THING 18 - YouTube
Not much to say about this. I've used YouTube extensively at work, both for reference (it was YouTube that finally taught me the proper way to "do" the song Baby Shark) and for fun. I think YouTube is a fabulous tool, albeit something of a space hog in cyberspace. Patrons use it ALL THE TIME so it's fairly necessary to at least have some inkling of what it's about. I could see it useful for libraries for just the above situation -- there are some pieces of information that are purely visual (and aural) where actually looking at them is the only way to explain.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Thing 17 - ELM
Use this pretty much every day when I work on the reference desk. Especially NetLibrary, which I've helped folks out with a lot. So, not sure what to say here. ELM is a vital part of Minnesota library service -- can't imagine how we could help out some folks like we do.
Only one minor thing to report : I like EBSCO better than ProQuest. I just don't feel that ProQuest is all that user friendly -- I've helped patrons on both, and even sometimes I get confused when using ProQuest. I prefer EBSCO. Just a minor report ...
Use this pretty much every day when I work on the reference desk. Especially NetLibrary, which I've helped folks out with a lot. So, not sure what to say here. ELM is a vital part of Minnesota library service -- can't imagine how we could help out some folks like we do.
Only one minor thing to report : I like EBSCO better than ProQuest. I just don't feel that ProQuest is all that user friendly -- I've helped patrons on both, and even sometimes I get confused when using ProQuest. I prefer EBSCO. Just a minor report ...
Thing 16 - Homework Help
Well, I kinda wish I had some of this when I was a student ... it was nice to see the layout of how an assignment should progress. I also liked the handy links to external research sites (U of MN's Assignment Calculator) and that everything was right there at your fingertips.
On the other hand (oh yes, there's always this), how does this teach students to be able to achieve time management on their own? If your computer is always telling you where you should be in the process, that could also be sort of annoying ("No, I'm not done gathering materials and no, I don't want to make an outline today! Leave me alone!").
However, if students can link to their (academic) library for help with the project, I think it could potentially be a powerful tool ... although it does tend to spoon feed you everything.
Done.
Well, I kinda wish I had some of this when I was a student ... it was nice to see the layout of how an assignment should progress. I also liked the handy links to external research sites (U of MN's Assignment Calculator) and that everything was right there at your fingertips.
On the other hand (oh yes, there's always this), how does this teach students to be able to achieve time management on their own? If your computer is always telling you where you should be in the process, that could also be sort of annoying ("No, I'm not done gathering materials and no, I don't want to make an outline today! Leave me alone!").
However, if students can link to their (academic) library for help with the project, I think it could potentially be a powerful tool ... although it does tend to spoon feed you everything.
Done.
Thing 15 : Games 'n whatnot
Online games and libraries ... well, I do feel like I need to know a bit about this because a lot of patrons use the library to play games online. Plus, I have two children who are becoming increasingly interested in playing games on the computer.
For my "choice" I decided to take a peek at the Second Life site. Although interesting, as I feel like I've written innumerable times, it seems like such a waste of time. I did not participate in this "game" (needless to say, it would have cost me money) but well, I guess if you're really, really into creating virtual worlds it could be fun. And I do appreciate that they included libraries in the "world" interface.
So. A role in libraries? Perhaps. Do librarians as a whole need to know something about online gaming? You betcha. One thing is for sure - that's not going away anytime soon.
As a funny anectode, I have a World of Warcraft story : my sister has two teenage sons. One of these sons was once very into World of Warcraft. One evening, when she came home from work, she asked her younger son (then aged 15) to do the proverbial taking out of the garbage. His response? "But Mo-om! I've got a raid in, like, 5 minutes!"
I rest my case.
Online games and libraries ... well, I do feel like I need to know a bit about this because a lot of patrons use the library to play games online. Plus, I have two children who are becoming increasingly interested in playing games on the computer.
For my "choice" I decided to take a peek at the Second Life site. Although interesting, as I feel like I've written innumerable times, it seems like such a waste of time. I did not participate in this "game" (needless to say, it would have cost me money) but well, I guess if you're really, really into creating virtual worlds it could be fun. And I do appreciate that they included libraries in the "world" interface.
