What links did you choose? How would the ability to shorten links come in handy with students?
I have used http://is.gd, http://bit.ly, and http://ow.ly to shorten links in the past.
Recently I shortened the following link for our library twitter acccount:
http://www.andybrain.com/archive/journey_to_the_center_of_an_ebook.htm
The shortened link was much more manageable, especially for linking to something in a tweet, as you can see:
http://is.gd/ds7pp
If you are able to utilize html links that can be shortened such as this, then I don't think link shorteners should be recommended. As one of the other 23 Things bloggers mentioned, people like to know what they're getting into when they click a link. However, if you're using a tool, like twitter, a facebook page such as our school's facebook page, and space and html-use is limited, URL shorteners are very useful for these instances. Otherwise, I don't see the benefit in them.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Things Ten: Searching Twitter & Tweeting
What do you think of Twitter as a research tool?
Searching twitter is both useful and sometimes confusing. Twitter is always going to be about what is happening right now -- and in that way, it can be useful for current events, finding out what people are saying or thinking about what is going on, what links people are sharing to interesting blogs, commentaries, or news articles, etc. But essentially, it's too transient to be very useful for anything that is not occurring at this very moment in time.
Who did you follow? Did any one follow you?
We currently use twitter for our library here @germannalibrary. We have only thirty followers -- which is not much considering the amount of promoting and mentioning we do of our account. Hopefully we'll get some more in the fall. We follow twitter feeds such as:
@ALALibrary
@mental_floss
@GermannaCC
@TwitrLit
@librarybeat
@LibraryJournal
and several others.
Searching twitter is both useful and sometimes confusing. Twitter is always going to be about what is happening right now -- and in that way, it can be useful for current events, finding out what people are saying or thinking about what is going on, what links people are sharing to interesting blogs, commentaries, or news articles, etc. But essentially, it's too transient to be very useful for anything that is not occurring at this very moment in time.
Who did you follow? Did any one follow you?
We currently use twitter for our library here @germannalibrary. We have only thirty followers -- which is not much considering the amount of promoting and mentioning we do of our account. Hopefully we'll get some more in the fall. We follow twitter feeds such as:
@ALALibrary
@mental_floss
@GermannaCC
@TwitrLit
@librarybeat
@LibraryJournal
and several others.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Thing Nine: Photos and Images
Desk friend.
More Desk Friends
A useful tool.
Do you see a use for Flickr in your library?
I definitely think that flickr is an easy way to upload and host images and would be very useful for our library if we need to post images quickly without having to go through the trouble of getting them hosted at our website.
Thing Seven: Slidecasting
10 attitudes of successful workers
View more presentations from notthatbookish.
How did you put it together?
This was put together in powerpoint a couple of weeks ago for some training at Germanna.
Do you see a use for slidecasting in your library?
Right now we are working with a program called Camtastia which does at least a couple of the same things that slidecasting would do. I feel that slidecasting has some bigger limitations though. However, I think that slidecasting may be beneficial in other ways.
Thing Six: Chat
Can you imagine communicating with colleagues or students via chat on a regular basis?
I have used a variety of chat programs. If it is an individual chat where there are only two participants, it is easy to keep up, but if you are ever in an actual chat "room" where there are several participants I find keeping up to be hard, especially because I am fairly long-winded and by the time I've typed something of note the conversation has usually moved on.
Recently, we used a video-chat and text-chat program at work to hold an inter-campus meeting. There was an issue with the sound on my end so I could only chat by typing and not through the video/audio chat. My input was always a little bit later than everyone else's! So it can be tricky at times for sure.
I don't know that I could see chatting with colleagues or students on a regular basis. My job in the library is comprised of a variety of things and I don't think it would be easy to schedule a time when I could be guaranteed to not be away from my desk. If this were not the case, then it may be something beneficial to the library.
I have used a variety of chat programs. If it is an individual chat where there are only two participants, it is easy to keep up, but if you are ever in an actual chat "room" where there are several participants I find keeping up to be hard, especially because I am fairly long-winded and by the time I've typed something of note the conversation has usually moved on.
Recently, we used a video-chat and text-chat program at work to hold an inter-campus meeting. There was an issue with the sound on my end so I could only chat by typing and not through the video/audio chat. My input was always a little bit later than everyone else's! So it can be tricky at times for sure.
I don't know that I could see chatting with colleagues or students on a regular basis. My job in the library is comprised of a variety of things and I don't think it would be easy to schedule a time when I could be guaranteed to not be away from my desk. If this were not the case, then it may be something beneficial to the library.
Thing Five: Wikis
What so you think of the listed examples? Are they functional?
St. Joseph County Public Library Subject Guides, to me, was the most functional of the wikis, and the most helpful.
Is your library using a wiki?
If so, for what function?
If not, what internal projects at your library might benefit from using a wiki?
No we are not. If we did use a wiki, I suppose it could be used for the purposes of hosting LibGuides or for hosting a wiki about how to use our library's web page. I think either of these things would be beneficial and useful.
St. Joseph County Public Library Subject Guides, to me, was the most functional of the wikis, and the most helpful.
Is your library using a wiki?
If so, for what function?
If not, what internal projects at your library might benefit from using a wiki?
No we are not. If we did use a wiki, I suppose it could be used for the purposes of hosting LibGuides or for hosting a wiki about how to use our library's web page. I think either of these things would be beneficial and useful.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Thing Three: Social Networking
If you are already a social or professional network user, how long have you been networking online? Do you use a social network for personal contacts, professional contacts, or both?
