Thing 22. Staying Current.

Looking back at my first "Thing" it hits me how excited and enthused I was to have the opportunity to learn about 2.0 tools. I must say that excitment has been rewarded. It is hard to believe that I am nearing the end of this "class"! What a wonderful idea for NEFLIN to give to its members!! Of all the classes and things NEFLIN has offered; I have found this to be the most relevant and valuable for my day-to-day dealings with college students and library patrons.

What has NEFLIN's 23 Things done for me? Through this class I have been exposed to a variety of 2.0 web tools and introduced to an entirely new philosophy of interacting with library patrons and the world. It has taken me out of my "isolationist" librarian world and placed me right in the middle of some vibrant online communities. It has taught me that ways of interacting with people are changing due to the Web and we as librarians must change with it. My fear of new technology and experimenting with it has been greatly reduced or eliminated. This class has re-awakened my hunger to learn new concepts again. Staying current of the newest tools is an important part of our job because of the ways our patrons are communicating today. We must know how to reach them in order to help them.

I plan to maintain my blog to keep up with new tools. I want to learn to apply them, when possible, to my library. I have added 3 RSS feeds to my i-Google page: ALA Tech Source; LibraryBytes; and Web Apps on Go2Web 2.0. Even if it takes more than 15 minutes,I will definitely set aside time on Tuesdays to check these feeds, along with others, to post a weekly message on the latest 2.0 tools available, and to explain how they pertain to my work. I am also going to review each of NEFLIN's 23 Things to determine which items really work for me at my library and which ones I can utilize for personal use away from the job. I seem to learn something new everyday which is why I love being a librarian. I have really enjoyed this experience and hope that NEFLIN can offer it to others again.

Thing 21. Student Tools

You guys must have been reading my mind! I teach a course on college research and library resources as part of my job. We use Blackboard and hotlinked online readings and assignments for our class. However, trouble is on the horizon. All of our websites will be taken over by our IT Department soon which means if we need to make changes to these sites our Webmaster will have to submit the changes to IT and they may or may not be prompt in making the changes! So, I like these open source organizational tools for teaching. These tools are amazing and I would not have to wait for IT to correct or make updates for me on these tools! I had no idea something like this was available. To be able to organize a research project online throughout the semester to assist the students is great because, as we all know, sometimes students do not read their assigned readings!! These tools would really prompt them to learn by doing and working the plan. It really helps that there is a teacher's component to this so that not only are the students organized but the teachers are also.

I am also working on another course in conjunction with a professor here on campus for the Summer of 2010. If all goes as planned and the course is approved, I am going to suggest the use of these tools for our class!! Thank you for introducing these tools!

Thing 20. Books

In my library, print items are on the decrease, mainly due to our budget or lack of one. I think this trend will continue for the forseeable future. I have noticed the use by students of the Kindle. When one can download a bestseller or textbook for a fraction of the cost of a printed item, the Kindle will be the hotseller of the future! I have tried one myself and really liked it. There was honestly so much listed on this particular Thing that I had trouble choosing what to look at. I found the discussion on the lending of Kendles in the library interesting and something that my library, UNF, may look at soon. It is interesting that one of the uses for this was inter-library loan materials. I also visited the "DailyLit" site for books. This site makes it easy to download books on one's computer. I would not like to read books on my cellphone!! For someone recovering from eye surgery it would be like visiting a bad nightmare!! However, for someone young, with excellent eyesight who is able to afford a cellphone but not a Kindle, they might find this "BooksinmyPhone" 2.0 tool fits their lifestyle and wallet. There is a repository in Florida call "The Orange Grove" that may just change the future of education here. Take a look: http://www.theorangegrove.org/ It is a gathering ov best practices, resources, research, and lessons, and textbooks, for teachers to use and students to learn from. It is being created even as you read this. Will print die? Probably not, it will go the way of the radio after TV came of age. For those of us who love to sit and read an actual book we may very well see the return of small local print book shops and the death (dare I say it??!!) of the big bookstores like Barnes and Noble. You will just have to get your coffee somewhere else!