Thing 19: Other Social Networks

I am not a member of any online communities that have not been featured in 23 Things.  I have looked at WebJunction and Shelfari before, and there are some Flickster applications on Facebook that allow you to take some sort of quiz and compare your movie taste with your friends.  For this thing, I also tried looking at a genealogy social networking site called Geni.com, but I didn’t really like it.  I’m not convinced that I want to share all of my genealogical information with the world.  Perhaps if I was a more impassioned hobbyist, I would find a social networking site that appealed to me, but I’m really more of a dabbler when it comes to my personal interests...a Jill-of-all-trades (and master of none).  For that reason, the more general social networking site Facebook appeals to me as a one-stop shopping site where I can dabble in multiple applications.

Thing 18: Facebook and MySpace

I joined Facebook a couple of months ago because I have a class reunion coming up, and the organizers were trying to get people on Facebook so that they could easily get information out to everyone.  In an effort to be agreeable, I joined somewhat reluctantly.  Not only am I a convert, I also talked my husband and my sister into joining. 

I have friends (more than 3, less than 300), I’ve joined a group (You may be from Lake Placid if...), I’ve written on someone’s wall, I’ve sent Flair, I’ve received 80s Memory Gifts, I’ve posted photos and commented on others’ photos.  Most of all, though, I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with a few friends who I now interact with every week instead of once a year or once every few years.  I’ve enjoyed seeing what the people I went to high school with are up to and seeing at pictures of them and their families.  I can interact with relatives that I don’t get to see often, and some in-laws that I’ve never managed to meet, even after 12 years of marriage.  I can even play Scrabble with my sister and my other friends (my husband won’t play Scrabble with me except once in a great while and under extreme duress).

We’ve also created a Facebook profile for the Library.  I see it as a marketing tool.  Once we build up a group of friends (over 100, now, and growing), it will be an easy way to get word out to a large group of people about Library programs and events.

As far as Facebook being the fastest growing social network, I can’t really say.  There are certainly a lot of people that I’ve come across who have joined very recently.  When you listen to the news, though, it seems like Twitter is the new thing.  Maybe Facebook is out, and Twitter is in...I don’t know, I’m not tweeting yet.

Thing 17 : Podcasts

I’ve watched and listened to video podcasts with my kids before.  On iTunes, you can find some free video podcasts of Dora the Explorer (the old Dora, not the new controversial Dora); Go, Diego, Go; Blue’s Clues; Sesame Street; National Geographic wildlife podcasts; and plenty more.  I’ve found that having those available on the iPod (or iBird as we call it at my house) when waiting at the doctor’s office can be really helpful, but I really don’t use them much at any other time. 

For this Thing, I listened to and subscribed to a podcast by author Diana Gabaldon.  In the particular episode I listened to, she described her personal encounters with ghosts and the inclusion of supernatural elements in her Outlander novels.  I found it interesting (although, she didn’t sound at all like I thought she would), and I can see myself downloading them to listen to when going on a trip or something.  I can’t really see myself taking the time to sit down and listen to them during the course of my usual week.

I looked at podcastalley.com, podcast.com, and Yahoo podcasts and found them all equally easy to use, but I did get some different results on my searches.  Based on those different results, I would probably use either podcastalley.com or podcast.com in the future.

Thing 16: YouTube

So I haven't been a big YouTube user, but I have used it a bit. I'm amazed at how much free time people seem to have on their hands. All I can say is, they must not have small children. It's unfathomable to me how much stuff there is on You Tube about any topic you might be interested in. For example, I searched for Designing Women, my favorite television show of all time, and I found a video in which someone had produced an opening scene for the Magic School Bus using the Designing Women opening credits and music. Who knew...who cared?

What I am posting here is a video from SidsCardShop of my very favorite performer, Alison Krauss, singing my very favorite Dolly Parton song, Jolene. I wanted something that was of interest to me, something that I thought was worth sharing, and something that was relatively brief. This is all of those things, plus you get a glimpse of Dolly in the audience watching as well. What could be better? It's also timely as Alexis Grace was voted off of American Idol last night after singing Jolene during country week, but don't get me started about that!



Okay, obviously this didn't work properly since I can't see any actual video, just a YouTube frame with nothing in it. I will have to work on it more later and see if I can figure it out.

