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.

TwitterTime, Thing 7

Like a lot of the 'things' so far, I use Twitter in my personal life. I think of it sort of as a constant status update to keep friends up date on what I'm doing or feeling at any time. I created a special twitter just for my blog, check it out on my sidebar. I guess I could use it to keep co-workers posted about what I'm doing and where I am at any one time. 'In the drive up' or 'Working on Record sets' or 'At first floor desk' or 'Lunch time.' It would be quick and easy, but I'm not sure that much value would be gained by use at work. For me at least. I definitely see it as a cool communication tool for librarians to interact with contacts outside their libraries. It seems like a great tool for discussions on library topics, technology, events, etc.

Meebo though, I can definitely see how this could be really beneficial for programming or contact with other libraries or branches. Librarians could meet with colleagues remotely or create group chats for homework help. And the best thing about it is that you can use any IM provider. I would also love to see IM used inter-departmentally to communicate about busy service desks, cancelling holds, and other minor issues that could be handled quickly or efficiently through chat. It would also be a fantastic tool to contact a supervisor about a difficult patron without having to leave the desk or pick up the phone and risk upsetting the patron further. Or to contact a co-worker with a question while you're on the phone with a patron.

Communication Tools, thing 6

I sure do love email. My first email address was back in middle school, through some random provider that my friends were using. I quickly 'upgraded' to the more mainstream Hotmail. I tried Yahoo! mail for a while but never really warmed up to it. For the past several years I've been using gmail and have been very happy with it. What I like best about Gmail is its intuitiveness, a quality I think Yahoo! mail and, especially, Hotmail lack. I love the way emails are sorted into conversations, making it super easy to keep track of multiple replies.

MCPL uses Microsoft Outlook as our email provider which I pretty much can't stand. The awesomeness of Gmail makes Outlook feel ridiculously clunky and dated. In circulation, most clerks don't have their own dedicated computer so we are stuck with the web version of Outlook. Most of the time I use Firefox as my web browser, but Outlook isn't fully functional with Firefox so I end up with multiple browsers open at once. I wish MCPL would convert to gmail, like Boone County Public Library. I think email itself has definitely made communication easier within the Circulation department. But I think something like gmail or a blog or a wiki would make communication even easier. With Google Talk we could communicate even more quickly about missing holds or busy service desks without having to call or email.

I also really like Gmail's new SMS feature, where you can send text messages to your gmail contacts from Google talk. This can be really useful if one party can't get to their phone while the other party is only available by cell. This feature could be used for communicating with the Bookmobile or security and maintenance.

Silly Trading Cards, Thing 5

Ahh, online image generators, they make it easy to make really really ugly crap. But they can also be fun. I can see how these sites could be very useful for library programming. It would be fun to create themed name tags or special bookmarks, especially for young adult and juvenile programming.


Also, it is winter at my blog! Checkout the snow :)

RSS, thing 3

RSS could totally make my life easier if I let it. I have a ton of websites that I visit everyday via links and bookmarks and typing in urls just to see if the sites have been updated. I don't know why I haven't fully embraced RSS as a way to simplify the process, but I haven't. So I'm starting now, with Google Reader! I already use gmail for basically everything, so it's pretty awesome (and so easy) to just click on that little link at the top of my inbox to check out my websites. Especially for work and library related websites, RSS can be a huge timesaver. Having all of your regular websites in a handy little list makes it so easy and quick to keep up with their updates.

For me so far the main negative of a news aggregator is that you don't get the full experience of the website you're visiting. Designers and bloggers work really hard to make their websites visually interesting. By using an aggregator you're giving up this visual experience in favor of speed and productivity. Also, I think using RSS feeds makes it really easy, for me, to skip headlines and articles completely. But that's probably just my own fault, I also have thousands of unread emails in my gmail inbox. I read the important stuff of course, but in the interest of time I also overlook dozens of emails a day.

Google Reader is super simple to use. I love how you can see the full posts or just the headlines of the your websites. I also like the differentiation of websites and blogs, very convenient.