Exploring Youtube for more than just entertainment

             I, like many people, use YouTube a lot. I do not always use it for educational or informative purposes, watching cats do dumb things or the video with the baby ripping paper and laughing (if you haven’t seen it you should its hilarious). I do know that YouTube does have lots of educational and practical applications. A few years ago my father turned his screened in porch into a den, using his past experiences but mostly by using how-to videos on YouTube. I have also used YouTube videos for classes in undergrad and in this class for some of the assignments. The ease of use of YouTube really makes it an appealing tool for learning, and I am sure for libraries to market their programs and services.

            I came across some pretty interesting videos when searching for one that was library related like, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_uzUh1VT98  which is bizarre to say the least. After weeding out all of the weird or non-related videos(most of which were musical renditions turned librarian related). I was able to find some that were pretty useful when applied to library studies. One of videos I found to be particularly interesting is from a couple years ago when the economy had taken the downturn we are still stuck in today. There are lots of interesting aspects to this video , the main one to me is that people seem to be surprised that libraries exist and offer useful free services. It seems so obvious to me, not only because I am in Library school but also because the library was such a large part of my childhood. Before I was in elementary school my mom would take me to the library once a week to read and borrow books. If I wanted to rent a movie when I was a kid I didn’t go to Blockbuster, I walked around the corner to borrow one from the library(once I was old enough the get the coveted video sticker on my card). I do think that it is great that libraries were able to get such big publicity; especially if it was able to teach people about all of the library services they did not know about.  I hope that even with the budget cuts due to the recession libraries were able to benefit by more foot traffic after this story. And I hope that people were able to realize how awesome the libraries services are, for people who needed help or for people to get services for free that they had once paid for.

Cheers

Discovering Podcasts

     I found podcasts to be very informative once I was able to decide what I wanted to look for. I had always heard about their usefulness but had never really explored them. When I started the assignment I found it hard to narrow my search because I was not really sure what I wanted to learn about. There certainly is a lot of information out there through the use of podcasts, which may have been part my my problem when I was aimlessly searching for something that would strike my fancy. One can really learn just about anything by listening to a few different podcasts, I was pleasantly surprised to find so much out there.
    When I finally picked what I wanted to listen to, I found some really interesting podcasts that I would regularly listen to, especially on the NPR website.  I was also excited to see that my hometown NPR station was at the top of the list on the NPR music page with its monthly program, 1370 Connection: Arts Friday Podcast, I listened to a few and learned some really cool stuff about art in Rochester and other music themes. I found that the one on Blues musician Son House, by Dan Beaumont of the University of Rochester to be particularly interesting. I used to listen to NPR all the time but recently have not been listening to it as much. Through the use of podcasts I will be able to catch up on shows and stay informed with all the information NPR has to offer. Putting Podcasts on my iPod is sure to become a new fixture in my life.

Flickr, it was easier than I thought!

Flickr, upload you photos and videos and share them with the WORLD. I have always been a bit weary of putting pictures on the web, well let me correct myself I have been careful as to what I put on the web since college(everyone has those pictures from that time in their life that they thought were fun at the time but now realize that they are a bit…unfortunate.) That said I do believe that sharing pictures is still one of the greatest features that internet has to offer, while I know it has more interesting and important features. Being able to upload pictures and videos of significant or even not so significant events is a great way to stay in touch with others, especially those who are far away. Libraries can use it in the same way, not so much for distance, but for keeping people informed about events and happenings at the library which is a really great feature.  And Flickr is so user friendly it took under 5 minutes to create and account and upload some pictures. It may sound cheesy but now that I know using Flickr is so easy, I can’t wait to use it again to share my photos. Here are some of the pictures I was able to take today in Lockwood Library.

Learning is FUN!

Cheers!

Only the Beginning of LIfelong Learning

I have always read different peoples blogs but the idea of actually starting one for myself never really crossed my mind until I began this course. With that in mind I am happy to be typing my first blog and hope that someone actually reads it.

            Beginning this course seemed a bit overwhelming at first because I have so little experience with the web (unless you count browsing as experience.) Once I  looked over the Learning 2.0 exercises website I began to see things in perspective and the task of creating websites in the class and down the road became a little less daunting(just a little bit though). One of the major parts of the website that helped me was the “7 ½ Habits of highly successful lifelong learners” just the title itself seemed to help me understand what I have gotten myself into starting the MLS program last week. Being a librarian or information specialist in any field seems to coincide with being a lifelong learner; you cannot graduate in this field in 2012 and then never expect or want to learn something for the rest of your career. This calmed me for the main reason that (however nerdy it may sound) I love learning. I have always loved learning no matter what the topic maybe, I love gaining new knowledge/new experiences in different and new fields or even old ones that I thought I knew everything about.

The “habit” that I connected the most with was #2 Accept Responsibility for your own learning. Being a life long learner is not always easy, but taking responsibility for exploring a new database or computer program enables you to have control over your learning and career. It seems a lot less overwhelming to consistently keep up with advances in your field then to not.  Being responsible for learning new applications as an investment in yourself, helps to see life long learning as more or an opportunity than a task. Consequently, constantly reeducating yourself and learning new things will give you more opportunities in your career.

The habit which seems to be the hardest for me is #3 View problems as challenges. Like many people I can get frustrated and bogged down by problems that occur while working. Looking at a problem not as a road block but as a chance to learn something and gain a new perspective is not always easy for me to remember. I constantly have to remind myself of this “habit” and hope that I am getting better at it.

Habit #7.5 “Play” is very important. I am a kid at heart and hope to always be able to play even in my job. If you love what you do than most of the time it feels like you are playing. Designing the framework for my blog felt like play, which I am going to take as good sign for this class. I look forward to continuing to develop this blog and to learning more from Learning 2.0 .

Cheers!