The end of a journey

I feel a great sense of achievement that I have managed to reach the end of the programme. I am not a computer junkie so I was rather nervous about what I would be capable of.Some of the exercises took me hours but what a sense of achievement at the end.I know my blog is plain and that I could not do some of the exercises in as much depth as others could but I am glad that I made the journey of discovery.There is so much "interesting stuff" out there and lots to go back to and explore in the future.
Some of the exercises I had heard, about( facebook, Utube)and others had me very frustrated and tearing my hair out,not to mention muttering unpleasant things to the computer.(Royllo and RSS feeds). However after completing the "awards winners" exercise the penny dropped for me as I realised how these things work{tags, feeds }. I wrote about "Geni" in my Blog and received a comment back from the people at Geni.
THanks for the opportunity to participate.

Podcasts

I had a look a podnova and listened to this "open door libraries in the 21 century".

http://feeds.feedburner.com/theopendoor-librariesinthe21stcentury/.
A very thought provoking podcast on change in libraries, on ways to embrace the change and adapt ideas to suit the library.
It made you realise how much change is on the way and how much further we need to go with our learning. We need to become familiar with new computer technology and need to change the whole image of the library.

social networking

Personally I think My space and Facebook should be for what it was intended, a social group and a way for people to keep in touch. Technology is changing rapidly but I feel there is a time and place for everything . Facebook and My space are social sites for users to share and keep in touch with friends and family. I know everyone , including the politicians are using facebook and my space but I really think there are other sites that are more appropriate .There is a place for everything and if people need information there are plenty of other sites they could visit.

#21

I was aware of facebook and my space before this exercise. Everybody seems to belong to one or the other.It seems a great way for people to keep in touch with one another and to be part of what the other is experiencing.
You need to belong to the site to log into it or view peoples profiles, which is a good thing I suppose.However at this stage I have no desire to belong to either .

ebooks

I was very impressed with the kindle.The technology was amazing and it was just like a small paperback book. Think about how fantastic it is for the environment. No more paper,nothing to dispose of once you have read the book or magazine.

http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-com-kindle/dp/B000FI73MA

I also had a quick look at the other sites.
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/m
I tried to look at http://librivox.org/newcatalog/but they were having problems and I could not get into the site.

Youtube

I really enjoyed watching some of the library videos, especially the "L Team" and the"teen rappers". The teen rappers is a great way for youth to get the library message to youth.The videos also put to rest the old library image of a dry , boring old place run by spinsters in twin sets.
I was baby sitting so a just searched for animal clips . My granddaughter and I enjoyed the Chihuahua ones especially" Viva Chihuahuas"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9CbMBrNawo

Web 2.0 Awards GENI

Well it seems I have already been exploring as we constructed a family tree some time ago. Geni came second in the genealogy section for the web 2.0 awards. It is a private forum for members to construct a family tree and history. Members can upload photos , add news etc. Before each persons birthday Geni sends out a reminder email so you can send the birthday person a message. Very handy as you tend to forget. You can also see your place in the family tree and who you are related to.
I think it is a well thought out site , fairly easy to use and useful to keep track of family scattered over the world.

I also had a look around this health site.
http://www.revolutionhealth.com/
As with all these exercises you need hours to explore.