Week 9: #22 Downloadable Media

Positives: Wowio, LibriVox and HCPL are easy user-friendly. I prefer HCPL because it's just like an extension or more features with my library card. Again, this technology is great for providinig books and music free of charge.

Negatives: I found all 3 somewhat lacking in choice. I did not find many classic titles, by such authors as Rafael Sabatini, who had only 1 book available. For my particular interests, I did not find anything to download. International ,and other cultures (Native American, African American) music and book selections don't seem well represented - at least my choices are not here. I do wonder what "the most popular" means - it all depends on the does the choosing or rating; and the availablity, of course.

Week 9: #21 Podcasts, Smodcasts !

There are so many podcasts out there ! Where shall we go and what shall we find - and what shall we do when we get there ?

AN IRAQI WOMAN AND HER LIBRARY
Yahoo directory of podcasts led to the discovery of blip TV. A podcast video of Hameeda Al-Basaam, a librarian in Baghdad, was most touching.
This one is worthwhile watching - Hameeda is a true heroine who personifies dedication and love of books and poeple.

The discovery process can be rewarding and in this case it really was. And it can also be addictive - one can easily spend hours surfing.

WEEK 9: #20 DISCOVER YouTube and other video sharing sites

Music and celebrations are universal. I was wondering if some old friends such as :Pipestone , Kingbird, Whitefish Bay, Northern Wind and The Boyz, had any posts on YouTube. And there they were ! I found them.

YouTube is a great universal meeting place. However, as with cyberspace, some stuff is just awful and not appropriate for viewing by minors. But, the positive is that any person can easily become a movie producer or broadcaster. All The World's A Stage !

The library has incorporated YouTube into the 23 Things. Such applications can be easily used to direct patrons to missed library events and/or resources.

Meeting old friends:

SCHEMITZUN 2007 DRUM COMPETITION, KINGBIRD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMCPyoFDPY4

Week 8: #19 Web-based Apps:They're not just for desktops

It's great that Zoho writer is free ! If you're familiar with wordprocessing there's not a lot of training. It's easy to use. This tool offers the excellent convenience of being able to share your documents with others and not worry about what software they have.

WEEK 8: #18 SOCIAL NETWORKING: Making Freinds in the omfort of your own home

Progress in the old "network" is now in the form of social networking sites. MySpace is full of advertisements/links to entertainment, etc. Facebook seems to be more "relaxed" . LinkedIn presents a bigger telephone with more partylines.

Social Networking does provide a way to extend the old-fashioned network. Security and privacy are concerns - your firewall is only as good as the company hosting the network. They do have your username email and password. Security and the anonymous people you connect to are the big unknown. However, it is an excellent way to extend that network. The questions and answers in LinkedIn can pool a lot of "knowledge" from many users.

The degree to which social networking is used by is a good question. "Digital inequality" may or may not result - some people simply may not choose to use this technology regardless of their background, age, etc.

Week 7: #17 Blog About Technology

Horizon went down last week. We were all set adrift from some of our benefits of technology. All things do break and we must be prepared. Some of the taunting questions from that week was : where are the books and who has them ? One learning is to always plan on contingency plans that may involve old-fashioned technology. It brings to mind the Star Trek episode when Kirk, Spock and McCoy were without their communicators. Scotty was getting ready to blast them out of their holding cell. He used Morse Code to warn them to "stand back !"

Morse Code is old techonology now and it will be really old in a couple of centuries. However, Starfleet Academy still taught the course.

With ever-changing technology, we must always be ready to "stand back" and assess what do we do when the lights / computers/ communicators go out.

WEEK 7: #16 So What's in a Wiki ?

The iHCPL Sandbox was easy and fun to use. It's a really big universe out there for book lovers. On Book Lovers by Princeton it was interesting to find reviews about some of my favorite books . Cyberspace book friends and Wikis - a great tool for communicating, connecting and discovering and sharing new titles. My book Reading List just keeps getting longer.