THING #11 : Subscribe to some blogs

Finding blogs to subscribe to became quite frustrating. The majority of those examined did not contain library issues that were of interest to me, or they were American-- when I would have preferred to subscribe to something more 'close to home'.

In the end, I settled on:

• The Shifted Librarian and
• Stephen's Lighthouse- which I think is quite interesting.

THING #10 : Add some subscriptions

Following on from Thing #9, I added:

• The Herald Sun: as it is my newspaper of choice to read, covering all the local news stories that matter to me.
• Sky News: for it's comprehensive 24 hour coverage of local and international news and events. Often when I go away on short breaks, the hotels at which I stay have access to Sky News via Austar. Many of the presents are familiar, and I am happy with their coverage of stories-- although having the days headlines and main stories repeated every 15 mins. does become tiring!

I am not sure how I would use RSS Feeds in my working life, other than referring to them to keep me up to date with news of the day. I think they would be more use to library patrons researching current issues in the media.

I am not a fan of RSS Feeds myself, as they can provide you with an overwhelming amount of information... and if not checked regularly, can clog your email inbox.

Personally, when it comes to finding out what's making news throughout the day, I prefer to listen to talkback radio- ie. 3AW. Although a different medium, radio is instant, covering all the big stories as they happen, allowing for listener opinions and reactions.

THING #9 : Set up a feed reader

I set up a feed reader via Google Reader (with a little bit of help) and added some subscriptions (feeds).

THING #4 : Commenting on each others' blogs

Commenting on each others' blogs- completed.

Posting comments is really easy to do. It is interesting to see the thoughts and opinions of what the Library Staff think about the 23 Things Program, as each activity is completed- especially when they share the same views as you!

I also like looking at the different blogs to see how we have each designed our pages. It’s the fun elements that have been added that make each page “unique”, as well as allowing us to show our creative sides.

THING #2 : Create your own blog

Well, here I am! I've made it- finally creating my blog after putting it off for so long. It's not that I've not wanted to do it… but looking at all these new web technologies and online tools I need to learn about throughout this program, it feels a little daunting and somewhat overwhelming.

Although I am young- and many people consider the "younger generation" (or those much younger than them) ready to embrace such applications and programs with ease, I consider myself these days to be a little 'slow' at picking up new things. Technology is changing at such a great rate of knots, I find it hard to catch up- or even catch on!

In my job, I see students using tools like MySpace, Facebook, blogs, image creators and more everyday- so I guess, how hard can it really all be? If they can do it, so can I-- right?

All that's left to say is: "23 Things- here I come!"