I have enjoyed the program, and hope other people here have enjoyed it also, whether or not they were able to finish. There are a lot of tools out there. It's good to note that EPL is already using many of them: IM/Meebo, blogs, MyMediaMall, and the EPL presence on Facebook. Some tools that were new to me that I'll likely keep up with are Facebook, RSS feeds (I like catching the Tribune headlines and Evanston Review among other things), photos on Flickr or Facebook (when I have some new good ones to upload). I may also do a wiki for my school at some point. And of course the prizes are a nice incentive. Did I mention I have to win that iPod? (OK, I guess the flash drive and/or camera will do also...)
By the way, I'm hoping they leave the site and the blog links for everyone out there for a while. I didn't get a chance to read all of them lately, but would like to at some point.
TTFN,
Theo
(image generated through bighugelabs.com)
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Audiobooks & MyMediaMall
I have explored a few audiobooks and the past and have explained or shown this to patrons. A nice feature is that the titles are in the EPL catalog. If an electronic title shows up in the search, it should be fairly intuitive to the user that it is electronic format: you get the book icon with the lightning bolt through it, and also it states [electronic resource (eBook)]. You can also search for electronic sources directly in the catalog without having to go to MyMediaMall. Try this search for items on Microsoft Excel - search for "excel and ebook" as a words or phrase search, and only ebooks show up. I need to explore them more (after I get the iPod - sigh...).
Podcasts
I explored podcasts and some of the podcast directories. I like podcastalley.com a little more than podcast.com, mainly because you can search on podcastalley without needing a user ID. (At this stage I just don't want another user ID). In Google Reader I've subscribed to my favorite radio program - Michael Feldman's show Whad'ya Know? I've been listening for years, so getting a podcast just makes it easier to catch up if I miss it on Saturday. I may try other programs, but I'll need a good 'hook' to stay with them.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
EPL 18/19 - Online productivity tools and Web 2.0 awards tools
online productivity tools
These seem very cool in the right setting. I have a friend that planned her daughter’s wedding guest list through this. Both set of parents involved were able to collaborate on a spreadsheet to make a guest list – no need to e-mail back and forth and track versions!
web 2.0 tools
The seomoz site is great – I’ve bookmarked it. I have already used many of these tools, including craigslist, careerbuilder, pbwiki, wikispaces, GoogleEarth, iGoogle, Farecast, and of course others from ELL. Craiglist helped me quickly find a used bike when I wanted one (was able to narrow to specific parts of Chicago) and also helped me sell a pre-purchased hotel room in Manhattan to someone from Washington state! The new tool I explored is SpanishPod – I’ll check this out more once I own that iPod…
These seem very cool in the right setting. I have a friend that planned her daughter’s wedding guest list through this. Both set of parents involved were able to collaborate on a spreadsheet to make a guest list – no need to e-mail back and forth and track versions!
web 2.0 tools
The seomoz site is great – I’ve bookmarked it. I have already used many of these tools, including craigslist, careerbuilder, pbwiki, wikispaces, GoogleEarth, iGoogle, Farecast, and of course others from ELL. Craiglist helped me quickly find a used bike when I wanted one (was able to narrow to specific parts of Chicago) and also helped me sell a pre-purchased hotel room in Manhattan to someone from Washington state! The new tool I explored is SpanishPod – I’ll check this out more once I own that iPod…
EPL # 15 – Library 2.0 and the future of libraries
I read the Wiki article on Library 2.0 and some of the OCLC articles. These things caught my attention:
OPAC 2.0: I like the idea of the library catalog being more interactive, such as user book reviews, persistent links, and social bookmarking. This should generate interest from users.
An idea from the OCLC Newsletter:
“This librarian [Michael Stephens] does not buy technology for the sake of technology. “Techno-worship” does not exist here. Without a firm foundation in the mission and goals of the institution, new technologies are not implemented for the sake of coolness and status.” I agree with this completely – you need to understand your audience. Many people of the older generation will not embrace these tools, but younger audiences do. Since the public library serves all age groups, we need to embrace and understand the tools to serve and communicate with them. But if a particular technology does not help or is not embraced by a particular demographic, we have to be sensitive to that.
OPAC 2.0: I like the idea of the library catalog being more interactive, such as user book reviews, persistent links, and social bookmarking. This should generate interest from users.
An idea from the OCLC Newsletter:
“This librarian [Michael Stephens] does not buy technology for the sake of technology. “Techno-worship” does not exist here. Without a firm foundation in the mission and goals of the institution, new technologies are not implemented for the sake of coolness and status.” I agree with this completely – you need to understand your audience. Many people of the older generation will not embrace these tools, but younger audiences do. Since the public library serves all age groups, we need to embrace and understand the tools to serve and communicate with them. But if a particular technology does not help or is not embraced by a particular demographic, we have to be sensitive to that.
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