Task 23 Feedback about the program

I must say that I did enjoy the program. Once I got underway and progressed through the tasks I found myself becoming more involved. Using a blog as the tool to record one's progress worked well. It was interesting to read other people's blogs and it provided an opportunity to learn more about your colleagues and their lives out side Swinburne.

The 23 things team who had obviously done a lot of work behind the scenes in setting up and monitoring the program plus providing encouragement along the way did a great job.
What's the next task!!!

Task 22 Read about Second Life

I did some reading on Second Life referring to the suggested resources for this task and looked at the Youtube videos to see what some libraries were doing in Second Life.

However, I did not find Second Life of any interest to me so did no bother to continue on and create an account in Second Life. This was the task that I was least enthusiastic about.

Task 21 Find and listen to a Podcast or two

There are a couple of programs on the ABC Radio and Radio National which I enjoy listening to. However one is scheduled at a time when I am at work and the other on my weekend sleep in morning.

Fortunately, being able to listen to a podcast has solved the problem. Now I can listen to the program when it suits and when I am using the computer since I don't have an iPod.

I've added the programs to my Google reader shared items page. The ABC program is called Lifestyle fitness and the Radio National program is Life Matters. I find Life Matters a most interesting program and it addresses a range of social issues.

Through Google reader I also subscribed to the SirsiDynix Institute. Some of the topics of past presentations cover the Web 2.0 technologies amongst other things so I'm sure I will be going back to the site.

Task 20 YouTube videos about libraries

Searching for videos on YouTube about libraries was an interesting exercise.

The displayed results for a "libraries and librarians" video search showed as "about 760" so libraries are well represented in YouTube land too. The reference interview did appear to be a popular video topic.

During my searching I also came across the video from the ABC comedy series 'The Librarians'. Since we don't have a TV at home, I have caught up and now know what everyone was talking about when the series commenced at the end of last year. However, I still think I am better off without a TV.

Now that they have the Wii set up at the Croydon Library, I wonder if we'll see the staff having a Wii game of tennis before the library opens.

Task 19 Add a pet photo to the wiki

I will declare up front that I am not a pet person. There's a couple of reasons. In our neighbourhood, properties are not fenced plus we are often away on the weekends.

Anyway, I tend to think that a low maintenance pet is definitely the way to go. When visiting Shepparation for a bike event last year I came across an ideal pet which fits this classification. So I took a photo and it's now on the wiki.

Unfortunately it didn't fit in the car otherwise I would have taken it home. It's real good watch dog material. Sitting at the front gate it would scared anyone away. Interested?

Now you will just have to go and have a look at the pets page on the wiki. It's down towards the bottom of the page.

Actually we have some "au natural" pets who visit and graze on our block at the moment. They appear every few days either early in the morning or just before dusk. It's a group of Fallow Deer. There are 2 adults, complete with antlers and several young ones.
I still haven't been able to get a good photo but will post it on the wiki just as soon as I do.

Task 18 Library 2.0 movement

Researching Library 2.0 has given me a greater understanding and knowledge about the movement. My reading included the suggested resources for this task and others sources I located using Google and Technorati.

Some points that I noted about Library 2.0 included:

• Through Library 2.0 a different library service model is evolving.

• It's more than just access to books and information.

• User participation is increasing as the flow of information becomes 2 way.

• Active encouragement of feedback and participation by users is occurring.
  

• People connect with information and then people connect as they share the information.

• Frequent evaluation of library services is a necessity.

• Constant updating of services and introduction of new technologies is essential to maintain relevancy to users.

Some of these points were also highlighted during the presentations I attended at the recent VALA conference.

Task 16 iGoogle home page

This task was fun. It seemed the end result of your creation was only limited by your imagine. Some of the gadgets I added included Google map search, Google book search, Google reader. Google Docs was another one so it was convenient to report on this task using Google Docs and then post it to my blog.
Another change I made to the iGoogle home page was to select a new theme. What a choice.

I confess I did get carried away with adding gadgets to my iGoogle home page but then I read about "tabs". Setting up different tabs resolved the clutter problem I initially had on the home page.

Other stuff of interest I added included the all important weather forecast and the Melbourne rain radar, ABC news, a calendar, the white pages and so the list goes on.
Searching through the list of gadgets I came across a number of different flickr slide shows which you could add to your iGoogle home page. The photo below is an example from a Nature slide show which I had added.