The Final Encore...

I must admit that I was not particularly happy about having to do Web 2.0 at the beginning of the program, as it seemed to be just one more work task (and a heckuva lot less fun than doing storytimes)...but as the days wore on, I found myself drawn in by the various projects we were introduced to, and I really enjoyed the process. The most challenging exercises for me were the RSS and Feed Readers, and the Online Applications and Tools as I'm not a computer kinda guy, and it seemed like one really needs to spend a lot of time with these 2 in order to get a solid handle on how to utilize them more fully. My favorite exercises were Music Networks and Streaming Music, Wikis, and Photos and Images. I've been able to incorporate what I learned from them into my blog postings, both personal and the Mill Creek branch blog. The most "unexpected outcome" for me is that I found I love blogging, and as a consequence I've volunteered to do the branch blog on a monthly basis. And as far as participating in a future discovery program, count me in.

And since this is my last official blog posting, I want to thank Jim and everyone associated with the Web 2.0 project for making it as easily digestible as it was. Without clear instructions and prods, it could've been pretty painful, but it flowed really smoothly. Thanks...and a couple of last thoughts: Let's Go A's...and it ain't over until the fat man leaves the stage...

Game Time!

I had never really checked out gaming on the internet, so this was a good opportunity for me. I played Wordsense on Yahoo, and did okay, but when I tried to play "Chevy Cobalt Track Challenge," I was crashing constantly (guess I should've played some video games when I had the chance!). I tried Funbrain and played "Math Baseball" and "Power Football" and I can see how this site can make learning math more exciting. Playing these games was a lot easier than I thought they would be (exceot for "Track Challenge" where I got my butt kicked), whic is exactly why I don't have a computer at home...I know that if I did, I'd be on it all night playing Madden 09 (a realistic pro football game), and I'd never go out of the house again or read or see the sun...

As far as the question about the 6 aspects of gaming and the question "Did you see any implications for our workforce?," the answer is, sadly, yes. #5 reads "When you do something especially great, you're rewarded in some fashion," and #6, "When you reach your goal, even if it's an intermediary one, you are acknowledged in some way." My experience at Sno-Isle has led me to conclude that the library system does a poor job of abiding by those gaming rules. A couple of cases in point: I wrote, directed and acted in the promotional video for Sno-Isle, but when it was completed there was not one word of thanks for the job I did from anyone in the administration; the only compliments I received were from my former branch manager and a few coworkers who just happened to see it on the website and knew what it was (as Sno-Isle did not give any information about what the heck it was, it was just posted as a YouTube link. I (and my colleagues who did a great job with the filming, soundwork and editing) didn't expect to get a red carpet rolled out for us, but we did expect to be acknowledged...and now the video has been basically forgotten. The other instance was the effort I put into coordinating a series of programs by a Bay Area children's entertainer (who, incidentally, is not a friend of mine; I only met the guy once 35 years ago) that included performances at 6 Sno-Isle branches and 4 King County Library System libraries. The only people who thanked me for putting this together were several of the children's librarians...and that was it. No acknowledgement from anyone in the programming department or anyone at all in the administration. Once again, I'm not looking to be fawned over; I would just like someone at Service Center to, for once, say "thank you." But it appears that even that is asking too much...very sad; doesn't do much for morale. Hey, be careful what you ask for...

Google Earth

Google Earth is very cool. I was able to find the house that I grew up in in Oakland and check out what Oakland High School looks like now (totally different from when I went there). I went to Red Square and saw the Lenin Mausoleum, St. Basil's and GUM department store all over again. The street level view is an amazing tool, and I can see patrons using it to get a sense of what a place looks like before they go to visit. But my favorite toy on the site was the flight simulator; it was a blast to feel like I was flying (even if I did crach a few time). Definitely a site to suggest to patrons for a wide variety of reasons/uses.

Avatars and Second Life

I'd heard a lot about Second Life, but I had never checked it out until now. First, I went to tektek.org and built an avatar (looks nothing like me, of course). Then I went to Second Life, signed up and gave myself the name "Hawkins Mavendorf." I started the tutorial and spent about half an hour getting a body and then clothes, but the clothes wouldn't appear on my avatar, so I must have been doing something wrong. Anyway, it's a fascinating world, but I wouldn't want to spend much time as a "virtual self"; spending a lot of time pretending to be someone with a lot of other people pretending to be some other ones strikes me (personally) as a rather sad way to spend one's prescious time -- it seems to be a way for folks who don't like who they really are to make themselves into their desired self in virtual reality, instead of trying to find ways to accept and like who they really are. Second Life seems to be another drug that enables people to not face reality. Anyway, that's just me.

Google Docs: Si -- Zoho: No

In Google Docs, I was able to put together a slide show incorporating video and text, with the 3 different covers of the song "Promised Land" (my blog name!), one by Bobby Weir and Kingfish 1989, another by the Dead at Venata in 1972, and a third by Chuck Berry (the real King!) himself, followed by a 4th slide that asked viewers/collaborators to respond by adding their favorite Rock'n'Roll song and a video to support it. It loooks pretty cool and Google Docs made it relatively easy to figure out how to create it.

Now Zoho... I tried to do basically the same thing (create a slide show with text and video) but the Hyperlink that was supposed to allow me to add video from YouTube wouldn't work, even though I attempted it with a number of different videos. After about 15 minutes trying to figure it out, I just gave up. But I think Google Docs would be a great tool for library workers to use when creating a collaborative slide show or other type of document.

Search Engines

I looked for information about Theodore Adorno (German philosopher/cultural theorist) on Rollyo, Mamma and Dogpile. Rollyo was the best search engine of the 3, as I found an excellent essay at the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, a good short essay at the European Graduate School, and several specialized essays from academic journals (the type of information I was most hoping to find). At Mamma there was a decent essay at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, but the site that looked most promising, mythosandlogos.com/Adorno.html, had way too many dead links to make it useful. Dogpile was primarily a list of links to books by or about Aorno, along with a few sites of basic biographical info. 0-- in other words, no graet shakes. Rollyo was by far the best search engine for this particular search. I was surprised that Dogpile didn't give me a greater diversity of links, as it is my understanding that it has the largest group of search engines to choose from.

Podcasts

I looked at quite a few podcasts from the Wikipedia Podcasting page and settled on 2: Denver Public Library and Sunnyvale Public Library. Denver PL was valuable for its extensive list of children's picture books podcasts (many of these titles were also recorded by Sno-Isle folks), and Sunnyvale PL had a number of business-related podcasts (Developing a Business Plan; Basic Business Research; Small Business Administration) that would be useful for Sno-Isle patrons to be able to access. I also subscribed to "The Dead Show on KOPN 89.5 FM" (a weekly Grateful dead program from a station in Columbia, MO) for my own personal interest. I have experience with podcasting as I recorded 5 children's picture books for podcasts here at Sno-Isle.