Okay, the pressure is on to finish the '23 things' agenda. So let's see:
Number 16: Wikis. I'm sorry to say that I didn't seem to find any "innovative ways libraries are using wikis". All I can see is that some librarians are using wikis to replace online bulletin boards and discussion lists, which is hardly a quantum leap.
Number 19: Explore an award-winning Web 2.0 site. I checked quite a few sites from the list, and didn't find any of them interesting enough to "play" with. I looked in the toybox and what I wanted wasn't there. By the way, wouldn't you think a site as successful as Craigslist wouldn't be quite so, well, ugly?
Number 20: Discover YouTube. Done, long ago. Here's a favourite.
Number 21: look at a tool for finding podcasts. I did, put in "Glenn Gould" and got no hits. I put in "Glenn Miller" and got no hits. I put in "Glenn Campbell" and got no hits.
Number 22: Look at the World eBook Fair site. I did. The really scary thing is the number of amateur writers self-publishing on the Net. As the old saying goes, Everybody has a book inside them, and in most cases, that's where it should stay.
Number 23: summarize my thoughts about the programme. Here goes:
Firstly, I have to pay tribute to the considerable amount of work which obviously went into planning this programme, so full credit to the organisers.
A few thoughts about possible changes: make it shorter. I found my interest, and that of others, petering out by week 5-6.
Ditch the "play" angle. Most of the people doing this programme are middle-aged, with at least two degrees, a mortgage, and a few decades of mostly unfashionable life-experience. They can learn things without it needing to be made 'FUN' and 'PLAY'.
Ditch 'Library 2.0' as the overall label. One of the things I learned in this course is that there is no such thing as Library 2.0 It's a marketing term that works very well for people like Stephen Abrams, and has about as much meaning or validity as "NEW, IMPROVED!". By all means include it as one of the elements of the course: just because you don't believe in the tooth fairy or flying saucers or astrology doesn't mean you don't need to know about these things. (And I swear to you, I had already written the above words when I went looking for a generic 'new improved' flash to illustrate this post, and found the image above. I think it speaks for itself.)
2 comments:
Congratulations on completing the project. Thnask for the comments, but I must disagree with the "ditch the play" one. We learn everyday by exploring, and this is basically all we are doing.
If we change the play aspect than it will automatically become a chore or "too hard" for some who think the yare past exploration??? just my thoughts
"ditch the play" is okay by me. Most people will find at least some of the program amusing. Some of us, understandably, find being told to play rather irritating. Others among us shouldn't really be given any further encouragement... ;)
Post a Comment