LIBR 246-04/13 Web 2.0 (Fall 2010)

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This was an awesome course! There was so much to learn from start to finish. As far as my view of Web and Library 2.0 and social software goes, I have a changed attitude towards blogs in particular, especially as a method of staying on top of breaking technologies and new applications. Twitter surprised me the most as being a tool for keeping current. I had really just heard of celebrities posting ephemera-what they ate, rants, and so on. I didn’t realize that there were so many individuals and groups using it to post links and summaries of breaking news, new blog entries and the like at the speed of light.

Another real “Aha” moment had to do with RSS and Google Reader. The concept of this being “your in-box for the web” made perfect sense once I dug into the subscriptions. I was still operating largely in a Web 1.0 frame of mind when it came to blogs and feeds. However when we got into widgets the whole “modular design” concept of them as feeding and updating continuously via RSS, I got a better understanding of how the web is evolving.

As far as technology for personal use, I like the simple Google Blog search to investigate my favorite hobbies, and YouTube is just a blast! I would like to spend some time to figure out how to use Audacity or something similar to improve the audio component of some of my YouTube videos. Some of them need some compression or normalization to tame some highs and lows.

Regarding Drupal, I actually think it works better than Angel does, and having all the readings, lectures, things to do, assignments, and the calendar right there really does ease navigation and fundability. I did have some issues with editing early on-I lost the ability to do it-but Meredith was quick to resolve this.

As far as improving the course goes, that would be difficult to do. Perhaps there could be a quick screencast of the WYSIWYG editor, especially how to use it to imbed links, and perhaps a quick one on the use of the HTML editor. Meredith is a verified rock star so she will surely keep everything up to date.

As far as for professional use goes, the screencasting applications seem to have the most potential as I see it. I don’t think there’s a better way to show a person how to use technology through technology than with these, and the idea of aggregating and cataloging them is brilliant and the gist of what the labor of librarianship is all about. I hope to improve my skills with screencasting in particular.

I am still navigating and making adjustments with Facebook, I tend to be perhaps too “open” about certain things than a lot of people are, but I have also come to accept this as part of my personality. It’s just a facet of who I am. Being a bit introverted and shy, I have lately been able to express myself easier in writing. It’s unfortunate that this can make me an object negative attention at times with people both online and off.  Still, the price of not being truthful and transparent is too great for me. I do appreciate the judicious warning of not posting anything that you wouldn’t want the world to see, but the integral element of my life is that my identity is rooted not in what the world and its people may think of me and my performance, but in what God thinks of me based on my acceptance of what he has done for me through the Incarnation. Period. This is freedom.  If being true to myself separates me from certain people then that is all well and good in the long run

Before this class started, I was off of Facebook because of all of the drama that it was causing me. I was hesitant and ambivalent about getting back on it. Overall, I can say now though, that due to the growth that occurred because of what life was offering me in and through that, I am stronger for it having happened.

I am now setting new goals to continue to develop as a whole person, but I hope I can be less selfish about that endeavor, that my improvements will benefit others. (Actually, I realize that what I must do is forsake the whole idea of “self improvement” and just focus on serving others in need. Self-actualization is a natural result of that, and like happiness, not found by those directly seeking it.)

Facebook had me kind of hoping to recapture what I lost during and after high school, and to become the important person that I wanted to be back then; important by the world’s standards. I need to keep that whole desire in check. I realize if my self-worth is based on what others think of me, then that self-esteem is really just shifting sand, and not likely to be reliable. Again I have rediscovered that fulfillment does not come in receiving, and the praise that comes from people after a success can feel hollow when it is achieved, leaving a person needing more and more of it. Giving really is more fulfilling than receiving, and the “important” people are not usually the ones that really need serving. That is just likely to perpetuate an unfair status quo that gives more to those who already have enough-enough power, enough status, enough resources, too much in general.

No. I want to go the other way and serve those who really need it. I believe that should be a larger part of the ethics of librarianship. I know we need to serve kids and families of course, but (public) libraries in particular can potentially  function in a unique way as centers of personal transformation for those who truly need the knowledge and understanding that can freely be found there. Too often those most in need of these basic things can be stigmatized and pushed away by those who do not struggle in the particular ways that some patrons do. That’s what I want to fight, even if it’s just one person at a time. My own “healing” depends on that because as I should know by now “you have to give it away to keep it.” The concealed heuristic that “the universe” gives to those who do likewise really is true.

Thanks again to Meredith, all of you classmates, and again to my final project team mates, who did just that for me. Happy Holidays!