Thing 23: Kind of Sad, Kind of Exciting, even if I'm NOT Getting a New mp3 Player

My favorite discovery, hands down, is LibraryThing. Not for the social aspect, not to keep track of what I've read, but because I think it's a great tool for RA, a neat and fun and FREE site, and it really embodies the whole spirit of Web 2.0.

I learned so much throughout this whole experience. I visited a lot of sites that I had never heard of, and visited a lot of sites that I had heard of but never took the time to explore. Some sites were great and others were not, although I also realized that for some of them, I need to devote even more time playing around to truly appreciate them. This in turn made me realize that online sources and sites are not always quicker-there is SO MUCH information out there. It is actually quite daunting. The computer is both a blessing and a curse and sometimes a little part of me wishes I still didn't have one at home-so much time spent in front of the screen......

However, I think this is a great program. I plan to share it with my co-workers: some are very computer savvy but others are lacking, or feel they are lacking. This is a nice overview of what's out there, and also a great confidence booster. I think this is the type of program that could be revamped every few years and help keep people on their toes, technologically speaking.

One surprising discovery to me--I think some of these functions make life more difficult. The underlying theory is "social" aspects, when in fact, I often think we are becoming less social by relying on computers to make us social. Nothing will ever replace face-to-face contact or even a great phone conversation or hand-written note.

Finally, I like blogging. Even if nobody ever read anything I wrote (highly likely), it is definitely cleansing to just throw out whatever is on your mind. In fact, I may still add some "random thoughts of the day"-they save me from writing scathing letters to the editor of my local paper.