Wrap-up

CPL 2.0 was great-some tasks were more tedious than others. However, the best thing I've learned was Librarything. It is great to have a substitute for "My List" which the CPL website has eliminated.

TWITTER

I've known about twitter for some time now, and for the most part, I find it to be a non vital internet networking tool. I already have email and facebook, along with many other internet miscellany, so I find that twitter is only an extra thing to keep track of. Personally, I don't see myself creating my own twitter account, but I do see it's usefulness for businesses who want to keep their customers informed in a timely manner.

I LOVE LIBRARYTHING!!!

I have already been using librarything for over a week. A co-worker of mine introduced me to it, and I AM LOVING IT! Already I have over 80 books in my wishlist. My favorite part is the wishlist, as I can conveniently save all the books I want to read. Also, I love how each book in librarything is linked directly to amazon.com, so I can view the reviews there, as well as peek inside the book to sample it. I also love how you can view other users who have similar libraries or wishlists.

Google Productivity Products

I think google docs is one online productivity tool that I would use a lot. Being a student and always needing to print assignments away from home (my printer is really old), having easy access to my documents anywhere would be really convenient.

I don't see myself using the google calendar as much, as I find it more convenient to just use a regular calendar that I can carry in my purse and use wherever I am. With google or other online calendars, I would have to be online to mark events down, unlike a portable paper calendar. Also, I like my moleskin calendar-it's just more personal.

YOUTUBE & FLICKR

I have used both Flickr and Youtube before. I find both very useful, although I have used Flickr only occasionally. Flickr is most helpful if you are interested in finding photos in a certain subject. During the US elections, I was obsessed with Barack Obama's campaign, so his Flickr site was one that I visited a lot.

Youtube is great, you almost don't need a t.v. if you have Youtube! You can find almost anything on Youtube, and there are many hilarious video clips that you can find. I also like that you can subscribe to user's accounts, and keep up to date with their videos.

RSS

Q• Were you able to successfully set up your RSS feed? If not, where did you run into problems? If you were successful, does this make information-gathering more convenient for you?

A. It was very easy to set up my RSS account. I think this is a helpful tool, but I don't know how often I would actually use it. I think it's helpful in the sense that you can access your favorite blogs easily anywhere you go, instead of relying on your saved bookmarks on your home computer. However, it's not too important for me to always have access to this type of information, as it's mostly frivolous stuff. Some people might need it for important things, like school or work, so it all depends on what you use it for.

The Wonders of Google

Q• What do you like about the Google product? What do you dislike? Would you recommend the product to friends and colleagues?

A. Google is amazing in the variety of the products it offers. What I like the most is google maps, as it is very practical and helpful for finding directions. I also really enjoy google books, as I have found quite a few rare books available for free on google books. It's free and easy to use. What I don't like about google is the invasion of privacy. I looked up my home address on google maps, and with the street view option, it was a bit creepy to see a photo of my house, knowing that anyone could see it. Also, I hate how google invades your search queries. For example, if you google a certain topic, on the right hand side, you'll see a bunch of ads or links that are related to your search. Yes, this can be helpful, but it is also disconcerting and annoying, knowing that your searches are in this way "profiled". However, it is almost impossible to function nowadays without google, so yes, I would recommend it to friends (although I think most people do know what google is already).

Facebook

Q• Why do you think social networking sites are so popular? What are the main appeal factors?

A. I think social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are so popular, because they allow people to express themselves, their interests, their talents (many use the sites to promote their own bands for example), as well as allowing people to keep in touch with their friends and family. Facebook, especially gives you the opportunity to find old classmates and co-workers and is great for keeping up to date with the going ons of friends who you never get the chance to see.

Also, Facebook is great for event invites, like parties, and for groups specific to a particular interest. You can also share interesting things, like photos, links to youtube videos, etc. MySpace is not as popular as Facebook, but I have noticed that is mostly used to promote bands, in fact many started off on MySpace to only get a record deal after the fact.

wiki-fun!

Q• How easy or difficult was it to find articles that needed editing? Were the errors you found factual or grammar / spelling?

A. I found it somewhat difficult to find articles that needed editing, as most of them did not have too many factual or grammar errors. There were many that I looked into that could have been expanded and improved with more information, as some articles were very short. I went into the page for "Bright Star" (film) and added some more interesting facts about the movie. I didn't think any section had to be rewritten, and the entry was already short, so there was not much to edit to begin with.

Delicious

Q• What are the advantages of storing, sharing, and tagging web content this way? What are the disadvantages?

A. I found CPL'S "Best Websites" to be not user friendly initially. There is a lot of information to look at, at first. But after navigating my way through it and exploring the different bookmarks and tags, I did find it very helpful, especially how you can access your bookmarks anywhere, and I can see myself referring customers to Delicious in regards to their reference questions. I also think it is very efficient to have everything you need in one place for quick access for everyone who needs it. However, since I only work in Circulation, in reality, I probably won't be utilizing it as much as reference staff. I think it would be very helpful for my own research purposes as a student.

First Post!

Q. Which aspect of Web 2.0 are you the most intrigued (or scared) by?

A. Well, I'm kind of interested in learning about how to contribute to Wikipedia (adding my own entry and editing others).