Thing 16: Students

Through many of the 23 Things I have felt that if I had had these tools when I was going to school it would have been a major help and it is no exception with this thing. I looked at both Research Project Calculator (RPC) and Assignment Calculator and found that I like assignment Calculator quite a lot. What I like about Assignment Calculator is that when I enter a fake paper project they gave me 12 steps that I had to do in the upcoming weeks. It also gave helpful links to different sites like the library and etc... What I really liked about it was that it emails you reminders which are the same for RPC. RPC gave only 6 steps when I entered the same fake paper assignment. There were less research steps then in Assignment Calculator, but otherwise they were basically the same. However, within RPC there is a link to the Teachers Guide. In this section there are helpful worksheets that a teacher can give to a student about finds their thesis statement or even what a thesis statement is. These are interesting papers and I even think some of my teachers in college used some of these worksheets. What I like about RPC and Assignment Calculator is that they both help student manage their time so that they are not scrambling to finish a paper. This could be a very handy resource not only for academic libraries but for public libraries as well. As, we do get high school students coming in for research and this could be a handy tool we can steer them towards.

Thing 15: Games

I really thing that gaming have become an interesting and annoying fact of libraries. Interesting because many libraries now offer game night which we also offer were kids can play Guitar Hero and DDR. What is annoying about games in the library is all the kids that use our computers to play MMOPRG's like Runescape. So, gaming has become apart of the library and if you want to read a really interesting blog one librarian writes http://themonkeyspeaks.wordpress.com who did a blog on gaming in the library and its positive and negative effects. The link is hocked onto my title so just click on Thing 15: Games to get the blog. Also, reading the article "Reality Bytes: Eight Myths about Video Games Debunked" which talked about how video games are not for little kids any more and many of the game that are coming out are rated M. Finally I did look at Puzzle Pirates and Second Life. I tried to do puzzle Pirates Pirates but I would first have to download the program onto my computer which would take about 30 minutes and I didn't want to wait so I moved onto Second Life. Second Life I found to be interesting. The video was interesting as the man roller bladed on sand and flew in the sky going throughout the town and confusion the hell out of me. I couldn't really see the signs that he was looking at. Also, looked at some more information about Second Life however, if these two games require a download they are both games that patrons cannot play because all our downloads are erased at night on our public computers so looking at Runescape or other games that don't require a download for play.

Thing 14: LibraryThing

I really liked LibraryThing and in fact some other members of our staff had already linked their library to their blog and it looked so cool I wanted my own so I had already created an account with LibraryThing which is really easy to do they only ask for a user name and a password. It was also really easy to upload my books onto LibraryThing. The hardest part about it was trying to remember all the books that I love and trying to find really great covers that I would want shown on my blog. You cannot image the really ugly covers they had for Lord of the Rings books. After I added some books I decided to link my LibraryThing onto my blog which was really easy to do. It was similar to adding an avatar I just had to go into the layout and add an HTML/ Java Script page element. I did this also for a LibraryThing Widget which I put under my random list of books so that people can search my LibraryThing. The only bad part about this is that I don't have that many books uploaded only 27. In all I really liked LibraryThing and the only thing I wished is that I could have to separate categories within my LibraryThing; one for books that I have read and loved and another for books that I want to read. So, LibraryThing is a really helpful tool and can be one that people would like libraries to link to showing different books in our collection especially if they can be linked to our card catalog.

