Google Maps

I love Google Maps for directions, but to be perfectly honest, even after the directions, I still had trouble making my own map, and am still not sure this URL will get you to it: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=113366608127395359696.0004853706f7ac7f91dd1&z=5. The embedding thing just didn't work at all.

I do think that Google Maps, especially the My Maps feature can be very helpful for providing directions, suggesting sightseeing or eating destinations, all kinds of things, just don't think it is quite as user friendly as it might be. But then again, maybe that's just me!

Screencasting

I love the idea of screencasting, if we can get people to use it. I think it might be very useful for the stuff that is a bit complicated, especially databases that might require a bit of instruction. I think I could use it for training in Acquisitions or Cataloging too - get the instruction while you see what you're supposed to be doing. This seems to really speak to the fact that some people are visual learners and need to see as well as hear what's going on. I also think just having these things is a big step forward, and is a great way to train our staff on a variety of topics.

Rollyo

Here's my searchroll: http://rollyo.com/ssimpso/movie_questions/. I don't know if I see any value to this exercise or not. Before I would switch to using my own search roll, I would definitely feel a need to spend a lot of time making sure I had all the sites I wanted to search. This would probably be most useful for things I want to search all the time and for which Google is inadequate because of the large number and low relevancy of my search results. I do think it might be useful to create a cataloging search roll or two, but ensuring the completeness would be a very time-consuming task, I think!

Facebook

I'm in love with Facebook. It lets me stay in touch with friends and family, even chat online. I've also made contact with and even met new library friends, and have even done some work over Facebook through messages and our walls! I love Word Twist, too - love it very much!! That said, FB can be a huge time-waster, it's important to remember to look away now and again. The temptation to spend time coming up with the perfect status update or "liking" everyone else's updates, or reading and playing for hours on end cannot be denied. I think FB is here to stay, and I think it will be a valuable communication tool, both personally and for work.

Twitter

My Twitter username is librarygirl, in case y'all want to follow me. I do think there is a major use for Twitter in the library world. I am following some librarians who are working on some interesting things. I've also used Twitter at conferences, to provide information about what I'm learning and to hear more about what other people are learning. I even found out how to selectively add my Tweets as status updates to my Facebook page, in case I want to share the same thought with those different circles.

Audiobooks

I have never liked audiobooks - the readers never read fast enough, or read things in ways that irritate me. I'm kind of interested in Playaways, because they actually let you change the speed of the reading. Anyway, I am interested in digital audiobooks, even with all the irritations, but I have an iPod, and the selection of books for the iPod is still pretty small. I am thinking about downloading some books for my next plane trip - have a few of those coming up.

Podcasting

I think the main thing I learned about podcasting is that there are an awful lot of people who like to hear themselves talk, and want other people to hear that too. Podcasts seems to be quite popular for talking about all the ways life is wrong and should be the way you want it to be. That said, there are also a large number of blogs that are useful and interesting. I added a management podcast to my Google reader. I can think of ways TCCL could use podcasting - we could podcast about library events, or present some of our programs. I'm not convinced we would get a lot of listeners, so it might be more trouble than it's worth, but I might be surprised.