#23 Summarize your thoughts about this program and learn more about where to go from here

1.What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey? I liked learning about bloglines. I haven't had the opportunity to return and see what new things are on the different blogs that I made feeds for. I really like Library Thing. I want to add all my knitting books to mine. Del.icio.us will be very useful. I want to also put it on my home computer so I can add my favorites there to it and have access at both locations I mainly use a computer. I liked learning about Merlin. I will use this alot to see what new things I can learn.

2. 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? That I still can learn new things and keep on task until I finish. I guess I should try somethings a little longer before giving up and seeking someone to help me. I learned a lot as I proceeded through the different parts. I don't know how much I will remember. I have been helping my supervisor also and I do remember how I did different things. I was a teacher before I became a professional librarian. I love the teaching aspect of librarianship. I was a school librarian and liked teaching library skills. This makes me want to teach some of this to someone.

3. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?And last but not least… The format and concept are good. So much of it was trial and error. Yes, the different things had directions, but not always good enough directions for those people who really do have trouble with technology. I don't have that much trouble with technoloy, but with this, there were times I got stuck I know that another state designed this and Maryland piggybacked it, but each county could have taken a section of it and tested it to see what difficulties individuals would have and designed a faq section or listed notes that a certain section might prove to be difficult. There should have been more instruction for doing it. Not left us out in the wind. If it hadn't been for Annette Gaskins who came to my rescue quite a few times, I probably wouldn't have finished. There were times I emailed for help and did not receive a response. I would then email Annette and she would come to my rescue. It wasn't until today when I discovered there were comments on some of my posts giving me answers to my questions or difficulties. Somehow we should have been told to check back fot comments to have our questions answered.
4. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again choose to participate? Yes, I would participate.
5. How would you describe your learning experience in a few words or a few sentences, so we can share our successes It was a good learning experience. We were told it was only 45 minutes a week. It took hours to do some of these sections. We were allowed to play. Some of it was just that - play and I am glad there was time to play. Thanks for giving us this opportunity!

#9 Merlin and Search engines for RSS feeds

I was just looking at Merlin. I found some great things. I found some tutorials that our computer volunteer might find interesting. I found a search engine for social networks called Wink. I searched the names of some of my relatives in it and found some interesting things. The blog article "Libraries in Social Networking Software" is very interesting. I haven't completed it, but some of you might want to read it.
You might want to look at this entry on the blog Library Crunch. I don't know that I totally disagree, but can't imagine finding some materials without Dewey numbers.
http://www.librarycrunch.com/2006/05/spine_labels_and_dedeweficatio.html
I was using the different RSS feed search engines today. I think I like Bloglines,Topix.net and Syndic8.com best. Topix.net-This search tool allows you to locate recent newsfeed items based upon keyword or phrase searching. The tool focuses specifically on news and media outlets RSS feeds for information, not weblogs Syndic8.com - Syndic8 is an open directory of RSS feeds that contains thousands of RSS feeds that users have submitted. I found some interesting stuff related to my home town and county. I know Technorati is supposed to be so good, but I didn't care for it. I hope this isn't too sacreligious. I did subscribe to it and claimed my blog. Perhaps if I play around with it, I will like it.

#8. Learn about RSS feeds and setup your own Bloglines newsreader account.

I started this exercise at least 3 weeks ago. I only work on this on Wednesday evenings. I like the idea of RSS feeds, but haven't had time to look at what I selected. I selected knitting blogs, news blogs and library blogs. You know I really wanted to look at the knitting ones. I couldn't figure out something, but once again Annette came to my rescue. 8/15 I was still really having trouble getting the link for my bloglines to work and Linda Zuckerman's instructions for them on her blog really helped. If anyone has trouble with this go to her blog and follow them. Thanks, Linda. 8/31