Thing 23: Final Thoughts

CML is the best, in part, because it is structurally committed to product knowledge. Translating from jargon to English: CML consistently makes it a priority to give its employees the training and development they need to be successful. As the general public increasingly takes new communication technologies for granted, our customers will continue to need help navigating those technologies. For us to provide the kind of service our customers expect, we have to at least have some experiences to draw from. Giving us all the opportunity to play around with so much of web 2.0 prepares us for success.

One really cool off-shoot of Learn&Play has been the extent to which people have already started incorporating some of what they've learned in their day-to-day work at the library. We now have several staff wikis; I know of a number of people who have started Twittering because of the program. I think MOLDI use will be going up (if I can ever get it to work, I'll promote it more). On a personal level, I took a deep Luddite breath and got a Facebook account. That's something I can't really imagine having done if I hadn't already made the decision to try all the L&P 2.0 things.

2 Things I'd like to see (besides all the intended effects of the program): more updating on the 23 things, and a public program to get central Ohio more on-line. There are applications that have become more important as others have been relegated to second-division 2.0. I'd like to see Facebook or MySpace as one of the 23 things. At this point, Bloglines seems about done. There are other, better, more popular RSS readers out there. As for the public programs, I can't imagine a better 21st century literacy program than one that promotes computer literacy. Why not leverage CML's visibility and support into a program to encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to become more technology savvy. (Admission: I'm a contrarian. So I can think of a couple of reasons. But I still think it would be a great idea).

A tip of the cap to CML for a GREAT program.

Thing 22: MOLDI

You say "Learn," I say "OK...press Play...WTF!?...why can't I download this stuff on any of the staff PCs?"



I think MOLDI is a great service, and I expect it to become more popular in the future. It isn't what I would call user friendly though. In order to use it at the library, I had to use 3 different computers, download updates to Windows Media Player, Adobe, the digital media software (which I had to search for the actual "download" button for), and then struggle with various error messages and pop-up instructions. The process would have been much simpler on my home computer, I think; so if I were someone who enjoyed listening to audiobooks, or wanted streaming classical music it would be well worth the effort to make sure everything was set up properly on my computer.

As more of the audio books become available in MP3 format, I really expect the service to take off; and I'm glad to have had the exposure now.