All done!!!

This has been a good experience overall. Webgurl is one of those people who cant just skim over material of this sort; she has to dive in and swim around in it a while, which is part of what has taken me soooo long to finish!

Loved learning about Flickr, Delicious, Web 2.0 office applications, and of course our own MERLIN. Webgurl is already a lifelong learner (some would say information addict) so 23 Things has provided new sources for my "drug"of choice! It also has helped open my eyes to possibilities for change and growth in our libraries and taken away some of my hesitancy at using all of these new tools and technologies. 23 things WAS a bit long; esp. for an infoaddict like me; I wonder how much others who finished in record time actually learned from the program. Perhaps future programs could be presented in smaller pieces so that we are not overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the project or by our own biases about doing such projects. I would participate again esp if it was on a smaller scale.

Week 9

Found the Worlds Funniest Cat videos on YouTube (my coworkers are now sure that Webgurl is certifiably insane), listened to a good podcast from SirsiDynix Institute about Creating a 2.0 Library (and subscribed to their RSS feed ) and checked out our Maryland eLibrary Consortium. One of these days I'll have a good MP3 player and start listening myself!

Web 2.0 Award winners

Tried craigslist, the much-hyped find-it-here site. Wow is there alot to find! As for library uses there is an events site under the community section (wouldnt help us as the community in question is MD suburbs of DC) where library news could go, and a jobs posting area.
As for Webgurl, she is in the market for a new car(or maybe 2 as kids are getting ready to leave for college) and found oodles to choose from! Have to tell my dh tonight!

Web-Based Week 8

Webgurl LOVES all these web-based appliactions! It is time for me to spend a weekend on my home computer figuring these all out. I can see a use for this already,as I am part of a performance based group wherin I need to be able to collaborate with others on scripts etc. No more "but I have MAC/ I dont have MAC" problems, no more "omigod-I-forgot-to-print-out-the-script-for-the-rehearsalits-on-my-home-computer" issues! A laptop and printer and I'm in business no matter where I am!

Week 7

Wikis wikis.. they could certainly be very useful to a library for group projects/research, or for book reviews. We all want to know what our friends and neighbors are reading and this would be an asset to a library web page! Webgurl is, however, nothing if not a stickler for documentation and, to use the word loosely, "authority". Wikipedia-type wikis disturb me as many people, particularly kids and teens, will use these sites as though the sites had some authority in the areas on which they speak, as would a regular encyclopedia. I realize that many of the Wikipedia entries are in fact written by people with knowledge and experience in their areas, but allowing anyone to post information to an entry seriously compromises the trustworthiness of said info, in my opinion. In other news, it took me FOREVER to add my blog to the list and add a "favorites"page at the Sandbox!! Thank you Amy! Onward!

Week 6

Webgurl has been forced to eat her words. She definitely CAN see a great usefulness in Del.icio.us! How cool is that, to have a web-based bookmarking tool rather than a PC based one (ditto for lots of other things done on a PC...) and the sharing aspect is neat too. Cant wait to switch over !
Did the searching on Technorati, no big surprise to see that lots of the popular sites are techie ones, and was surprised to see the different results from the three different search avenues

New Avatar

Webgurl sure wishes she actually looked like this! She did spend last weekend on the beach at Assateague though (minus the cat and the purple bikini, but including the dolphins, and a head cold...) It was, as Kathleen would say, simply glorious!
Looked at Library Thing and can see some real possibilities for libraries to include this as a way to promote new or specialized groups of titles. A sort of digital "display" , right there on the website! Rollyo was interesting especially for those who spend a great deal of time personally or professionally on the web. Again, Webgurl is not these people, but with kids getting ready to fly the nest she may have to give this one some more serious consideration as she will probably be doing a lot more surfing. I'm feeling a Rollyo for college sites coming on...

Keepin on'

Webgurl is enjoying getting to know Merlin! Great site and there is SO much on it that we can use to stretch ourselves and to keep up with what's going on in the wider library world. THERE'S an RSS feed that I'll use!

RSS Feeds

OK admittedly RSS feeds can be very useful for, lets say, researchers, columnists and writers and others who have pressing needs for certain quantifiable types of info. Webgurl is not these people and isnt exactly sure that RSS feeds will Change her (personal)Life. I am a "weather chick" according to my family and so that could be a possibility but I have my regular sites bookmarked and can run through them pretty quickly that way. RSS you havent converted me yet!
However, on a professional level it could be very useful to have lots of up-to-the-minute library newsfeeds coming to my new Bloglines account! Ive subscribed to several already.

Tried Feedster and that one seems interesting enough when I am in the market for new feeds. Not too hard to use.

Now THIS is web 2.0!

Webgurl's first thought when reading about mashups was "can they DO this?!" To take a piece of this site and a chunk of that, sites which seemed quite proprietary -- someone's in trouble! But as I've read more I've come to feel that mashups are, for me, the best example so far of a responsive web. How cool is that, to be able to tweak a site to make it better serve the needs of the individual user, instead of the user having to build their own from scratch or sit around waiting for the site "owners" to come up with new and better ways of presenting their info!

Channeling Norman Rockwell...

Webgurl is loving Flickr!! Cant wait to start posting my own photos when I get home. Here's a fabulous one from the site of Miscelena who also (bragging here) happens to be a member of Webgurl's family; if you like it too, use the link to read the story of this shot . I definitely agree with the Norman Rockwell comment! I did have a problem with posting this photo though; Flickr says there should have been a Blog This button over this public picture to enable me to add it to my externally configured blog. Im still working on it and it seems that Ive not "connected" my blog to the Flickr site. The investigation continues...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/miscelena/138843235/in/set-1126393/

True Confessions

Out of the 71/2 Habits, the one with the highest "ouch" factor for Webgurl is probably the first one. Although I'm not a professional teacher I'm sort of a teacher by temperment; love to learn new stuff, share with others etc, so most of the habits I do regularly. Goal setting , the seeing-the-bigger-picture thing doesnt come as easily for me . Using technology to my advantage is the other one im not up to speed on (pun intended) mostly because my Internet connection at home was,until last month, as slow as the proverbial molasses in January. With our new connection speed has markedly improved; although still not fast, I'll be able to play more with less frustration

My very first blog!

OK here it is! Webgurl is excited about all this 2.0 stuff and wants to become an expert...(OK she will settle for knowledgeable-for now) On we go...