Thing 10, WIKIs!

So this thing 10, Setting Up a Wiki, is the first thing that I've never actually had any experience with. I've used wikipedia, and the MCPL wiki of course, for research/info purposes, but never worked on one myself. I loved the Common Craft wiki video. It was super easy to follow and I think the use of paper props will really help the less tech-savvy among us understand the concept. What's so great about a wiki is that you don't have to know html or css to create a really informational webpage. I edited the MCPL wiki, adding the story of my kitties, Mr. Darcy and Lizzie, to Jared's page about "The Merits of Cats." It was ridiculously easy. The hardest part was deciding what to edit, not how to edit it.

MCPL uses wikis for a lot of committee work, which works really well but I think we could do even more with them. Departments could post policies and discussions. I think it would also be excellent for compiling training procedures and workflows. Keeping track of information that changes or is adjusted frequently is so easy on wikis because editing them is so simple. Of course the open access aspect of wikis can also be a negative. If anyone can edit a wiki then anyone can spread incorrect information. I don't think that would be a problem internally but Managers and Supervisors would definitely need to be reviewing a wiki regularly to maintain accuracy.

Thing 9, Collaboration Tools

I love Google Docs for the convenience. The design is really clean and functional, and overall it's very easy to use. But sometimes find myself annoyed by the features it lacks, especially the size limit and limited selection of typefaces. It would be nice to have a version available with more advanced options. Like Google Docs Lite vs Google Docs Full.

Zoho seems pretty awesome. I liked that I didn't have to sign up, it's linked to Google so I can use my Google account to access all the Zoho products. And Zoho has so many different applications, it seems especially nice for poor young people who can't afford the full price of programs like Microsoft Word or Excel. Zoho Writer feels more like a full featured word processor than Google Docs, in both design and function. I really like the history feature that allows you to track changes. This type of application would be perfect for collaborative committee work or policy drafting. I could definitely see using it to share documents with co-workers. Especially if MCPL switched to gmail, it would be awesome to be able to use Google Docs to work on Circ documents from any library computer and with any co-workers so easily.

Thing 8 continued...

Hmm, so I really wouldn't recommend that flickrslidr I used in my last post. While it's easy to use and quite pretty, something about the code has made it impossible to edit my entry. Instead of using flickrslidr, use SlideFlickr. I found it using Phil's link to 50 Web 2.0 ways to tell a story. It has a nice clean design and good customization options. Like background color, size, and the option to add mp3 for sound. To me, SlideFlickr was a lot more appealing than PictureTrail. I like a lot of the features PictureTrail offers, but I really wish it would link with flickr so you wouldn't have to upload your pictures a second time. Also, there are a lot of really ugly animation options. Maybe I'm a design snob, but it kind of turned my off immediately to be honest.

I really like the idea of using slideshows for committee work or to document library programs. They could also be used as training aids, using pictures to document procedures and workflows.

Here's yet another slideshow, just because. Watch closely and you might catch another MCPL clerk!

Photo Slideshow, Thing 8

Lets see, I decided not to make a picturetrail slideshow simply because I didn't want to re-upload my pictures AGAIN. I attempted to make a flickr badge but for some reason I kept getting code errors from blogger. So instead I created a flickrslidr to show off my pictures from my trip to San Francisc. I also tried out the slideshow feature through BigHugeLabs, with the same pics.




Created with flickrSLiDR.