Thing #23-- The End?

Wow...its been a while since we started this course! Time flies when you're busy and having fun. And I must say, that this has been a really cool work experience for me.

My favorite discovery along the way, hands down, has been del.icio.us. It is the coolest thing ever. I know I was a bookmarking nay-sayer, but this thing has been so helpful to me. I like how simple it is to use, and I have discovered so many cool sites I never knew of just by browsing through this site on my free time. Totally cool!

My second favorite discovery from The 23 Things program was LibraryThing. I LOVE it! I find it to be much more in-depth than Shelfari (which I had been using for about a year). I have been using the LibraryThing site to discover new manga.

By reading the reviews from various people, I have been able to make suggestions to our school librarian about things that might be high school appropriate. I have also been reading various reviews for myself...it's a great place to discuss books and learn new ones you may want to read!

I think this program has proven to me that I can still find the time to try some new things and dedicate myself to something besides just work. I have been working two jobs for four years now, and I always tell myself or say to others that I just don't have the time to do extra things...and I found that I DO have some time to do extra projects.

Maybe for me this class was about proving to myself that I could, some day soon, go back to school part time and get that MLS I keep promising myself. Maybe I can make the time for that!

Del.icio.us proved to me not to always jump to conclusions too soon. I tend to be very opinionated and I make up my mind quickly about things. I learned that even though I originally thought a social bookmarking site was pointless, that it really isn't once you start trying it out on a daily basis. I have found it to be relaxing, informative, and fun!

I think I can use this experience and apply it to my work every day with the kids at South High and with my patrons and co-workers at Willa Cather. I can take with me the idea that I am not too busy to learn new things, and that I need to be more open-minded when it comes to different things. Oh, and I know for sure this taught me to utilize my patience!

I think the program is great the way it is. The only thing I would do differently is give staff more time to work on this AT work. But I know with staffing being as it is, that that was not possible this time around. I think if staff had time off the desk to work on this, there would have been even more staff involvement and completions ( Even more so than all those folks who did do the program, and that was a lot!).

I think it has been fun to see what my co-workers came up with for each assignment. It's good to do something out of the "ordinary" library work and see fellow employees do something fun or different for them!

I have enjoyed using Blogger and learning about other tools such as Flickr and del.icio.us along the way. I think it's good for library staff to learn and try new things and be trained to be up-to-date on the latest ways to find information. It's the only way we can be of most use to our patrons in the long run. This has been an excellent learning experience and I would do it again!