ENDINGS!!!!!!!!! or IS IT?????

Here I am, my very last blog, I am not sure whether I am thankful or sad, but one thing I know I am relieved. I have made it to the finish line, I wasn't too sure at one stage, YAHOO!!!!!.

Congratulations to all those who put 'Learning 2' together, a great program with much learning, head scratching, and fun.

At times I found Learning 2 extremely hard, RSS lines was one of my real difficulties and yet today when I needed one, not a problem. There were other times also when I found it difficult, I'm sure people around me felt quite frustrated at times as I had to keep asking questions. It's hard for an old "chook" to learn new things, but I did it. I do hope to get back to some of the different areas and have another go, I would like to go back to 'Flicka', podcasts, eaudio books, and even add to my library. I really do need the net at home, for me to say that is a first.

I wonder as an improvement of the program if there could be more explanations in each task, for me step by step, to enable those of us who are not technology minded to understand how to add rss lines, (which I think they did}, utube etc.

E AUDIO BOOKS

Some years ago I went to a seminar on E Books and nothing would convince me that there would be a demand for such a thing, who would want to go to bed with a laptop. I was wrong E Audio books are now taking off in a big way and this is because of the MP3 player. Books can be downloaded to the MP3 player no bigger than a mobile phone and listened to comfortably wherever you are, this method has a great advantage over heavy large print books and I can see for older persons that they could much more suitable than a tape or cd player.

E Audio books can be listed to on the train, on the bus, in the car, in fact I think I need to purchase a MP3 player. I am slowly coming into the new technological world.

PODCASTS

http://www.kuow.org/rss.php?program=nancy#
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/bsw.xml

I found some very interesting podcasts and had great fun listening to them, National radio book reviews and Nancy Pearl book reviews.
Enabling book reviews via podcasts could be very useful in a library situation as borrowers having heard of a book could then assess it via a podcast and listen to a review.

I could see this tool would also be useful for people in book clubs, as once again they could listen to other people's thoughts which would enable them to form their own views.

TECHNOLOGY

I missed task 7 when doing week 3 so here it is, my thoughts about technology.

I can remember when........ In the bank when I was a youngster they used to send withdrawal forms to be verified via a tube which I think ran along a wire across the ceiling, we also had some sort of suction tubes, which canisters came through. I can remember being very bored waiting for these canisters, opening the lid and playing tunes with the suction. To learn to type we used to key to marching tunes, when I say key I mean "bang", as each key had to be hit very firmly.

I can remember being faced with my first electronic typewriter, I had just commenced a new job and the typewriter kept typing when I wasn't touching it. I went home each night with a handbag of wasted paper as I tried to get a handle on it.

Now I'm into computers, love playing on Ebay and have discovered Utube. What a long way we have come. The net is a wonderful thing and with 'Learning 2' I have discovered so much more technology, so many wonderful sites to explore.

UTUBE

HOW EASY WAS THAT.

UTUBE THOUGHTS AND APPREHENSIONS

I am so amazed it was very simple to add a video, that is of course after I yelled for help!!!!!! Since then I have been able to help others.

What do I think of Utube??? The majority of the videos I watched were "plain silly", things that I had very little interet in and would not watch if I had the choice.

The library video I watched did have some very good point about enabling the disabled who come to libraries to access the facilities that are there. It emphasised that the resources in libraries need to be advertised, facility assessable, and that libraries should liaise with the different facilities for the disabled in the community.

Utube can be used as an information tool which is great but I think that a great deal of it is a waste of time.

CLIPMARKS

What an interesting site, it enables you to collect, categorize and archive all types of information and add to your blog. As a collector of information I could see great uses for clipmarks, especially as it can be used in a community environment and others can add information to the various clips.