I really do like LibraryThing, as a reader's advisory resource (the tag mashups are grand), as a tool to keep track of my own book collection, as well as a possible addition to library OPACs, but I'm having an awful time getting the widget described at http://www.librarything.com/ltsw/ to work properly on this blog. Thanks to the help of a colleague, I can now add a widget by using its HTML; you'll see the one for LibraryThing added at the right -- but this widget certainly is not searching MY library! None of the seven books I've entered show.
Suggestions anyone?
Monday, January 26, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Thing 13: Productivity Tools
Okay -- I've got a customized IGoogle page, complete with a passle of weatherinfo widgets (brrrrr it's been cold lately ), a spring theme (just love those cherry blossoms); Color Junction, an addictive game that I hardly ever win and would much rather play than blog; a calendaring tool thru Google, which I can share with online friends and family -- very useful right now since, outside of my workplace, I'm temporarily without online access; a link to Google's top news stories, and assorted other stuff that I'm trying out. There appear to be many widgets that simply don't work; others whose inherent slowness completely outweighs their potential usefulness; and still others filled with ads I don't ever want to see.
Adding "Remember the Milk" and its Google calendaring functionality as well as the Blogger widget to my Igoogle page were probably the most productive things I did in this Thing's activities. I've learned to add lists and locations to Milk. It's all paperless and easily accessible - I'm sold.
On my list to explore further: http://zamzar.com/ -- free online file conversion without the need to download software. Just added it to Milk!
Adding "Remember the Milk" and its Google calendaring functionality as well as the Blogger widget to my Igoogle page were probably the most productive things I did in this Thing's activities. I've learned to add lists and locations to Milk. It's all paperless and easily accessible - I'm sold.
On my list to explore further: http://zamzar.com/ -- free online file conversion without the need to download software. Just added it to Milk!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Thing 12: Do You Digg?
I definitely don't Digg! I looked at several of these social media sites, got terribly frustrated with the shallowness of the comments I viewed, and very much put off by the rant. Just an old fuddy-duddy, I guess. I did actually set up an account on Newsvine, "seeded" an article, voted on two others. I can see this type of site might be useful to stay in the know about popular topics, but other than that, I think I'll pass. Too time-consuming for the value added.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Thing 11: Tagging and Social Bookmarking
Uncontrolled vocabulary -- whee! I did a little tagging on Flickr, and a bit more on this blog, and I see where tagging alone offers promise as a finding tool, but the real benefit seems to lie in the group effort. It hasn't taken me very long, but I'm hooked on del.icio.us -- and the tantalizing prospect of collective intelligence.
Note: the del.icio.us bookmark button does required downloading an executable file. If that doesn't work at your location, there are a bunch of widgets available for igoogle. They may not be as slick as the site's button, but there are a variety to choose from, and they don't require the download. Simply go to igoogle, click on Add Stuff and in the Search for Gadgets dialog box type del.icio.us ... Explore results, and choose.
Note: the del.icio.us bookmark button does required downloading an executable file. If that doesn't work at your location, there are a bunch of widgets available for igoogle. They may not be as slick as the site's button, but there are a variety to choose from, and they don't require the download. Simply go to igoogle, click on Add Stuff and in the Search for Gadgets dialog box type del.icio.us ... Explore results, and choose.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Thing 10: Learn About Wikis
RCL has had an experimental reference wiki up and running on PBWiki since the Fall of 2006. I didn't get involved with it until sometime in 2007, when a team of which I was a member needed to develop a survey of staff technical competencies. What followed as I tried to learn the ins and outs of PBwiki design (without benefit of HTML) was months of frustrated grumbling as I found it repeatedly necessary to pull my MS-Word formatted table out of the wiki, do the corrections and reformatting on Word, and repost to the wiki. What I saw was all too frequently not what I got, and more than one of my colleagues were reluctant to post to the wiki because of the formatting difficulties.
Even though staff at PBWiki tried to be helpful, I feel that the inherent difficulties in this particular mechanism worked against the promise of collaboration.
Given my familiarity with this Thing, I didn't spend a whole lot of time playing with it again. I did,however, look briefly at the Zoho wiki editor. I had a much easier time editing a Zoho page -- and what I saw after I had saved my work really did look like what I thought I had saved. Impressive! I will definitely come back for another look.
Even though staff at PBWiki tried to be helpful, I feel that the inherent difficulties in this particular mechanism worked against the promise of collaboration.
Given my familiarity with this Thing, I didn't spend a whole lot of time playing with it again. I did,however, look briefly at the Zoho wiki editor. I had a much easier time editing a Zoho page -- and what I saw after I had saved my work really did look like what I thought I had saved. Impressive! I will definitely come back for another look.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Thing 9: Online Collaboration Tools
Wow -- I've really enjoyed looking at these applications! Finally I've got something to recommend to our patrons who need a good word processor -- not just barebones online typing (like Writer, from bighugelabs.com) -- and find that all of our "full-service Internet" stations -- the ones with Microsoft Office Suite installed -- are being used.
