Thing 9--More Facebook

Since I'm already a member of Facebook, I'm already a member of several groups and a fan of quite a few things/people. Some of my groups include Austin Fit Gold, Calvary cheerleaders past and present, Calvary Academy Alumni-Ft. Worth, and I Support Midwives and Homebirth (although I don't have any children of my own...yet). I am a fan of Yoda-Master Jedi, Running, NPR (I can pretty much tell I'll get along with someone if they listen to National Public Radio), C.S. Lewis, Artificial Life Preserver, Barack Obama, I Support Breastfeeding, and Dr. Who. I think I'm a pretty well-rounded person.

This Thing inspired me to do a search for my local library on Facebook, so I just became a fan of The Austin Public Library and Friends of the Austin Public Library. I also joined the Austin Public Library group. Now I feel connected. Life is good.

Thing 8--Facebook

I already have a profile on Facebook. Last year sometime, my friend who lives in California invited me to join, and I thought it would be another avenue to keep up with her, so I did. Shortly thereafter, people I haven't heard from in years, even decades, began "friending" me. It was kind of cool and kind of weird at the same time. At first I wasn't too picky about whose friend requests I accepted, and then I got tired of reading the constant stream of muck coming from some of those "friends," so I defriended them. Ouch. I wonder if they know I did that?

Anyway, I did not realize how addictive Facebook could be. I had a MySpace page for networking with Team in Training to try to raise awareness (and money) with it, but I never got too addicted to that. Facebook, however, began to eat away at my time and began to creep into my habits. I have since been able to control the urge to check into Facebook multiple times a day, and sometimes I can even skip a few days, but I will say that I'm on it more than I should be. And I hope I never become one of those people who have the application on the cell phone that tells when friends give updates...That would annoy me to no end. I would feel like a slave to Facebook. I would much rather enjoy the people in the real world who are present here and now than be consumed by those who are only close virtually. I have priorities, you know.

As for applications in the library, I know of a high school librarian who created a page for her students to keep up with library events. I can see its purposes at that level, but as an elementary school librarian, I don't know that it's such a great idea. Isn't there a minimum age for Facebook? I already have a blog for my library, but I only know of a few students who have taken any interest. The difference that Facebook would offer (unless someone subscribe to my blog with a Reader and an RSS feed), is that Facebook would directly provide them with library updates automatically. Also, a lot of people already are on Facebook, so it would be an easy way for them to stay connected. I just am not convinced that it's the best forum for the elementary level.

Thing 7--RSS Feeds

I never knew how RSS feeds worked. The video made perfect sense. I had clicked on that little orange RSS feed box before, but since I didn't have a reader, I didn't know how to subscribe. now I do.

I've seen the Unshelved comic strip before, and I've enjoyed it, so I subscribed. Little did I know I would waste away a perfect hour (or more) reading the archives. Now that I'm caught up, I won't waste as much time. It only takes a few seconds to read the daily comic strip. I really should go to bed now...

Thing 6--Blog Readers

What a great idea! I follow a few blogs, but I always have to go to my book marks to get there, and I never remember to keep up with everyone. I went ahead and created the 23 things folder with the official North Texas 23 Things blog, my own, and the Batgirl Was a Librarian blog. I also added my sister's blog, and I'll soon start adding a few more from various family members and library blogs I follow. My baby sister is the first blogger I ever followed, then my niece's mom created a live journal blog to record my niece's first few years. My step-father-in-law has a good one, too. I hardly ever remember to look for updates, so hopefully this will help me stay on top of it. If I were ever to use blogging as a classroom tool, this would be a great application to use to track student blogs.

This stuff is so fun! I seriously wish I had more time in the day. I can think of so many other things I should be doing right now, and yet, I can also think of so many things I would like to do with Web 2.0 in the school library. I'll only get to apply them if I figure out how to use them myself. I guess I can justify all the little distracting bunny trails I've been taking each time I discover something new with these tools--it may have some eventual practicality for my library and my students.

Thing 5--Image Generators

I had a lot of fun with the image generators, particularly Image Chef and Wordle. I could waste the day away with these! But I also see their usefulness. Libraries can use them when promoting events and/or books, and students could use them to demonstrate their learning in creative ways, among other things. Some day when I have more time to kill, I'll play around with them some more.

I created this image with Wordle. It is a bunch of random words that describe who I am and where I've been.
Click on it to see it full size.

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

I'm just having too much fun with this.

Look at all the places I've been!

Thing 4--Mash Ups!

Think of the possibilities!!! These Mash Up tools would be great for promoting libraries and events. I tried a few different mash ups, but I need to do some more exploration to be totally comfortable with all the applications. I had fun with spell with Flickr. The only problem I found, however, was that if I wanted to write a short phrase, it wasn't all in one line. I couldn't get it to shrink any more than changing the size from rectangle to square. But it is cool--now if only I could write "Library goddess" all in one line...

Thing 3--Flickr

So I explored some pics on Flickr and found some pretty cool pics of library stuff. I also created my own account, but I don't know if I will post the link to the photostream. I'm still not sure how I feel about the whole world knowing my business, but if I change my mind, you'll be the first to know. I did post some cute pictures during story time, and I even uploaded a video of a story time that my AP filmed when he came to watch. Good times.

Some of the library pics I liked were PAR-TIC-I-PA-TION and Let's Go To The Library. I think Thing 4 has something to do with Flickr, so we'll see what Thing I learn next!