Podcasts

The world of podcasts is large and diverse. I got lost right away as to how to find an interesting feed to subscribe to. Finally, I hit on one from the Free Library of Philadelphia. I think their author interviews look very good and I can't wait to listen to some.
Most of the Library's feeds I saw were grossly out of date, so maybe there isn't all that much for a Library to podcast about?

youtube is wonderful

Youtube is great for many reasons. I have a chance to find a show like "The Hills" if I miss an episode. I can watch what Sarah Palin said on the campaign trail. I can find videos that are funny. I can just see what is hot and what people are watching now.

It is a very good social instrument for getting information fast and giving anyone a chance to be a director, actor, or newsperson.

I found this funny video by accident in which a man is teaching a chimpanzee to ride a segway.....do you think he can learn? Watch and find out.

Power Tools

After examining several tools that I found on Power Tools (not previously known to me), I just got lost. I am not one to wade through mountains of information and articles I am not interested in. I found it to be too much. The ones I liked best are del.icio.us and worldcat., ones that provide a service.
I think the toolbar is really cool and useful for library patrons. We should continue to spotlight and teach them useful things.

Web 2.0 Nominees

That was fun, searching all the nominees and award winners. There are so many of them! I kind of got lost in the Retail section for a bit, but I recovered myself. The big find for me was an air fare locator through http://www.msn.com/. It is accessible on their website by clicking Air Tickets/Travel, and is called Farecaster. I really liked how it works and passed the site on to my kids.
As for Library use, I think there are various sites worth looking at. Some, we already have explored.

Using Google Docs

Initially I thought I had lots of ideas for using Google Docs. This could help Staff Relations, but I am no longer on the committee. This could help our department. We can upload the schedule to it and everyone could post their own changes as they arise. That sounds a little chaotic to me. We could post our Shelf Reading assingments and sign off on them instead of posting the sheet on the wall. We could post our Collection Analysis assignments and everyone could follow the progress being made. I am sure we will talk about all these ideas at the meeting, but Dave has already said he wants us to use the Wiki he created for our division, so I have to find out which is easier and which will meet our needs better.

Playing on the CML Wiki

This was a bit frustrating for me and I still don't know if I added my Blog to the Wiki. I had trouble with the process because the instructions didn't say to contact the administrator for clearance so I wasn't sure about that. I proceeded by getting clearance, and then got stuck adding my blog. So, I have a bit more work on that site to play with it and explore just how useful this tool can be for me.

Wikis

I searched through the list of library wikis and really was most impressed by Library Success: A best practices wiki. It is a great way to share information. Easy to use because it is so organized, I found lots to recommend. The Readers Advisory and Programming for Adults drew me in. It seems well worth the time to peruse.