Wow. I am done! It was a great exercise and I learned a lot. I believe it behooves us as people working in a library to know about all these applications 'out there' even though we might think they have no great application in a library setting. At least we will know about them and be able to talk to our patrons if they inqure. About half of the applicatons introduced I could see used in a library: Meebo, Flickr, Blogs, Wikis, RSS. Another goodly number I could see using myself in my private life: Library Thing, del.icio.us, Pandora, GoogleDocs etc. Applications I didn't find useful at all: microblogging and Tumblr. They are so disorganized, I can't stand it. And truly, does one really need to be in touch with friends and family CONSTANTLY? These things just take up space (I know, I know, it's cyberspace but still...)I do not think that blogging is going to be a big thing for libraries. Just look around in library land. Libraries that have had blogs for a while are discontinuing them. No one seems to read them. No one leaves comments. So I have to question how valuable they really are. The same goes for MySpace accounts for libraries. Does anyone really care? What teens said to me is that they don't want me there...it is THEIR space. Not mine.
One more thought...I think 4 months is not enough time to complete the program. If one wants to really look into all the applications in-depth, read about them, try them out, it takes much longer, especially if one is completely or relatively new to Web 2.0. I've had to help several of my staff with questions - which I am very happy to do! - because they were not web "savy." I think 6 months is a much more realistic timeline to complete all the steps.
I am very glad, however, that I had the opportunity to explore web 2.0 in-depth. I would never have taken the time to do so and this made me really look at all Web 2.0has to offer. I've learned a lot (especially that I could become addicted to the games and mash-ups out there...) and I thank FVRL for this opportunity. Over and out.
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