Thing 34 Is It Competition? Online Answer Sites

Thing 34: I read the Future of the Reference Desk, That Thing You Do & Evolution to Revolution. The article that really resonated with me was the second one. It was a balanced approach as to what libraries are really doing for the public. The author made the point that 2.0 is catching up with us (libraries). We have always been a social meeting place. Yes, we need to be aware of how we need to change to be relevant. Frankly, the online answer sites have evolved into just another social "network." Some of the answers seem to be quite good, but mostly it has turned out to be another place to "connect" with the world. I have not been involved in any of the slams, but it is a reminder to the public that the library is a good place to get real info.

Thing 33 Travel 2.0

Thing 33: I read the article What is Travel 2.0. When my husband and I traveled to England and Wales last September, we had already used TripAdvisor. I did not realize that Expedia owned TripAdvisor. Green Routes (green businesses in Minnesota & elsewhere) would be a helpful site for our library to bookmark.

Thing 32: Google Maps & Mashups

Thing 32: I viewed the videos of Google Maps Introduction and How to Create a "My Map" in Google Maps. I was able to do a street view for my own address, but when I plugged in my son's address, the street view was not an option. I created a map of how to get from my home to my church. There ARE a lot of map options on the internet.

#31 Thing More: Twitter

#31 Thing: Since I do not use Twitter and have no intention of ever using it, this Thing was not helpful to me. I did review the Limitations of Twitter, Twittering Tips for Beginners, Love It, Hate It...& What Exactly is the Point of Twitter. Frankly, I have even given up using Facebook. It really has no relevance to my life! In fact, it was annoying me. I kept receiving chain letter type requests and as a result, I deactivated my account.

#30 Thing More Ways to Use RSS & Delicious

#30 Thing: I have to confess that I have not looked at either my Blogline or Delicious accounts since we did the original 23 Things. I did review Take A Tour under FeedRinse and looked at ReminderFeed. Also, I viewed the video titled Networking with Delicious.

#29 Google Tools

#29 Google Tools: Since I already get my free email through yahoo, I investigated the Yahoo Alerts. I am a Minnesota Twins fan, so now I get an alert whenever a player or the team does anything newsworthy. The alerts have been overwhelming! For me, this would work out better if the topic I had picked had not been so popular.

I viewed all of the videos under Google News, SearchWiki and Web History. It was interesting to find out how Google organizes its search engine to try to better serve the public. Since I do not have a gmail account, I did not explore each of the above categories in an in-depth way.

#28 Thing Customized Home Pages

After viewing several videos, I chose to go with My Yahoo. I already have free email through yahoo, so I found this to be the easiest choice. My Yahoo offers several ways to customize a homepage. I chose several of the basic ones such as the local news and weather. My Yahoo has made it so convenient that they practically do it for you.