Friday, April 4, 2008
Thing 12. Do You Digg?
Nope, I don't. I don't have anything against it, I just don't use these services. The amount of information I get from the Internet already feels like drinking from a fire hose. Also, these sites can be to much of a time waster for me. I was looking at reddit and pulled me into a 20 minute tangent reading Dilbert, and about movie sequels that were so bad they damaged the original. Not sure about the library application, but definitely can be cheap entertainment.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Thing 11. Tagging and Del.icio.us
I'm a relatively recent convert to del.icio.us. I didn't see the point because I had Google's bookmark sync setup, so I had my bookmarks on all my workstations already. I'm also a bookmark pack rat, and one day I decided I was going to give del.icio.us a try in an attempt to get them better organized and available from any PC without needing to install any software. It's been great. I no longer scroll through pages of bookmarks to find the one I want. It has also saved me from keeping 30 tabs open to websites I thought looked interesting, but I hadn't had the time to give more than a cursory glance. Now, with the del.icio.us toolbar, I just tag them and know that they'll be there when I'm looking for something on that topic.
I can see this being a very good tool at libraries to share commonly used bookmarks, they can be available to any computer in the library. I can also see pulling an RSS feed for a certain tag and putting that as part of the content on the library's website. It's a great way to share interesting items with coworkers and/or patrons.
I can see this being a very good tool at libraries to share commonly used bookmarks, they can be available to any computer in the library. I can also see pulling an RSS feed for a certain tag and putting that as part of the content on the library's website. It's a great way to share interesting items with coworkers and/or patrons.
Thing 10. Wikis
I am a big fan of wiki software. When I started at Fastenal almost 2 years ago, there was very little documentation for my group. One of the first things I did was install MediaWiki(Wikipedia's software) on my workstation and started documenting things about servers, services, and policies as I learned them. After just a few months of doing that, everybody saw how easy and valuable that was, so we decided to purchase commercial wiki software. We chose Confluence which I had used in at my previous workplace. They were already using Jira from the same company for bug tracking, issue tracking, & project management, so it just made sense. I'm a big fan of Confluence, if you are looking for an enterprise class wiki with paid support. Its very easy to use and the permissions can be very granular.
I think all of the examples of libraries using wiki software in this "Thing" are great. There are lots of open source and hosted versions of wiki software out there, so the cost of entry can be very low. It's a great way to get some quick and dirty documentation started, and everybody can refine it.
I think all of the examples of libraries using wiki software in this "Thing" are great. There are lots of open source and hosted versions of wiki software out there, so the cost of entry can be very low. It's a great way to get some quick and dirty documentation started, and everybody can refine it.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Thing 9. Online Collaboration Tools
For this thing I decided to take it one step further and actually do my blog post from within Google Docs. Did you know you can do that? I've been using the Google apps for a while. I even have a Google Apps For Your Domain account. My wife and I heavily use Google calendars so we can both edit the family calendar, and I also created a separate work calendar. I can either view them one at a time or both together. It's a lot handier to be able to look at our home calendar while I am at work. A lot easier than setting up a dedicated webcam pointing at the calendar on our wall at home. :^) Regarding Google vs. Zoho, I think Zoho has a better feature set, but I'm more likely to use Google because I do so much other stuff in Google already.
I think online collaboration tools can be very useful in any organization, including libraries. I think its a relatively untapped resource that is finally starting to get some traction.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Thing 8. Share Your Creations
I already have a flickr badge on this blog, so I completed a tiny bit of this "Thing" earlier. I guess that will be my thing to share.
I like the idea of SlideShare as a place to share presentation materials. I personally haven't spent much time creating presentations; nothing I can share outside of work anyway. I do tend to download all the presentations I can find after I go to a conference. Some have put them up on SlideShare, most just post them in PDF form on their websites. They are a good reminder of the highlights of the talks I attended.
I've heard good things about Zoho. Mainly that it has better compatibility and a better feature set than the comparable Google applications. It seems to me that showing patrons to these sites could be a good alternative to spending the money to license the Microsoft applications on patron accessible computers.
Lazybase seems like it could be a good place to put some limited use, "throw away" databases. Their web server is throwing errors tonight, so hopefully it's usually a little more stable.
All these tools look to be useful. One thing to keep in mind when using them is the fact that you are putting your information in the hands of a third party. You have to decide what level of trust you have for that organization. You also need to keep in mind that if you are using their free service then there is really no support, and if your data is lost you probably aren't going to get it back. If the tool works for you and you can live with its limitations and risks, go for it.
I like the idea of SlideShare as a place to share presentation materials. I personally haven't spent much time creating presentations; nothing I can share outside of work anyway. I do tend to download all the presentations I can find after I go to a conference. Some have put them up on SlideShare, most just post them in PDF form on their websites. They are a good reminder of the highlights of the talks I attended.
I've heard good things about Zoho. Mainly that it has better compatibility and a better feature set than the comparable Google applications. It seems to me that showing patrons to these sites could be a good alternative to spending the money to license the Microsoft applications on patron accessible computers.
Lazybase seems like it could be a good place to put some limited use, "throw away" databases. Their web server is throwing errors tonight, so hopefully it's usually a little more stable.
