Thing 23

I was surprised at how library 2.0 my library is. We have a lot of freedom in what we do at where I work and very little bureaucracy's to deal with compared to a public library and so we are able to add and create and use tools when we want.

Yes there should be another 23 Things, but only when there are new "things" and enough to necessitate it.

Thing 22

I will use a variety of ways to keep up with web 2.0. News feeds, RSS for library2.0 subjects, conversations with co-workers. Being aware of trends and not afraid to try things out will be a key part in staying up to date. Keeping my blog, not sure about the likelihood of that. But I am sure to set time aside to keep up to date.

Thing 21

I did have a myspace account, friends talked me into opening one up. It was another way to communicate with people, but I prefer email. Gather.com seems to be a little more my taste, the networks for MN reads and MPR seem like a great way to share opinions and hear others opinions. I am amazed at all the many networking sites available!

Thing 20

The library I work at used to have a myspace page, turns out no one really kept it up. I can see the potential of a face book or myspace page for a public library, especially teen services. It is however another opportunity for free marketing. Myspace is now owned by fox, and generates revenue off of ads. Myspace uses the information you put on your page, interests and what not, and then advertises specifically to your interests. There are social networking sites for career development as well such as climber and linked in which are more appropriate for adults, in my humble opinion.

Thing 19

Podcasts are great, I use iTunes to subscribe to most mpr podcasts. I enjoy the ability to listen to shows when I have time. I've never produced a podcast before, but the software to do it is very easy to work with. There are some libraries that produce podcasts for staff covering training options. An opportunity for a academic library would be to post library instructions in a podcast form on the library website instructing on the use of 360 Search for example.

Thing 18

This is a great video I found. It was posted about one year ago by Laura Cohen and Soren Johannessen. I agree with her views, she touches on some very good points. It was interesting reading the comments. It seems the most positive comments were from librarians or people in the field. I could easily tell the negative comments were from people not professionally involved with libraries and not knowledgeable about current library issues. The images do not directly relate to libraries or library 2.0, but they are beautiful.

Thing 17

I enjoy the database feature of signing in, saving items to a folder et cetera. I believe these features help students to organize their research and search process. When I do bibliographic instructions I make a point of highlighting these features. I have received positive comments from students. I find it helpful when creating bibliographies as well. The RSS feed on the other hand is not a feature I will be using, but I do inform students of it. RSS would be most useful to someone doing an extended project or research on a topic. I help students with a variety of different subject areas. It would be beneficial however to be updated on new content, but with the number of databases at my school it is not practical.

If a group of librarians shared sign-on information and thus a profile on ebsco's CINAHL they could then share new items with each other and collaborate effectively without even needing to communicate with each other, each librarian or instructor would gain knowledge.

Thing 16

We have the research project calculator on our library website page near the research help. I do incorporate the calculator during my library instructions and demonstrate the helpful links that guide the student through the various steps. I was not aware of the teachers guide before this exercise and will bring it up to instructors when the opportunity arises. When I introduce this feature to students I seem to always get good reactions. I encourage it as a organizational tool and a tool to use if they feel overwhelmed at the beginning of a big project because it may help to see the process as individual steps rather than one large deadline.

Thing 15

I loved t' pirate puzzle. Anythin' pirate be number one in me book. International talk like a pirate day be September 19th. It be much better t' talk like a pirate in real life, rather than second life.

http://talklikeapirate.com/translator.html

Thing 14

I enjoy using my library thing page. I mostly use it to keep track of my own reading, I don't do much with the tagging options or reviews. Although when I started I did envision myself using those features more. I like seeing the numbers for other readers of my books. Our library has a library thing account, we have a link for it on our website. It is a good promotional tool. We are in the process of re-designing the website and are considering a library thing widget on the site, but are also concerned about widget overload. Library Thing also seems to be a great marketing tool for new authors.

Thing 13

I created a igoogle. I like the ease of adding in new widgets and changing the layout. Pageflakes is very similar to igoogle, but I will use igoogle because I also use the calendar in google. I have not often used a calendar or an organizer, I mostly keep appointments in my head or on notes. I still like the ease of using paper. To do list and remember the milk will be helpful because of the reminders. The google calendar seems to have a nice feature of sharing you calendar with friends. Plus the reminders are a nice benefit. I like it because I can keep track of personal events as well as work, outside of work applications.

Thing 12

I like digg, I wasn't aware of reddit.com and I think I will go to reddit first from now on. There are less adds and the content seemed a little more unique.

