The end is just the beginning

Whew! I made it through all the different 2.0 tasks...just in the nick of time! So many things got in the way of completing each item's required tasks, I feared I would not finish before my 4 months were up.

It's been quite an adventure going through each step. I learned so much, and there are so many things (the rest of the video sites, for example) I plan to go back and explore further. My favorite pieces were the steps where I signed up for a Facebook account (and later when I learned how to add Scrabulous to it--both are addictive!), signed up for a Pandora Radio profile, watched funny videos, and learned how to create this blog. I did enjoy many of the other sites & features we tried out as well--Flower Sudoku was fun, Flickr can be an enjoyable way to waste time online, RSS feeds are good for helping me remember what the heck it was I wanted to keep reading (like friends' blogs and so on) and letting me know when Nancy Pearl has a new podcast (radio broadcast). Meebo with the Firefox add-on helps me keep track of when friends & family are online without me having to toggle back & forth between tabs--this is a handy timesaver for me. I already had a Goodreads account, but I enjoyed creating a LibraryThing account and comparing the two. And it was good to create a Google doc from scratch instead of only knowing how to follow a set link to get to one particular file I could edit--a wide world opened up for me with that one.

I won't bother to talk about the steps I didn't like as much or find as useful. I've ranted about those enough already. If you really want to know how I feel about them, you can always re-read prior blog posts. I won't bore either of us with a repetition of my complaints & frustrations.

When I began this program four months ago, I had no idea I would find some of these 2.0 technologies so incredibly addictive or fun. I wanted to learn more about them so I wouldn't sound so clueless when interacting with patrons (especially teenagers), but I didn't think I personally would find some of them as fabulous as I did. What a wonderful surprise! And to think I got paid to learn these great new tools...wow.

I was able to find friends on Facebook whom I had not spoken to in years--never knew what happened to them after we graduated, for example. I'm glad I was sitting at my desk at the time so I didn't startle any patrons with my exclamations of joy & astonishment. :) (Apologies to any coworkers who weren't so lucky and got to share in my delight.) That was probably my most favorite aspect of this whole program and the part I'll use the most in the future, both on a personal level and probably on a professional basis as well, eventually.

My only suggestion for improvement with this 2.0 program would be that a few of the steps could use more explicit instructions. There were several times when I had to ask Sam for help because I had no idea how to accomplish something. (I can track backwards if you want to know specifics.) And there was one item where the instructions on how to accomplish a task were in the comments below the post, not the post itself. I have no objection to asking colleagues for help, and I actually think it's a better way to learn something if you have to teach someone else, but sometimes there isn't anyone around when you get to a step where you need help. So rather than saying things like "Go here and embed such-and-such in your blog," it would be helpful to include step-by-step instructions as to HOW to do that, for example. Overall, though, I think this whole experience was fantastic and completely worthwhile. Thank you very much, Discover 2.0 planning team! I look forward to using my new skills for years to come, adapting to updates and changes and new inventions as they come.

More on RSS feeds

I've now subscribed to a "lucky" 13 RSS feeds for my Bloglines account. When I am supposed to have time to read all the new posts, I haven't yet figured out. But at least they are there and waiting for me.

I tried both ways to find feeds to add--I went directly to some sites and I used links from Bloglines and from the LISwiki to locate others. I'm not a huge fan of using the LISwiki, as it turns out, because it's just one huge long list with very little information on each one, and I didn't have the patience to try out every single link to see if it was something I wanted to read. Then again, it did gather a bazillion blogs in one place, which is good when you're like me and not aware of the existence of most of them so can't go directly to very many.

I can see how it would be useful for library websites to have RSS feeds, though. Particularly from their Events pages so that information could be pushed to patrons who subscribe to their library's feed. Maybe it could increase awareness of library programs and therefore boost attendance. At least with the younger crowd. Maybe not so much the average senior citizen. I can't see my mom using the internet in any form to get her library event information. But I think RSS has great potential for teens and gen-Xers like me. And whatever we're now calling the generation between the two. (Or are today's teens still part of the Gen-Y/Millenials?)

What was that blog again? Oh, wait! I use RSS feeds!

I am one of those people who never has the time to keep current with all the latest blog posts. I don't know how some people manage it, but I sure haven't discovered their miracle secret to staying up to date. At least now, with RSS feeds coming to my Bloglines account (and the Google Reader account I already had), I no longer have to remember exactly which blogs and sites I'm behind in reading. RSS brings me that information! So although it hasn't revolutionized my world, it has at least eliminated a few things off the impossibly long list of things I'm trying to remember at any given moment. Which is an improvement, I guess. Freed up some brain space for other information to forget repeatedly. And every once in a while I do remember to login and check the blogs I like reading, so having the RSS feeds collected in one (OK, two) place(s) is quite handy. I'm a convert.