Thing #23: Wrapping Up

First, thanks to the Web Challenge team for putting this together. It seems like it was a lot of work, and you did a terrific job!

What I liked best: It's hard to pick one thing... so many of them are useful and fun. In my own life, I read and subscribe to lots of blogs, subscribe to podcasts and listen while I'm exercising or walking, use Remember the Milk to organize my home life, Basecamp to manage projects and Google Docs for collaboration.

What I liked least: There weren't any tools in the challenge that I didn't like at all. I did notice that the library-specific tools that we subscribe to (NetLibrary, Overdrive) are probably the least user-friendly of anything we tried. WorldCat is the exception. I wish LibraryThing had better organization features.

Thoughts on Web 2.0 in the Library: There are probably dozens of ways we could use these tools in the library, both for the public and for staff. I will say this: there has been a lot of hype about Web 2.0 in the library world (and beyond). As with any technology, I think we should first focus on the need: what task are we trying to do? What do we need to do faster, better, etc.? Then we can pick the right technology to do the job - not the other way around!

Enough said - I hope we continue to play and experiment, and carry this attitude into our daily work!