We’ve come a long way. When I graduated from journalism school in 1999, many aspects of my first job were prehistoric compared with today’s technology.

For instance, nearly all of the photos were taken with film cameras. Each reporter and editor was required to take his or her own pictures. Once a month, we were each given a $100 gift card to the local store to get our pictures developed. It was a good day when they turned out.

We also used to wax the pages by hand and place them on a large sheet of paper before sending them back to the press. Nowadays, everything is done electronically. And there was a Web site, but it was extremely limited.

All of that has changed now and most of it for the better.

At the Herald, we’re always excited to take things to another level, utilize as many online tools as we can and stay ahead of the curve when it comes to providing new and innovative services to our readers.

Here are a couple we are involved with now.

The Austin Daily Herald provides story feeds on both Twitter and Facebook, and you’ll start to notice us using both of these on-line tools more often.

For instance, on our Facebook page, we put up a message about this weekend’s winter storm watch on Friday while the skies were still blue.

Readers can access both the Herald’s Twitter and Facebook links through our Web site at www.austindailyherald.com.

In addition, we are also now a part of AP Mobile, a service that gives our readers access to world, national and local news all at one location on their Blackberry, iPhone or mobile Internet service. For more information, visit www.apnews.com.

All of these tools are ways to help provide more for our readers and to get as much important information to you as quickly as possible. We hope you enjoy them, and we encourage you to take advantage of these services.