Thing 1

Thing 1: Blogging.  Prompt: What I hope to get out of this program.

Why do I want to participate in 23 Things?  I'm fairly technologically savvy, grew up with a PC, blogged for 5 years, used and hated Facebook, cataloged 400 books on Goodreads, taught computer literacy for a year, owned Apple and Android products... I'm pretty well-versed in the technology world.  However, there are a few things I hope to get out of this project.

1. There's usually always a golden nugget in activities such as this. 

In all honesty, I probably know most of the 23 Things that I'm going to be taught in the next few months.  I probably will find value in some of them, and find others too trendy to be of use. (Examples: Twitter.  Libraries don't need Twitter.  Nobody needs Twitter.  I cannot understand it.  And tagging.  Tagging is not the next generation of cataloging.)  But usually there is at least one thing, one golden nugget that can be of use.

2. Sustainability is my best friend. 

I'm currently a library school student, and I'm pretty sure my final thesis project will have a focus in sustainable practices.  Mobile devices and apps have (so far) proven to be valuable in this field, and I hope that the golden nugget I discover can help me with my final project.


3. I'm trying to remain "in the know." 

Even if I don't like Twitter and think it's completely self-indulgent, I still want to know what it is, who uses it, why it's used, and how libraries can use it.  Many librarians are older, and many librarians don't like technology.  They want to be surrounded by books all day and do reader's advisory.  While that is all well and good, I don't think a dislike of a technology is any reason to avoid that technology all together. If you want to advance in your field, you have to study what's current and learn technologies you may struggle to find value in.  I think this project will force me to play with technologies I might have shrugged off before as not worth my time, and gain an understanding for why the library world finds them valuable.