Thing #20 You too can YouTube

I had only been on the YouTube site once before when Mary suggested a while back to go there and type in library to see what came up. I am always getting e-mails forwarded to me by friends and family members with funny YouTube videos, but I had never searched it myself to any extent. When I started playing with it, I got so engrossed with it that I let time get away from me and I realized that I had been exploring for over two hours and had only scratched the surface of what I wanted to look at. It's another one of the Web 2.0 tools that I can see myself getting addicted to.

It was very simple to register, in case I decide to create a video and upload it. There's nothing so far that I can see about YouTube that I disliked. After signing up, I realized that I can rate videos and make comments about them. It was interesting to read some of the comments posted by others. Imbedding the HTML code on my blog was as easy as 1, 2, 3. Another thing that I discovered is that I can create playlists of favorite videos that I come across so that I get to them quickly without searching through page after page of posts. Another thing that I learned is that I can join video groups to connect with others who have the same interests as I do. One thing that I tried that I don't understand is when I clicke the browse link, I got a message that said that Outlook Web Access had disabled the link for my security. I'm not sure why this happened. Maybe someone reading this post can fill me in.

As far as features or components of the site that would be interesting applied to my library website, I really don't have any examples or ideas. I plan on going back and exploring YouTube some more after I have finised all 23 "Things". I would think that it wouldn't work in conjunction with my library website as far as the student's use at school, since YouTube is blocked by the district's filter. However, it could be a way to encourage them to use your library website at home, by sharing on the morning announcemnts that a new YouTube video link has been posted on the library website for them to look at that evening when they get home. While they're there, they might take time to explore some of our databases and become more familiar with them.

There are also some informational videos that you might share with your staff and students. In fact I came across one that explains how to hook up your I-Pod to your computer and download songs from ITunes. There was also one that I looked at that demonstrated how to search for pictures and songs on your Nano. Now I have a leg up for when I get my new Nano! Yea1

I chose the Library 2.0 Manifesto video to imbed on this post. After reading it, it pretty much summed up how I feel about Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 after doing the 23 "Things". (Actually, 20 so far, but I'm on the home stretch now and can see the finish line! Yea!)