Thing #16: Wikis

Wikis are so cool! It's so much better than you email me, I email my friend, and so on and so on. With a wiki everyone has access to the same information at the same time, and it's all in one place! I used one for a group project so that my partners and I could post things we found to use in our presentation. It made it so much easier to keep track of what we still needed, and who was doing what. Then my husband's family was trying to organize things for a family get-together, and the email trail was getting to be ridiculous, so I offered the idea of a wiki and everyone loved it! Of course there were those who felt un-techno-savy who needed email reminders, but for everyone else it was great! They were even able to post pictures for a PowerPoint someone was putting together to show at the party. I was so proud to be able to educate my in-laws and make their coordination so much easier!
Plus, there are so many great things to use a wiki for in the library! Here are a few: have teachers post websites, rubrics, lessons, worksheets to share; have students post book reviews under genre headings; students can share the best websites to find information for projects or topics of interest; parents and teachers can use a wiki to communicate needs, concerns, suggestions, or help. I love all the wikis out there about libraries and books! My favorite link I found was to the Guys_Read website. Sometimes it's hard, being a female teacher-librarian, to figure out just what a 10 year old boy might want to read, but this place takes care of that for you! The hardest part about all the sites out there is that I don't know when I'll have the time to peruse them all, and where I will keep track of the ones I like! I guess I'll add them to my "delicious" page for safe keeping!

Thing #15: Library 2.0

As a library school student, I must admit that I started this journey because I really love sharing books with students! So thinking about the library changing from what I knew as a child to what it will be when I have one of my own makes me a little nervous. However, much of what I have learned this semester reminds me that books are great, but students really connect to the digital world. It's strange to me. I don't particularly enjoy sitting for hours in front of the computer, but boy is it a great way to connect and learn! I struggle with what to embrace. I think I have decided that I will love both the print and the digital elements of my future library. You just can't have one and not the other!
The writers of the OCLC newsletter had some great thoughts on the impact of Web 2.0 on libraries. I think what I will remember most is that we are truly a service to our students, and we must meet them where they are. If they are longing for the perfect book to fall in love with and read from cover to cover, or if they need a biography, or want a video clip we must be ready and willing to match what we have to what they are looking for. I will still be in the business of developing a life-long learner, so I must use the tools I have and share them with all I can - students, teachers, parents, and more!