My favorite experiences in the course were the group chats with group 8! Michelle ROCKS!! I also enjoyed the webcasts in OPAL. Of course, learning about all the new technologies and opportunities was great but the interaction while learning is what I most enjoyed.

The technology I found most interesting for my personal use is a toss-up. I liked learning about Flickr, but IM in Meebo is a lot of fun!! Professionally, blogs and wikis are no doubt the tools that will be the most useful for so many reasons.

I didn't expect to grow so fond of colleagues from around the country. I expected there to be a lot of discussions while learning and I expected to learn a lot but I didn't expect to feel such a bond with people. Hhhmm.....imagine that....becoming socially networked while learning about social networking! I'd say the course achieved what it was intended to achieve. It helped me understand the students we serve and why they can be better served with the new technologies. I GET IT NOW!! :)

I have little experience with online picture tools. It was fun to learn about Flickr and see everyone's pictures, ideas, uses, etc. I especially liked the idea of using Flickr for online training. This would be especially great for training our student workers. We've learned about so many tools that I don't know where to begin with all this great new knowledge.

WOW!!!  Every week I learn about new tools and each week I am convinced I've found the new tool I want to use for my project. After looking at several wikis, I've decided that using them for subject guides, instruction, and posting general information such as hours, policies, etc. are some of the best ways to use them. I wouldn't mind using one in place of our existing web page if I can get the technicians on board with it. The ALA page to support an event was interesting. We hosts 'Lunchbox Lectures' and a wiki would be a really neat idea for announcing them. It would be easy to change and update as the lecture series progresses throughout the year. I'd really like to spend some time developing all of our online instruction in a wiki. I think it would be a lot faster than developing web pages which I don't particularly enjoy. I like being able to just post the content without worrying so much with design elements.

Oh my goodness...the possibilities are endless. There are so many sites that could be tagged for faculty and students. There is the whole idea of tagging sites for use inside the WebCT classes....perhaps a private bundle of tags for use at the reference desk...my my  my. We are not in Kansas anymore!! 

I am relieved that a few of my tags were also among the tags of others in this group. Maybe I'm not as far off the page as I feel right now. I need a lot more time to play with these new tools. I feel so slow at learning how to do these things. Perhaps when I have a better grasp of how to use these resources, I'll be able to really brainstorm all the possible uses.

WHEW! Another fast-paced week of information overload. I do think the RSS feeds would be a great way for our library to keep our faculty and students up-to-speed on new resources, services, and activities in the library. Since most of our students seem to be into blogging anyway, adding our library blog to their newsreader would be a great way for them to keep up with what's happening and what's available to them. 

 I'm feeling a bit old as my brain tries to absorb all these cool tools. Now, I know how my parents felt when VCRs and microwaves first became mainstream. I have a new appreciation for all those poor souls whose VCRs blinked 12:00 for so long. Aaahh....I may be slower but I can still learn! :)

WOW! OK...so I'd heard of blogs and I've subscribed to bloglines and I've read them. But, I'd never tried to create one or honestly considered how they could be part of our library's services. So, I approached this week with mild curiosity and a willingness to listen. Did I have a lot to learn! :)

I've now tried out WordPress and looked at Blogger and discovered that I need to spend some time really playing with the features to see what all I can do and which platform I prefer. Right now, I'm leaning towards WordPress but I think it's just because I've spent more time in it and so it's more comfortable. I even created an account with MySpace and my daughters helped me with layouts, pictures, and a song but I haven't started the Blog on that site yet. This really opened my eyes to the possibilities for reaching more library users with all types of information in a variety of formats. We no longer have to hope that people will come to us or to our web site, we can go to them. We can create a Blog and formally invite people to join us on an information adventure.

Hello Everyone! I'm finally gathering enough courage to try this. My name is Cristie Ferguson. I'm a librarian for Panola College which is a small rural community college in East Texas. I recently completed my MLS from the University of North Texas with a certification in Distributed Learning Librarianship. I currently serve as the reference/instruction and distance learning librarian for the college. We have a small staff and all wear a lot of hats. I'm anxious to explore the social software and technologies but also feel like everything changes so quickly that I can't keep up!! I look forward to the opportunity to continue learning and trying out these new tools.