So. A role in libraries? Perhaps. Do librarians as a whole need to know something about online gaming? You betcha. One thing is for sure - that's not going away anytime soon.
As a funny anectode, I have a World of Warcraft story : my sister has two teenage sons. One of these sons was once very into World of Warcraft. One evening, when she came home from work, she asked her younger son (then aged 15) to do the proverbial taking out of the garbage. His response? "But Mo-om! I've got a raid in, like, 5 minutes!"
I rest my case.
Thing 14 - LibraryThing
So, in order to do this, I decided to just pick some of my favorite storytime books to create my "library" -- and there it is as a sidebar. Whee.
So, I guess I can maybe, kinda, sort of see how this might be useful ... somewhere. But isn't this what my online catalog is for? I guess I don't have such a wealth of titles at home that I need to use an online tool to catalog and list them all. I guess I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do next -- link via my titles to other Library Thing users pages for more titles. Sigh. In any case, it is a pretty cool tool, although I'm a bit disconcerted that they list amazon as the first location where they look to match titles. Harumph.
So, in order to do this, I decided to just pick some of my favorite storytime books to create my "library" -- and there it is as a sidebar. Whee.
So, I guess I can maybe, kinda, sort of see how this might be useful ... somewhere. But isn't this what my online catalog is for? I guess I don't have such a wealth of titles at home that I need to use an online tool to catalog and list them all. I guess I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do next -- link via my titles to other Library Thing users pages for more titles. Sigh. In any case, it is a pretty cool tool, although I'm a bit disconcerted that they list amazon as the first location where they look to match titles. Harumph.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Thing 13 : Online Productivity Tools
Well, first off, here it is Sep. 18th and (whoa! big surprise!) I didn't make the second 23 Things deadline. At least I'm still going ... not sure why.
In any case, I took a look at the Google, Yahoo, and PageFlakes sites for customized start pages. I finally decided to go with Google because a)PageFlakes was waaaay to cluttery for my taste. I like a clean, simple look b)to get the Yahoo page up, I'd have to login a second time ... which is why I chose (ta-da!) iGoogle. It automatically logged me in when I logged onto my blog. That is a big plus in my opinion. I hate having to remember multiple logins and passwords (my rolodex has too many little post-it notes with various logins already). Not a lot of options for customizing, but I can see that will ... er ... a lot of time (!?) I could make the page look fancy-schmantzy. Not today. However, it's nice to have all this info in one place, especially when Google is opened up (and let's face it, I probably open up Google several dozen times a day, both off-desk and on-desk, both at work and at home -- if someone has a better online tool than Google, I've yet to be convinced. I don't care if it has a monolopy on the online searching field. It works, it's good, so that's that; ok, off my soapbox).
AHHH!!! Just clicked on "add a theme" and it pulled up a bazillion options for the graphic at the top of the page. MUST ... STOP ... NOW. On the other hand, adding gadgets was super easy (NYT crossword puzzle, moon phase, wikiedia search box, National Geographic photo o-th-day, etc.) but adding lots of gadgets puts the essential stuff further down the screen.
Now here it is November 11 (Inservice Day, dontcha know) and I guess I'm done with this thing. I'm not real sure I'd like to have virtual post-it notes or a "to-d0" list loaded onto my computer. I've got software for virtual post-its at home that I never use. I guess I'm just more of a pen and paper kind of gal. But if you were travelling, at a conference, or had a mobile office, I guess it could be useful. I just know that I'd just duplicate everyting onto paper ... and what would be the point of that?
Well, first off, here it is Sep. 18th and (whoa! big surprise!) I didn't make the second 23 Things deadline. At least I'm still going ... not sure why.
