Reflection

I had no idea what to expect when we started this process. But I learned more than I imagined and pushed past my comfort zone in many areas. It was also good to know that my co-workers were grappling with the same issues, and to be able to follow their blogs. Many of the "things" were ones I heard of and was interested in learning, but had neither the time or nor incentive to pursue. The 20 for 2.0 site was well designed and the assignments fairly clear with useful and appropriate information. One small change I would suggest would be to have the links open a new tab so I can easily tab back to the site to check on the assignment. I liked the Common Craft videos--simple, friendly and very helpful. An unexpected outcome was the Facebook connection I mentioned in the previous blog. Carving out time to do the weekly assignment was often a challenge--some definitely took more time than others. I am going to miss this learning opportunity, and would be excited to participate in a future program.

Unexpected Facebook benefits

When I set up my Facebook account back in May, it was purely as an assignment. I had a total of 3 friends--2 co-workers and my daughter. Then just recently, I was friended by my cousin and a friend I lost contact with 30 years ago. My friend and I are now catching up by email, and realizing that 30 years is a lot of living to update! My cousin has gotten back to me with a list of all our cousins that are on Facebook--a way to stay current all in one place.

Games

Found it very interesting that the new generation of young people approach life and work from the perspective of gaming. I think that will be important to remember as we relate to them in the library and when we start working with them. I tried one of the 5-minute games on Yahoo, Wordsense. It was Scrabble-like and fun, after I got over the feeling that it was a time waster. I imagined I was exercising my aging brain--I've heard that is an important thing to do. And I am experiencing some short-term memory problems, so I can use all the help I can get.

Map lover

I am a map lover, and have played around with Google Earth in the past. It was fun to revisit it, and fly around the country. It is so realistic, I almost got motion sickness. I found that I wanted to zoom in a little more in some places. And I can see the usefulness for travel--this is a tool I will use.

Alter ego

At first, I found myself getting very frustrated that I couldn't get my avatar to look like me. There seemed to be minimal choices for facial features and body types, but an overwhelming amount of options for clothing, themes, etc. But on second thought, this is supposed to be a stylized version of myself, and maybe I am not letting my imagination have free rein. In my real life, I am trying hard to find my authentic self and live my life accordingly. In some ways, it might be good to have a second life, but that seems too distracting to me.

Apps

I can definitely see the benefits of having documents that can be created and shared on the internet. People who work in different locations are collaborating on projects, and this appears to be an efficient way to do that. It can save time and travel expenses in this time of high fuel costs. I tried both Google docs and Zoho, and found they were pretty basic. I am very used to using Word, and wasn't able to figure out how to make columns with either program. And with Google docs, I couldn't find print preview. I am sure they will evolve as more people use them.

Surfing the search engines

I tend to use Google out of habit--I am familiar with it, it's on the toolbar, and I may be in a rut. I tried Rollyo, Mamma, and Dogpile. Of the three, Rollyo seemed to be most different because of the customizing feature. I might give that more of a try. Out of egotism, I did a search on my name (which is fairly unique) and found a photo of my internet twin's surfboard. I can fantasize that I have another life in Hawaii, surfing on a custom board!