Wk 10 #23 The End

All adventures must come to an end, hopefully not broken at the bottom of a deep ravine nor eaten by a large snake. The trip through iHCPL has been an interesting and informative one, enjoyed much of the time, frustrating at others. I have discovered things like delicious, and Library Thing, Zoho and Youtube, some things to play with, others to use or learn from. I have learned that I will probably never be into podcasting, or use Library Elf, or ever feel comfortable with blogging. But it has been a learning experience, knowledge is always good, no matter what it is. This hasalso been one of my more interesting training exercises, and I hope that HCPL will consider using this type of thing in the future.

Wk 9 #22 Downloadable Media

I took a look around Overdrive and the other downloadable media sites, and found them to be a good thing. As so much of our society uses technology to amuse themselves, it stands to reason that the ability to download books and even videos would be an added plus. With the advent of MP3 players, now one can listen to books or music on something smaller then a CD player, without all the equipment, or watch videos on their computer, not having had to pirate them or rent them.

I looked at Overdrive, but opted not to download it at this time. Searching through the content, I thought the Series Starters section was great, the question of "what's first in the series?" is a constant question here at the library. I was fascinated by the extreme obscurity of many of the videos, not being sure if they were considered "special" or could't get hold of items that were more recent or better known. All the classical music was nice, and I noted a new Gregory Maguire Book that I hadn't seen before. Lots of kids stuff, be able to sit them in front of the computer and listen to a book. All in all, I think the availabity of this type of technology is a good addition to the library setting and to the web itself.

wk 9 #21 Podcasting

http://feeds.feedburner.com/mugglecast

I did find this podcast for Harry Potter, all Harry all the time,and a co-worker helped me figure out how to put it on my blog. However, I don't find much use in podcasting, at least not for me. Too much information being force fed to people.

Wk 9 #20Youtube, the Dramatic Chipmunk

Youtube is fun, and it took me two minutes to put this video in my blog on my home computer. The work computers constantly blocked me, and doesn't even show the really cute video I chose. Youtube and the like are fun, but you have to be careful that you dont end up on it as a subject. It could also be addicting to constantly watch.

Wk 8 #19 Online applications

I thought Zoho was pretty interesting, not terribly easy to understand, but I was able to work in it, with a little help from my friends, and even publish a short,(very short) story on it. I can see where this application, along with Google Docs would be very beneficial to those that need to produce a lot of paper work and share it. I may be using it in the future.

Wk 8 #19 Created on Zoho/ Spooky story

One of my favorite Halloween stories is about the time, a few years ago, when I had a truly spooky experience. I was sitting outside with a friend, (this was in California and it was warm out) passing out candy, watching kids and just talking. I was telling her about the recent movie Sleep Hollow and the headless horseman, a literary character that i had been afraid of since I was very small. Probably thanks to Disney. Anyway, we were sitting there feeling a bit shivery, when I noticed something coming up the street that was rather large. At a distance, we realised it was a horse and rider, moving slowly. Odd thing to see in a subdivision! As the horse moved closer and became clearer, I realised that it was actually a Headless Horseman, carrying his pumpkin head under his arm!! I was so shocked and delighted I couldnt see straight. There he was, in person, one of the creatures I was most afraid of. I and my friend added it to the litany of crazy stories in our lives, and it has been a favorite ever since.