This was fun. It was great for me - I knew some of these, but also learned plenty.
One thing we didn't cover was the online "radio" shows - like BlogTalk radio, etc. These are archived as podcasts, so can be available anytime, but could be utilized as another online offering for our patrons. We could do a Children's Librarian storytime every Tuesday evening at 7:00 or something. Then they'd still be archived for later listening.
One thing I wished I'd known before I started was how many different things I'd need to set up user names/passwords/emails/etc. I think I have dozens of sign-ons all related to this 23 things exercise. I now need to go back and try to standardize these - a Single Sign On would be nice.
But, overall, I really enjoyed doing all the tasks, and I'll be using lots of these applications in the future. It will be easy to think of these things when I need them, now that I've played around with them a bit.
So - thanks to the O! What a Geek team for putting this together.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
#22 Media and Book Downloads
I've been using the OverDrive and MyLibraryDV software since we got it. I even used to have a NetLibrary account years ago. I always tell patrons the story of my daughter leaving her Pride and Prejudice book at school over Christmas break - all copies were checked out - and she read it online for her class.
So, I tried the one I didn't know about - TumbleBooks.
How easy! Holy Cow! In five seconds flat, I was listening to "A Little Princess"!
This is so much easier than our other audio and video formats - no software to download, no waiting lists. Wow!
I'm very comfortable offering this to patrons, and explaining how simple it is.
Glad to know about this resource!
So, I tried the one I didn't know about - TumbleBooks.
How easy! Holy Cow! In five seconds flat, I was listening to "A Little Princess"!
This is so much easier than our other audio and video formats - no software to download, no waiting lists. Wow!
I'm very comfortable offering this to patrons, and explaining how simple it is.
Glad to know about this resource!
#21 - Podcasts
I did a class assignment a couple of semesters ago on Podcasts and Videocasts, so that was when I discovered Podcastalley. At that time, I subscribed to a couple of Harry Potter fan clubs that had podcasts, and I'm still subscribed. I enjoyed it, my kids enjoyed it - just for fun. I check it out on occasions, even now. I also discovered that lots of libraries are using podcasts. I remember PLCMC doing some great teen podcasts, and also the Orange County FL library doing a podcast of the author Avi doing a reading at their library. That's very cool, and a nice thing for libraries to offer to patrons. I'm thinking online storytimes, how-to's, etc.
Now, I'm not so sure that we need to do those types of things in-house. We have mylibraryDV for the how-to's and travel and movies and more. I think we could best use podcasts and videocasts to demonstrate our own systems - video walkthroughs of using the self-checkout machines, or using our online catalog and databases. Maybe tours of each of our libraries.
So, here's my podcast post:
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/LibVibe
(Dang! I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong on these links! I'm on my home computer - the one that coughs and chokes a lot. Maybe that's the problem?!?)
Now, I'm not so sure that we need to do those types of things in-house. We have mylibraryDV for the how-to's and travel and movies and more. I think we could best use podcasts and videocasts to demonstrate our own systems - video walkthroughs of using the self-checkout machines, or using our online catalog and databases. Maybe tours of each of our libraries.
So, here's my podcast post:
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/LibVibe
(Dang! I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong on these links! I'm on my home computer - the one that coughs and chokes a lot. Maybe that's the problem?!?)
#20 YouTube
Yahoo, it's YouTube time!
I love the classics. Evolution of Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg, The Machine is Us-ing Us: http://mediatedcultures.net . The Wil Farrell skits from SNL: (Cowbell, Jeopardy, Pearl the Landlady and I can't get these linked.)
So I searched YouTube for "Library". Over 500,000 results, including Sesame Street, Seinfeld, and the current copyright infringement exhibit A - Michael Stephen's "Ray of Light" video (only in the listings, the actual video has been removed from YouTube).
I eventually settled into watching Brewster Kahle's 20 minute presentation at the 2008 TED conference in LA. Very nice. (Again - I tried four times to get this video posted/linked here - failed.)
I love the classics. Evolution of Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg, The Machine is Us-ing Us: http://mediatedcultures.net . The Wil Farrell skits from SNL: (Cowbell, Jeopardy, Pearl the Landlady and I can't get these linked.)
