Thing 23: The End?

My favorite discoveries for 23 Things for Libraries were:  Blog Setup (especially with figuring out how to add a picture!), RSS Feed (I had a vague understanding of this before), screencasting, URL shorteners, Creative Commons, social cataloging, multimedia, and podcasts.

Yes, this program has inspired my personal learning goals and helped me be more knowledgeable not only in reference but in my personal life (keeping up with my kids too!).  It also gave me the power to know that I can figure out these things (sometimes I need to ask for help), but I think this program was put together well to guide us so we don't become too frustrated working on our own.

The best unexpected outcomes for me were the podcasts and the multimedia assignment.  I needed help for the multimedia assignment (used Meebo chat! Ha!) but discovered how to make it work correctly. I was thrilled especially since I knew something my very computer-literate husband did not, i.e., how to embed a YouTube!

I looked at all the participants' blogs.  It was interesting to see the different ways in which people "decorated" their blogs.  I guess I was surprised at how many had abandoned or temporarily stopped their 23 Things.

What's next for me will be to enjoy what I have learned (My daily podcast, the goodread site that I joined, etc.).  I do plan to refresh my memory with what I have learned and look for ways to use these tools at the reference desk.  I feel more confident that I can learn the new tools that come down the pike!

Thanks for presenting this at our LRC Staff Day and giving me the impetus to start and complete it!