Thing 10: Useful newsfeeds/blogs

I explored Feedster and Topix for RSS feeds.
Feedster i found confusing and too busy to follow.
Topix was spaced and organized in a more readable manner.
I liked the major headings at the top of the page on Topix. If i clicked on a
heading it would lead me to pertinent feeds related to that top heading.
While looking in the sports feeds i saw in bright orange at the top of the page
"BREAKING NEWS: Magnitude 7.3 Earthquake Rocks Eastern Caribbean".
When i clicked on that for more info there were lots of blogs from people there or trying
to find out what happened. Then there was a graph w/seismic activity plotted on various areas
in Eastern Caribbean.
Very interesting.

Thing 9 RSS advantages

I tend to follow news websites thru-out the day.
Now w/RSS i can see many news headlines at once w/o inputting a bunch of websites.
Saves time and keystrokes.
I can keep abreast of hobbies like fishing or switch to my fun folder if i need to
smile or lighten up or go to news all within a few keystrokes.

DISADVANTAGES of RSS: Too busy. Makes a busy screen even more busy.

Thing 5: Thoughts about Web/library 2.0

Frankly, much of the reading went right out the other ear.
Much of the reading was too technical or indepth for me to articulate upon.
I agree that as librarians it is necessary to know about new technologies in order to assist
Customers. I wish that the articles could relate to the layperson(me) w/o using so much jargon.
It makes it hard to understand the theory or purpose of their writing.
I think that the writings as a whole gave a strong impression that this is THE wave of the future: either jump on the boat or be left alone sinking— disconnected and unable to communicate w/the rest of the world. I do not agree with that.
Computer technology is here to stay yes but it’s manifestations and modes of communicating may change so that stuff we think will be “forever” today may be no more than a passing fad till the next piece of technology comes around which may or may not include a computer.
Also, all these blog spin-doctors are forgetting that there are sizeable segments of the population that have no knowledge or perhaps interest in the internet nor do they have the funds or the desire to learn new technology(thinking about senior citizens and even many baby-boomers here). Baby-boomers still make up the majority of the US population and even I cannot stare at a computer all day long. Short snip-its are fine but anything long becomes taxing on the eyes.
I print it out and take it home. How about elders who cannot see all the tiny writing in blogs even if they wanted to?? How about folks who have arthritis or carpal tunnel?
I think people are going to want to be more mobile and not tied to computers to communicate or learn about the world.

Assignment from Thing 2:

Thoughts about lifelong learning habits:
Easiest=open attitude and ability to play.
Hardest=setting goals at work because as reference staff I never have blocks of time away from the public desks to do these assignments. I have to work w/bits and pieces of time full of interruptions.