Thing 13: Productivity

I found that thing 13 to be very interesting and something that I would like to discover when I have more time especially some of the related articles like the 2007 Guide to free software and webapps which had some really interesting items like utorrent which allows me to download BitTorrents which are usually web shows like Torchwood which we don't get in the US. However, though I like some of the productivity tools some of then I think would in actually waste more time then they would save. An example of this is costuming you Google or Yahoo home page. I did this at home with my Google Home page and I am really sorry that I did because now it takes twice as long to upload that page for information I really don't look at especially when I just want to move onto another website.
I have used Google Calendar extensively because at our library we offer meeting rooms to the public and I put all that information into a Google calendar. What I like about Google calendar is that it is easy to work with and easy to understand especially for people who don't work with it as extensively as I do. What I mean is that other staff members can use this calendar to find out if rooms are available fairly easy. What I also like is that you can add more then one calendar and then have them all be different colors; which is what I did for each meeting room. Also, we have several meeting that occur monthly and this is a really great feature because it saves me a lot of time that I would originally have to use imputing information. On the same line there is also the duplicate option which allows me to create multiple entries for the same group at different time very easily. So, if you cannot tell I love Google Calendars which has made my life and I want to think staffs life a little bit easier. So, calenders are a really helpful tool even if you don't have meeting room it is great for keeping track of library events.
I also looked at the Ta-Da Lists which first I needed to create an account and then I could create several lists which I did find interesting because you can check off items and within your list it will show up as another list of done items. The Main page shows each list and the amount of items you still have to complete. The final thing I looked at was Backpack and Stikkit which I took tours of. I found both to be interesting and similar. As, both include lists, notes, documents, pictures, tages, calendars, and much more. I found them especially good for sharing information like a Wiki but better formatted and when your library is a large region this could be a good thing.

Thing 12: Media

Social Media Sites are something I have seen but didn't realize what they were. I had already been on Digg watching videos that people have submitted to the 9, which is a web show created by Yahoo and hosted by Maria Sansone. If you have never seen it check it out, it sometimes has some really good websites. Back to social media sites, as I said before I have already experienced Digg which unfortunately you have to sign up in order to digg something. I did look at the other three media sites and found that in all of them you need to sign up to rate and submit news articles, pictures, and videos. However, the rating system for some of them were very interesting; you either vote up or down which brings the total higher or lower giving almost an average total. You can also add comments to the stories and etc that you look at. I liked the outline of all these sites besides Reddit because it was just straight lists with no pictures. Finally, I tried to join Digg to add an article to it however digg didn't want me to join because every time I would press Join Digg it would just bring me back to its home page. :( So I decided to join Mixx instead. It was really easy to sign onto Mixx they just asked your email address and a password. Once I had signed in I went to the BBC website and I firstly tried to submit a story about China but it had already been submitted. So I found a better story about Bruno the bear, a wild bear which touched the hearts of Germans for weeks in 2006 is stuffed and put on public display. The article is short but interesting, I tried to add a link to the title; just click on Thing 12: Media so that you can look at the article. This took me a long time to figure out how to add a link and were it is but I finally figured it out. Lastly, I think that Social Media Sites are a great idea as we have so many news junkies that come into our library; however the only problem is we don't have enough computers for all the people who would like to use these sites.

Thing 11: Tag and Del.icio.us

Thing 11 was interesting but I don't know how much I will use Del.icio.us. For Tags I have already been entering tag in all my 23 Things and will continue to do so. Also I have used tags before and even on other site with 23 things like Flickr I have added tags. Regarding Del.icio.us it was really easy to set up and install. However, I don't know really when I would use it. Majority of my favorite websites I have already saved to my favorite list and most of them are fanfic sites which unless I have a lot of time on my hands the only time I have in which to read is when I am on my own personal computer. Also, anything else is just basic websites like msn for email or Youtube. I do think that Del.icio.us is great for students especially if they are doing research which is mentioned in Thing 10. While on your own Del.icio.us page it is interesting to look at what other people have said about the websites I had tagged and the amount of people that have tagged them also. In all I find Del.icio.us to be interesting however it is not reasonable for regular reference use because you first have to load your Del.icio.us page then find the certain tag that you need while bookmarks on Mozilla Firefox are more handy and faster so that the patron doesn't have to wait as long for their information.

