Thoughts on Web 2.0

I'm pleased to have had the opportunity to be guided through these 20 tools. The more we can do to keep libraries relevant, the better. We're always battling the 'old woman with the bun and finger to her lips' stereotype! Every day I learn new things and every Web 2.0 lesson, I learned a few more additional electronic-type things....

Gaming

The multitude of ways to be entertained seem to continue to expand exponentially. As with information, the issue is not lack of choice and accessibility but how to narrow choices to those that will be most useful or satisfying.

Google Earth

Amazing technology- I checked out the slough where I went kayaking last weekend and visited Notre Dame Cathedral on Ile de la Cite in Paris! Will add this to my mental tool box!

Online Applications & Tools

GoogleDocs~This is a great way to provide a 'network' without having an extensive IT department. The users who were featured in the tutorial were all trying to work with an updated copy of a document with multiple, remote users. It's a wonder this service hasn't been offered before- must have been very complex to provide office software that is so compatible and transferable and free to anyone with an Internet connection! Great that multiple users can work on the same document at the same time- no 'Read Only' message when one other person is already editing!

Avatars

Love the teen avatars on the Sno-Isle Libraries webpage. I may need to get some help downloading my avatar from doppelme. Here I go again..
I don't have an account on Second Life. There are enough 'live' people for me to interact with and general details of living for me to attend to so that I don't have the time, energy or interest to interact in an artificial world. Good to know what's going on in other peoples' lives though.

Search Engine

Old habits die hard- I still always go back to Google. It's a matter of trust, built over the past eight years, working with this awesome engine. Dogpile has been around for quite along time~

Podcasting

I liked the Sno-Isle story time podcasts best! The two other library podcasts (both from teen servics at public library systems) had very poor sound and were amateurish.