Learning 2.0 - Week One, or why it is sometimes important to read ahead...

So here I am...blogging. Hmmm...what now?!

Oh, yeah. Week one...step three...Discovery Exercise: "Once you have created your blog, create a post and enter the notes that you took after you watched the video "Web 2.0: the machine is us/ing us.""

Wow. I really should start reading ahead. I watched "Web 2.0: the machine is us/ing us." Actually, I watched it a couple of times before beginning EKU Libraries Learning 2.0. I swear. No, really. In fact, I think it was earlier this year...or last year...maybe? Sadly, however, I did not jot down notes during any of those viewings. Of course, if only I had read ahead...

Anyway. This video is definitely a well crafted testament of/to Web 2.0; I believe that it definitely speaks of/to this thing(s) we call Web 2.0. It is engaging, exciting, interesting, and so on...and so on...all the things that Web 2.0 is to many (though not all). I was especially intrigued with the video's ending statements about rethinking...well...everything, and, most importantly, rethinking the human component and its place in this new (is it really new?) thing/idea/revolution/insert your own term....and I guess that is where I enter.

Up to now, I have been on the Web 2.0 fence, or maybe I have been lurking in the shadows of Web 2.0. Should I, or shouldn't I? Will I, or won't I? It isn't that I am (gasp!) a technophobe... heaven forbid! I love technology! I love the Internet! I love Web 2.0!

Okay, calming down.

While I am definitely pro-technology/pro-Web 2.0, especially in terms of learning how Web 2.0 and the tools associated with it can help me help my patrons, help myself, and help my colleagues/coworkers, I have been decidedly anti-participatory. Sure, I volunteered for IM reference services, but would I have volunteered if the lady in charge of IM wasn't the lady in charge of me? I hope so, but I am not sure. I LOVE to browse photos on Flickr, but, put my own photos on Flickr? Uh-uh. I lurk about in myspace from time to time, and would do the same in facebook if I could, but set up an account on one of those social networking sites? No way! I LOVE to read blogs, but I did NOT want to write blogs...and I still don't.

Which brings me to the title of this blog I am writing...this is all about trying new things...about becoming more comfortable...about becoming more informed...about becoming more helpful...about becoming more accessible/approachable in more ways/formats...about rethinking myself. I do not want to pass judgment on any technology/Web 2.0 tool that comes my way without first giving it a go...and "giving it a go" should by definition include more than being voyeuristic...isn't Web 2.0 at its very essence about communication/participation/sharing/contributing/collaborating? So, what better way to get started "rethinking me" than with this Learning 2.0 project, right?

At least I am among friends. So...guys...girls....help me rethink me.