YouTube

I've been using YouTube for a long time to watch music videos. I think it would be fun to have a teen challenge to create a library commercial on YouTube similar to what Ask a Librarian did.

Here is my embedded video. I thought it was hilarious.

Rollyo

I like Rollyo. I made a search roll with some of the kids' craft sites I use to help me with ideas for storytime crafts. Find it on the right under the Library Thing gadget that STILL isn't working. Rollyo is definitely a good productivity tool.

Online Productivity Tools

I set up a start page on both igoogle and My Yahoo, and I can't decide which I like best. I looked at PageFlakes and wasn't too excited about it. I think I like My Yahoo best, but igoogle seems faster. I was happy to find a really nice "My Netflix" App for My Yahoo. For igoogle, I could only find an RSS feed that shows my Netflix queue. I tried start pages years ago, but these are much nicer!

I tried the Google Calendar and liked it, especially the printing capability. I don't think it would be very useful, though. I use the calendar in Outlook to keeping track of what's going on at work. But if there is a time when I need to print or share a calendar, I'll keep these online calendars in mind.

I liked the Remember the Milk list tool, especially since you can add it to igoogle. Again, though, I don't know if I'll use it.

Backpack looks like a project management tool I helped set up for a government agency a few years ago. They paid $60,000 for it and never used it. I think they would have been better off with Backpack.

The tool that really made me go "Wow!" was Zamzar. I have had several people come to the library with a Wordperfect or Works document that they couldn't update because the patron computers only had Word. If only I had known that converting a file could be so easy. I wonder how long it usually takes. I'll have to test it out. And how nice to be able to convert music files from .wav to .mp3, etc. Oh, yeah. This is one to remember.

Library Thing

I created an account on Library Thing about 6 months ago just to experiment with it. We also use it at our branch to keep track of donations we add. I love how easy it is to add books. Just scan the ISBN barcode and click to confirm! I didn't know about Library Thing Local. What a great way to advertise library events.

I had a little trouble adding the Library Thing widget to my blog. I think it was because my template is a custom one. But I googled the error message and found the html fix. I have my blog open in another tab and the Library Thing widget is still loading, so I don't know what it will look like. Hmm...

Wikis

I've used Wikipedia, of course, and found it very useful. Like many people have said, it's a good place to start. Yes, anyone can update the information, but anyone can also write a book, a magazine article or a regular web page. You just have to be cautious and check the references at the bottom of the page. I've also used other wikis, including This Might Be a Wiki, a fan wiki for my favorite band. Wikis are great for that kind of application. How many times have you seen something on a Web site that you wanted to correct or comment on? Me too.

I updated the Neflin 23 Things Wiki. It was frustrating here at work because it took about a half an hour to load, update and save the page. But at home it would probably have taken a few minutes.

I really liked some of the examples of how libraries have used wikis. The Library Success wiki is a fantastic way to share resources. And the SJCPL Subject Guides are great for helping and informing patrons. Also safe, since only staff are allowed to update it.

Someone mentioned putting wiki functionality into the library catalog so that patrons could add book reviews to catalog entries. Of course we'd have to monitor it carefully, but I think it's a terrific idea!

Social Media

Boy, this could be a big time-stealer!

I can see the value of checking one of these sites to scan the headlines and get an idea of what people are talking about during the day. But I really don't see what's wrong with letting an editor decide what news I see. They are professionals, after all! Maybe I'm too trusting, but I think the editors of a reputable news site are going to be more balanced than the people that have nothing better to do than to spend all day on the social media sites. I do sometimes like to see comments that people leave about articles, but I think most news sites have that capability as well. Actually, if I read too many comments, I just end up irritated.

I looked at the 4 social media sites and I like Mixx the most. Digg was ok, Newsvine wouldn't load, and I thought Reddit was ugly. I read a Washington Post article and shared it with Digg because Mixx wasn't one of the options. So I had to open an account with Digg. It was pretty easy and kind of interesting to see how fast other posts scooted it down in the list.

Tagging and Delicious

I think tagging is the best! It's so much more flexible than putting your favorites in folders. Now you can categorize to your heart's content instead of just picking one category for each favorite. I love it.

When I first read about Delicious I was very excited about being able to share my bookmarks, not with other people, but with myself. I often run across websites at home that I can use at work (and vice versa, and end up sending myself an email with the link. Not necessary any more! I imagine it would be perfect for people who travel, too.

I opened a Delicious account and uploaded my favorites to it. I was surprised to see how many tags it made for each bookmark and I was amazed at how appropriate they were. It was pretty easy (but kind of tedious) to delete the tags I didn't want. On my home computer I downloaded the buttons for Internet Explorer, and I thought they were very easy to use. BUT - (big but) Internet Explorer stopped working half the time. NOT good! So I uninstalled it and everything was right in the world again. So I tried the bookmarklets that get put in the "links" toolbar. That works great.

I looked at how libraries are using delicious and I really like the idea of library staff sharing bookmarks with each other for reference and readers advisory websites in a dedicated delicious account. I can also imagine giving patrons access to the library's favorite bookmarks, but it seems like someone would need to periodically check to make sure all links were still "alive".