23 Mobile Things - #1

I'm looking forward to learning more about using my iPad (and other mobile devices) to make life a bit easier.  Okay, maybe not easier, but at least I can organize on the go.

We will be using mobile devices more at work, too.  This can be challenging in a hospital setting, but we are going to start with our first app, BrowZine.  We are excited to roll this out to everyone.  It will allow people to access our online journals on their iPads.  Very exciting.

LibTechConf 2011

I'm at the Library Technology Conference at Macalester College.  Great day!

test - author stream

Library Orientation test92209

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Thing 29 - Google Tools

The news has been so depressing lately, I didn't want to create a newsy Google Alert. I looked at a site that was new to me - alerts.com. I signed up for a Craigslist alert for anyone selling the Mary Poppins dvd. My 3 year old loves that movie! I'm anxiously awaiting news of a slightly used movie classic to make it's way to my email.

The problem I have with alerts is the fact that it comes to my already very crowded email. I really need to erase several (hundred) messages from my email account. I need to clean my online life as much as I need to clean my house. Uh. Another depressing thought.

Thing 28 - Customized Home Pages

I have tried iGoogle in the past. It somehow annoyed me. Although in theory I thought it would be extremely useful, I was bothered at seeing everything I look at on the Web staring at me all of the time. Well, that was last year, so maybe it will be different this time.

After reading the articles on this Thing, I decided to try Netvibes. Very cool. Again, I'm drawn to all of the cool gadgets and widgets and what nots. I'm hoping this doesn't annoy me like iGoogle. I have my Facebook, Twitter, news, Craigslist, RSS feeds and the weather on there. I'll see how it goes...

Thing 27 - Twitter

Ahh, Twitter. I'm finally cool. Okay, not really. I only have three people on my Twitter page and I have no idea what to Tweet about. I'm still barely getting into Facebook, so it may take me awhile with Twitter.

I can see some advantages to Twitter for libraries. Another way to reach people. A "Follow me on Twitter" section on a library blog would be a nice addition. We are considering switching our newsletter to a blog, so we should really consider having a Twitter account for our library.

Thing 26 - Ning

I feel like I know Ning a little better this time around. I can see it's usefulness for bringing people together. I updated my profile and added a question to the discussion (which unfortunately nobody has replied to yet).

A patron asked me if I knew any Web 2.0 applications that would help organize a focus group. He wanted something that had calendars and schedules/tasks, so I sent him a few links to project management sites (Basecamp and Zoho). I really should send him to Ning as well. This is a great way to facilitate comments from a focus group.

On to Thing 27...

Thing 25 - polls

I deleted my poll from ask500people.com. It was freaking me out a bit. I got responses from all over the world! Who are these people that sit around and answer internet polls on good camping spots in the midwest? I was amazed that 6 people voted for Teddy Roosevelt National Park (and only 1 person was from North Dakota)! We may take a camping vacation there this year - if you have been there let me know how you liked it. Anyway, I think I'll stick with Vizu for polling. Your poll isn't out there for everyone to see on their website, unless you want it out there. I better move on to Thing 26 pretty soon...probably Friday...

Thing 25 #2

I'm trying out a few widgets and what-nots. Of course, my little poll does not show up in my sidebar for some unknown reason. I added it using the html/java widget, but I just can't get it to show up. I used Ask 500 people - a new site for me. Vote for your favorite camping spot in the previous post!

I added a few other widgets to the sidebar, including a subscribe to function and a birdwatching widget. The formatting of the bird pictures isn't great, but I don't think you can tweak that. Well, you probably can if you know html (I don't). I read through the links and looked through many of the other widgets/features for Thing 25. I'll come back to these links as I continue to work on my blog. Better add them to Delicious...

More Things! Thing 24

I'm back. I really enjoyed 23 Things on a Stick and learned so much. Unfortunately, I didn't keep up with blogging. I posted once after the class was over. This time I will try to keep it going.

We have started a similar program in our library, called 8 Things. The librarians are even going to submit their own blogs to the participant list and hopefully exchange comments with the people in our class. Should be fun.

I updated my blog and avatar a bit. I changed the template to green - Pollywog in a Blog sounds "green" to me. I also changed my avatar to a camping/birdwatching person. I love birdwatching, but have never been much of a camper. My husband is determined to mold our young daughter into a naturalist. I better get on board. I'm hoping my avatar will inspire me.

