Method 12

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?And last but not least…
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?

I am hardpressed to name any one favorite exercise. I enjoyed them all. I feel much more educated as to what many of these terms mean and also how to go about using them. At least now, I know what most of our younger users are talking about!

I enjoyed the program's format although I felt rushed to get everything completed before the end date. I would like to see this put somewhere where I can go to review the sections I will probably forget when I try to do it myself.

I look forward to see what the next discovery progream is and would certainly participate if at all possible.

Thank you for my new knowledge!

method 11

Did you find anything useful and/or do you think your library might have a potential reason to begin creating podcasts?

I enjoyed this project. I have never searched for any podcasts although I've watched some others have sent. This method has taught me what they are and how they can be used. I searched for one on movie reviews and am now listening to it as I am typing. This could be an interesting site to let patrons know what some of our DVDs are about--a question we are often asked.

I can see where we might begin podcasting some of our programs or methods on how to do various projects. Putting one on our website to introduce what we do and what we provide would be helpful. With a little thought, there are several areas they could be useful in a library.

Method 10

What did you find interesting? What types of applications within libraries might work well with a wiki?

I was not at all familiar with wikis so it was all interesting to me. I enjoyed looking at the library sites and how they used wikis. My mind began racing to think of how it could be done in our small library. We could use the Readers' Advisory wiki, subject headings, and community resources to begin with. It seems the opportunities are unlimited in a library setting. I especially enjoyed seeing the examples of other library's usage.

Method 9

How did it go? Did you find it easy or difficult? Also, what do you think about chat/IM and libraries? Is your library currently offering chat/IM and if not, do you think it might in the future?

I found using chat to be easy. I have used it before especially on sites where I shop online and have a question. It's useful to get the answer right now instead of having to use a phone to try to reach someone.

We do allow our patrons to use chat and IM on our computers. Our outlook is to allow everything as long as it is ethical, legal and no harm is done to equipment or software. We will consider getting a site setup for staff once we have more time (sigh) to do so.

Method 8

How do you feel about social networking sites in general? Do you have privacy concerns and/or concerns about keeping your personal life separate from your professional life in the online environment? Is your library already using some of these social networking tools and if not, do you see potential uses for any of these tools in your library?

I am just beginning to use the social networking sites on a personal level. I enjoy being able to stay in touch with family by Facebook who live a long distance from me. It feels like real time conversation. I'm trying to get my mind around trying to use it in a library setting.

I feel there is and always has been tensions in keeping your personal and professional life separate. We all want to be able to "control" all aspects of our relationships to some extent. It is easier for our young people to share than it is for us older folks so I believe as time passes, these issues will resolve themselves.

Our library is not at present using any of these tools. Having a very limited staff in a small library does not allow us time to use them currently. Most of our patrons do use these sites on our computers though so I am pleased to become aware of them through these steps.

Method 7

Can you see the potential of this tool for use by libraries/librarians? Or do you think it is just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?

I believe this tool would be useful by libaries if they have someone who is good at categorization. I think it has a potential to be too burdensome if one is not trained to be very specific in the libary setting. Used carefully, it would be good for directing patrons to useful sites. Being able to access the sites from anywhere, is a real plus for anyone who uses more than one computer. I'm looking forward to playing more with this to see how it can be more useful.

Method 6

What did you like or dislike about the site and why did you choose the video that you did? Can you see any features or components of the site that might be interesting if they were applied to library websites?

I enjoyed this exercise, also. It was fun looking at all the goofy videos that are posted. I disliked thinking I was looking at something I was interested in and then opening it to find it was something else entirely! I decided to look for sounds that I could use in the website that we are currently developing. Our website theme is the water in our area so I looked for sounds of water. Many of the water sounds were too much, but I found the one I chose that has thunder in it also. I'm looking forward to trying to use it somehow in our website. I can envision many uses of the videos in a library setting. Programs, courses of study, etc. It fires the imagination!