In any case, I took a look at the Google, Yahoo, and PageFlakes sites for customized start pages. I finally decided to go with Google because a)PageFlakes was waaaay to cluttery for my taste. I like a clean, simple look b)to get the Yahoo page up, I'd have to login a second time ... which is why I chose (ta-da!) iGoogle. It automatically logged me in when I logged onto my blog. That is a big plus in my opinion. I hate having to remember multiple logins and passwords (my rolodex has too many little post-it notes with various logins already). Not a lot of options for customizing, but I can see that will ... er ... a lot of time (!?) I could make the page look fancy-schmantzy. Not today. However, it's nice to have all this info in one place, especially when Google is opened up (and let's face it, I probably open up Google several dozen times a day, both off-desk and on-desk, both at work and at home -- if someone has a better online tool than Google, I've yet to be convinced. I don't care if it has a monolopy on the online searching field. It works, it's good, so that's that; ok, off my soapbox).
AHHH!!! Just clicked on "add a theme" and it pulled up a bazillion options for the graphic at the top of the page. MUST ... STOP ... NOW. On the other hand, adding gadgets was super easy (NYT crossword puzzle, moon phase, wikiedia search box, National Geographic photo o-th-day, etc.) but adding lots of gadgets puts the essential stuff further down the screen.
Now here it is November 11 (Inservice Day, dontcha know) and I guess I'm done with this thing. I'm not real sure I'd like to have virtual post-it notes or a "to-d0" list loaded onto my computer. I've got software for virtual post-its at home that I never use. I guess I'm just more of a pen and paper kind of gal. But if you were travelling, at a conference, or had a mobile office, I guess it could be useful. I just know that I'd just duplicate everyting onto paper ... and what would be the point of that?
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Thing 12 - Digggggggging
Wow. Is digg.com random or what? Even for eclectic types like myself, I was pretty amazed at the randomness of the first listing of topics. From electic scooters to Sarah Palin to cheating on taking sick days at work. This site is for folks with a lot of free time on their hands. I refused to get sucked in. Probably happens far to often to browsers. However, if you had the time ... hmmm ... could probably "digg" (har-har) around for some pretty interesting stuff here.
Ugh. Reddit is what I really dislike about the Internet. It's a popularity contest! Let's chat online about inane stuff! However, I was interested to find the overlapping topics between Reddit and Digg. Perhaps the same folks peruse the same two sites? On to the next one ...
OK. Now we're talking. Newsvine is much more interesting (although their little log "Get smarter here" is annoying ...) I could waste some serious time here, and was immediately intrigued by the lead article (with aerial photo) of the Canadian ice shelf breaking off.
And finally ... Mixx. Well, at least here they categorize the topics instead of giving it all to you in a lump sum.
My main question with all the above sites is ... WHO HAS THE TIME!?!? My eyes would completely and utterly bugg out if I spent much longer than the few minutes I did at each site. Nevertheless, it's good to know that these types of sites exist for, um, maybe patron use? Not really sure how it could be helpful to patrons, since (other than Newsvine) so much of it is basically Internet banter between strangers.
Wow. Is digg.com random or what? Even for eclectic types like myself, I was pretty amazed at the randomness of the first listing of topics. From electic scooters to Sarah Palin to cheating on taking sick days at work. This site is for folks with a lot of free time on their hands. I refused to get sucked in. Probably happens far to often to browsers. However, if you had the time ... hmmm ... could probably "digg" (har-har) around for some pretty interesting stuff here.
Ugh. Reddit is what I really dislike about the Internet. It's a popularity contest! Let's chat online about inane stuff! However, I was interested to find the overlapping topics between Reddit and Digg. Perhaps the same folks peruse the same two sites? On to the next one ...
OK. Now we're talking. Newsvine is much more interesting (although their little log "Get smarter here" is annoying ...) I could waste some serious time here, and was immediately intrigued by the lead article (with aerial photo) of the Canadian ice shelf breaking off.
And finally ... Mixx. Well, at least here they categorize the topics instead of giving it all to you in a lump sum.
My main question with all the above sites is ... WHO HAS THE TIME!?!? My eyes would completely and utterly bugg out if I spent much longer than the few minutes I did at each site. Nevertheless, it's good to know that these types of sites exist for, um, maybe patron use? Not really sure how it could be helpful to patrons, since (other than Newsvine) so much of it is basically Internet banter between strangers.
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