Well, I see it works from this computer. It was apparently just the computer that I was working on earlier that didn't actually show the video, just the frame. So, Thing 16...accomplished!

Thing 15: Rollyo

I had never before heard of Rollyo, so this Thing was completely new to me.  I like the concept, and I can see it having uses both personally (for some people, although, not so much for me) and in libraries.  In libraries, I think this might be especially useful for local and regional information, for things like science fair and history fair projects, and for other specific projects that apply to a group of people.

I tried the Rollyo search on public domain e-books and searched for some poetry by A.E. Housman, particularly To an Athlete Dying Young and With Rue My Heart Is Laden.  I was able to find these and other Housman poetry easily with just one quick search.  Of course, I Googled both of these poems and the first hit on both was the same bartleby.com hit that I got using Rollyo, but I suppose there’s less extraneous information using Rollyo if you’re simply looking for the text and not things like commentary or criticism.

Next I registered and created my own search for all things Dolly Parton.  There are several websites out there devoted to Dolly, her music and her business ventures.  I included in my search, the “official” website of Dolly Parton, Dolly Parton On-Line, Dolly’s fan club website, Dollymania (“the online Dolly Parton Newsmagazine”), the Dollywood theme park website, and the website for Dolly’s Imagination Library program.  So, if you’ve been wondering when 9 to 5: The Musical opens on Broadway, and the answer has been eluding you, try my search and see if it helps.  

Thing 14: Online Productivity Tools

I went with iGoogle because I could log in to my already existing account and access it, Blogger and Google Reader (which I still love!).  I prettied it up a little bit by choosing a theme (Truly Toile), I added gadgets, I removed gadgets, and I left some gadgets as they were.  After all that, I’m still not that thrilled about iGoogle.  I don’t find that it is particularly useful to me, but it is, at least, lovely to look at thanks to Truly Toile.

Next, I set up Google Calendar and added it to iGoogle, but again, I’m just not lovin’ it.  I’m old-school enough that I still prefer to whip out my quill, dip it into the old ink pot, and write my appointments and events down on my parchment calendar.  Then I can carry it with me and have access to it anytime.  I guess if I would let my husband talk me into that iPhone that he’s been going on about, then I could carry it around with me and use it to access my Google Calendar anytime, but then I would have to pay some outrageous monthly fee for the privilege.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve already got as many outrageous monthly fees as I would care to have, and I’m not really interested in adding another.

Next I made a list on Ta Da List, but again, I’m not impressed.  I could have made the same list in half the time on a piece of paper without having to open yet another account.  I also looked at Backpack, but I didn’t see anything there that I was particularly interested in either.

I tried using the Countdown widget that was in the Thing 14 post, but I only succeeded in adding a mustard yellow blank box to my blog.  I don’t know what I did wrong, but after a couple of attempts with the same result I gave up.

So, in summary, my iGoogle is pretty to look at, but not anything I can’t live without.  My old pen and ink planner is preferrable to Google Calendar (unless I get that iPhone and the accompanying monthly fee), and I’ll keep on making my lists on my Curious George shopping list paper instead of doing it online with Ta Da List.  I do think that the file converters could definitely be useful in a library setting, and it’s good to know that they’re out there.  Otherwise, I don’t feel like this Thing was my Thing.

Thing 13: Library Thing

I had heard of Library Thing and thought it sounded cool, but I never imagined exactly how cool it really is!  I created an account and added some books from my personal library.  Now (with quite a bit more work ahead of me) I have the capability to create a searchable catalog of my private library...for FREE!  What I really love, though, is how Library Thing links you to others with similar reading interests.

Over the weekend, I showed Library Thing to a friend of mine who works part-time for a small special library with virtually no budget.  My friend looked at it and went away thinking that Library Thing was something they could use to catalog their collection (for no cost) and make it more accessible to their patrons.  What a great Thing!

I can also see how libraries could use Library Thing and their widgets to feature books from the library collection on their web page.  That’s another really nice use. 

I added a widget/gadget (look to your left) to my blog that will link you to my Library Thing catalog.  I hope to find the time at home to add more of my personal books to my catalog, but I don’t know how realistic that is.  My limited free time is spent actually reading books rather than cataloging them, napping, watching American Idol, and playing Facebook Scrabble.  Yes, I know, it’s a full and rich life.  Just thinking about it makes me want to go take a nap!