What a great opportunity for kids working in teams on school projects!
Would that I have had such a tool 28 months ago -- when putting together the invitations list for my son's wedding. That and online chat would have saved hours messaging back and forth to my inlaws!
Individual use aside, one work application jumps out at me. Every three months or so, we start taking patron registration for the next round of computer classes we offer. We announce the start date for registration, and patrons call, or come in, to register. We handle registration centrally -- at our Roseville location -- and use a longhand notebook to record registrant's names and phone #s. Our portable computer lab has 12 laptops, so registration is limited, and fills up fast. Calls and in-person registrants come in fast and furiously during the initial hours of registration, and passing the paper record book back and forth among librarians is, to put it mildly, a hassle. What we need is a document that multiple librarians can add names into at the same time -- and view edits in real time. To the rescue GoogleDocs (rather than Zoho Writer, which appears to have more editing versatility) just because it appears to be easier to keep as an internal, non-public document.
I'm going to try this out with a fellow reffie next week -- and blog here about the results.
What a great opportunity for kids working in teams on school projects!
Would that I have had such a tool 28 months ago -- when putting together the invitations list for my son's wedding. That and online chat would have saved hours messaging back and forth to my inlaws!
Individual use aside, one work application jumps out at me. Every three months or so, we start taking patron registration for the next round of computer classes we offer. We announce the start date for registration, and patrons call, or come in, to register. We handle registration centrally -- at our Roseville location -- and use a longhand notebook to record registrant's names and phone #s. Our portable computer lab has 12 laptops, so registration is limited, and fills up fast. Calls and in-person registrants come in fast and furiously during the initial hours of registration, and passing the paper record book back and forth among librarians is, to put it mildly, a hassle. What we need is a document that multiple librarians can add names into at the same time -- and view edits in real time. To the rescue GoogleDocs (rather than Zoho Writer, which appears to have more editing versatility) just because it appears to be easier to keep as an internal, non-public document.
I'm going to try this out with a fellow reffie next week -- and blog here about the results.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Thing 8
Share Your Creations: Photo presentations, Powerpoint-type slideshows, Databases, and Portfolios
Having already spent so much time getting a Flickr slide show to work properly (see Thing 6), I decided I'd look at some of the other sharing options available. I was not at all impressed with Lazybase. I did not find it intuitive, and the lack of instructions, hints, FAQs, or suggestions for use other than the few examples you are supposed to look at for an immediate understanding of the process made me abandon this tool quite early. The idea of cooperatively adding to and editing a database is particularly attractive, though, and I may go back and take another look.
It looks like another productivity and collaboration tools provider, Zoho (http://zoho.com/index.html) also has a database tool (Zoho Creator) which would be worth exploring. I'm impressed with the same site's online presentation tool, Zoho Show, and the possibilities that offers for publishing brief tutorials for staff or patron use. Time doesn't allow me to develop a whole tutorial, but here are the first few slides of one that I wouldn't mind spending time working on:
I don't seem to have quite the hang of all of the editing features, but I've managed to fix the HTML code! to adjust the margins of the show as it displays within the blog. Now if I could figure out why it doesn't seem to automatically republish in my blog when I make changes in the ZOHO SHOW original...
Efolio Minnesota (http://www.efoliominnesota.com/) was an eye-opener. What a wonderful way for Minnesota students and jobseekers to showcase their accomplishments. Or library staff members to introduce themselves, their backgrounds, projects, specialities, and reading interests, to patrons. I'd like to see a link to this site from the Careers area of our website!
Having already spent so much time getting a Flickr slide show to work properly (see Thing 6), I decided I'd look at some of the other sharing options available. I was not at all impressed with Lazybase. I did not find it intuitive, and the lack of instructions, hints, FAQs, or suggestions for use other than the few examples you are supposed to look at for an immediate understanding of the process made me abandon this tool quite early. The idea of cooperatively adding to and editing a database is particularly attractive, though, and I may go back and take another look.
It looks like another productivity and collaboration tools provider, Zoho (http://zoho.com/index.html) also has a database tool (Zoho Creator) which would be worth exploring. I'm impressed with the same site's online presentation tool, Zoho Show, and the possibilities that offers for publishing brief tutorials for staff or patron use. Time doesn't allow me to develop a whole tutorial, but here are the first few slides of one that I wouldn't mind spending time working on:
I don't seem to have quite the hang of all of the editing features, but I've managed to fix the HTML code! to adjust the margins of the show as it displays within the blog. Now if I could figure out why it doesn't seem to automatically republish in my blog when I make changes in the ZOHO SHOW original...
Efolio Minnesota (http://www.efoliominnesota.com/) was an eye-opener. What a wonderful way for Minnesota students and jobseekers to showcase their accomplishments. Or library staff members to introduce themselves, their backgrounds, projects, specialities, and reading interests, to patrons. I'd like to see a link to this site from the Careers area of our website!
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