P.S.

I found this while looking at the Learn & Play website and couldn't resist.

Laurin Arnold's Dewey Decimal Section:

813 American fiction in English

Laurin Arnold = 211894184524 = 211+894+184+524 = 1813


Class:
800 Literature


Contains:
Literature, criticism, analysis of classic writing and mythology.



What it says about you:
You're a global, worldly person who wants to make a big impact with your actions. You have a lot to tell people and you're good at making unique observations about everyday experiences. You can notice and remember details that other people think aren't important.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

Wrapping up

I have to say that this has been a very interesting experience. Frustrating and annoying at times, but I definitely a learning experience.
I loved del.ici.ous and pbwiki and can really see them being using in the library setting. In fact, the folks here at Whetstone are already doing so!
But some I just don't see the point of period, much less for libraries. Like twitter. I mean, seriously. I don't want to know what anyone is doing every hour of the day, much less a librarian (and I want to be one!).
Overall though, I think the concepts behind Web 2.0 or Library 2.0 are things the library will now have to incorperate in their operations. Community involvement and customization are things expected by our customers now and if we want to stay relevant to them we need to live up to those expectations.
This has been a long and tiring journey, but I've definitely come out on the other end with a better appreciation for what's out there. I'm just sad that so many of my coworkers gave up before finishing b/ of a lack of time or computer skills. I can only hope that they will get future oportunities to work on these skills.
So with my final posting I guess there's just one more thing left to say:
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night.

MOLDI

I know they haven't posted this officially yet, but I just thought that I'd go ahead and talk about this since I have experience with it.
I have used MOLDI and the Ohio ebook Project through the State Library of Ohio (and which has a better selection... I'm just saying) many times. I have downloaded ebooks through them and overall had no issues. The only problem occurred when I downloaded a book but did not have my internet going when I actually opened the file later on. Apparently I didn't download the actual book, just a link, but I didn't know that and so messed up my chance for reading it at that time. Now I know though and won't do that again.
It was great b/ I could get access to books, specifically the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, when I would be put on a reserve list in the hundreds if I tried for a conventional book. It wasn't too difficult reading the books b/ I had a laptop and I could read them anywhere, but of you only have a desktop computer, it could get old, fast.
I have not tried to download audiobooks since I generally don't like them, but for someone who does this seems to be even better for them. If they are allowed to burn them to cd or actually put it on their mp3 player (most of the time not their iPod). If they can do these things then they don't even have to leave their house to get access to great items.
This being said, the selection of digital media, even at OeBP, is not that great. I really wanted a book that I would have to wait several weeks for at the library, but they didn't even have it on MOLDI and had only the audio version, abridged, on OeBP.
Strides do need to be made in selection and access, but this thing is here to stay and libraries should make a point of supporting this. It may not be the sole future of libraries, but it is part of the future and deserves support too.

Podcasts

OMG I loooove podcasts!
I've been using these ever since I got iTunes a few years ago and I can't live without them anymore. I get a bunch of NPR ones, a Firefly/Serenity fancast, and the Cook's Illustrated Video Podcast. I use iTunes b/ I listen to podcasts on my iPod, which only works with iTunes, and b/ it's so easy. Just browse the iTunes store and click on subscribe.
Podcasts would be great for storytimes, book discussions, etc. for those patrons who just can't make it to the library but don't want to miss out on what we have to offer. The library can also create podcasts about the latest books, book reviews, excerpts from books/cds, etc. Things to get people interested in what the library has.

Youtube

I've been using youtube for a while now in order to see tv shows I missed, cute things related to my interestes, etc.
There's a lot of crap, but some good stuff too, and I hope that companies, and, yes, libraries, use it more often to get their message across.
I watched this on the Colbert Report last week and thought that a friend of mine would like it, so I found this and sent it to her.

Ah, Colbert.
And it was really easy adding this to my blog. I just copied and pasted the "embed" link on the youtube page. Easy!

Another tool in my toolbelt

Well, I finally tried the CML Power Tools and I liked it. I was surprised by how little they've included in the tools, but I suppose you don't want to go crazy with links and overwhelm people.
I didn't download the toolbar, since I don't like the formatting it uses and I already have some of the things on my bookmarks toolbar, but I did get the library catalog search plug in and really like it. Now I don't have to open the catalog and then search for something. A small, yet very satisfying thing.
I decided to check out Book Burro and was definitely intrigued. To be honest, this isn't normally how I search for books, but I'm willing to give it a try, especially since it's a plug in for Firefox, which I already use. Since I have to restart Firefox to use it and I'm still slogging through Learn and Play, I'll have to try it later.

Boo! I scared you!

Boo is a great one-stop shop for casual travelers. Boo is a travel website aggregate, meaning that it searches travel websites for you for hotel rates, rental cars, restaurants, and sight seeing opportunities.
It uses Google maps to tie it all together and, for the Web 2.0 parts, allows people to join and leave reviews of places and trips. They can also upload pictures!
For the travel junkie, this is not the be all, end all, but its a great thing to add to their repertoire, and for the causal traveler who values ease and speed over getting the absolute best deal, this is perfect.