Monday, March 31, 2008

Thingy 18: Online video

I enjoyed exploring YouTube and Google Video. The links to related videos and user comments were helpful. Librarians can use video in a number of ways for library instruction, training, and progamming. My only concern is with the heavy use of bandwidth causing our computers to slow way down.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Thingy 17: ELM

I use the ELM databases all the time at work and at home so I was pleasantly suprised to learn about a few new tools and applications. I had previously set up an account in Ebsco for journal alerts but didn't realize that Ebsco and Proquest also allow you to set up websites for your research topics. It's also great to be able to add notes to your NetLibrary books and search book contents electronically. I hope that students and teachers are aware of these helpful features.

Thingy 15: Online games

I took a look at Puzzle Pirates. It's attractive and very detailed and might be fun if solving puzzles with pirates is your cup of tea. But it just isn't mine. Aarrggh! I prefer the arcade type of games where I can take out my aggressions by mindlessly shooting asteroids or UFOs, so I was happy to find some of the "classic" games on the PBS program site. Then I followed the skater dude around Info Island and became quite dizzy. The instructions recommended trying Second Life at home, but for me this begs the question, if I am going to have a virtual second life, do I really want to spend it in a library? I realize that sounds like heresy. I'd better find some asteroids to blow up before my next reference desk shift.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Thingy 16: Student tools

I knew assignment calculator tools like these existed but had never looked at them or tried them before. I was impressed. The RPC support materials look extremely helpful for library research, e.g., using Boolean terms, citing sources, and even for non-library research topics like conducting interviews and public speaking tips. The calculator is helpful in breaking down large projects into smaller manageable tasks and creating a schedule. The calculators could be used or adapted for almost any kind of project, like preparing for a book group presentation or a conference or studying for a test. Now if someone would just develop a dissertation project calculator, that would help me out a lot!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Thing 14: The Library Thing Thing

I started adding and tagging some books I have recently read or am currently reading. While it was fun and the site was attractive, I admit that it took me some time to figure out how Library Thing could be worthwhile or useful to an individual or to a library. But now that I have done some exploring and some more tagging, I am hooked on Library Thing! I may even have to splurge on a paid account so I can enter and catalog ALL my books. Libraries can create subject lists; school/ academic libraries can tag books according to a specific class or program. Book groups can use for discussion and sharing information; individuals can find others with similar interests. I'm not sure how well it would work for older books, though I see you can also search the LOC for bibliographic information. A friend of mine (a non-librarian) is looking for a way to catalog his collection of rare books--I'm not sure this is it. He's also concerned about privacy. I have a collection of Modern Library editions that I'd like to tag if I can find them via LT.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Thing 13: Online productivity tools

At home I use an iGoogle start page. It includes a calendar, headlines from selected new sources, weather, my horoscope, links and gadgets of my choosing, and sports a lovely beach theme. At the library we use Groupwise for our e-mail and scheduling needs. Those are about all the productivity tools I can handle at the moment, but if I ever feel the desire to post some online stickies or convert a PDF, I'll know where to go.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Thing 12: Diggin' Digg! (or not)

Just when I feel I can barely keep up with my local newspaper and national news I find out about these social media sites. As if there were enough hours in the day! But I did take a look at Digg and Mixx, where I see an article about Brett Favre retiring, well, I'd read that already somewhere else this morning, but here's something interesting, another "is it fiction or non-fiction" controversy "Author Admits Acclaimed Memoir Is Fantasy." I see we have this book (Love and Consequences) on order. Sounds good. I want to read it. Reserve placed.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Thing 11: Yummy delicious

I tried some tagging (see previous post) and set up a del.icio.us account. Now I have attractive new icons on my tool bar. The material and examples presented were helpful in showing how libraries and scholars could use social bookmarking to share and organize bookmarks. Thank you. However, as many people have commented, it's just one more thing to have to check. I think I would have used del.icio.us more if I were just starting out collecting favorites/bookmarks or preparing for a class. As far as tags go, I suppose the caveat is that they can be subjective and not necessarily accurate, unlike carefully crafted (ha), politically correct (ha again) library subject headings.