Thing 2--'Bout Time Too!

Since my last post (= my first post) I have had several weeks of travel, both for work and for pleasure, occasionally even both at the same time! Now I'm faced with some marathon blogging sessions if I'm to finish with the rest of the "class" next month.

Let's see--is it possible that Thing 2 is simply some good old fashioned writing? I had to read the directions a second time, and I even checked with a "classmate" to be sure I'd read them correctly.
I thought about it for awhile, pondering what clever things to say about all this stuff. Then I realized that I'd better forget cleverness, jot down some thoughts and get on with blogging--August is nearly half gone, after all!

Why am I doing this? It's not as tho I have the time to do it. These days there doesn't seem to be time for anything. But this technology is in use now and promises to be part of the future, and I want to be a participant, not a spectator, so I'd better take the time to learn about it. I remember learning to use the Internet about 14-15 years ago. Now I use it all the time, and....wait, could that be where some of my time has gone? Yes, certainly. There is more content to read, and even more to ignore or delete. There is more to do online now: make purchases, pay bills, keep track of bank balances, upload/edit/sort photos, chat, read blogs, and so much more! That's at home, but things have changed at work, too. I have to read my email and work-related blogs and check my calendar. What's really interesting are the other ways I use the Internet at work every day. Most of the resources I consult when I have cataloging questions are online now, from OCLC documentation to the MARC format manuals to foreign library websites that help me determine just what sort of non-English item I'm dealing with. Plus my job itself is changing right now--in addition to the cataloging and authority work I do, I'm learning how to order foreign language materials that we can't obtain through our usual vendors. Having the Internet as a search tool
means that the world is open to me, and I can often locate and purchase requested items much more quickly, items that might never have been found in the past.

I freely admit that I am a novice when it comes to this new generation of Web 2.0 tools, however. That's why I decided to sign up for the 23 Things--to learn, and I plan to have fun doing it.