Week 16 - Discovery

It is amazing how many things are available on the net.

I only looked at a few (I could easily spend weeks browsing and exploring) but was impressed with most of them.

The Vufind is a great tool for libraries, particularly small libraries. At a previous position, our library was to small for most of the general management software packages but this would have been perfect.

I wasn't so sure about the Go2web20.net. I found the screen full of icons to be more distracting than useful.

Regardless, it is nice to know that these things exist.

As with the other participants, may I thank Leslie and Lynette for all of their work in setting up and running an interesting and informative session.

Now back to playing!

Flowcharts & Mindmaps - Week 15

Aren't these great tools! I really wish that I had a use for them at the moment but as soon as I get something I am really going to use them to the max.

I had a look at all of the pages - Gliffy and Flowchart.com for the flowcharts (obviously!) and Bubbl.us and MindMeister for the Mindmaps.

All of them create really clear and easy to understand depictions that look really professional.

It was surprising how the different layouts between Bubbl.us and MindMeiser made the information appear so different.

Brilliant tools.

Newsletters - Week 14

Newsletters are something that I don't really need at the moment but it is good to know that things such as LetterPop are available if and when I need them.

My sister should be sending out a newsletter so I think that she will find this a really useful tool. The drop and drag element was really easy to use and it was really fast to mock up a good looking product.

E-books - Week 13

I have had a few encounters with eBooks but prefer the real thing if I have an option. I find reading at the computer is more tiring than finding somewhere cosy with the traditional book.

There is also the problem that if you are using an eBook through a library you may not be able to read it if someone else is using it. Same problem I suppose as with a paper book but it just feels more annoying.

Audio books though look as if they might have a few more advantages. My partner and I do a lot of travelling and it would be great to be able to download a book to listen to while driving.

Browsing through the sites provided turned up quite a few that I wouldn't mind listening to. I could be using this sooner rather than later.

Youtube - Week 12

Youtube is a really enjoyable and dangerous thing. It is way to easy to loose all track of time.

Some of my favourite clips include the Cat Herders, the Pandas and the Bike Safe ad. Here are the Cats.

Podcasts - Week 11

I have used podcasts in a number of ways. When I was studying by distance last year, all of my lectures came as podcasts. Very handy in that I didn't have to be in class to hear the lecture and I could also hear it at a time and place of my choosing.

I am also addicted to StarStuff on NewsRadio. Since it went off the air recently, the only way to listen to the show is to download the podcast.

Rollyo - Week 10

This I like.

I can put all of my bookmarks into Rollyo and use it for searching. I can split them up into subject areas and really make a difference when I try to remember which is the best site to use for each query.

I am going to get a lot of use out of Rollyo.

Wikis - Week 9

There are some interesting wikis out there. Wikipedia is an old fallback - even the Encyclopedia Britannica is going the same way, although with a bit more control behind the entries.

I thought that it was interesting that the Library Success wiki has had to go for email confirmation of its posters because of spam and vandalism. One of the problems with open participation.

The use of wikis in New Zealand for the Police Act review was very interesting. This must have been truly innovative, and it appears to have been very successful.

I have never posted anything to a wiki but have read several, especially Wikipedia, in the past. I might gather up some nerve and make a posting soon.

Social Bookmarking - Week 8

I am not sure about social bookmarking. I can see benefits but I can also see myself being swamped with sites that aren't relevant to me but have been tagged in a similar manner.

I am also fairly sure that there are a lot of people out there who wouldn't be remotely interested in some of the sites that I have tagged.

In the past I have copied my bookmarks into an email on Gmail so that I can access them regardless of what computer I am using. It doesn't have the 'social' aspect but it means that I can get my bookmarks when I need them and share them if I want to.

Still, it's nice to see what others are raving about.

iGoogle - Week 7

iGoogle is an amazing tool. I can think of a number of uses for it already.

It was incredibly easy to set up and personalise, unlike a number of other aggregators that I have tried in the past and having the tabs means that I can put in a greater number of items without the whole page becoming overwhelming.

The Google clip was interesting because it covered all sorts of great benefits but didn't actually say what they did or how they did it. I know if came from Oprah, but still ...

Google Tools

I love Google.

I hate the ads but find that I can mentally erase them from most pages now.

I was studying but distance over the last couple of years and used Google Docs for most of my group assignments. Being able to have a single document that multiple users could work on made life much easier. We could all see the same work at the same time, instead of different people using different versions.

I imagine that this would be of use to any group of people who need to work on documents together.

Google Maps is also a wonderful feature, especially now that it has been updated and streetview has been added. I can see why some people are complaining about privacy, etc. but at the moment it is too much fun to really worry about. I was surprised that my search of hotels in Brunswick located nearly 3,000 of them. I knew there were a lot around but I didn't think that there were quite so many.

The Book Search is also handy, although I wish that a few more pages were available. I have used this many times in the past while studying and it is usually the next page that you need that can't be previewed. Regardless, I applaud any organisation that makes material, particularly older books that can't easily be found available for users.

Who cares if Google is becoming the new Microsoft. Microsoft did a lot of good before it turned to the dark side.

MySpace and Facebook

It was interesting looking at these sites - you hear about them all of the time but they are not things that I would normally use.

I don't think that a library such as the one that I work in would really use MySpace, although I can see why some of the public libraries have joined. Some of the sites were really well done and I imaging would be popular with younger users (that makes me sound so old!)

It turns out that there are over 500 people already on FaceBook with my name - and none of the ones that I saw looked anything like me! I think that the concept of FaceBook is great but I am really dubious about finding 'friends'. It still feels a bit stalkerish to me.

Still, it's nice to finally see what all of the fuss is about.

Library Things

I had to wait until my home computer was up and running before I could have a play with Library Things.

I can see the appeal for small libraries or even something a bit bigger to display new titles, etc.

I still have a bit of work to do before I get things to work the way that I want them to, but I am getting there slowly. It is something that I will definitely be playing with in the future.