Ah, now here' something I could talk hours about. I love LOVE twitter. I know a lot of people don't see the use in Twitter, but for me it's a great networking tool. Every day I'm connecting with YA authors, publishers, librarians, and other book bloggers. In fact, I'm having lunch w/an author tomorrow/Sat because we talk on Twitter. While I would have discovered her book, I doubt I would have ever really talked to her if not for this tool. In fact, I doubt I would be talking to even a fraction of the people I do now if not for Twitter. The connections and convos I have made are invaluable. There is a lot of pointlessness on twitter, but if you learn to work it to your advantage it's a lot of fun & highly  addicting.

Now can it be used for the library? Absolutely, in fact, I've been trying to work on a teen on. I will admit I've been failing at updating it, but if you want to see it the username is jplteens

I know, know, Technorati is an awesome tool for bloggers to use, but honestly I find it quite overwhelming. I have claimed my personal book blog, but that's were my effort w/Technorati ends. As a user there is just way too much going on. And it all feels so cluttered to me, which just makes me want to run the other way. I did look at the popular area and not much really surprised me. I did find it a little odd to see some of the celebs that were in the top searches. I didn't think most were that popular anymore. Makes me wonder what people are searching for. Although, I'm assuming that they're only pulling Technorati searches...and then that makes more sense.

And while we're talking about things that can be useful but get no love...Wikis. I will admit that Wikipedia has been very valuable as a jumping point in my life, but i don't enjoy spending a lot of time on them. And have me make one? Listen to me SCREAM. Making them look pretty is not an easy task. And even basic editing can be hair pulling. Now, can there be good uses for them where libraries are concerned? Yes, and I think the examples blogs showed that well. They can be great tools for creating simple booklists, pathfinders, and general information. Now, are Wikis the best tool to use for these things? Most likely not. In most cases, a well design website works much better. But if you don't want to mess around w/code or don't have access to edit files w/ease, then Wikis are something worth considering. If you ever get a chance to play around with one, I would highly recommend it. It's a good tool to know how to use and I'm interested in seeing how they change form as technology grows.

So this blog is for the Web 2.0 project at work and posts will be focused on little beyond the assignments.

That being said I thought maybe I could give some tips for using Blogger...

1) DON'T....

Oh, wait, we actually sort of kind have to. Okay, then so maybe Blogger isn't my favorite platform but it was the easiest choice for this program. Having used Blogger many, many times before I thought maybe I could give some wisdom about blogging that I've learn in the past....

1) Don't type your work in Blogger! Use another application such as Word to type out your work first! You'll get better spelling/grammar check, plus you won't have to worry about losing a post. Let me tell you, losing posts are NO fun, especially not when your were almost done/done and have to start all over again!

2) Use lables! It'll help organize your posts and make it easier to fine posts on a certain topic.

3) Have fun! Blogging can be lots of fun once you get in the groove. I've made many valuable friendships through blogging that I wouldn't have made otherwise. Just take a deep breath, don't let your frustrations overwhelm you, and ask for help if you need it! I promise it's really not as hard as it may seem!

Until next time....