Polls - test

I'm trying to figure out a way to poll departments about which books they would like to see in the collection. Maybe post this survey to a blog or a wiki?

Online Surveys & Market Research

Thing 23 - I'm done!

23 Things on a Stick was a challenging and rewarding program!

It took a few weeks (and things) but eventually everything seemed to click for me. I never quite understood the gaming info, but I'm OK with that. Facebook was a lot of fun as I've reconnected with some old friends. I came away with lots of new ideas for our library. This self-directed, self-paced learning experience worked very well for me. I would love to take another 23 things class with other things, or more advanced features of things we have already tried. Thanks for the great program!

Thing 22 - What Did I Learn Today?

23 Things on a Stick has been extremely helpful to me as I try to wrap my head around Internet 2.0. I understand a great deal more now and will definitely use many of the tools both at work and for my own personal use. I would like to see a blog integrated with our library services. Other sites we could try to incorporate into the library are: wikis, delicious, RSS feeds/feed readers, and podcasts.

We started a feature in our newsletter called, "Web 2.0 @ Work". I hope it's helpful to people. We would also like to try a 23 Things program here with employees. It would probably have to be more like 6 or 7 Things, but it's a goal of ours for 2009.

This program gave me lots of ideas and I will keep up by reading blog posts and attending MINITEX webinars. Thanks!!

Thing 21 - Beyond MySpace

I'm almost done! I signed up with Ning and added a photo. I think I'm doing the Ning badge correctly?? There are so many social networks out there! I am going to have to further investigate the book and recipe swapping networks. As far as libraries go, couldn't this type of network be used for a book club or a friends group?


Visit 23 Things on a Stick

Thing 20 - Libraries and Social Networks

It just so happens that a friend of mine asked me to join Facebook a few weeks ago. I knew this thing was coming up, so I agreed. Wow. I'm addicted. I found friends I haven't talked to in years - now I know what they are doing on almost a daily basis. It's fun and a little creepy.

I posted to several friends' walls and joined a group or two. I added the 23 Things on a Stick and Librarians Against Palin groups. Although I haven't tried MySpace, Facebook seems a bit more mature. I don't know. MySpace seems too teenagery for me. I also tried LinkedIn. LinkedIn could be helpful for finding career connections, but not as much fun for socializing.

Thing 19 - Podcasts

I've listened to podcasts on several occasions, but have never "produced" one. I looked at the site, Gcast, which looks promising if for nothing else but to practice. The podcasts I listed to were: Nancy Pearl, MPR and The Onion Radio News. I used two different directories - podcast.com and Yahoo. They both seemed adequate for finding podcasts. I posted Nancy Pearl's podcast on my Bloglines account.

Thing 18 - YouTube

YouTube. Where would the world be without ya? I use YouTube to check out clips of TV shows I don't get to see because I don't have cable. Oh ya, I'm supposed to be thinking about libraries. I do see some potential in this for a library orientation or a get to know the librarians video. Our intranet doesn't support this type of html code, so it's hard for us to get too creative. A class for librarians on how to produce YouTube videos and podcasts would be great, though!

The video on 23Things with the IT guy explaining how to use a book is hilarious! Here's my post...One of the lead singers of my favorite band posts videos of himself singing in his bathroom. This video is a song off their children's album, Snacktime - this song is called, "There's a Word for That".

Thing 17 - ELM Productivity Tools

ELM is great! We get many of the EBSCO databases for our library through MINITEX. Instead of messing with the proxy, I just used Academic Search Premier from our list of databases. I created an RSS feed and posted it to Bloglines. It worked! What a great way to keep up with topics of interest.

Thing 8 redo

I am finally going to finish Thing 8. PictureTrail is pretty cool. I don't do a lot of PowerPoint presentations but those tools look great too.

Thing 16 - Student 2.0 Tools

I have never even heard of these assignment calculators before! What a great way to expose kids to the art of creating an outline and following steps to complete a project. With that said, procrastination habits start early (trust me, I know) so the sooner teachers and librarians expose students to these calculators the better. I think by college it's probably too late (for some). Great idea, though! It might be something we could put on a "student" page on our intranet. I'll have to bookmark these in Delicious -- oh the interconnectivity of it all!