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.

Google docs

Google docs is really neat on how you can share a spreadsheet or documents. I loved how I could send a spreadsheet to several different people without have to worry about if they have the same software on their computer. I also liked how different people could edit the information. I can definitely see this being used more in the work place and even at home. I don't think my friends and family at this point is going to want me to send lists to them, but I will probably start using this new feature. I think cloud computing is great way to use this. I think it is a lot easier using google docs with different people then trying to keep posting a big spreadsheet or presentation through email or even crowding around one computer. It was fairly simple to set up and use.

Google maps

Google maps is really easy to use. I could map everything out that I needed. Google maps is great link to add your business too. Really easy to use and directions were pretty clear. I've already been using this site for driving directions.

Tiny URL and You send it

I absolutely love Tiny URL. I wish they had this a long time ago. I've been just copying and pasting all of those long URLs in the past, but no more now. Love...Love this feature! I will be definitely using this from now on. I like you send it also. You send it is a great feature for those files that are just to big to send through regular email. I'm not sure if I will be using the feature that much at work, but I do think it is good thing.

Facebook

I already have a Orkut account and a Friendster account, so I’m not going to open a face book account too. I do use face book but not as myself. I actually piggyback on someone else’s account when I want to talk to our mutual friends. I use the site but I’m hardly on any of those sites regularly. I know we already have a face book account for our library. I do friend several business I like, but I usually put those on my twitter account instead of my others. For me personally I use twitter more for organizations and business. I use the other accounts for friends and family. Not that I'm saying I dislike Face book on the contrary I do like the site. I just have too many I'm on to focus on another one right now. I think the social media sites are very crucial to be on if you have any type of business now of days.

Linked IN

I signed up on LinkedIn. I searched on the site and thought it was a great tool to connect to other professionals. I would only use the site probably to find a job or connect with someone professionally. LinkedIn would also help recent graduates looking for employment or even a mentor. You can also connect with people to even do volunteer work for companies. I thought LinkedIn was a great tool, especially in this job market.

LibraryThing

librarything.com/catalog/sally123

I thought library thing was a great place to go to meet other people that have similar interests in what you might like to read. You can also organize your own personal library which was nice. I could see a lot of library users using a site like this. We could use this with our own book clubs and maybe our own website. I'm not sure if I will use this site to catalog my own books, but I would definitely use it to see what others are reading and talk too.

Delicious

I probably am not going to use delicious at home. I can see using the site at work, since you can take all of your favorite links with you. If your using a computer that has multiply users or your away from yours I can see using the tool. I didn't really like how I had to create a yahoo account to use delicious, but I can see how many people would like this feature.

Tagging

Tagging can be helpful on sites. I thought it was a little confusing at first, but I think I'm getting the hang of it now. I would definitely use them for pictures or even books I was reading. I'm definitely going to have to play around with tagging more, but I can see a use for it with libraries and the catalogue.

IMS

I've used communicator to im other staff members. I also like to put my schedule on the communicator, since it varies frequently. I don't use the service a lot since most people still use email more or even the phone. I do like it, because I can see it pop up without it stopping what I was working on at that moment. I can either join in the conversation or I can see that it might not apply to me and ignore the message. I can definitely see using the service for staff or even customers in the future. IMs might be a great tool when we have branches and as more people become comfortable in using them.

Digg

Digg and Public libraries are similar in the way they are customer driven. Customers are going to request what they like and not what we think should be in the library. I thought Digg was very similar in that regard. We are just as driven by our demographics as Digg is. I'm not sure if people think of public libraries any differently then they did before. On what qualifies as news has always, in my opinion, been generated by what public opinion has wanted to know about. I might think something is not news worthy, but if a large mass of people feels it is, that's what people are going to want to know about. I find it all kind of in a grey area. Things like digg and diggita can be useful that you can weed out what you want to know about it, but I'm not sure I want to get my information that way.

photo sharing

I can see how photo sharing websites could be interesting to libraries. I did like how one of the libraries that used Flicker had photo contests for patrons. I thought that would be nice to have on our website maybe. We could also do some photo contests ex. would be maybe voting on your favorite photo. We could even do themes maybe to get people interested in sharing their favorite things that tied in with the library. I signed up with snapfish and thought it was pretty easy to use.

Twitter

I have to admit, I do kinda of like twitter. I like how I can stay in touch with people a lot faster using twitter. I haven't checked out any library twitter accounts yet, but I could see using the site. We could send tweets to patrons about storytime tickets or even in the future I could see staff using that social network site as a way to contact each other. Example might be on road conditions or running late. I had my doubts about the site at first, but I have enjoyed using it to follow the latest information. I find it like a lighter verison of facebook and other social networking sites that people use. I'm still learning more about the site as I play around with it. I was amazed on how the news did say that twitter was one of the first sites that people used to tell family members that they were ok after the earthquake in Haiti. It just shows that these sites are here to stay.