ONLINE APPLICATIONS AND TOOLS

I was absolutely amazed at the number and quality of online productivity tools that are available out there! And all free!
I think there's more than enough there to be able to run and manage a small business. It's all there, from simple word processing like Google docs, to online database and reporting, project management software, online invoicing, and online organiser, to name just a few of the free tools available at http://zoho.com/
Apart from being free, Google docs and zoho are great for collaborative projects as all participants have access to the same document and are able to contribute and edit without creating different versions/stages of the document. The fact that documents are not tied to a particular PC, makes them accessible anywhere, anytime from any computer. Great for work in progress, UNI assignments and any shared documents.
At the moment, our library has only one public PC with word processing software, which is in great demand, and we often have to turn people away, when all they need to do, is to quickly type up a letter or a resume. Now we'll be able to show them these online tools and applications as an alternative.
Zoho obviously offers a lot more than Google docs, but since I have only ever created simple documents, like library policies and procedures, I would have to spend some time exploring and experimenting with different tools.

Week 10: Mashups

Life is beautiful!!!


This was a very enjoyable learning exercise!
The featured video on Google Maps API is excellent. The examples were very good. I especially liked API Sites Panoramic Maps which at the click of the mouse open a picture of that particular location.
A very useful tool for real estate business and tourism promotions. The other interesting example was Wikimapia, where user generated data can be added to maps, and anyone can have a go.
Being able to add different features to Google maps is absolutely amazing! It has a great potential for so many uses, even in libraries!
My very favourite site though is Keir Clarke's Star Viewer. http://keirclarke.googlepages.com/sky.htm
I can spend hours looking at it! Wow! It's beautiful! I shall certainly keep going back to it often.
Big huge tabs was really easy to use, (once I stopped hyperventilating looking for instructions on how to do a Mashup), and realised that all I had to do was select one of the examples, click on it and then follow the steps. Easy and lots of fun! I will go back to it when I have more time and create fun family albums.
Mashups can be used in libraries as promotional tools/displays, fun staff albums around special events, book week, renovations/building of a new libraries etc. Great for History and Heritage displays!

PODCASTS AND AUDIO

I must admit that Podcasts do not hold much interest for me. This probably has a lot to do with my age, but I can see how they would be interesting to younger people. A good example of this would be the Cheshire Public Library Podcast (Library Success wiki).The podcast is entirely teen-driven cultural magazine, featuring teen writers, musicians,reviewers and more.
Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County uses podcasts mainly for writers/poets talks and readings.
Podcasts can also be used for children's books reading, staff discussions and meetings, tour guides, educational lessons/lectures, and probably much more.
Personally, I found that some of them took a while to load and sound quality was not very good in some cases.
I looked at Stanford University's free podcast courses in the Online Education Database, but the download time was around 30 minutes, so in the end i gave up. But I must admit that there were one or two courses there that looked very interesting. So perhaps I will revisit their site soon and explore some more.

Week 8: Answer Boards

This week's lesson was very easy and interesting! Once again i have spent hours instead of minutes doing this, but it was fun!
I looked at Answer board Librarians wiki,
Wiki Answers, and Yahoo!7 Answers. I answered some questions while there and earned 107 points, what ever that means!
I deliberately stayed away from Taste Website as I would have spent hours in there. But I will definetly visit it soon!
Slamming the Boards is a very good idea, and by the looks of some of the answers out there, we need more librarians out there "slamming the boards"! Unfortunately smaller libraries may not have enough staff to be able to participate on regular basis.
Answer Boards are a great way for shy people (like myself) to get out there and participate and build up their confidence.
I am very glad that I decided to to this course!

Week 7: Tagging, Folksonomies, del.icio.us and Library Thing

I must admit that I found this week a little overwhelming. First of all I realised that I had a lot of catching up to do,and then I found the whole thing a little challenging. I think the most difficult thing for me is to remember. After I read the instructions, visit different sites and then attempt the practical exercises, i tend to forget what I read, which sites I visited and what I observed. So I find that I am constantly going back and forth so it takes a long time to complete lessons.

del.icio.us - very useful tool, certainly beats the old bookmarking system specially since with del.icio.us , you can tag, bundle and share your favourite sites and at the same time be able to access them from any computer, anywhere. It would be a very useful tool to researchers, for referencing work, especially for school homework help, and for people with special interests.

Library Thing is awesome! It is book lovers' paradise!
Unfortunately it's late and I don't have enough time to explore as much as I would like to. I have joined and entered several titles that just happen to be sitting on my bookshelf.
This is a great tool for cataloguing and managing small collections,connecting with people who share similar reading interests, for book clubs and discussion groups,keeping up to date with new publications and much more. Great potential for libraries!
I am certainly going to revisit this site when I have more time to explore. Also, something to look forward to when I retire!

Video Embeding

This was both fun and frustrating! I really enjoyed exploring and I have spent hours looking up different subjects on YouTube and Google. It really is addictive!
It is great to see that some libraries are taking full advantage of this new technology and I can certainly see how video embedding can be used for oral history, staff induction purposes, book reviews, displays and promotions and so on.
The frustrating part was embedding the video. I had no problem adding it as video bar, but I had lots of trouble copying URL from the YouTube, and it took ages before I realised that you actually copy it into the text window without clicking on the video icon.
I am not sure how much of this I'll be able to use at my library, but I am very glad that I have learned how to do it.

Nature

wikis

I really enjoyed this learning exercise! I only wish I had more time to explore!
There is soooooo much out there but not enough time to look at everything.
I did manage to visit a few of the reccommended WIKIs though.
The Book Lovers WIKI was quite good, and so was Montana History WIKI.
I noticed that input into Montana History WIKI is by "Invite Keys" only.
I thought that "The full library success: A best practice WIKI" was very good.
Our Council's manuals and procedures are stored in TRIM, and anyone who ever used TRIM knows how dificult it is to find something when you need it.
I think hosting a WIKI on intranet would be a better alternative.
WIKIs can also be used by staff for joint projects and to coordinate events, specially for libraries with multiple branches.
I have looked at WIKIpedias, but haven't had a chance to contribute yet. Hope to do it soon.

Week 4: Real Simple Syndication

Even though this was supposed to be a very simple task, (and for most people it probably was simple) my first attempt ended up in frustration. I walked away from it and didn't go back for
quite a while. Finally I went back to it last night and managed to subscribe to Powerhouse
Museum's "Picture of the day blog", "ABS for Librarians" "ABC News" and several humour and jokes RSS feeds that I selected from the extensive list available on the "Bloglines".
One can spend absolutely hours and hours looking at what is out there! It really is mind "bloggling"
I am not sure just how useful all that is though, but I can certainly see some potential for using RSS feeds to keep library patrons up to date with events, book lists, library news....
I can also see that people with special interests would find RSS feeds convenient and time saving.

The hardest thing so far has been starting new email accounts and remembering addresses and passwords. I think I need a separate address book for this course!