Reflection

•What do you think about social media in libraries?
I thing that libraries will have to have some type of social media. If not having a facebook page having a twitter account or some other way in being in tune to what the general population wants.
•What do you wish FPL was (or wasn’t) doing?
I would love it if the library had a twitter account and some podcasts.
•Have you learned anything from the program?
I learned a lot from this program.
•If so, what?

I've learned to blog for starters which I never new how to do before we started this program. I also have become more comfortably using some of the sites I had never thought of using before for ex. tinyurl and google docs.
•If not, what could we do better?

Urbanspoon

For my 22 thing I looked at urbanspoon. You can use this site to look at restaurants in your area that people are talking about. I liked how the site gives you directions and reviews with price listings too. If you have a smart phone you can have the directions and info sent to your phone. I thought that was nice even though I don't have one of those kinda of phones. Urbanspoon was nice on how it has a wide range of reviews on the restaurants that it lists. I liked how they had both positive and negative reviews which you could then make your own assumptions on if you thought maybe the place would be worth while to try out. Very nice site, probably will use this site from now on when I'm looking for a new place to eat out.

Wikis

I thought wikis were easy to understand and to use. I can see using them on library sites as a way to get feedback and info. I did a edit on the restaurant wikis page that we have up. I can see using them in the future. I don't have much to say on them, since I think their pretty easy to use.

Podcasts

Some of the podcasts reminded me of people setting up a pirate radio station in their parents basement. I thought the quality was good on only some of the library sites. Most libraries' podcasts that I listened to weren't of very good quality. They had poor sound and some of the radio voices made you cringe. The ones that pulled it of did it really well. They had a format and really good broadcasting voices. I think it's a great idea to have podcasts. We could offer podcasts for tours of the library in different languages and even have the teen group have their own podcasts. I think the Adult services could really have a lot of use for podcasts also when they have their book talks and programs. I can see podcasts picking up in the future and being a great tool for libraries without putting a big burden on having extra staff to do this.

HULU

I've been on HULU since they started the site. I really love this site. I haven't had cable in years and now that my work schedule is so weird it's the only way I can keep up with shows that I like. I don't see the point in paying for cable when you can watch the same shows for free. I did hear that they might charging, but right now I'm glad they are not. This is another site that I really love and use quite a bit. I can see DVDs going away in the future. I think most people that can will be watching things on their hand held devices. I know a lot people that don't own a TV anymore and just watch the programs on their computer or phone. A lot of that changed when TV crossed over to digital and you couldn't watch on your old TV without getting a converter box or an upgraded TV.

You Tube

I've been using you tube for awhile now. I haven't posted anything to the site, but I've had things sent to me or watched and sent on my own. The site can be quite fun at times and other times stupid. I usually check what the you tube favorites are for the week. Businesses will have to be on these social media sites to survive in this economy and now in the future. I don't see a way around not having a you tube site for libraries or any other type of business. When things are now advertised now they usually have a link to their face book page or twitter account and even a you tube video. I do really like you tube and I even have to admit I watch the site more than I should.

Music Streaming

I know I will be using these sites from now on. While I did like Pandora, I absolutely loved last.FM. Both sites were great, but last.FM was really terrific. I loved how last.FM put the artist pages together. You not only could get the music you liked, if you didn't really know much about a new artist the page would give you their history. I personally don't already buy Cd's, I don't think a lot of people do anymore. I would check out from the library or download them from the computer. I think in the future people will not be checking out Cd's or even DVDs. Most things are headed to download able, which I personally like. I'm not saying I think this will happen right away, but I think it's the way the future is headed. Just on my own personal tastes, I really find download ables and music streaming a better way than buying or checking out items. You have the item instantly and don't have to worry about the clutter or even dishing out a lot of money in most instances.