Th-th-th-That's All Folks!

I've finally come to the end of my 23 Things journey...and I must admit...as relieved as I am to have completed it, the moment is bittersweet. I've enjoyed stretching my brain and (hopefully) increasing my knowledge base and skills. When I was first approached to join the program, I anticipated that I would find the training helpful professionally. I was surprised to find just as many personally helpful Web 2.0 sites. What a bonus! I even found an email reminding me of my Godson's birthday (now, if I could only remember to check my email in the first place...).

I found that several of the introduced ideas could be easily transferred to the world of the public library, and could assist us with providing better service to our patrons. I think, however, that a bit discrimination might be in order. It would be terribly easy to become carried away with the desire to implement many of the ideas that abound within the program.

That being said...here's some of my thoughts on what might be handy to have available for one's patrons...

Blogs - Blogs which are internal to the institution would be useful for identifying tips, tricks, and troubleshooting for anything from crafts, to program ideas, to upgrades to the circ systems. External blogs could be implemented to support virtual book clubs, as well as assist in promoting a sense of community for library patrons.

RSS Feeds - These could be implemented to inform patrons of library news, new books, journal, or program announcements, overdue and received holds notices, etc. These are also rather handy for professional development by informing staff of upcoming events, conferences, and training opportunities.

Flickr - Not to be mistaken for the Tim McGraw movie...Flickr slideshows could be implemented for virtual library tours, as well as recording renovation progress.

Tags - As I'm certain many have already discovered, tagging would be helpful to support library blogs, etc, and as a cross reference tool for library web pages.

Wikis - A book review library wiki could be created to support patron book reviews, as well as read-a-like lists.

Now you see why a bit of discretion could be called for!

Despite the fact that I have completed the program, I don't feel as though I have absorbed as much as I could from the program...and so I plan on revisiting many of The 23 Things lessons to delve further into this new technology. I have also located another on-line course that covers many of the same topics as the 23 Things, such as blogs, RSS, Wikis, and Flickr, as well as adding new topics such as Social Networking Software and Second Life, Social Bookmarking Software, and Selling Social Software @ your Library. I hope I enjoy the new course as much as I have the 23 Things!