The CTLS 23 Things Program is based on the work of Helene Blowers, currently the director of digital strategy at Columbus (OH) Metropolitan Library. We are allowed to use and modify it for our purposes under this Creative Commons license. The 23 Things Program encourages central Texas library staff to learn more about emerging technologies on the web that are changing the way people, society, and libraries access information and communicate with each other. It is your chance to Explore…Play!…and Learn about web 2.0 tools and how they can be useful to you both personally and in your library. Learn at a pace that is comfortable for you, and to share your learning experiences with your colleagues in the central Texas public library community. The first one hundred library staff to complete the 23 Things Program – a 10 week program – will receive an mp3 player or a gift certificate to Best Buy, funded by the generous Friends of CTLS and the Tocker Foundation. All library staff whose libraries are members of the Central Texas Library System, Inc. are eligible to receive prizes. Members and non-members alike will qualify for 12 hours CE credit if they complete the program by March 22, 2010. The program officially begins on January 4, 2010. Contact Kam McEvoy if you have any questions. Thanks!
The 23 Things
Listed below are 23 Things (or small exercises) that you can do on the web to explore and expand your knowledge of the Internet and Web 2.0. (Note: If you reach a 404 screen, that activity page has not yet been activated.)
Week 1: Introduction ( official start of week November 14th, 2008)
1. Read this blog post to find out about the program and lifelong learning.
2. Discover a few things you may not have known about your old friend Google and also set up a gmail account.
Week 2: Blogs and Avatars
3. Set up your own blog & add your first posts.
4. Learn about avatars and how you can add one to your blog.
Week 3: Photos & Images
5. Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site.
6. Have some Flickr fun and discover some Flickr mashups & 3rd party sites.
7. Play around with image generators – the possibilities are endless!
Week 4: RSS & Newsreaders
8. Learn about RSS feeds and setup your own newsreader account.
9. Locate a few useful library related blogs and/or news feeds.
Week 5: Play Week
10. Play around with chat and instant messaging.
11. Learn to tweet.
12. Take a look at some social networking sites.
13. Play some online games.
Week 6 : Tagging and Folksonomies
14. Learn about tagging and discover a Del.icio.us (a social bookmaking site)
15. Read a few perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries and blog your thoughts.
Week 7: Wikis
16. Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that libraries are using them.
17. Add an entry to the 23 Things SandBox wiki.
Week 8: Online Applications & Tools
18. Take a look at some online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools.
19. Explore any site from the Web 2.0 awards list, play with it and write a blog post about your findings.
Week 9: Podcasts, Video & Downloadable audio
20. Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow users to upload and share videos.
21. Discover the wide world of podcasting and vidcasting.
22. Check out the wide world of audiobooks.
23. Fill out an online evaluation to complete the program.
