Getting all sentimental

So here's the evaluation:



What were your favorite modules in the program?

I'll be honest with you here and say the more social modules were my favourites. Learning how to blog and Facebook were things that I had avoided looking at in the past because I thought they were a bit silly, but I found myself enjoying the creation and contributions made to these applications. who knew I would enjoy being silly? Who knew that you could throw an octopus at someone for fun! I enjoyed setting up my podcasts, searching for photos and groups and generally being creative with these applications.



What technology did you find most interesting for your personal use?
I railed against it, but Facebook certainly has its uses. It is very handy for my husband to keep track of the million and one people he has met over the course of a life time - odd isn't it that I haven't met the same number, what have I been doing? Stephen even went to a high School reunion a few weeks ago, purely because he got in touch with someone via facebook. It has been great to see the new baby arrivals, see holiday snaps and find out why someone has moved to Japan. Facebook also has a lot of commerical rubbish on it, but I too have been guilty of sending plants and accumulating so called "saved rainforest" square footage. And at the moment Stephen and I are playing scrabble online, it's neck and neck for the final result.



What technology did you think would be most useful professionally for RMIT University Library?
I think utilising the ideas of mashups and mapping would be great for library orientation and linking to the on campus bookstores and highlighting how to get around from one library to another. Certainly podcasts and RSS feeds could be thrown in as well and create an information source for students that would open up their eyes to how fab the library really is. Survey monkey is already in use as we have seen and this could be used to provide on going feedback from students rather than one library survey per year.



Were there any unexpected Web 2.0 modules that really surprised you i.e. that you really didn't know anything about or expect?
I certainly knew nothing about Mashups before starting the Lunges and for a while there it was a little confusing to understand where the technology was going. Having searched the net for Mashup competitions, it soon became clear what people were using the technology for and what they were trying to achieve.
I had not heard of 43things before and I must say it surprised me that people would want to involve themselves in such a public forum trying achieve whatever but ultimately setting themselves up to fail - it reminded me too much of New Years Resolutions and how we always fail at those. Still some people enjoy a public, cathartic therapy session and so this is their forum.



What could be done differently to improve this program’s format or concept?
I think closer attention needs to be paid to the weighting of each Lunge to make it more equal in terms of tasks set and outcomes to be achieved. Some Lunges required a considerable amount of work and others very little at all. Time is an important factor in deciding how much we can contribute to create a quality response.

In order to try and get the most out of each Lunge experience we should have had more options in terms of difficulty factors - ie novice and more experienced tasks; Just to try and challenge those who have more knowledge whilst at the same time not frightening off the newbies who don't know their RSS feed from their Wiki.



Final thoughts:
I enjoyed working through the Lunges but went at it sporadically. Completing 12 Lunges in the past week and a half has been tough going and it is almost too much knowledge to take in in such a short space of time. But it should show you how keenly I want the ipod!!!! (Very cheeky)

I think there is much more the Library needs to do more to incorporate the newer and emerging technologies into its resources to assist students with their Library experience. People want flexibility and greater access to information. Web 2.0 certainly can provide this and our student clientele has all the savvy and the technology to be able to use it.

I certainly find this a worthwhile and challenging experience as I was one of those who knew not their RSS feed from their Wiki!

(Ed note: Lunge 21 and the last!)