Thing 22: Staying Current

Keeping up with the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools.

I have been actively seeking out and finding training on Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools since I started the NEFLIN 23 Things project. I have participated in several webinars that I could work in around my work schedule since I am a reference librarian. So far I have engaged in learning with Webjunction, NEFLIN, Solinet and LibraryJournal. I am now on their mailing lists and have links to their websites to check regularly for new offerings. I learn a great deal from online sessions and prefer them.

I plan to track trends and the latest online tools through my regular reading of news sources like Business Week and WIRED and the NYT, as well as the usual library news sources. The latest trends are often mentioned in the business and tech news sources before the library ones.

In visiting links in this Thing I have discovered several that I have added to my RSS aggregator so that news will come to me. 'Coming to me' is one of those things that makes my work life easier. I love RSS feeds for that reason.


Keeping up with What is Useful.

I have found that best way to retain and use what I have learned is to begin teaching it to others. I have decided to pick three or four Web 2.0 tools that I think would be helpful to our English faculty and create a workshop around how they can integrate them into their classes. I'll test out the ones I picked with a couple of faculty and if the 'test' class goes well, I'll see about offering it to a much larger audience of faculty. No one is currently taking this type of approach with our faculty. One training session focusing on one tool is the rule of the day. I think integrating a few useful tools might be a better way to go as the package will offer more functions and be more useful overall and might encourage our faculty to adapt some of the Web 2.0 opportunities into their teaching.