Are these sites helpful? Well up until now I was not aware that Tim Burton is doing his take on Alice In Wonderland, and this is terrific news! Even better news, Johny Depp may be playing the Mad Hatter. I really don't think this makes me a more productive librarian, but I will have some good news for a few friends of mine next time we go out for drinks. I joke, but it is a good way to stay in touch of what people find most relevant, most interesting, or most important, as well as entertaining.

Thing 11

I have been using my del.ic.ious. account for a while now. I also set up a Furl account, but only use the del. account. Firefox has great plug-ins for del. so you can have have your tags at the left of your screen in an different pane so while you scroll through your tags the page your are on is not disturbed. It is very helpful with reference because I can access many different tags, websites, without a bunch of clicking and windows popping up everywhere. And of course it is helpful in keeping track of useful websites on any topic. We have two accounts for our school, but they are not used by everyone, it seems to work best for individual use.

Thing 10

Wiki is not really new to me, I have added to wikis before. In fact, at my current employment we have a private wiki for the librarians. We share fun facts, websites, discuss and post news. It is easy to set up, easy to use, and a good way to stay up-to-date. I think people should be open to use them, not afraid of losing control over content.

That said, no wiki should be considered an academic source, it is more of an open source than a peer reviewed source, and it should not be used in an academic setting to gather information. No instructor will allow a wiki as a source at the school I work at. Most students know this as well. The MN150 Wiki was a pleasure to read.

Thing 9

I liked Zoho writer better than Google docs from the start. There seems to be more functionality and formatting options, I like the tagging option best. All the formating options are right at the top (I am tired of drop down menus) no drop down menus and that is a plus. Google docs is just fine, I have used it before. It is nice to have different options, rather than always using Word and attaching docs to emails. The option for public or private is nice as well. But it leaves a person all that more connected to the Internet, I do not have Internet at home, Internet access can be intermittent, at best, for those of us who rent and live in older buildings, program like this is not very practical in this situation.

Thing 8

eFolio Minnesota is a wonderful tool. Marketing yourself on the web is a great way to enhance a career and get a foot in the door. Plus it is free and easy to set-up and maintain. I recommend this site to most people newly graduated or job searching, in fact a friend recommended the site to me three years ago. Feel free to check out my site, I have not updated it in quite some time however http://janetmceathron.efoliomn1.com/

I don't use the picture sharing or social websites much, but they are all pretty user friendly and intuitive. I have used Google docs with a committee at work and was not fond of the program overall because of the formatting and we found it a challenge to keep track of editing.

Thing 7

I find the webinars fantastic. I have attended a couple of the minitex webinars already. I was able to communicate with people through the phone and see the demonstrations and presentation on the computer, it is a very needed tool for people who are not able to take time off from their work in order to travel to a conference. It saves time. It is efficient. And is a good way to keep informed and connected with people in far off libraries.

At my work everyone uses instant messaging through Microsoft. If I have a question, or need help with something I am able to see who is signed on, communicate with them and in no time at all I have an answer or a direction to turn to.

Email, well somedays I can do without it (most days really). Often times email is not used efficiently and I find it tiresome to have to scroll down past a whole lot of forwards. I also think people are able to put off making a decision or an action through email, verses an in person conversation, it is just too easy for people to ignore emails or put it on tomorrow's to do list.

I think all the options should be considered, use depends on the people you work and their communication styles. Whichever is used the most, keep.

Thing 6

ImageChef.com Poetry Blender


The trading cards would be great to hand out to students at orientation, or to have during library week. That way students have the basic information they need plus some interesting facts about the librarians and library. And hopefully they would feel welcome using the library and asking for help because of the fun nature of the cards.

Thing 5

There are so many fun features out there, I spent a lot more time playing around with the different options than I thought I would. The puzzle and the calendar stand out in my mind as fun handouts or prizes for a library. It seems that for all of the options, each one could be used somehow in a library, I think it will really get the creative juices flowing.

I have some photos set to public, but mostly set to private. I think sharing with friends and family will be good, but not with the general public. It does feel like a small sense of invasion to me, pictures are very personal. I was happy to have the option available.

Thing 4 Pt. 2

This is a picture of the Minnesota School of Business Richfield Campus Library where I work. Currently the library is in the process of expanding, we will be adding two more set of shelves within the next couple of weeks. Now, the shelves are so crowded in places we are unable to add new additions. Our collection development librarians are busy.