So I searched YouTube for "Library". Over 500,000 results, including Sesame Street, Seinfeld, and the current copyright infringement exhibit A - Michael Stephen's "Ray of Light" video (only in the listings, the actual video has been removed from YouTube).
I eventually settled into watching Brewster Kahle's 20 minute presentation at the 2008 TED conference in LA. Very nice. (Again - I tried four times to get this video posted/linked here - failed.)
#19 Discovering web 2.0 tools
I was at the NLA/NEMA conference, and I saw Annette Lamb give her 100 mph presentation. Wow! But I never did go back and look at her presentation notes, so I'm glad to have the link through OPL's 23 Things.
It's overwhelming - her long long long list of tools and apps - but it's well-organized. If I have a need for something, I'll be able to find it.
I picked Twitter as something to try. Actually, I've been on Twitter through this other "group" I belong to, but I never really saw the benefit or the fun of it, so I haven't used it much. However, I decided to "follow" someone I know, so maybe it will get better. (I had one follower, and some stranger wanted to follow me - I declined that one, thank you very much!) Sounds like stalking!? Anyway, I'm going to give Twitter another try, although Facebook does the same thing, plus lots more.
It's overwhelming - her long long long list of tools and apps - but it's well-organized. If I have a need for something, I'll be able to find it.
I picked Twitter as something to try. Actually, I've been on Twitter through this other "group" I belong to, but I never really saw the benefit or the fun of it, so I haven't used it much. However, I decided to "follow" someone I know, so maybe it will get better. (I had one follower, and some stranger wanted to follow me - I declined that one, thank you very much!) Sounds like stalking!? Anyway, I'm going to give Twitter another try, although Facebook does the same thing, plus lots more.
#18 Web-based Apps
I have used some of the Google Docs, but when I went to Zoho....Wow! I liked a lot of the extra things they offered - like a to-do list. Maybe I've just never run across it in the Google offerings, but the Zoho menu seemed extensive. I emailed myself a to-do list on my gmail account.
I checked out some of the PowerPoint templates, and saw some fresh new designs. I snagged one that I may use for my lecture and class handouts for the Online Health Information class I'm teaching in a couple of weeks.
I also looked at some of the Google templates for schedules - we're always on the lookout for an easier way to do staff schedules and desk schedules at MB.
I am addicted to my flash drive - I carry my life around on it, and I'm always worried that I haven't saved updates to my home, work or other work computers in case my flash drive goes missing. So the concept of Web-apps is great - I can just work in Google or Zoho or...OpenOffice (is that a web app or just an open source Office-like tool?)...and get to my files wherever I am - that's fantastic! No more flash drive "necklace" getting left in whatever workstation I was last at. This has great promise for me. How secure is all this info?
I checked out some of the PowerPoint templates, and saw some fresh new designs. I snagged one that I may use for my lecture and class handouts for the Online Health Information class I'm teaching in a couple of weeks.
I also looked at some of the Google templates for schedules - we're always on the lookout for an easier way to do staff schedules and desk schedules at MB.
I am addicted to my flash drive - I carry my life around on it, and I'm always worried that I haven't saved updates to my home, work or other work computers in case my flash drive goes missing. So the concept of Web-apps is great - I can just work in Google or Zoho or...OpenOffice (is that a web app or just an open source Office-like tool?)...and get to my files wherever I am - that's fantastic! No more flash drive "necklace" getting left in whatever workstation I was last at. This has great promise for me. How secure is all this info?
Saturday, January 31, 2009
#17 PBWiki
Now that was funny! In my last post, I just linked to a wiki I set up on pbwiki, and now this week, we're supposed to play around on pbwiki!!!
I had trouble getting my blog linked on the PLCMC site, though. Hope I didn't mess it up too much!
I really think wiki's are the way to go in sharing our information. UNO has done a really great wiki that they use as their intranet. I'd love for OPL to look at something like that.
I had trouble getting my blog linked on the PLCMC site, though. Hope I didn't mess it up too much!
I really think wiki's are the way to go in sharing our information. UNO has done a really great wiki that they use as their intranet. I'd love for OPL to look at something like that.
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