We've Only Just Begun: Assessing My Library's "23 Things Web 2.0" Exploration Project

I can honestly say that I enjoyed my library's staff development project, "23 Things: to Explore New Technologies, Enhance Individual Skills & Encourage Creative Responses to Community Needs". For nine weeks we blogged, flickr-ed, wiki-ed and played around with Web 2.0 (and Library 2.0) tools and technologies. While I was familiar with most of these concepts, I appreciated having a chance to learn more about the world of Web 2.0 and to get more "hands-on" experience within a structured learning environment. If our administration offered another discovery program like this, I would definitely like the chance to participate.

I love to learn! If it was up to me (and I had unlimited funding), I'd be a perpetual university student. With all the formal schooling I've had (I have two bachelors' degrees and a master's), I should have had a PhD by now. Someday I will get that degree, but for now, I've been taking every advantage my employer has offered to enchance my professional skills: computer classes, supervisory and leadership classes, workshops, etc. Each year, our library even dedicates a whole day for training the entire staff. However, this year we tried something new: we were encouraged to participate in this self-study training program.

I think my favorite exercise was creating this blog. As a writer and journalist, I obviously like to write. And I also like graphic design, so the layout and design aspect of the blog was fun to do. As was our exploration of Flickr and photosharing. Although I had a Flickr account prior to doing this project, I didn't use it much. But now I think I will use it some more. I just returned from an Alaska cruise; therefore, I can upload my vacation photos to my account in order to share them with my friends and family without having to print out all 200+ photos. Maybe I'll even post some of my travel journal on my blog, along with my favorite photographs. I definitely want to continue blogging and keep this blog updated.

Finally, I would like to thank the Web 2.0 Exploration Project Team for all the hard work they put into making this a fun and educational project.

Namaste.