Delicious

A few years ago, I decided to use Delicious because I grew tired of only having access to my internet bookmarks from one computer. After securing a Delicious account, it was so easy to save a site from one computer. Since the service is online, I am able to obtain my favorite places from another computer at the library, a friend's house or another system at home.

Twitter

Twitter is an excellent tool to communicate with people that know about things you are interested in, things you need to find out and news.  In fact, the news you receive is so current, the event is just took place! For example, when the Iran Riot occured last year, Iranians were tweeting about the events. This made the rest of the world find out the occurrences at the time they were happening. This, of course, put traditional news media to shame :)

Virtual Library - Reference USA

Juan More Taco
CEO - Zoila Giron
Fremont, CA

How bad can a place with a name like this be? I'm getting hungry just thinking about it...there isn't a website listen on Reference USA. Anyone know if they deliver? If not, I'm googling it...dinner break is at 5:30pm!

Downloadable Audio

After looking at a computer screen all day, I look forward to listening to a good book. For unknown reasons, I choose non-fiction audio books rather than fiction.

Awhile back, I listened to Stephen King's "Bag of Bones", read by the author. It was a good story but boy-oh-boy does Stephen King have a whiny voice!

Stick with writing, Mr. King! Although I'm not a huge fan of Stephen King, I promised myself I'd stick to reading his works rather than put myself through listening to him again!

Instant Messaging

As I was chatting with a friend through my Gmail account, I quickly remembered why I discontinued using my AOL and YIM accounts a few years back. Yes, Instant Messengers are a great way to have impromptu gab sessions or have a quick exchange of ideas. However, I find IMing invasive and a general waste of my time. In my opinion, if you want to get ahold of me give me a call on my cell phone or email me. Just my opinion and I'm sticking to it :)

Podcasting

Podcasting is a unique way to get information across to virtually anyone in the world!

The format is appealing to teenagers and is a fantastic way to "market" to them. For example, TPPL can record YA book reviews, put it on the Facebook page the TPPL website & in other advertisements targeted at teens.

Social Networking

Social Networking is a lot of fun and keeps me connected with people from all facets of my life. In addition to Facebook, I also have a professional LinkedIn profile and Twitter account. I've reconnected with people from my past and have made new acquaintences, as well.

Unfortunately, one must think about safety issues when divulging personal information. I never put my address, home phone number or exact information about what I am doing or where I am going.

Have fun Networking!

Google Documents

Google documents is a worthwhile tool to store various documents online. If a document is needed when away from home, google docs might be handier to use than a USB stick or CD disc. I can see using Google docs as a short-term back up option for important paperwork, such as school papers.

Wiki

Two wikis that I enjoyed reading :)

Academy Award

Chicago White Sox!!!

Flckr

Unfortunately, Flickr kept posting photos to Denise's blog, rather than my own. When I uploaded the photo of the butterfly, I was sure to click on my own blog, but it still went to Denise's blog.  I'll try to look into this later.

Flckr

I'm having a few issues trying to get the photos to post to my blog. This is a photo I added within a post to see if it is an issue outside of Flckr.

Pandora & You Tube

Pandora is a lot of fun and allows me to listen to a wide range of music and find new bands to enjoy.

On You Tube, I enjoyed finding videos I used to watch on MTV while I was in college waaaay back in 19__. There are also skits from clubs and comedy troupes from all over the world to view, as well.

RSS & What Nots

· What do you like about RSS and feed readers? It is easy to follow frequently updated newssites and blogs.



· How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work or personal life? I can utilize it in my personal life to track the news and blogs I follow.

· How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this technology? Libraries can follow other libraries and schools to find fresh ideas to use in their programs.

· If you are already using a feed reader, share your experiences with your co-workers. Which one do you use? Do you find it useful I use either google reader or yahoo newsreader. I find it useful to keep up to date on frequently updated sites such as http://www.mashable.com/

Tune Up #1 - Blogging

Blogging. Was it easy or difficult? Easy.

What did you think of the library blogs you looked at? Very creative!

How can Tinley Park Public Library make use of blogs? We can answer frequently  asked questions patrons ask us and post it on a public blog.

Do you have any other thoughts on blogs in general? I like them and gain a lot of useful information from them.