Thing 10: Wikis

Wikis, I have heard the word before but I really didn't know what it meant until thing 10. Of course I have used Wikipedia extensively and sometime more extensively then my profs probably liked and as Librarian Associate I do use it to answer a patron more basic questions. I looked at a few of the Wikis that were listed and fore the Library Wiki sites I found it very interesting as most allowed patrons to add information like reviews about different books but there was also a link to the catalog record so that a person could see right away if the book was in or not. What I especially liked about the Book Lovers Wiki which is from the Princeton Public Library is that you could not only write a review and it was linked to their catalog but that there were links to outside websites. So, I found out that library Wikis can be really helpful and cool. Yes, I said cool and I really think that our library would benefit form having our own Wiki.

I added a new page to the 23 Things on a Stick Wiki. My page asks the question: What are GREAT about 23 things? And if you want the answer you need to find my page which I have a link to it on the home page. Creating a new page was easy figuring out how to link my new page onto the home page was harder and trying to format that link was the hardest think about thing 10. What I learned from adding to the 23 Wiki is that formatting a Wiki page is important. I feel that one person or a group needs to be in charge on how a page is formatted because the 23 Things Wiki is very confusing to look at there is a lot of different information on the web page and some of it is related and some of it is not. There are links to other pages but they are not all in one spot. So, a Wiki can be a great thing with people adding their own input however there need to be a clear concision on how information is grouped and the page formatted.

Thing 9: Collaboration

I think that Zoho writer and Google Docs are interesting and if a person is collaborating with another on a document I think these are really good tools to have. Unfortunately I was only able to use Google Docs to look at the public document but I did make an account with Zoho writer so that I could see how it is set up. Of the two I found Zoho writer to be more professional looking and in some cases easier to use. However, both do have some of the similar activities. Like for both a person can edit a document and look at revisions. What I like about Google Docs is that it is easy to use because I am already familiar with its layout. It has a similar to Google Calendar and the Google Reader which I have extensively used. Also, when you look at revisions you can compare changes that have happened like it will show you what was added and what was erased. Also, you were able to create not just a document but a spreadsheet and a presentation as well. What I didn't like about Goggle Docs is that after every few minutes it would have to load and if you were just reading the document you would then have to find your spot all over again and this became very annoying. However, this could also be a problem that Zoho writer has as I was never able to look at the public document with Zoho writer I was only able to look at a document that I had created myself and no one else was contributing to. Finally, I didn't like how comments were shown in Google Docs because the only way to distinguish what was a comment and what was the actually document was a dotted box that went around the comments. This makes the document look sloppy and hard to read but if you read it in preview you can actually see the printed document.

Zoho writer is easier because everything that you can do is on one page you don't have to switch from edit into insert in order to insert a comment like Google Docs is laid out. Also, in Zoho writer a person can revert a document to an earlier version or just look at earlier versions and what changes were made. Also, when a person adds comments a comment sign is added and to actually read the comments one has to click on the bubble. I like this because it leaves the document relativity whole. Also, a person can work on more that one document at a time which is harder to do on Google Docs. Finally, Zoho writer doesn't have spreadsheets or presentation but it does have different templates like a resume, speech outline, movie ticket, meeting schedule, etc...

So, in conclusion dependent on your needs Google Docs and Zoho writer are both a great way to collaborate on projects. I can see these collaborative programs being useful in the library especially is a person is creating a policy and what's input from librarian throughout their region they could ask them just to add comments about different aspects of the policy and in Zoho writer a person is able to look at just the comments that people leave as apposed to clicking on each on in the document. So, in many different ways if your library includes many branches this is a way in which all people can collaborate to make their library system better.

Thing 8.2: Share

Thing 8 was actually rather fun. I choose to use Picture Trail in order to organize your pictures into what is called Flicks. At first I thought you had to upload pictures right away from your desktop in order to use the slide show, but when I went to use the slide show I found that you could upload your pictures from Myspace or Flickr. However, I wasn't able to get in connect with Myspace were all my pictures were located so I was happy I had downloaded some onto the desktop which I had uploaded onto Picture Trail. The pictures that I choose to use were the one that I took when I went to Berlin, Germany. The trip was a lot of fun and I hope you have fun watching my slide show. I also briefly looked at some of the other sharing activities like Thumbstacks and Zoho where you can make your own slide show which with the versatility of then having this slide show be accessible for all computers would have really helped when I was in school and making power point presentations and hoping that where I had saved it would then upload onto this new computer. It was all very stressful. Also, these slide show creators can be useful for when a person is teaching a class especially if it is a web conference. So, these programs that share are interesting but time consuming.

