It took me a while to get back to the 23 things and I think that learning something new requires me to set time aside to learn and practice or life gets in the way. So many excuses, Summer Reading, family visiting, tired after working all week but determination and sticking to a plan will keep me on track in working my way through the 23 things.
I enjoyed the video "The Machine is Us" at the Shifted Librarian.com. What a clever way to demonstrate the fluidity of the web and the user influence on the web experience. At my library branch, we assist users in learning basic Internet skills and often, even a simple answer may be the missing piece that the user needs to locate information, create a resume, apply for a job or keep in touch with family. The potential impact on our everyday lives by the Internet and web applications needs that type of support for our library users. I see no difference between answering a reference question and providing a written resource or helping a user to apply for a job online.
Learning Web 2.0 allows me to step beyond basic instruction and connect my users with different technology and web applications. As I learn about these different applications, I increase my understanding of the library users needs and am better prepared to meet those needs. Stephen Abram makes an important point about the need for library staff to have experienced technology offered in our libraries before we can hope to assist users with that technology.
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