Thing 23...Thanks!

Thanks for the opportunity to participate in 23 Things on a Stick! I've learned much, been challenged repeatedly, and am looking forward to exploring some of these Things in greater depth...

Thing 22-Commitment to Keeping Up

The Thing I feel it will be most important for me to stick with is learning more about what is available in ELM, at this point. I'm not as well-versed in using this resource as I'd like to be, so I'm going to commit to exploring ELM at least one time during the week, more if possible.

I'm also working on a blog for our branch library and want to have it accessible before summer reading program kicks in. That will require using several of the Things and updating the blog regularly, so I think I'll be using many of the learned while completing 23 Things on a Stick...

Thing 17-ELM

I don't use ELM as much as I could, I've discovered with this Thing. There is such a wealth of information available that is untapped. I need to devote much more time than I have available right now to explore all of the ways to utilize the resources in ELM...should probably put a sticky on my desktop to remind myself to put 15 minutes a day into exploring all that is there.

As I work on the MN Library Certification, it would be very valuable to use the ELM webpages to share ideas with fellow participants.

Knowing how to use these tools would greatly benefit library patrons. I need to check with the local school district to see what they know about the availability of this resource...research projects and term papers would benefit from the use of these resources...

Thing 21-Socializing

I actually am a member of a couple online communities. cafemom.com has many different groups to fit any mom's needs/wants. I am a member/group owner/administrator of several autism support groups there and was on . I have a Shelfari account, too. When I found a social network that fit my interests, I became very involved. The autism groups, in particular, met a need for information, support and understanding in my world.

I didn't realize there were so many social networks out there. It's interesting to see how people connect online, hopefully not at the expense of face-to-face connections.

Thing 20

Facebook-I joined several gardening groups because it is the one passion I could see myself enjoying chatting with others about. I think Facebook is such a phenomenon because it is easy to use and helps people feel connected with other people. The connection, however, is often an illusion. In searching for people I know, I discovered some youth from our area who are presenting themselves as quite different than their real life persona, including age and images of themselves. It didn't surprise me, but it did concern me. It was also quite disappointing to see the way kids are portraying our local community in their groups and the reputations they are giving themselves via their actions or the fantasies they are portraying as their actions. There really is little way to tell which it is. I did appreciate the fact that you had to be a "friend" in order to view their profile, although I'm sure they give that permission to just about anyone who wants to befriend them.

MySpace-I don't know exactly why, but I didn't enjoy myspace. I'm not sure if it was more complicated or if I was just tired of the whole online "relationship" concept. It could be that I had just had enough of the pseudo relationship thing. I did find a depressing, annoying and ridiculous profile of a close family member while searching, so that could have something to do with it.

Thing 19

Podcasts frustrated me. I was able to listen to the first 3 (MPR, Memoirs for School Library Media, and On the Road with Minitex) but the directories frustrated me incredibly. I can usually figure these things out, but not this time. I listened to parts of How's the Family from MPR, and the Children's Literature Workshop from Memoirs for School Library Media. I have no desire to Podcast myself. I have subscribed to the How's the Family feed and look forward to future installments.

Thing 18

Google video seemed to take me to You Tube on the search I did, so I'm wondering what the point is...Had fun exploring YouTube. I chose the Library Rap because it is aimed at the population I would like to target with a library blog for our library. Video could be informational and entertaining. Library kids could create videos for summer programming. Volunteers could be recorded reading stories and links could be posted on the blog.