Thing 8.1: Germany

Thing 7: Web 2.0 Tools

Thing 7 was a lot of information but luckily most of it I already new. The first web 2.0 tool that we went over is email which is something that I am very familiar with and use on a daily basis. I have learned a lot while working in the library with both staff and patrons being my teachers. Also, I have taught email classes to our patrons both beginning email which basically goes over setting up an email account with yahoo and more advanced email which deals with attachment and managing emails. The hardest class I ever taught is basic email because if patrons have had no experience with email it is almost like I am talking another language when I try to explain it to them. However, once they have gotten the hang of it is a lot of fun teaching them the more advanced techniques.

I have also used IM, especially since it seems to be the only way in which to get a hold with my brother. However, in regards to use within the library it is not feasible at this time just because staff doesn't have the ability to download information onto our desktop, only our IT people can do it, but first it would probably have to be approved and a policy written up. However, if the library ever got IM I think it would be a great addition. As Aaron Schmidt and Michael Stephens talk about in the article "IM Me" IM could be used to bring library staff together from across a distance. In the library I work for we are apart of a regional system with Moorhead acting as the hub so a lot of our small libraries call us or email us with questions which they then could IM instead. The only problem would be that staff may no be readily available to answers their questions.

Text Messaging is something that I can truthfully say I have never done and really I don't feel any need to use text messaging. However, I do feel like I am out of touch with people who do use text chat lingo. In fact, if anyone has seen the AT&T commercial where the son, daughter, and grandmother are specking in text slang; I feel that if there weren’t subtitles I would only understand half of what they are saying or texting. Also, the fact that the grandmother can use text lingo makes me feel really inadequate. However, then I just think of my real grandmother and the fact that she cannot text makes me feel better. The one advantage I find to texting is stated in the article "SMS offers libraries new talk tool" by Marshal Breeding; libraries have started using texting to send notices that requested items are in which could be very useful in the future, unfortunately until all our patrons catch up to this texting craze it isn't even a possibility.

Finally the last item to go over is Web Conferencing which was interesting to explore but in a way hard to do. First, I tried viewing a web conference through OPAL, however the site wanted me to download something in order for me to be apart of the Conference and as I was working on a staff computer I didn't have the authority to do that. I then tried Minitex where I didn't find any open sessions however they did have many archived ones and I glimpsed at one about podcasting. The archived web conference was basically made up of slides with audio and though a little dry; it was interesting never the less.

So, finally in conclusion I find web 2.0 tools to be very useful and the way of the future but we still have a long way to go before we implement all the tools listed in this Thing. Also, sorry for writing so most I didn't know I had so much to say about Web 2.0 Tools.

Thing 6: Image Generators

I found the Image Generators that we had to use for thing 6 to be really interesting and I did try a variety of items. The first thing that I did was to create a Trading Card with Big Hugh Labs which actually had a lot of image generators that you could choose from. The hardest part about the Trading Card was finding an actually picture that I had of my self and the only ones that I had on my PC were the pictures that I took while I was in Kyoto, Japan. In the picture I am standing in front of the entrance of the Kiyomizu Temple which is considered on the new Seven Wonders of the World which is had to see from this picture but I used another picture of me when I am next to the temple to use one the frames that Big Hugh Labs offers. In that picture I used a postcard frame and at first I was going to show the postmark but unfortunately it covered my head so it looked a little strange. Finally I went to Image Chief and created a Flower Text which will always be shown at the bottom of my blog and with flash animation it slowly reviles You R a Star. In all these Image Generators is a lot of fun once you have some pictures and know what you are doing. However, you can also spend a lot of time creating these images so it is also easy to go overboard with the image generators.