Twitter

My biggest problem with twitter is the limit of 14 characters, mind you that's the whole point isn't it. But I find it very tough to say something intelligent, witty and useful with so few characters. Never mind trying to do it quickly and text it to boot! Showing my age again. I have read where Twitter has saved lives, as in the earthquake in Haiti. I have also experienced how it can spread the news of upcoming events as when we had the fibre arts event here at Fish Creek. I have read and seen some Tweets that were not worth even mentioning and I don't really care what Demi Moore and other celebs tweet about. I also have read where certain politicians have been vilified for what they tossed off in a quick tweet about important subjects. Although I can see its power for promoting events and being aware instantaneously, of events while they happen, I think it should be used with caution and some forethought and if you want to have followers, tweet with a conscience and some intellect. MHL

LibraryThing

I like LibraryThing. I have used it before to get some suggestions for reading when my usual failsave sources (other library staff) didn't have anything to offer. It is easy to use, intuitive, interesting in a geeky library way. Its kind of like having your own personal librarian who understands you and your reading tastes. When I checked up on some of my favorite titles I found the recommendations had a lot of books I had already read and some I would be interested in reading. Also looking at the tags helped me to put a name to some of the types of fiction I like to read and the reviews were kind of fun to read. Signing up on LibraryThing is akin to belonging to a virtual bookclub where you can meet and discuss books with like-minded people (ie people who love reading) some who may love the book and some who hate it -- which is what makes for an interesting bookclub! MHL

Google Docs

I can see how something like google docs might become something everyone uses because of its portability. No more tempermental flash drives or archaic discs to carry around and perhaps for library users no more problems with the compatibility issues we seem to experience between our computers and everyone elses devices. Nothing more frustrating than rushing to the library to work on your resume which isattached to your email but you can't save the new version because you didn't bring your memory stick with you or our computers won't recognize it. Should we be worried about the safety of the documents on Google, will Google always be around? I don't know but I found it intuitive and easy to upload and create documents on Google docs so I'm impressed. MHL

Flickr and You tube

Easy to use both. Except reallly had to confine my you tube watching on the Ref desk to videos without sound! Content and usefullness, well that's a big question. On Flickr I did find a useful set of photographs when I searched for Quilt Canada 2010, a quilt exhibit and show that I volunteered at all last week. Everyone either forgot their cameras or like me, had one that didn't work. How cool to go on Flickr search "Quilt Canada 2010" and find photos of some of the quilts plus locate a group that is trying to gather photos of Alberta quilts together on the site. Never thought of looking for missing photos this way before. Also saw some photos on flickr site sidebar that I and perhaps other parents of young children, do not want shown and all I did was search quilts. User beware as always! You tube was entertaining, I know my husband loves it for wacky videos. Other than entertaiment I guess it could be useful if someone unknowingly or knowingly videoed a crime taking place or a major catastrophe. The videos could be useful for gaining information on how things happened and how to prevent them in future. But again I think since anything can be put up there is a user beware caution to follow.

RSS feeds

Well, it seems really quite easy to set up the RSS feed and coincidently enough this week I had notices the orange icon on a facebook page I was exploring.So now I am automatically linked to it, to keep up with this page and I can explore this venue anytime I want. Without worrying about remembering the link or copying down and losing the piece of paper it is on. A definate advantage as I grow older and my brain fills up with new matter. But in order to use this information portal I can see I would have to make a fundamental shift in my lifestyle. I need a computer of my own that I could log into every day and be updated with what am interested in. As someone who has used computers at work for 30 years I am comfortable with them and have enjoyed exploring all the advantages of being connected. But when I go home I disconnect and prefer speaking one on one with people, reading one on one with a book, or exploring my community and interests in person, instead of through cyberspace. However if my life were to change and I inherited a log cabin in the woods or a remote island getaway I am pretty sure I would change the way I live my life and I would definately use RSS feeds....

Google

So what's not to like. The advent of google made it more inviting and less distressing (time wasting) to use the internet. I have used it a lot in my library career, to teach internet classes, to instruct new library staff on some of the more interesting facets of the web, to find a picture of a historic cannon that a student needed for a school report, to a ferret out a specific scientific article on an obscure subject for a academic.
Today I looked at Google Books which I haven't used for awhile. The first category of full text books caught me with the title "Beyond the Library of the Future More Alternative Futures for the Public Library" written in 1997. A little dated perhaps but I read the first few pages and I might want to read more. It was written in an engaging manner, not boring textbook stuff.
But did you know you can look at full issues of magazines, pictures at all, as well as classics with free EPUB downloads, books on engineering and technology?
Lots to look at here with links to where you can buy books or borrow them from a library. Google is trying, not without their own gain in mind, to convince us that the massive downloading of all published material is a good thing. If I was an author I probably wouldn't totally agree. It's kind of like giving away a part of you and losing control to you're not sure what.
But for the time being, I don't make my living writing, I make it by working in an library and I think Google Books and other Google products have a place in my repertoire of information service skills but its one of many places I turn to, not the only one. And the jury is still out on whether I believe Google should have full rights to download....

Facebook

Facebook has been around in our family for a long time. I have seen, through my oldest daughter's use of it the bad and the good about it. Yes it was great to follow her senior English symposium on facebook and see her classmates presentations, no it was not so great when a former boyfriend? who lived in New York saw her status change to "in a relationship" (not with him)! My younger daughter refuses to use it at all because she guards her privacy with great zeal and she seems to keep more in tune to what is going in the world than her sister. I can see the possiblities, I can also see wasted time and just like using the internet what was supposed to be a small use of your time can increase exponentially. My husband has had great luck with using his facebook account to fill in the gaps in his geneological tree. I however do not have my own laptop, spend too much time at work on the computer and fill my free time with other pursuits. I can see when I am retired and sequestered away from society it might be a great way to keep in touch, for now there is just not enough hours in the day.