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h4. Table of Contents

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h2. Thing 1 and 2: Read this wiki entry & find out about this program and lifelong learning


h3. Estimate of time: 1 Hour

*Remember to* *[*register*|http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=NGAdN0xFqmAKqigPECBaRw_3d_3d]* *to participate in SLA's 23 Things Initiative.*

h3. Overview

*23 Things* is an association-wide learning initiative introduced by Stephen Abram to help us all be in a position to innovate, see  [Background|http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2008/02/the_23_things_l.html]. Stephen hopes that at least 15% (1800 SLAers) of us will participate during the summer - with the idea we will complete our challenge by *September 15, 2008*  to be eligible for a prize and certificate and of course the satisfaction of learning these new tools. 

The idea is that we all commit 15 minutes a day or about an hour (or two \-\- _because you'll get hooked\!_) a week to learning and practicing with these new tools.  Some of your colleagues led by Deb Hunt have developed this wiki to step you through learning these tools and to model how to use them.

Two of our talented SLA colleagues, Richard Geiger and Tim DeWolf, have created a fun 3-minute MP3 song set to a PPT to introduce us to all things Web 2.0. [*Download (takes about 2 minutes) and watch.*|^23Things.wmv]

This is a self-discovery program which encourages us all to take control of our own learning and to utilize lifelong learning skills through exploration and PLAY. There will be a class at SLA 2008 in Seattle to launch this effort as well as introductions at the leadership meetings, but afterwards everyone is encouraged to work together and share with each other their discoveries, techniques and "how to's" both in person and through their blogs. Forgotten your password? You can request it through the [website|http://wiki.sla.org].

You will have the option of learning all 23 things OR choosing a baker's dozen (13) of these web tools to learn...and this introduction counts as your first one so keep reading\!  We have set it up so that you can manage your learning by using a combination of a blog as well as a new Del.icio.us \-\- both of which you'll be guided within the next few weeks to complete.  After that you can choose which tools you most want to learn and press on at your own speed. By making your blog public and bookmarking and tagging it on Del.icio.us, we will be able to track each other's progress and share stories from our hands-on experience. We will be working in this wiki environment which is meant to be collaborative, so as you see things that would enhance your's or other's learning, have a question or comment, please feel free to add comments to any of the pages or weekly blog posts.
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h3. Benefits

* We will be learning together. If you're reading this \-\- you probably already realize that lifelong learning is part of our commitments as information professionals.

* Through this process, we will develop more confidence in helping our clients to apply these Web 2.0 tools as we learn to apply them ourselves.

* _AND_ you will be able to incorporate all the elements and tools you are learning into your own dynamic personal blog, which should position you to be able to apply blogging and the other tools you choose to learn to your organizations.

h3. Perspectives

If there are good websites to read or models to share, we will point you towards them and hopefully as you spot good ones as well, you'll add them to the wiki. Learning usually incorporates internalizing our new knowledge, so we thought we'd all practice by learning on SLA's wiki. We can start by sharing our knowledge about our chapters and divisions and to collaborate on projects. As I've gained confidence in the 2.0 tools as a result of this process, I realize that it is just a new way to share information and knowledge, but is so much more fun if I'm not fumbling\!

The *Reflections: Localize your learnings* sections are the part where you actually do the project - create a blog, sign up for Del.ici.ous, set an RSS reader, so we will be coming to that shortly.

h3. Reflections: Localize your learnings

Often we are most comfortable using new tools personally with our friends and family.  If you need to set up a wiki or a blog for something in your personal life \-\- do that \-\- take the learnings you get from 23 Things and try to apply them right away \-\- not just complete an exercise.  Do something that will help you make this learning your own. No worries, you'll then be able to apply in your professional life. If you need further inspiration other than from Stephen Abram, loads of people write about the [advantages of lifelong learning|http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/5-9-2006-95656.asp]. Also, don't forget to [register|http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=NGAdN0xFqmAKqigPECBaRw_3d_3d] to participate in SLA's 23 Things Initiative.

h3. Challenge

As information professionals we know that people expect us to model information behaviors and if you're like me, I am a hands-on learner and this program was set up for us. Some of you will find this program a snap (more power to you, but I hope you will find a way to help your colleagues like me for which it doesn't come as intuitively). For those of you who want to get past the basics, we encourage you to take your learning to the next level at each step.  

Start learning to use the SLA wiki, by reading [Wiki 101 |http://wiki.sla.org/display/CEWIKI/Wikis+101+Home]for tips on how to maneuver in this space.