Thing #7 Finding Feeds. My favorite search tool for feeds is Technorati. It was easy to use and I found several feeds that interest me. I liked the structure of Topix.net--you could subscribe to the topic or to the blog about the topic. I didn't have much luck on Syndic8.com. I found a feed I liked and subscribed to it, but I had trouble getting several links to connect. Just couldn't navigate the site very well. I'm still trying to find a feed that will give me weather updates across the United States, or for selected cities. I'll keep trying!

Thing #6 I am over my head on this one. The blog thing was bad enough but RSS is anything but easy for me. I did OK with the lessons until I got to the one where we add participant feeds. When I tried to copy the URL copy was not an option. After a lot of messing around I right clicked on the blog title and there was "copy shortcut" and that worked for me. I would have appreciated having that instruction instead of "this is as easy as putting the blog URL into the subscribe field in Bloglines". I can see the value of using RSS, especially for my personal use. But when something is more trouble than it's worth, I lose interest.

Thing #5 IM

I managed to have my first IM conversation with Susan. I set up a Windows Messenger account. I also intend to look into Meebo. I like the Me Widget idea but our library does not have a website. I will now use IM to keep in touch with my daughter who is a college student and has been IMing since high school. I think our patrons would like using IM for reference, renewals, and other library info. They would get an instant response during library hours which is preferable to emails, which sometimes get lost in the shuffle. One issue would be the security of personal information, but isn't that always an issue with the Internet?

In reading the 7 1/2 Habits, I would like to choose number 7 1/2 as the easiest, but that's not really fair, is it. So I will choose #2 " accept responsibility for your own learning " as the easiest and #7 "teach/mentor others" as the hardest because I just don't feel comfortable teaching.

I've also decided that I'm not a fan of blogging. I set up a blog yesterday and created a post, but today I could not get back into the account. I finally gave up trying every combination I could come up with, and opened a new account.