Final blog

The idea behind the 23 things is a good one - getting people to have a look at new technology or new twists on existing technology is a necessary. The program was designed for public libraries and as such, slanted the applications for the new software towards personal or recreational use, whereas my take on it is to look at whether or how it will be useful in my work on a day to day basis.
Of the applications that I have seen, the one which might have some potential inside our organisation is the wiki (obviously) , maybe youtube type videos, RSS feeds and possibly federated search applications like Rollyo for use by individual officers who like to research and have found some good sites.

The time taken with 23 Things is prodigious, but then over years of study, I found that it was always the same. Any form of study always takes sizeable slabs of dedicated time. It is the other competing things happening at the same time that generate angst. If a major research library or institution ever puts out a "23 Things" with examples and ideas focussed on research, it would be very beneficial.

Audiobooks

Audiobooks proved to be a disappointment, not because of any fault of audiobooks themselves, but because the link to them did not go where it was supposed to. I was unable to register. I am doing this on the last Friday of the program, so we might have been cut off or terminated early. Whatever the reason, I have not had the opportunity to have a listen to them or to look at the techniques used in locating and downloading them. I can no doubt read about them later without too much trouble.

podcasts

Podcasts are pretty straight forward and have been around for a good while. They are a commonly used as a way of time shifting by radio stations such as the BBC and Radio National here in Australia. Having seachable directories of podcasts such as Yahoo and the others provide is a very useful feature for my own personal use - I can find Billy Connelly or Gore Vidal or whoever with a simple search. They are easy to use and with MP3 players or Ipods are extremely portable. The technology might have a use in our organisation for training purposes.

Youtube

I have seen Youtube before - my kids have been keen users for some time. I have looked at a variety of clips, but have chosen one of the US president to include with my blog. These clips (Youtube rather than George Bush) could be used for training packages or for experts to provide considered opinions on topics that might be useful to the rest of an organisation and which can easily be accessed from anywhere - saving people doing so many roadshows.

If you want to catch George's show, the link is: