thing 16) youtube

i hope that worked. i often have trouble when it comes to things that are supposed to be easy with cutting and pasting HTML. i chose this video because it relates to libraries and i think it's hilarious. i have no idea what i would do in the situation these staff members are placed in.

we could use YouTube to share short videos of tours of our libraries, how to place an interlibrary loan, how to use databases, etc, etc.

thing 15) rollyo

this seems like it could be cool, but unfortunately i had errors in processing almost 80% of the time that i was trying to search. i had trouble thinking about what to make for a search, but i think that online shopping would be easier with this tool. for instance, i like to search vintage clothing websites. i entered my favorites, and a pencil skirt should be able to be searched for across all the sites! unfortunately, i had errors with almost every search i tried.

there is also no help feature. i want to know if wild cards, quotations, boolean operators, etc are allowed with this search roll. i tried searching for a "shirt dress" and found dress shirts, shirts, dresses, etc. it would not let me limit to something like "day dress size X" (without quotes). this may be why i was getting the error, but i could not tell why this was happening, and without help, i quit.

if i could figure out how to search rollyo better, i might recommend it. we could set up well known reference sites for homework help, student research, egov searches....the possibilities are endless.

thing 14) online productivity tools

while these online tools are great, i've tried many of them and just prefer old pen and paper. i like that i can take my small planner to meetings, on the bus, waiting in line at the grocery, etc. until i have a blackberry or iphone, i'm not interested in keeping track of all these online gadgets. here's my personal experience with some:

iGoogle: i tried out using this as my homepage for a while. pros: i could see the weather, get to google maps, and see my horoscope all on one page. but, i don't check most of these daily anyway, so i was constantly searching for gadgets just to fill my page. cons: it loaded slowly, so i eventually took it off my homepage. i searched for gadgets and more often than not they did not work. i wanted a twitter gadget, so i could tweet from this page, and it didn't work (aside: twitter is a tool i quickly grew tired of). my livejournal gadget did not work. and i'm leery of downloading these third party applications...my overall impression of this product was not impressed. but i do think that it could be quite functional for some people.

i recently tried the Google calendar. again, i could only access the calendar while online. i also don't trust that a time change (ahem) or other online disturbance won't funk up my calendar...i didn't like the automatic emails either. while it's possible i may forget my planner at home, i'm pretty well trained to keep it tethered to me wherever i go. i like pen and ink...

the list makers look neat. i looked at joe's goals, a goal tracking page. however, i'm partial to creating my own goal tracking on excel, so i don't need this tool either. great idea though.

i guess i've figured out how to be productive without these tools. but i think that they will appeal to those who are not yet organized and like to be tech innovators. i just find that i waste too much time trying these tools and then reverting back to pen and paper. there's just too much to sift through - and who has time for that?

thing 13) library thing

luckily, i already use library thing and have a paid account. i had to use library thing extensively in library school for a YA literature class, writing reviews, tagging, commenting, etc. i'll admit that i've slacked off with entering books into library thing, but i do enjoy the tagging feature. my two favorite personal uses for this account is tagging books "to read" and also keeping track of what books i've read in my book club.

as for the library, i think that we could use this to tag books as staff recommendations, award winners, for book groups, for summer reading, etc. the possibilities are endless. once again, consistency and planning in organization are a priority for efficient use of this site.

we use BookLetters as a way to disperse reading lists to our patrons, so we could also tag books with book lists and BookLetters tags/names so that it's easy to pull all the books together online.

thing 12) wikis

i tried using a wiki years ago, when i first heard about them in library school. the idea is great, but again, i think that planning and organizing before launching the wiki is important. i also know that others at work have had difficulties with wikis.

i can see how these can be valuable in my personal life and at work. my family is working on its genealogy, and a wiki would serve well for the family tree and other information discovered by family across the globe. at work, we could edit policy or procedures on a wiki. i think this would have helped me most in library school, when multiple drafts were edited by many hands and passed back and forth through email.

i just posted to the NEFLIN wiki. i added a fact about joining the New Librarians Online Community wiki. i've found it very helpful and seems well thought out.

thing 11) social media

this could be good or bad. i really enjoyed the layout and function of digg, so i joined. i found an article about frugal travel on the NY Times website and "dugg" it. i found other articles in the travel area that were interesting.

this could be a great way to waste time. often i have a break at work and could see myself relaxing by surfing through some sites. however, i don't know how we could use this at the library. it's useful to know what this is, since the share button is cropping up on all good websites...but with so many different types of these "share" buttons, how can the public use just one? again, this is great for hobbies and web surfing, but i do not see how this will lead to quality research.

i enjoyed digg and reddit's layouts the most, so that would be what i would recommend to patrons.

thing 10) delicious

i enjoyed using delicious. for me personally, i like the fact that i can carry these bookmarks from home, to work, to vacation, etc. i also like that i can carry bookmarks from computer to computer at work.

i think we can use delicious with our patrons to instruct with personal searches such as job hunting, hobbies, and other associated web sites. we can also tag all of our resources for areas such as eGovernment, teens, seniors, etc, and share them on our new website.

i would not recommend this for a student working on research, as i would be afraid that the person may stumble upon a site that is not scholarly or relevant. however, patrons may enjoy learning about delicious in a webinar or podcast from our website.

thing 9) sharing

** mosiac created in big labs using my flickr pics.

What uses do these tools have for library or personal use?

i think that the slide show presentation is great for sharing presentations among staff. all too often we duplicate work and don't realize that someone has already invented the wheel. i am also involved in training, and this would be easy to use for training purposes.

the photo mosaics and slideshows would be great for young adult librarians. teens always want to see pics of themselves, and adding slideshows would generate visits to the website.

the database would be great for booklists, book clubs, bibliographies, patron lists, new arrivals, etc, etc.

Was the tool you used easy to navigate and understand?
the big labs tool was very easy to understand. i didn't use the slideshows because i do not want to post personal pics up here. i do not have a presentation to display publicly, but i can forsee this in the future. the bandwidth here at the library has really been a problem today, so i can imagine that i would not encourage patrons to use these during peak hours.

i liked that i did not have to create an account to use the big labs mosaic. i do not think i could stand to create yet another free account that i will never use again. these sites should allow you to try their product before registering.

Would you recommend it to others?
yes. i think there are many uses for these sites and i'm glad i know a brief overview of them.

Do you use other sharing tools for photos, documents, or other creations that you would recommend?
no.