to put information onto so that it has a touchstone that we can continually come back to.

I would definately participate in 24 Things Plus program.

And, if I had to describe my experience in one sentance...

"This has everything you have been wanting to know more about (or didn't know you should) when it comes to learning about technology in the workplace and library."