We know time is always an issue--Stephen Abram shares some ideas on where to find the time for 23 Things. Where will you find the time?Sure, time is an issue-chances are if I'm awake, I'm not standing still for long. : ) So, where am I going to find the time? Same way I always do-I'll make the time. It may be odd moments, and they will usually be late at night, but it'll all get done. I'm treating this just like another class, and because there's 'homework', it's really no different.
Why are you participating in 23 Things On a Stick? What do you hope to learn?
I'm participating in 23 Things On a Stick because I know this is technology I need to be familar with. Besides, this stuff is cool, and I'm defintely a 'hands-on learner'. I also know myself well enough to know that if there's no deadline, I'll shuffle it to the bottom of my to-do list. During the school term, I operate mainly on a 'what's due next' mentality. This has a definite finish-by date so it makes it easier for me.
How has the Internet and the vast resource it can be affected your use of time at work and/or at home?
The Internet and all its resources has made my time at work easier. Instead of having to remember everything, I know I can look it up. Of course, it's a double-edged sword, too. If the Internet is down, well, it makes for an interesting work day... At home I have high-speed Internet, and use it every day. Since St Kate's is 1.5 hours away, I don't use the on site library resources much; instead, I use the online resources. I don't think I would be nearly as good of a student/librarian as I am without the technology available to me.
Where are you in your knowledge and use of Web 2.0 tools? How about your library?
I have a pretty good working knowledge of the theory of Web 2.0/Library 2.0 tools. I just don't have lots of concrete experience with it all. This topic is something that gets brought up quite a bit in various classes, but it's mostly the 'what' of it, not the 'how'. I don't think either my library or my library system is terribly Web 2.0 friendly, though. I know that of the 3 people at my branch, I'm the most tech-savvy, and that's alarming. We're learning, though.
What are you looking forward to in 23 Things On a Stick?
Hmmm. I'm looking forward to taking the time to actually go explore some of the things, as well as doing some of the challenge activities (I like to push my knowledge boundaries as much as possible). I'm not sure how much of it will actually be relevant to my position, but one of the things I've found over the past 5 years of being back in school is that nothing is ever a complete waste of time and there will always be something that I can take away from every situation that will help me later on.
One of the things that has come up in one of my classes this term is that oftentimes as librarians, we're not on the cutting edge of the newest/latest/greatest Web 2.0 things. I think this is true to a certain extent-there are plenty of times I think we're all just trying to catch up to what was cool last week/month/year, and not looking ahead to what could be. Also, it sometimes seems that we get so excited about this all, but don't really take the time to figure out how exactly it will (or won't) be beneficial to ourselves, our libraries, or the profession overall. That said, we have to start somewhere, and there may come a person someday that says, "Hey-this would be PERFECT for libraries-why don't we give it a try?"
