Thursday, March 13, 2008

Thing 23 -- Final Thoughts

I think that through the course of this program, I have become more interested in, knowledgeable about (well, at least a bit more than I was!), and excited by some newer technologies and how I can use them in my library. I really liked Del.icio.us (Thing 11); I think it will make it easier for me to find again things that I have found useful--and also to learn what sites others with similar information needs have found useful. I can see some of the tools on BigHugeLabs (Things 5 & 6) as being helpful when I'm looking for more "cool" things for summer reading programs. I was interested in the online productivity tools (Thing 13)--hopefully they really will improve my productivity a bit. I also would like to do more with subject guides, and found St. Joseph Public Library's Subject Guides (created through wikis, Thing 10) to be an excellent resource and example. (I also really liked some of the reading lists of Hennepin County Library's web site.)

As for suggestions for future programs.... I'm wondering if the program might be a bit less overwhelming if it were broken into smaller segments? I have definitely enjoyed and have learned a lot from this program, but I might be more inclined to participate in a future program (or complete a future program) if it didn't have quite so many things. It has definitely taken me more than 15 minutes a day. Another thought might be trying to team participants up with 2 or 3 fellow participants from other library systems--maybe assigning participants to a small group might encourage a bit more interaction. I have been reading (and will try to continue to read) the blogs of a couple of people I know, or people from my library system--but faced with the huge numbers of participants, I must confess I read almost none from other library systems, and didn't leave comments on any of those I did read! Narrowing it down to a couple of blogs to definitely follow and comment on might have encouraged me to do more along those lines.

In summary, this truly has been an excellent opportunity for me to learn more about Web 2.0 technologies, and I appreciate the immense amount of time and effort that has gone into developing and implementing this program. Through the 23 Things on a Stick program, I have acquired a number of new tools and resources for ongoing professional development, for improving my own efficiency, and also for expanding and enhancing the ways in which my library offers service to our patrons.

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