Which application did you choose? Are you new to social cataloging?
I'm fairly new to social cataloging. I recently had created a personal goodreads account for myself. I hadn't got past listing a few book that I've read and listing a few books that I want to read. I did this maybe a month or so ago. The only time I've gone to the site since first signing up, however, is when an author of one of the books on my "to-read" list sent me a message about signed copies of his book being offered at his website for sale. If I was more actively reading at the moment, I think this would be more useful to me. My blog title "Not that Bookish" isn't just for laughs, you know! :)
Monday, August 2, 2010
Thing Seventeen: E-books
What do you think of PsycBooks?
I think it's excellent that we now have another e-book source for our students. I also think it's helpful that the sections seem to be broken down into individual PDFs which makes them a little bit more manageable. Although I do think there would be some benefits to being able to search the entire book at one time, so it's not a 100% improvement.
Are e-books the wave of the future? An aesthetically-challenged plot to empty your wallet? A wild west frontier?
I don't think that e-books will ever phase out the real thing. I think if that was going to happen, news websites would have already made newspapers and magazines obsolete. Sure, print press has gone through a lot of rough times recently, but I think that we're still really in the process of finding a balance between the two. So far, no technology has been able to replace the book or magazine that you can hold in your hand and flip through. I don't think they will ever come up with something that will manage to do so.
Are e-books popular with your students?
Some, yes. And some, no. Some students would rather hang out in a pit viper den than read an e-book, and I can totally understand where they're coming from. Other students are more adventurous and will try them anyway. They find them beneficial because they're convenient and they don't have to pay for them or even leave the house to check them out.
Do you own a dedicated e-book reader such as the Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook? If so, what do you think of it?
No, I don't but I think it would be fun to try one. I am not sure how practical they would be though, to be honest. I think if there were a "netflix"-like subscription-based service that people could use to "rent" current e-books more easily, then it would be more of something that might become of practical use.
I think it's excellent that we now have another e-book source for our students. I also think it's helpful that the sections seem to be broken down into individual PDFs which makes them a little bit more manageable. Although I do think there would be some benefits to being able to search the entire book at one time, so it's not a 100% improvement.
Are e-books the wave of the future? An aesthetically-challenged plot to empty your wallet? A wild west frontier?
I don't think that e-books will ever phase out the real thing. I think if that was going to happen, news websites would have already made newspapers and magazines obsolete. Sure, print press has gone through a lot of rough times recently, but I think that we're still really in the process of finding a balance between the two. So far, no technology has been able to replace the book or magazine that you can hold in your hand and flip through. I don't think they will ever come up with something that will manage to do so.
Are e-books popular with your students?
Some, yes. And some, no. Some students would rather hang out in a pit viper den than read an e-book, and I can totally understand where they're coming from. Other students are more adventurous and will try them anyway. They find them beneficial because they're convenient and they don't have to pay for them or even leave the house to check them out.
Do you own a dedicated e-book reader such as the Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook? If so, what do you think of it?
No, I don't but I think it would be fun to try one. I am not sure how practical they would be though, to be honest. I think if there were a "netflix"-like subscription-based service that people could use to "rent" current e-books more easily, then it would be more of something that might become of practical use.
Thing Sixteen: Creative Commons
Do you think it is worthwhile to include information about Creative Commons licensing in library instruction?
I think if there are sources out that that are as useful as flickr in that the rules about what can and can't be done with a work are very clearly spelled out, that this may be something we want to tell our patrons about. I can't really see a practical use at the moment, but possibly in the future it may be something that will become useful.
Would you consider sharing original content under a Creative Commons license? Why or why not?
Sure. You can specify pretty directly how you want your original content to be used so the creative commons is easily able to tailor to your own preferences.
Thing Fifteen: Screencasting
What question does your screencast address?
I created a tutorial on how to request an interlibrary loan from our library's website.
Why did you select the tool you used?
I selected screentoaster.com because it seemed easy to use and because you didn't have to download or install any software. Because I work on the library floor I was not able to record any narration, but I modified that by typing my instructions in a word document. I was surprised at how fast and easy it was to use, to be honest. I did have to record the tutorial a couple of times though because I messed up a bit so it might be worth it to note that a little bit of practice might be useful beforehand.
Thing Fourteen: Online Surveys
What kind of library data could you collect with one of these tools?
I thing that the surveys are by far the most useful tool in google docs for this particular library. We could gather all sorts of information from students and patrons using these forms. It was very fast, easy, and the layouts are very attractive. It's also very simple for subjects to fill out.
Thing Thirteen: Document Sharing
Create and share a document of your choice with the world:
23 Things Spreadsheet at Google Docs
What kind of document did you create? Did you allow anyone else to edit your document?
I created a spreadsheet to document my progress with the 23 things program. This is a log where I can keep track of which of the things I have completed and where to find the proof of that. [A blog, or other link, if applicable.] I did not allow others to edit it.
How could you use Google Docs in your library?
I think the best way to use it would probably be to use it with work studies so that we could easily share documents with them since they don't have access to our shared drive.
23 Things Spreadsheet at Google Docs
What kind of document did you create? Did you allow anyone else to edit your document?
I created a spreadsheet to document my progress with the 23 things program. This is a log where I can keep track of which of the things I have completed and where to find the proof of that. [A blog, or other link, if applicable.] I did not allow others to edit it.
How could you use Google Docs in your library?
I think the best way to use it would probably be to use it with work studies so that we could easily share documents with them since they don't have access to our shared drive.
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