#23 "We’re out of the woods, we’re out of the dark, we’re out of the night!"

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
The biggest deal for me was finding out how easy it is to use blogs, and to discover that by using them and other free hosting services (flickr, YouTube, last.fm) you can create a fully-developed web presence without having to spend a dime!

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"Just try and stay out of my way. Just try! I'll get you, my pretty and your little dog too!"

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
As with others, the program has encouraged me to examine a little more closely all these things you hear in passing and try to ignore, but really can't afford to.

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"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more."

3. Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
See 1., above.

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"Oh, don't cry! You'll rust so dreadfully. Here's your oil can."

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
Like others have noted, one hour is not enough time for many of the assignments. Also, bandwidth issues offer a major challenge, not only in completing the assignments--many of which were better completed away from work--but in putting the various applications to productive use in the Library. If we develop these web 2.0 resources with the current limitations of RAM and connection speed, we are setting ourselves up for failure: we will be sorely challenged developing applications in an efficient manner; and, if our customers, particularly of the in-house variety, can't get them to work properly the results will be counterproductive.

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"The sum of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side. Oh joy! Rapture! I got a brain! How can I ever thank you enough?"

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
I guess it really depends on what's being examined, but, yes. This has been among the most useful of any of the job-required training courses I've taken (and I've been with the city more than a couple of decades...).

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