eBooks and this really is the End!

Wow! no fines! they automatically get cut of from the book as soon as their time is up! I Love it - I think this is why I loved Conan the librarian. How may times have we all wished that we could chop someone in half when they have late returns! eBooks has potential - I know it is just starting out, so the list is small, but think where the internet was 10 years ago!

This has been a fantastic mind expanding exercise and a lot of fun. It has been hard at times to find the time to play and it has not been helped by extremely slow internet access, (I'm quite a pro at playing a game of Free Cell or Solitaire while I wait for a site to load!) but I am really glad I have now completed the course. I have del.icio.us'ed quite a few sites and plan to go back and explore some more whenever I get the chance.

My language skills have improved and I can now talk a little like a techno savvy!

I guess for me the biggest thing has been the opening of my mind to a lot of new and exciting sites that I had no idea of before I started and how the web is infiltrating into every small area of our lives.

I have marvelled at the time that some must have to create and then get published in whatever format they wish - Oh how I wish I had some of their time to do all I would like to! It certainly wouldn't involve sitting at the computer for hours on end!

I think Wikis have the biggest potential for libraries right at this moment, but I believe a lot of what we have learnt will eventually become the norm!

I have enjoyed it all, and will definitely go back and explore image generators some more. The artistic side of me is fascinated by these!

Thanks to all for the experience - I have bookmarked the Learning 2.1 site and would like to have some time after the festive season to continue playing and searching and on that note, I shall wish you all the very best for the festive season and 2008! Bring on the rains and the crops!

YouTube & Pod Casts

Well, it has taken a little while, but I am back here and determined to finish tonight! Had another quick look at YouTube - the kids had already introduced me to some of its pleasures.

I like the way it suggests other videos of the same genre - helps if you are not quite sure what you are looking for. There must be thousands and millions of videos there just waiting for someone to find them! and one wonders why on earth some have even bothered.

A personal favourite of mine is the following

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c22JCnMiq4

It is about a young lady who has become a Life member of Weight Watchers, so it sort of blended in my 2 work interests!

I guess with a library perspective, the scene could be set for staff to make videos for patrons - how to............, book reviews, etc, etc

I guess for me the biggest downside is the playing quality - I wish we had better internet facilities at home! Quicker, Faster, Clearer and on and on...........

Again with Pod casts, the time taken to search has been a little prohibitive, but I did find a song sung by Jean Nidetch the founder of Weight Watchers! Pretty crummy really! The fact that the normal person can actually put something on here is pretty mind blowing and I guess for libraries this is another great way of communicating with the public in a way that the young ones can identify with and this is where we have to start if we want to see our libraries moving into the future.

I do like searchng by tags! Only problem is when i want to tag something - I run out of word ideas!!!! I had audio issues with podcasts, so have not been able to include a feed.