Done!

I really enjoyed playing with things I had heard about but never had a good reason to try. The structure of the program made it really easy to enter foreign territory. I can see myself using some "Things" more than others. I think my favorite was the online applications and tools. Who knew? Wikis are definitely useful, and I had no idea Flickr had so many images. Though I couldn't see myself using LibraryThing personally, I at least have a bit of appreciation for what it does. After so many blog posts, I think I've reached a comfort level there (at least with the technology - having something to blog about is another matter). I'm glad to have had a chance to look at technorati and del.icio.us and maybe having stuck a toe in the water can think of how they could be applied to my world.


I think the program would benefit from being more spread out. In order to do a decent job you need to spend more time than indicated becoming familiar with the technology and what it can do. I think I gave most things short shrift because of time constraints.


Thanks to the team for putting so much effort into the project. What a dedicated bunch!


If offered another program like this in the future, I'd gladly participate.

Overdrive Exploration Task

As a long-time user of NetLibrary audiobooks, I was disappointed when this service was replaced by Overdrive. The downloads were marginally easier for new users, though I had mastered the NetLibrary downloads so this was not a selling point for me. Looking around the Overdrive Digital Media Collection for this project, I see that the collection has grown but there are still very few titles immediately available. Most that I would have downloaded have 1 or 2 other patrons waiting for them. One thing that wasn't mentioned is that there are now links to many of these titles right in the catalog.

Following the instructions, I listened to the excerpt from Fahrenheit 451. The excerpts are a really nice feature since the reader can make or break the recording.

Found an early Harry Bosch mystery which I had not read and would like to listen to. The description is pasted below:

For LAPD homicide cop Harry Bosch -- hero, maverick, nighthawk -- the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal.The dead man, Billy Meadows, was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat" who fought side by side with him in a nightmare underground war that brought them to the depths of hell. Now, Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city to the torturous link that must be uncovered, his survival instincts will once again be tested to their limit.Joining with an enigmatic and seductive female FBI agent, pitted against enemies inside his own department, Bosch must make the agonizing choice between justice and vengeance, as he tracks down a killer whose true face will shock him.

Maybe if I win the MP3 player I will give it another shot.

Podcasts and RSS feeds

I explored the NPR Podcast Directory and found the very enjoyable NPR: Books Podcast, which includes reviews and news about books and author interviews. The selections are quirky and NPR-like. Since I have switched from listening to NPR to listening to books on CD during my daily commute, this would be a good opportunity to catch up on what I had been missing - only time stands in the way.

I think I successfully subscribed to it, though the RSS option didn't appear. Something is on my bloglines feeds page, so lets hope it continues.

YouTube exploration

I did take some time looking around YouTube, especially videos that have a library theme. I found several promotional videos that would be useful to have on our Website, such a introductions to special collections, tours of newly-renovated facilities. Some were quite professionally done and some were painfully amateurish. However, you have to give them credit for putting themselves out there.

My favorite was in the humor category - the Dark Librarian. It's a hoot! The Dark Librarian metes out just punishment to library transgressors with specialized "weapons".

Web 2.0 awards

Maybe I made poor choices, but after looking at several I wouldn't put my faith in them. Under Travel I couldn't find anything special about the Farecast site. I had previously used Kayak and maybe it was just timing but found better fares just going to a few web sites of airlines. Under Guides and Reviews Yelp's listing of restaurants in West Palm Beach was very spotty. Other categories offered more mainstream sites like Flickr or Craigslist. I suspect the sample of selectors was too small and biased to make the awards meaningful.

Zoho writer document

New Zoho document.  This is wonderful - won't clutter up my computer and if the site stays alive accessible from anywhere .  Looks like all the formatting tools are there and more readily available than in Word.  Why are we putting Word on all the public PCs?

Editing a wiki

Editing the wiki was easy, though the results are not pretty.