Well, I made it! Just under the bell! I did all of the "Things" and 90% of the challenges. Some challenges I could not do because 1) the instructions were not clear (how to take a video and post it to YouTube) 2) I didn't have access (my public library doesn't have NetLibrary).
This was really fun. I really enjoyed learning some of these things, which I have mentioned in previous blog entries. Somethings I was already using, such as Delicious bookmarking. I'm really hooked on it now. I have bookmarked a dozen sites in Delicious. Mostly, what I liked was learning what's out there, and picking the most useful ones and incorporating them into my work process. I may be able to incorporate some things, such as RSS, into the library service I provide, but mainly these tools are for my professional and personal productivity.
This was a really good idea.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
SLA 23 Things: Lesson 22: NetLibrary
Part of my job is to review electronic resources. I just reviewed NetLibrary this year. It did contain many titles of interest to my library. However, I didn't like the mode of access and delivery. In addition, I surveyed our user base last year, and an overwhelming percentage (over 80%), preferred print books for extended scientific topics. They did prefer eBooks for reference information. This demo of NetLibrary is very cool, but my library is not ready to train the users how to download the special software that you need and how to download a book. As I understood when I talked to the sales rep, if it was "checked out" others couldn't download. Hopefully, I am wrong about that. I would be willing to revisit NetLibrary an a couple years, if my survey says people are ready for eBooks.
My public library does not have NetLibrary books, so I was unable to see NetLibrary in action.
My public library does not have NetLibrary books, so I was unable to see NetLibrary in action.
SLA 23Things Lesson 20: videos & Lesson 21: podcasts
Well, I just experimented around with YouTube in the last entry. This time I focused on Video Jug. This was very cool. Everything I tried was very professional. I like the discussions, too. It does not have the variety that YouTube has. I don't see any use for these at my job, however. They are just good to know about to keep abreast with my current and future customer base. The challenge says to create an upload a video, but there is no instruction on how to do this.
Odeo is a great place to find podcasts. It was very easy to search via the search box and categories. One of the sites, www.podshow.com, appears to have been taken over by another company Mevio. So I skipped this one. Podomatic is not that useful because you have to have iTunes do heard the podcast for some of them. I couldn't tell how to get stats on these sites becuase you probably have to register with the site. Just like I said in the previous paragraph, I really don't see using a podcast in my corporate library, but it's good to know about, and I will search podcasts personally.
Odeo is a great place to find podcasts. It was very easy to search via the search box and categories. One of the sites, www.podshow.com, appears to have been taken over by another company Mevio. So I skipped this one. Podomatic is not that useful because you have to have iTunes do heard the podcast for some of them. I couldn't tell how to get stats on these sites becuase you probably have to register with the site. Just like I said in the previous paragraph, I really don't see using a podcast in my corporate library, but it's good to know about, and I will search podcasts personally.
SLA 23Things lesson 19 - Web award sites
I went through the entire list on SEOmoz. I stopped and explored and added to my Delicious bookmarks several of them. ParkingSpace.com (because I'm trying to sell a parking space); Technorati (blogs, etc.); Backpack (organization); Care2 (charity); biznik (business networking); YouTube; and Yourminis (widgets).
I did not care for Backpack. Contrary to the awards site, I found it hard to use. I didn't really see the utility of it. Professionally, I use Outlook and that does all I need. I liked Care2 because it had many interesting stories and ways to get involved. I am interested in biznik because, in addition to being an information professional, I am also a retail owner. I like being able to ask questions about the retail business. Yourminis is an interesting collection of widgets. Next time I update my iGoogle page, I will use this.
Finally, I spent the most time with YouTube. I searched "retail management" - didn't find much of any use there. I searched "libraries" - a few interesting things there. There was one that was over an hour, so I didn't watch the whole thing. I also search some personal topics (dog training). Some useful clips. In general, I thought most of it was a waste of time to watch, but there were some good ones. It's someplace I would definitely check if I had the need.
I did not care for Backpack. Contrary to the awards site, I found it hard to use. I didn't really see the utility of it. Professionally, I use Outlook and that does all I need. I liked Care2 because it had many interesting stories and ways to get involved. I am interested in biznik because, in addition to being an information professional, I am also a retail owner. I like being able to ask questions about the retail business. Yourminis is an interesting collection of widgets. Next time I update my iGoogle page, I will use this.
Finally, I spent the most time with YouTube. I searched "retail management" - didn't find much of any use there. I searched "libraries" - a few interesting things there. There was one that was over an hour, so I didn't watch the whole thing. I also search some personal topics (dog training). Some useful clips. In general, I thought most of it was a waste of time to watch, but there were some good ones. It's someplace I would definitely check if I had the need.
Friday, December 12, 2008
SLA 23Things lesson 18-productivity tools
I'll start with the negative. I didn't like everything in this lesson. I didn't get Google Desktop at all. Remember The Milk was sort of useless. And I thought the 45 minute video of David Allen was extremely boring. I knew most of that already.
I tried out iGoogle and 43Things.com. In iGoogle, mostly I added blogs and some true gadgets. I organized them in tabs. This will be very useful professionally, because everything is organized. My only comment about this is the number of organizational tools there are. I guess you just pick the one you like most and stick with that. I've learned, in working on 23 Things, about other tools for organizing blogs.
43Things.com is good for personal goal setting. It's nice to read how other people have achieved that goal. Most likely, I would only use this for personal goals since we set official goals at my company.
I tried out iGoogle and 43Things.com. In iGoogle, mostly I added blogs and some true gadgets. I organized them in tabs. This will be very useful professionally, because everything is organized. My only comment about this is the number of organizational tools there are. I guess you just pick the one you like most and stick with that. I've learned, in working on 23 Things, about other tools for organizing blogs.
43Things.com is good for personal goal setting. It's nice to read how other people have achieved that goal. Most likely, I would only use this for personal goals since we set official goals at my company.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Wikis
I can think of an immediate use of wikis at work. It would be useful as a place to go for various pathfinders. I can see doing that that as one wiki with multiple topics. I would want to restrict who could edit the wiki to library staff.
On another note, I thought this exercise was a little confusing. The Sandbox was not that clear what to do. I would have to actually start working on a project, determine what I need to do, before I could really figure it out. Also, when I tried to add my page to the SLA wiki, there was a problem with Confluence, so I couldn't complete the assignment.
At my organization, I will have to use the designated wiki software.
On another note, I thought this exercise was a little confusing. The Sandbox was not that clear what to do. I would have to actually start working on a project, determine what I need to do, before I could really figure it out. Also, when I tried to add my page to the SLA wiki, there was a problem with Confluence, so I couldn't complete the assignment.
At my organization, I will have to use the designated wiki software.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Rollyo
Rollyo is very interesting. Very cool, but I'm not sure how much I'd use it. I like the ability to put your Searchroll on your Firefox toobar. Can you have multiple Searchrolls on your toolbar?
I have the same question that someone mentioned on the SLA wiki. Can this be used on a library intranet acting as a federated search of our recommended websites? That would be great.
I have the same question that someone mentioned on the SLA wiki. Can this be used on a library intranet acting as a federated search of our recommended websites? That would be great.
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