Things 11 and 12 Social Media

Interesting. Going to back up and try to tag a previous blog post.
It worked! Very interesting indeed. How this can be used for our customers I'm not sure. I would not direct a customer to a blog as a source of information generally. As I was writing that I could think of a reason to do so...author blogs are often very good sources of information for background and upcoming titles.

I would need to compile a list of recommended web sites in order to use something like del.icio.us and there's no time for that in my work or personal life at this time. Will add it to the to-do list.

Things 9 and 10: Collaboration

Online collaboration tools and wikis might be a good thing to pass on to customers who are looking for simple ways to share information.

Wikis tend to be very user friendly, especially PBWiki http://pbwiki.com/ which does most of the background html stuff for you behind the scenes.

Since we are offering classes at our library, this might be a good candidate for the future. People who wish they had a web site for sharing but who don't want to learn web site skills could really benefit from wikis.

Thing 8: Share your slide decks

Though I'm learning Powerpoint I really haven't anything ready for Prime Time to place here. I will work on it, perhaps updating my Yahoo how to as a Powerpoint to see how it goes. Must move onwards...

Thing 7: Communication tools

email: Although this has been around for a very long time, we still see many many customers who do not have email accounts and who say they don't want them. Since they are in applying for jobs online, buying cars, buying airplane tickets, paying their bills, updating their health care information, they just plain have to have one. It can be very tricky convincing them of this, and then helping them as quickly as possible (their Internet session with us is on a rapidly ticking timer). I have tipsheets for signing up for Hotmail and Yahoo that take you step by step, but if you're working with someone who is not saavy with a mouse, and who doesn't understand how to move between the spaces in a form (even with you right there helping), and who, through it all, is muttering resentfully that they don't want this email account and they're not going to use it...yikes yikes. No, explaining that they do need to use the account so they can check to see if they got a response to their email... *sigh*

Instant messaging: We have just started using Meebo for IM reference. It is such a simple user friendly program. I have answered one question so far from the vaunted "anonymous user". I think this has so much potential for the sort of back and forth conversation you really need to have in a reference interview. Very cool.

Web conferencing: I attended a few web conferences and they're ok. I understand it is a way to give a presentation live to people over a wide geographic area, but... in my experience the sound quality makes it difficult to hear everything said, and usually the room is darkened, lulling the unwary into a sleepy state through no fault of their own. I'm quite sure.

Thing 6: Fame and Fortune

Behold the highly collectible Librarian D.O.A Trading card. Onward! This could actually be used in alot of fun ways. I think I'll tuck something like this into Hot Reads For Cold Nights sign up packets next year.

Thing 5: Even More Flickr

The mashups and puzzlemakers were fun and ok, but I don't plan to use any of them myself, and can't see an application at the library where I'm helping somebody and I say....ooooohhhh did you know you can turn that picture of your nephew into a puzzle?

Thing 4: Flickr-ing Images

I signed up for a Flickr account, luckily my Yahoo login worked. That helps alot.
Uploading a photo was very simple. The simple photo editing tool could be fun and useful for photos that aren't too over or under lighted.

I can see these uses:

People who can't afford photo editing software who want to make small adjustments and corrections can use this.

This can be an alternative to email sharing of photos and the attendant problems that people have opening them on library PCs or their own PCs at home. They can have their friends create Flickr accounts and print them easily.

If you are sharing photos from a conference and you don't have email addresses or other contact information for everyone who might be interested, you can direct them to the Flickr photos.

Here's a stretch--you put great photos of yourself and your festive life out there, become wildly popular and famous, and the rest is covered by People Weekly.

Thing 3: RSS Feeds are sticky

I can see why RSS feeds are useful. You can get compilations of your favorite news and blog sites all in one tidy package. You can do the same by simply marking these in your browser Favorites, but the RSS feed lets you know if a site has updated information. It can be a timesaver if you have many favorites, but the favorites don't always update often. Sort of winnows out the less active from your tour du jour and gives you the good stuff.

I signed up for Bloglines first. I selected a few sites from their favorites list and then listed a few packages to see what would happen.
The site came back with an error message saying it couldn't process the request right now.

Off to Google Reader. I already had an account with them thanks to this blog. This seems a little more bare bones in that I did not see the sort of recommendations that Bloglines had. You're on your own finding sites to add as far as I can see. On the other hand, after a bit of searching, I found a few sites to add, and it is very easy to do.

I wish both sites had better RSS site recommendations or ways to search for them. Maybe its all right there and I just don't see it. Or these aggregate sites work on a simpler level that I thought they should.

Thing 2! Library 2.0: fact or fiction?

I like the basic idea behind Library 2.0, using web based technologies and tools to enhance and promote library services. Using any new tool is generally fun once you get the hang of it. I think it is just a matter of looking at the tool and saying how can we do everything we do well in a new way?

I'm seeing alot of jargon tossed around in the materials talking about Library 2.0. It has the effect that jargon often has--it makes the topic at hand seem scary at worst and semi-unintelligible at best. When you're trying to promote something like Library 2.0 that is all about new means of communication, try not to shut people out by talking down to them in jargon filled extravaganzas.

Onward.

23 Things: Thing 1

I've created this blog as Thing 1.

Now to add an 8x10 glossy for an avatar. Adding an avatar is still Thing 1 though it is a second thing to do. Who counted the things?