23 Things - first musing!

I'm really looking forward to this program. After four years out of the library world (apart from trying to keep pace a little through personal reading and elists in between changing nappies & bandaging knees) I am really looking forward to having a chance to learn some of the key technologies that are coming forward and being used in our library world.

I've always enjoyed learning new things, but find the amount of 'things' out there at the moment a bit overwhelming. So to have had someone select some good examples of emerging technologies is making it all seem much more do-able.

From the video:

Which habit of lifelong learners is easiest and which is hardest for me?
Hardest would be habit 7 - teaching/mentoring others - partly because although I enjoy sharing information with others, I don't always feel best qualified to do so (it's such a big responsibility) and partly because at this point in time I don't work closely enough for long enough with other people who have less skills in this area than I do :)

Easiest - habit 2 - accept responsibility for my own learning. In my last 5 working years (ignoring the four year hiatus) I started 7 different jobs (lots of contract work in Darwin :)). These were generally in quite different workplaces with different systems, software and different political environments (including local government, state government, university and non-profit). I didn't always get a handover with previous staff but I found it a real challenge to learn as much as I could and to become as productive as possible in as short a time as possible. I suppose I just like learning new things :)

My goals for the 23 Things?
Generally, a greater understanding of some of the new and emerging technologies, how they can be used, and how they may/will impact on our service delivery now and in the future.
Specifically, I am interested in learning more about Twitter, del.icio.us, Flicker and Second Life - these are the things that I hear people talking about but I don't feel like I 'have a handle' on at all.

What I need in my learning toolkit to achieve these goals?
Thankfully, I know that many of these things are available already.

• Good net access (more of an issue at home potentially)
• Digital camera
• Headphones and microphone
• Time - an issue for everyone, but working 10 hours a week I expect to be doing some of this at home so that I can really explore and understand