The End

Whew! It was a whirlwind, but I had a good time! What can I say about the iHCPL experience!?? There is too much to say! I think the Blog is indicative of something (or should I say lots 'o somethings) learned, and learning was the priority here. This post would go on for days if I listed every discovery I made along the way, but I will do my best to highlight my learning iHCPL experience.
What stands out for me are all of the new technologies, applications, and tools that iHCPL introduced me to and encouraged me to explore. For example, there was Zoho Writer. Initially I had some trouble with it and expressed my frustrations in a blog post. However, I have since made some progress and hope to be utilizing it regularly in the near future. I believe it to be a wonderful tool for librarians, especially those belonging to a unified system. Imagine how much simpler things might be if we were all practiced in this app.
More of my favorite discoveries were the Music Video Production and the Blog itself. As for the Music Video Production - I realize that it was not the most challenging of the excercises, but it caught my attention and introduced my mind to a new online realm. Sometimes we forget, even in our technology "boxes", that so much exists out there in the very vast WWW. Meaning - it never would have occurred to me that some Internet service and platform out there will allow you to create something all your own in a unique (and often restricted) medium. There is always something new, and you have to explore and learn to keep up. In regard to the Blog...I would have to say that this was the biggest of the learning experiences. Because the Blog was the vehicle for the iHCPL experience you had no choice but to make yourself very comfortable with the Blog. I had so much fun just with this. Certainly, blogging is not a new information concept, but it was one that I myslef had not yet taken the time to understand and utilize. In fact, I've enjoyed it so much that I may consider maintaining my blog, and continuing on with some library perspective and focus. Thank you iHCPL!

Downloadable Media

I spent quite a bit of time investigating the HCPL digital site and, Yes, I did find (several) titles that I would like to check out. Just in case you're wondering - I would like to check out The Year of Magical thinking (among many other titles). I enjoyed the layout of the digital site as well as the breakdown of the genres to the left of the page. It is very nicely done. Some things I noted and compared to the LibriVox site include - public domain and RSS. To explain, all the books available via the LibriVox site fall into the category of Public Domain - as Librarians we all know that this means that the copyright has expired. So, the downfall here is that the catalog will be limited in terms of currency. Someone looking for the latest James Patterson certaily will not find it here. That doensn't mean, of course, that a wealth of interesting titles do not remain. I came across Poe's Murders at Rue Morgue. This is def something I would consider checking out. In this respect, the HCPL digital site has a leg up as it offers a more current selection. On the other hand, the LibriVox site included an RSS feed to newly catalogued titles. I was never able to locate an RSS feature on the HCPL site. In the end, advantages and disadvantages to both.

Podcasts

I'm sooo excited about this one! Ultimately, I chose to use Podcasts.net as my podcast directory. I conducted a search for animals and science and that search produced just the podcast for me - Wild Chronicles. Wild Chronicles is a weekly podcast produced by National Geographic. Each Friday a new podcast is made available. The podcasts cover all things nature and include interviews with scientist, researchers, photographers, etc. I was able to subscribe to the feed and add it to my Bloglines account without a problem. I also plan to subscribe via my iTunes account. I can't wait to begin to receive the casts on my iPod!!

You Tube

Ahhh, You Tube...a wonderful invention! I love You Tube and I utilize it regularly. I'm a pretty busy gal, so often times I find myslef running behind on the latest news, pop culture, music, etc. To "catch (myself) up", I log on to You Tube and search. Maybe, there is a press conference, a music video, or a sketch I missed in real time - You Tube allows me to search for the videobyte and watch!

For the purposes of the Discovery Excercise, I searched You Tube for "LibraryY Videos". I ran across a public service announcement from the ALA. It was a spot featuring comic George Lopez. Obviously, he is promoting Reading in the clip - but I thought, Wow, even the ALA is utilizing You Tube! I am very proud of the fact that the organization of our profession; an organization of which I am a member, is out there, online, keeping up with the Jones'.

The ALA spot I came across is proof that there are ways to integrate the latest and most popular technologies into the library and its services. The iHCPL tutorial asked, specifically, how something like You Tube could be applied to library websites...my answer to that is - how do I count the ways??? I would love to see, for example, instructional type video links on my library website. Perhaps a short video clip of someone demonstrating the printing process or a catalog search. You may even post a short video which provides a virtual tour of a particular branch. There are so many possibilities, and I can't wait to see them develop into real components of library websites everywhere!

Animoto

I'm a Music Video Producer!

Check out my Slide Show!

Web-based Apps * Zoho Writer

Well, I was really looking forward to this week's lesson, but was sorely disappointed...I think, the concept of an application such as Zoho is brilliant. It brings about collocation, organization and consistency - three principal elements of librarianship. It's unbelievably convenient as well! So, I made my way into Zoho, created an account and, then, stalled. Here is where the disappoointment begins to wash over me...AArrggh...so frustrating! Where was the user direction? Inside the app I could not locate directional or explanatory direction. I just sort of felt my way through it...but I could only get so far leading myself blindly...I spent quite a bit of time attempting to save and post an Employee Evaluation template to my blog. I was quite unsuccessful. After numerous attempts, I gave up in frustration. I am not, however, waving my white flag just yet...I am determined to get back in there and figure out the odds and ends of Zoho, as I believe it is a great tool and would serve me well in my profession. Will keep you "posted". (Pun intended) ;)