Assignment Seven

The break last week was very much appreciated and enjoyed and now we're back full throttle!

I've fallen behind and now I'm confused! I've just finished reading the article by Meredith Farkas and quite frankly I am left scratching my head with my forehead all in wrinkles and eyes and nose scrunched up. This woman writes in detail about something she assumes we know about and I quite honestly have no clue. Did I miss a tutorial on Library 2.0? I feel a tad bit out of the loop and therefore, I unfortunately do not have much of a perspective on this one. (I have been feeling rather "unsmart" during most of this program thus far but am glad to see, when I check through others' blogs that it's not just me feeling this way. PHEWPH! Other blogs are a little scary, in that these people have either a whole lot of experience using these tools already or are really really smart and quick studies, cause they just seem to ramble on using the new language, making reference to this and that. The expression "It's all 'Greek' to me" is going to change to "it's all Web 2.0 to me", ha ha.) But SERIOUSLY, I do recall learning about Library Thing (and there is reference to it in this article) but I don't think it's the same thing. Anyhow, maybe I should just check it out and quit wondering...
Working for a non profit organisation, I was naturally attracted to read "What Does Web 2.0 mean For Your non-Profit", and was excited to see some examples of how I might be able to directly apply what I have been learning to actually benefit my organisation. I even printed the article and I am thinking about forwarding it to our marketing director. The possibilities really are endless...and mind boggling, which kind of makes my head spin. (Maybe my brain is just too full but this is how I often feel...)

Power from the People: Assessing the New Online Participatory Tools for Your Organization
By Colin Delany was a long article, but overall good, in helping me again to see how I might apply what I am learning to my job. I love reading about the direct correlation between what I am learning and how it might benefit my organisation because, up to this point, I was feeling rather lost and disconnected with regard to how I might make use of what I have learned. So reading this article was good timing for me!

Rick Anderson's "Away from the Icebergs" was the final article I selected to read and was glad that I did. Great writer, I must say, very easy to follow and comprehend. This article had a little bit more info about Libraries and how Web 2.0 is effecting them - something I had honestly not considered much before- Now I (kinda) get what Meredith has written about (a little bit) better.

What does Web 2.0 mean to me? I am still trying to figure that out. As I have written almost each and every week now, until I get a chance to actually try these tools out more in depth and figure out how they work, I won't know how to benefit from them. I just gotta find the time! So precious these days, isn't it?...