Once upon a time I had a MySpace but I closed it down a while ago. I currently have a Facebook, and have had for several years. [I don't know exactly how long.] I have always used these essentially for personal use and not professional. If I had a more extensive resume, perhaps I could see the use of a site like linked in or even facebook. But for now, I don't really have much interest in it. I would probably delete my facebook account if not for the social expectation to have one. People don't really talk to each other anymore. They expect everyone to read their facebook updates instead. I think it's kind of sad, actually. I don't check facebook daily, weekly, or even really monthly. If there's something you need to tell me, I have a phone!
If you were going to set up a social network presence for your library, which service would you choose and why?
Currently we use twitter for our library. I'm not sure the interest is such that I would recommend using a more in-depth social network presence for our library. Twitter is good for us because it is simple and fast and doesn't take up too much time. If our interest is low, at least we will not have wasted a lot of time and resources on the project.
Once upon a time I had a MySpace but I closed it down a while ago. I currently have a Facebook, and have had for several years. [I don't know exactly how long.] I have always used these essentially for personal use and not professional. If I had a more extensive resume, perhaps I could see the use of a site like linked in or even facebook. But for now, I don't really have much interest in it. I would probably delete my facebook account if not for the social expectation to have one. People don't really talk to each other anymore. They expect everyone to read their facebook updates instead. I think it's kind of sad, actually. I don't check facebook daily, weekly, or even really monthly. If there's something you need to tell me, I have a phone!
If you were going to set up a social network presence for your library, which service would you choose and why?
Currently we use twitter for our library. I'm not sure the interest is such that I would recommend using a more in-depth social network presence for our library. Twitter is good for us because it is simple and fast and doesn't take up too much time. If our interest is low, at least we will not have wasted a lot of time and resources on the project.
Thing Two: Setting Up an RSS Reader
How did it go?
I think it went pretty well. I've read blogs in the past, but I've never set up a reader account to subscribe to them. The process of setting it up and adding blogs to the reader was far easier than navigating the site afterward, I thought. Looking through the posts, etc. But it wasn't really that hard once I got into it.
What feeds did you subscribe to?
The Pioneer Woman Cooks!
Recipes, cooking, etc.
My Parents Were Awesome!
People post old photos of their parents taken in the days when the word "cool" really meant something. ;)
Roger Ebert's Journal
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun times critic and all-around inspirational person.
A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette
Modern library humor.
Lunch in a Box
Tips and recipes for bento boxes. Hasn't been updated in a while though. :(
Ill Doctrine: A Hip-Hop Video Blog
The blog of a New York radio jockey.
Was it hard to find something you are interested in?
Not really. But sort of? I couldn't find many library-related blogs I was interested in, but there are hundreds, thousands of blogs out there that I find interesting. I think if you're just finding any old blog that will interest you, it wouldn't be hard. But finding a blog on a particular topic that you like that interests you that is updated with any amount of frequency, then it might be a bit more difficult.
Why did you choose those feeds?
Well the truth is, many of them I already knew about before I set up the google reader!
The Pioneer Woman Cooks!
WHY: She posts amazing, simple, recipes that are so easy to follow in part because of her liberal use of step-by-step photos. My favorite recipe of hers is the Pasta Carbonara, which we've made several times at home and I highly recommend to everyone. Her latest dish, Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta looks worth a shot!
My Parents Were Awesome!
WHY: I just thought this one was fun!
Roger Ebert's Journal
WHY: He has a lot of interesting stories to tell and a lot of interesting opinions to express.
A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette
WHY: Everybody needs a little humor right?
Lunch in a Box
WHY: I can always use interesting ideas for my lunch box.
Ill Doctrine: A Hip-Hop Video Blog
WHY: I subscribed to this mainly for his well-spoken, thoughtful, political and pop-culture commentary.
I think it went pretty well. I've read blogs in the past, but I've never set up a reader account to subscribe to them. The process of setting it up and adding blogs to the reader was far easier than navigating the site afterward, I thought. Looking through the posts, etc. But it wasn't really that hard once I got into it.
What feeds did you subscribe to?
The Pioneer Woman Cooks!
Recipes, cooking, etc.
My Parents Were Awesome!
People post old photos of their parents taken in the days when the word "cool" really meant something. ;)
Roger Ebert's Journal
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun times critic and all-around inspirational person.
A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette
Modern library humor.
Lunch in a Box
Tips and recipes for bento boxes. Hasn't been updated in a while though. :(
Ill Doctrine: A Hip-Hop Video Blog
The blog of a New York radio jockey.
Was it hard to find something you are interested in?
Not really. But sort of? I couldn't find many library-related blogs I was interested in, but there are hundreds, thousands of blogs out there that I find interesting. I think if you're just finding any old blog that will interest you, it wouldn't be hard. But finding a blog on a particular topic that you like that interests you that is updated with any amount of frequency, then it might be a bit more difficult.
Why did you choose those feeds?
Well the truth is, many of them I already knew about before I set up the google reader!
The Pioneer Woman Cooks!
WHY: She posts amazing, simple, recipes that are so easy to follow in part because of her liberal use of step-by-step photos. My favorite recipe of hers is the Pasta Carbonara, which we've made several times at home and I highly recommend to everyone. Her latest dish, Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta looks worth a shot!
My Parents Were Awesome!
WHY: I just thought this one was fun!
Roger Ebert's Journal
WHY: He has a lot of interesting stories to tell and a lot of interesting opinions to express.
A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette
WHY: Everybody needs a little humor right?
Lunch in a Box
WHY: I can always use interesting ideas for my lunch box.
Ill Doctrine: A Hip-Hop Video Blog
WHY: I subscribed to this mainly for his well-spoken, thoughtful, political and pop-culture commentary.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)