#23 Is this really the end? Or just the beginning ...

Well I've made it!! I was determined I was going to finish this this weekend come what may. So, what did I think? Well on the whole I think it was certainly a worthwhile exercise and one that I enjoyed. Obviously there were some things I liked better than others but that is only to be expected. I think I have been fairly clear in some of my posts what I have thought about some of the different tools we've used. I have learned new things which is always good. The Learning 2.0 activities blog was clearly set out and easy to follow. One of the most interesting things to come out of it was reading the blogs of other collegues and learning a bit more about them. I was a little disappointed that more of our staff didn't put as much effort into it as some others did but still as I mentioned in my first post, everyone is busy and sometimes finding the time to do just another thing is just not possible. I think this program has reinforced some of my views on technology and how it is being used, or misused, whatever the case might be. Because someone has set us tasks to do which has made me go and use some things I haven't bothered with until now I have actually learnt some stuff I might not have bothered with otherwise. Blogging being one example. I've always wondered why anyone would want to read my ramblings but it's been fun and hopefully we can continue it with WikiWarriors!!!!

#22 Audiobooks (or "The end is in sight ")

Now this is good! I have been familiar with Project Guttenberg for some time. Downloading them and loading them on a MP3 player has definite advantages especially for those of us who struggle to keep fit because walking is boring!! What was that that Joan Collins said? She'd start exercising when she saw a smiling jogger? Something to that effect anyway. Well having an audiobook on the ole iPod might help too. This has obvious applications for the Web 2.0 Library.

#21 Podcasts, Smodcasts! Nodcasts!

I found this session extremely frustrating. I tried all 3 directories that were suggested we look at. Of the three only Podcast.net gave anything remotely resembling interesting podcasts. They were varied and easy to find with the site having a search box as well as an alphabetical index. Contrary to what was said on the Learning 2.0 Activities blog, you did need to download some software to use the podcasts on Podcast.net. It didn't take long though and worked fine after that. I must say that I feel sorry for anyone attempting this exercise with a dial-up Internet connection though as I found it annoyingly slow and I have fairly decent broadband access.

I can see that podcasts would be good for training purposes. I guess the podcasts we've all been listening to over past weeks while doing this Learning 2.0 are a good case in point. I'm not sure I'd bother too much for recreational reasons as I found them tedious and more than a little boring and that was for subjects that I was interested in so I shudder to think what they'd be like for a subject I wasn't interested in!! I also found that the sound quality left a bit to be desired. The diction on quite a few that I listened to was very ordinary rendering the podcast almost unintelligible at times. I hesitate to mention which ones in particular but they were library related sites. On the whole I was rather disappointed with this lesson.

#20 You too can YouTube

Doesn't it make your heart glad to see all these librarians en mass??



I laughed and laughed at Conan the Librarian. Wish he'd visit my work place sometimes!!

#19 Discovering Web 2.0 tools

Happen to stumble across this Web 2.0 tool and as I usually find trolling the web a bit mindless unless I have something specific to do I thought I'd give it a go as it might help me to enjoy web surfing a bit more. I actually did find I liked it and I think this will be one I will use often now. Before using it you have to download a stumble toolbar that rides in your web browser. The more I see of it the more I like it. If you are interested the above logo is a link to their site.

#18 Web-based Apps: They're not just for desktops

I've just been playing with Zoho. I can see that this would be a terrific tool for someone who was moving around a lot and needed access to the types of programs that Zoho has and they didn't have their own PC or didn't have access to it for some reason. I liked the way you can download a copy onto your PC if you wish and found I can do most things I can do with MSWord. However I found downloading and up loading stuff painfully slow, especially when inserting a picture, which I think would effect your productivity greatly. So I guess I won't be trading in my Office Suite on my PC anytime soon.

Also had a look at Google Docs and Spreadsheets. Of the two I think I prefer Zoho as it was a little more intuitive to use. Also had a bit of a play with the spread sheets. Same comments as above.