This is the end, Sort of

I thought we should have covered Second Life. The other day I read an article that mentioned a travel agency in a virtual world from Reader's Digest. After registered, people can choose a destination and download the needed software from its website, and then making a reservation so that they can meet a tour guide there. It sounds fun. The library could adopt Second Life for computer class, library catalog, and Find Your Library, I guess? I haven't explored it yet. What comes next? Well, this morning a patron came in the library. First, he complained to me about the headphone without volume. (It does work though.) I gave him another one. Then, he complained the computer. I suggested him move to another one. But, he still dissatisfied the quality of the volume of the film on YouTube. Luckily, I had been there, and I confidently tried to give him an explanation for YouTube. But sadly, he wouldn't listen and got upset for the computer service we offered. I have been thinking does the computer technology help people or make them confused further?

What I think

Participating Learning 2.0 makes my lifelong learning goals more clear on what I expect to do and how I devote my time. Also, it let me realize that learning something new really makes my live more interesting. My favorite Learning 2.0 exercises are Del.icio.us, Wikis, and LibraryThing, and my favorite discoveries are the labs of Google, YouTube, and Flickr. Also, Bloglines really surprised me in its feature of RSS feeds. Good thing is that there was enough help from David and my fellow LA/LTAs when I needed it. As to improve this program, I would hope one unit per week instead of three units per week. I felt I was chasing others with somewhat pressure. Luckily, the extra days were given after all. I would definitely like to see similar training opportunities as new library-relevant technologies emerge, and I would glad I participated this program, because I learned a lot and I have already adopted them to wherever fit my work place or personal life.

Podcasts

Yahoo Podcasts is easy and ready to use compare with Podcast.net and Podcastalley.com. Podcast.net catalogs its podcasts like a search engine while Podcastalley.com looks like an ordinary website. I like Yahoo Podcasts put its Top 100 Podcast Series on the home page. It gave me an idea what could interest me on podcasts. However, I don't find something I really like there. As for creating podcasts at KCLS, New Reads, Story Time, public information of Library Bond, and the meetings of Board of Trustee would be worth to try.

Video In The Post-Betaman World

In the beginning, I don't think I would like YouTube, because I don't even know where should I start to look and I don't want to waste my time there. But, for my discovery exercise,... Well, I feel nothing on YouTube can interest me except for Salman Khan. However, the quality of the images of the videos about that actor is not as clear as I expect. My conclusion at this point is that I would rather not to spend my time to watch videos there. Then, my friend Jessica asked me to begin my search with my favorite songs. Things are getting fun in that sense of the search. Not only I found my favorite song with a karaoke version, I also had a chance to show Jessica which Chinese musical instruments I used to play. This let me realized that I actually could find a good quality video on YouTube. Other than promoting the summer reading program for YouTube at KCLS, we also could use for author events, story time, and computer class.

Chrysanthemum Platform

Curse of the Golden Flower

My Own Adventure

Webware is good for an Internet beginner with its well description on each category. It helps us to know why is useful and what we can expect to find on the websites they recommend. However, I'm impatience on those details, so I pick Web 2.0 Awards instead. I like it gives a brief summary on the websites they nominee rather than long reviews I saw on Webware. So, I'm interested in the category of Real Estate. The first prize on the Web 2.0 Awards goes to Zillow.com. But, I found their estimated market value is actually $5.000 lower than the real market price. The second prize goes to HousingMaps. However, I found this is useless for me. I like IIProperty, because I can manage my properties or be the agent for my rental properties. Even thought I need to pay for their premium services, it's still cheaper than working with an management firm or a realtor. As for the library, I like the KCLS Web Links. They are very useful. However, for patrons, they cannot bookmark their favorite websites in public computers. With del.icio.us added in, that would be a big help for them. Also, the KCLS could use PBWiki as a bridge to promote library programs, and the patron could leave their comments for current programs. For patrons who would like to keep a list of their favorite books, LibraryThing could be added in with My Account. We could add Google Maps in Find Your Library, so people not only get a direction from their houses to the library, they also can read the reviews about the library.

the labs of Google

The first service in Google Labs interested me is Google Reader since I have been using Bloglines for weeks. Compared with Bloglines, Google Reader can reflect actual color and link from the text. However, it's not easy as Bloglines in searching a site to subscribe. Bloglines is much more user friendly. The second one I was looking is Google Maps. This is fun to search an address especially for an organization. Other than giving a direction, it also provides an overviews on the details, reviews, photos and web pages of the destination. Guess it's time to say good-bye to Yahoo Maps and MapQuest. As for Google Trends, this might use for a research reference. It's good for analyzing the trend when comparing regions, cities, years, and countries with a chart. However, the information is not current enough.