And.........stop!

Hurray - I'm at the end.  I actually learnt more, no I actually enjoyed it more than I suspected I would at the beginning.  I knew that I'd learn about new things but thought I'd hate all of them.  I like delicious and librarything and may even continue to use them - in fact I just bookmarked something I found on Youtube  on Delicious so I'd be able to find it again when I move back to my usual workplace.  So yes, hard work but interesting and potentially very useful to library services.  The only comment I have is that commenting on blogs was actually harder than I thought because I kept running out of time and it was time consuming to read the other comments and try and say something meaningful.

Geocaching

Geocaching - never heard of it before I got to this section but it sound like excellent fun and would a fantastic way to develop some programmes for all ages in the library.  We could have easter egg hunts!  We could develop treasure hunts around the library teaching people about the collection.  It would a great bookclub session for kids.  I can see a lot of great ways that libraries could use geocaching as long as we could sort out access to the right technology.  Although I can't imagine it would be that hard in times when so many people have GPS enabled mobiles phones.

Podcasting

I always think that I'd like to subscribe to a podcast of Hamish and Andy because I listen to it every night on the way home and only ever hear the last hour.  I've tried to listen to podcasts of seminars and talks for work but I always get bored and stop after a while, I think I'd rather read a transcript, don't know why.  I like the idea of students being able to download a podcast of studying music (Arizona SL).  I guess that public libraries could use podcasts for lost of things, storytime sessions, author visits, library lover sessions etc.  It would be a great additional service to offer people who visit our website.

Online videos

I found this video when I was thinking about doing some paving but couldn't get my head around the instructions in the books I was reading on the subject.   I know that some libraries already use videos to show people how to access technology or to do virtual library tours.  I also like the idea of being able to access storytime or rhymetime sessions online so that people in remote areas could have access to these valuable programmes.  It may even be useful as a promotional tool, people could watch bookclub or library lover sessions online and see what their all about would, this would hopefully encourage people to join.

Twitter

Huh?!  I looked at some famous people's tweets like Pink and Rove and I feel like I came in haf-way through a conversation.  It's like getting answers when you don't know the questions.  I suppose it will all make sense when I start using it.  As far as library use goes,  a friend of mine commented that they used Twitter at a seminar so that people could comment on the sessions as the speaker was talking and that it was interesting to listen to someone talk and read (on a screen in the background) what the audience thought.  I also thought that getting tweets to let you know whether sessions at a conference were worth attending would be useful.  My Twitter account name is KPobblebonk.

Facebook

Well I've just joined facebook and I'm waiting for my 'friends' to reply so I can post something.  I guess that people like facebook for all sorts of reasons and some people use it as a lifeline but again I'm just not that attched to technology and I would never be able to commit to something online like facebook.  However, knowing that so many millions of people are regular users means that for the library its a fantastic communication tool and could easily be used to engage people.  Having looked at a few of the library facebook pages I can see how well they could work for public libraries.  I like that it creates a mini community of users.

LibraryThing

Library thing is fun as well, I can see as a reader that it would be a great way to find new titles in your preferred genre.  http://www.librarything.com/home/kmacweb2  It would great to be able to use something like librarything to help readers with 'who writes like' enquiries.  They often have very specific ideas ( I remember one lady who wouldn't read anything that had cravats in it!) about the type of authors they like.  This would be an easy way to hook them up with like-minded readers.  I've added titles of books that I've recently read to my son and would like to find titles that other people enjoy reading to their kids.  I know some parents struggle to find books (especially if your buying presents for someone else's child) that are suitable for certain ages etc.  and this would be a good way of finding that sort of information.