Twitter

What kind of information is being posted by the library accounts above? What kind of information should libraries post?

The information posted by each of the libraries was essentially the same, namely notification of upcoming programs and events, book recommendations, library closures, volunteer opportunities, City of Calgary summer programs, comments on past programs offered at the libraries. The Teen account contained somewhat different information, such as articles on the dangers of tanning beds and other information more relevant to teens than others.

All in all I think that this type of information is what should be posted by the libraries. My only negative comment would be that many of the posts are very old, some going back to September 2009.

LibraryThing

Do you see any practical application for LibraryThing either at home or at work? Will you start using the site?

For me, this has been the most useful site so far. It was easy to navigate and I much enjoyed reading various reviews and seeing other recommendations. I shall definitely use this site in the future. The most practical application I can think of at the moment is in connection with my book club. We are always looking for recommended reads and it would be useful to access this site.

Flickr & YouTube

Comment on Flickr and YouTube. Were they user friendly?

I found the quality of photographs on Flickr to be very good. I was able to find photographs of every geographical location and on any subject I could think of. There were plenty of examples.
I also found the site very user friendly. I imagine that I would use this site in the future.

I was less impressed with YouTube. I watched the recommended videos. I found that, although the statistics laid out in "Did you know 4.0" were very interesting, the video played much too quickly and so it was difficult to remember anything I had seen. I doubt that I would use this site again.

Google Calendar (cont)

I obviously didn't understand how Google Calendar actually works! I was pleasantly surprised to receive emails last week on each day of the calendar I created notifying me of my schedule for that day. I had assumed that Google Calendar had a limited use in that I would either have to refer to my calendar on line or I would have to print off a copy. (This is the kind of mistake made by those of us who are new to this technology.)

Now that I have discovered how easy Google Calendar is to use, I will definitely use it in the future.

Online Productivity Tools - Calendars

Do you see yourself using these tools or will you stick to more traditional methods? If you were to use one of these tools regularly, which would it be and why?


I created a Google calendar. I chose Google since I already have a gmail account. It was simple to create and I liked being able to choose the day/week or month format. I doubt that I would use this tool regularly, since I am constantly having to add information to my calendar at home (I have three teenagers, who are often difficult to keep up with if I don't enter their school/work events, etc on my calendar). I'm sure I shall stick to the traditional calendar but it was useful to learn how to create this via Google and it is possible that I may use this in the future.

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?

I was able to set up my RSS feed but did not realise that I had to go to Bloglines.com to read the feeds. I assumed that I would be able to read the feeds on my Blog. The whole process was very confusing. I went through the process as indicated but was not confident that I had actually set up the account. Apparently I had, but it wasn't obvious that I had completed all the steps. In view of all the confusion, I doubt that I would find this a convenient way to gather information.

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


I looked at various Google programs and found Goodle Image to be very interesting. No matter how obscure the subject I thought of, I was consistently able to find appropriate images. I was amazed to find so much detail and will definitely be able to make good use of this product in the future. There was nothing I disliked about the product and would definitely recommend Image to friends and colleagues.

For you, is Facebook useful or a time-waster?

This was my first experience with Facebook. I doubt that I would use the account after completing this exercise, although I can see that it could be very useful, particularly for posting photographs to show to a number of friends. I am one of those old-fashioned people who still likes to write an receive letters from individual friends.

In the course of this exercise, however, I read an article about the pros and cons of Facebook and dating. How very confusing it must be to know whether and when to declare your relationship on Facebook! I'm so glad that I am not a young person dating in this day and age!

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

It was relatively easy to find articles which needed editing. I was able to find numerous grammatical errors in an article and, after having set up a Wikipedia account, I was able to make the corrections.

This was the first time I felt something other than fear or frustration when completing one of these exercises! It's a good feeling!

How comfortable are you using Best Websites after this practice?

I feel that I am no further forward than I was before I started this process. Utter confusion is what I feel, as well as total frustration!

As far as any tips for using Best Websites or Delicious are concerned, I have none because, despite spending a great deal of time looking at the various sites, I feel that I have learned nothing. Will this ever get any easier?

All this seems to come so naturally to younger people, who seem to have an inborn understanding of what to do. Just the mere terminology is a language which I find impossible to understand let alone master.

Believe it or not, I really want to be able to navigate all these sites and help customers etc but everything is so foreign to me and I don't seem to be making any headway at all.

Intrigued or scared - definitely the latter! The journey thus far has been lengthy and difficult! It can only get easier, I hope.