My favorite experiences in this course include viewing the webcasts and screencasts and taking part in the group discussions. The webcasts and screencasts really helped the technology sink in. I was better able to understand what we were learning and implementing. I also enjoyed the group IMs. I was able to practice IMing and I was able to connect with other individuals in the course, to broaden the discussion and hear some truly great ideas.

I enjoyed working with del.icio.us, bloglines, and flickr. I have been using these tools quite frequently since learning about them. I feel like I can keep track of random and fantastic things I find on the Web without having a ginormous favorites list on my computer. Plus, I'm finally seeing why people set up their own blogs and which blogs are most interesting to me. As for professionally useful, I think the week we spent on Wikis made the most impact on me. Our library has a staff intranet wiki but it was neat to see so many different uses for a wiki and really talk about the ways a wiki can make an impact. Definitely a handy technology to know about!

I thought the readings for this week were incredibly helpful. They were to the point and each identified several things to look out for and make sure to include when trying to sell social software to the library. I really liked the information about working with IT. I agree that it is important to include them from the beginning. First because they are the one's that know whether or not something will actually work and second because they will have ideas that we may not have thought of. Creating something new and useful for the library requires individuals coming together to share ideas and re-working the ideas once changes and problems have come up. Knowing the technology you are going to propose is important, but so is getting varying points of view from the library staff. Those different points of view will bring up things that no one has thought of and new ways to make something work, or overcome a roadblock.

Michele Mizejewski's webcast, Getting up to Speed with RSS Webfeeds actually makes RSS seem pretty easy. I liked that she not only explained what RSS is, she gives a link to find out more details about the process, and then takes us through the process in Bloglines. She provides really easy to understand instructions, great screenshots to demonstrate what she's talking about, and excellent examles of libraries who have RSS feeds.

Overall, my opinion of RSS has changed. I am not as afraid of it, can definitely spot it, and can start compiling feeds in Bloglines. There's nothing like seeing all of the html of an RSS feed and knowing what information is useful.

After looking through the examples of blogging libraries for week 1 I have decided that there are two key ideas that I appreciate. The first thing that made an impace, and was also mentioned several times this week in webcasts, screencasts, and readigs, is the idea that new information should be posted continually. I think that students and users are more likely to be interested in something that is dynamic, and that includes reading new information about the library.

I was very impressed with the Virginia Commonweath University's blog. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I like that they have a comments blog. This way they are able to join in a dilogue. The patrons can voice their thoughts and opinions, and the library has an opportunity to respond to those comments. I think it is important for the library to hear directly from their users in order to make the best environment for them.

I. Technology - Use wiki software in order to implement an interactive Instruction website that allows collaborative environment for faculty and students.  

II. Services Provided - The Instruction Team "owns" a webpage withing the the Colorado State University Libraries website. A wiki will be beneficial for the Instruction Team in that librarians can post information for students to access and provide a collaborative infromation literate space for the students. The information on the wiki can be general information on services like the CO150 program, research guides, tutorials, and lesson plans.

Today's webcast helped me get a better understanding of the virtual world, in particular Second Life. I wasn't sure what a library would look like in SL, or even what SL looked like. Unfortunately, because of security issues, my tech guys weren't able to install Second Life onto my computer. I am a little saddened by this because I am itching to see what all the buzz is about. Kelly Czarnecki and Matt Gullet's presentation today cleared up some lingering questions for me. I now know what SL looks like and how libraries are using the social space. I'm still unsure of some of the products being pushed - such as virtual books, but I think I am getting a much better understanding. Still though, for the time-being I think that SL libraries are more suited to public libraries and school libraries, where the population is more aimed toward popular culture and there's a larger youth base.

I think for a library first coming into Wiki technology SeedWiki or PBWiki would be the way to go. I like that they are both easy to understand and seem to be user-friendly. SeedWiki seems beneficial because there are no advertisements on the page and you can have an unlimited number of pages and wikis. One drawback though is that you have to pay for a subscription to control who is capable of editing. Not having that kind of control might lead to problems with information changing mysteriously. PBWiki is extremely user-friendly. I love that they have a walk through tour that shows you how to set up a new wiki. The format doesn’t look like a wiki users might be familiar with, but it is an easy, simple layout. I found the website was not overwhelming in the least, unlike some of the other wiki sites I looked at. Wetpaint seemed too flashy and teen oriented and unfortunately I couldn’t access any wiki pages on Wikia. I found categories but didn’t find anything with any information.  Overall, I would choose between SeedWiki and PBWiki to start out with. And progress from there once I’ve got a handle on things.

I got to thinking this morning about all of the wonderful new things we learned about this week. And the one that seems the most impressive to me is del.icio.us. I love that you can keep have as many favorites pages as you want without the tediousness of sorting through them from your computer - trying to remember where that one webpage is. Sifting through and realizing you never go there. It's easily forgotten about. But with del.icio.us you can gather as many websites as you want, organize them easily, share them with others, and search other people's favorites for similar topics. Plus, you can access it from any computer, anywhere!

Hello everyone. I am a temporary Instruction Librarian at Colorado State University. I am also fairly new to the field and am interested in professional development on every level. Our library is looking to keep up with technological trends, particularly trends that students are interested in. Because blogging and social networking are becoming more familiar for our students, I think it is important to keep up so that instruction is effective and relevant to their lives.

I look forward to the challenge this course presents and the opportunity to intereact with so many diverse individuals.