23 Things on a Stick – Thing 7

Mary recently informed me that some of the participants of the 23 Things on a Stick seminar have already finished. Yikes! We are progressing a little more slowly. Part of the reason may be due to the fact that we are continuously acquiring experience in dealing with one of the online learning challenges that is listed in this particular Thing – distractions of the workplace. The one computer at the musem that is connected to the internet happens to be by the entrance to the museum. Depending on the day, this can be a major distraction. We did feel pretty good when reading the Five Fast Email Productivity Tips – we do not have auto-check, we pick off the easy ones right away and we already have a general response for initial research inquiries. Also, whether sent via email or snail mail, we consciously choose to compose professional messages, hopefully with good grammar and punctuation. Writing succinctly is the one area that can be a challenge for us at times.

Thing 7 seemed quite dense. There was a lot of information and we occasionally had trouble accessing the larger files, which is possibly due to our dial-up connection. While we are not active users of text messaging or instant messaging, it is something we are considering as we seek to reach an increasingly broader audience. We have found that users of our organization want to communicate in their preferred ways and we want to be accessible to them. Virtual classes, webinars and the example of OPAL (Online Programming for All Librairies) are exciting prospects. The delivery of information anywhere and to multiple users fits in perfectly with our mission, that of the preservation and dissemination of the history of Morrison County.