This is the end, my friends...

Hmm, so much to think about when talking about my personal
experiences with social software, where do I start? Let’s start by saying that
I am old and am a creature of habit – not to say that I would never consider
using all of these technologies to some degree, but I am so used to doing
things online in one way that I don’t know when I would find the time to get
into new habits. For instance, I am sure RSS is a good thing and can really
synthesize my online surfing, but I like going to each website separately
instead of directly to an article in a website through RSS. For me, bookmarking
my favourite sites is the way to go and RSS is not necessarily something I plan
on using. Perhaps when I finish library school I will consider getting hooked
on RSS, but right now, not so much.

While I had some experience with Facebook before, I have to
say that Facebook bothers the hell out of me. And yet, I check back almost on a
daily basis to see if anything is going on, only to have to see that another
old acquaintance of mine thinks the weather is too hot today.  I stand by my ‘Facebook is high school for
adults’ comment, and I feel just as alienated by Facebook as I did in high
school. I guess I’m just not cool enough for Facebook (or maybe I’m too cool
for it – I’m old and confused by what is cool and uncool).

I have really enjoyed the blogging aspect of this class. I
have always wanted to write a blog about something, and I am glad this course
gave us so much practice in how to do it effectively. I found myself checking
my blog the day after postings to see if there were any comments and I always
enjoyed everyone else’s comments. As a learning tool, blogging is a great way
to get up-to-date reports from those in the industry who have something
important to say and are willing to share it with us. I hope to continue
blogging after library school is over, but just have to find something that I
am passionate about to blog about (hint – it will be a sports-related blog).

I also have much more experience with using a wiki now, and
actually can see myself contributing to wikis in the future. Why not share
knowledge with the world at hand if you have it to contribute! When I found out
that I could contribute to something like Wikipedia, I was flabbergasted and
excited at the same time. For someone as selfish as me, I am stunned that I am
so into sharing my knowledge with others in such an open forum.

Gaming and virtual worlds? Uh, no, not that interested. I
was a video game junkie at one point in my life (like 15 years ago) and I don’t
want to get hooked on that drug again. I know that there are people out there
that are my age who are immersed in online gaming and the like, but I am not
one of those people. Sure, these may have a place in a library setting,
especially where teens are involved, but I am not sure if I am the one to
introduce these to the library. Call me old fashioned if you want, but that’s
the way I am.

All told, this was a very enjoyable course with lots of
relevant materials for libraries in the 21^st Century. Unfortunately,
I missed all of the online chats because of other commitments (I had a class in
London Wednesdays and have to work every Thursday night), so that is one area
where I didn’t really feel like a part of the class, but that is just because
of the circumstances of my situation. Maybe future classes could have the chats
at a number of different times to accommodate those unable to attend. As far as
distance education goes, this is the best distance course I have taken (this is
my third). This was the only one that felt like an actual class because of the
huge interactive element to it, and for that, I am grateful. I think this
course is, in some ways, an even better way to meet and get to know your
classmates because I find people are more open and thoughtful in print than
when they have to speak out in a classroom environment. This course forced us
all to get involved, and I think we are all better off for it. I am sure some
of us will end up working in an organization where online projects are
commonplace, and this class gave us all a great experience in organizing an
online project without coming face to face with your partners. All told, I
would highly recommend this class to anyone who asks me about it. Thank you,
Amanda, for a great semester, and thanks to all of you classmates for your
always helpful commentary and input. I will be looking for you in the library
world down the road (if you’re ever in Guelph and want to check out our
library, come downtown to the Children’s library and I’ll show you around).

Cheers,

Chris