All these tools look to be useful. One thing to keep in mind when using them is the fact that you are putting your information in the hands of a third party. You have to decide what level of trust you have for that organization. You also need to keep in mind that if you are using their free service then there is really no support, and if your data is lost you probably aren't going to get it back. If the tool works for you and you can live with its limitations and risks, go for it.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Thing 7. Web 2.0 Communication Tools
Email. Email is useful but I don't consider it to be an instantaneous form of communication. I was in the Internet business long enough to know that there are many things that can hold up your email. I also believe it can be a productivity killer as much as a productivity enhancer. I try not to look at my email more than once per hour. Generally any requests that come in will have been taken care of already by someone who looks at every email the minute it shows up in there mailbox. It keeps me from being interrupted, I can continue to get things done. If you want something done immediately, don't send me an email, call my extension. If its an emergency, call my cell.
IM. Instant Messaging is a great tool. I use an internal IM server at work all the time. If I'm working with a developer or database administrator, we can copy and paste snippets of code, configs, and logs back and forth. Much more precise than a voice call. And I can be doing other things while interacting with IM. IM combined with a webcam and microphone has also been a good tool for saying good nite to X when I'm traveling on business. IM is also how I get most of my books. If I run across something that looks interesting to me, I instant message it to my favorite librarian(who also happens to be my wife) and she'll find it for me. Plainview does live reference over Instant Messenger, although I don't think many patrons take advantage of it yet.
Text Messaging. I use text messaging in bursts. When its my week to be oncall, our monitoring systems alert via text messages, and we acknowledge them via text message. I use it when traveling with coworkers to coordinate where we are meeting and when. I can see some use for it in library systems especially integrated into the ILS. Overdue notices, notices that a book that was ordered is in, that sort of stuff would all be good choices for text messages. They are short, and somewhat time sensitive. I also use text messaging to Google for definitions, weather, things like that. I suppose that similar queries could be sent to the library, but it seems like a lot of that would be a waste of librarian resources, especially when Google is so good at it.
Web Conference. This is another technology that I use all the time. Many vendors will demo their software using this. Some vendors will use tools like WebEx to do remote support. I used to work with a very geographically disperse organization and we would use web conferencing to bring together employees to get everyone up to speed on a new service we would be providing. I'm not sure I see my local library hosting a lot of web conference meetings, but I do see a definite benefit to it at the consortia level. Everyone wouldn't have to drive to meetings/training. I do agree with most of the tips in the webjunction pdf. Especially the part about distractions. It is very easy to switch to another screen and try to do a little work while in a web meeting. Very tempting, but while you think you are multitasking, you really aren't giving the meeting as much attention as you probably should. Like most things in life, it takes discipline. I watched the webinar "Podcasting 2" as part of this thing. I found it quite interesting and good quality. I won't comment on it too much, but it could be useful for Thing 19.
Challenge. I did sign up for the 23 Things on a Stick Google Group. And have seen a few people post there. As for Meebo, I personally don't have much use for it. I use Pidgin as my IM client and it really does all I need. I have tried Twitter in the past, but I just haven't found it useful. Maybe my mind just isn't open enough about it, or maybe I just haven't found the right things to connect it too. If the Los Angeles Fire Department has found a use for it, I probably haven't been thinking about it creatively enough. One of the blogs I read faithfully is Confused in Calcutta. He's been musing a lot about twitter lately, and other social networking tools in general. A good read if you have time.
And here is a little extra food for thought about Library 2.0 in general. William Gibson has said many times that the future is already here - it is just unevenly distributed. I think he's right and that libraries can have a big part in making sure it is distributed more evenly. I mentioned before that my wife likes to remind me that the library is the great equalizer. Its just as true with Internet access and access to social media as it is with other media.
IM. Instant Messaging is a great tool. I use an internal IM server at work all the time. If I'm working with a developer or database administrator, we can copy and paste snippets of code, configs, and logs back and forth. Much more precise than a voice call. And I can be doing other things while interacting with IM. IM combined with a webcam and microphone has also been a good tool for saying good nite to X when I'm traveling on business. IM is also how I get most of my books. If I run across something that looks interesting to me, I instant message it to my favorite librarian(who also happens to be my wife) and she'll find it for me. Plainview does live reference over Instant Messenger, although I don't think many patrons take advantage of it yet.
Text Messaging. I use text messaging in bursts. When its my week to be oncall, our monitoring systems alert via text messages, and we acknowledge them via text message. I use it when traveling with coworkers to coordinate where we are meeting and when. I can see some use for it in library systems especially integrated into the ILS. Overdue notices, notices that a book that was ordered is in, that sort of stuff would all be good choices for text messages. They are short, and somewhat time sensitive. I also use text messaging to Google for definitions, weather, things like that. I suppose that similar queries could be sent to the library, but it seems like a lot of that would be a waste of librarian resources, especially when Google is so good at it.
Web Conference. This is another technology that I use all the time. Many vendors will demo their software using this. Some vendors will use tools like WebEx to do remote support. I used to work with a very geographically disperse organization and we would use web conferencing to bring together employees to get everyone up to speed on a new service we would be providing. I'm not sure I see my local library hosting a lot of web conference meetings, but I do see a definite benefit to it at the consortia level. Everyone wouldn't have to drive to meetings/training. I do agree with most of the tips in the webjunction pdf. Especially the part about distractions. It is very easy to switch to another screen and try to do a little work while in a web meeting. Very tempting, but while you think you are multitasking, you really aren't giving the meeting as much attention as you probably should. Like most things in life, it takes discipline. I watched the webinar "Podcasting 2" as part of this thing. I found it quite interesting and good quality. I won't comment on it too much, but it could be useful for Thing 19.
Challenge. I did sign up for the 23 Things on a Stick Google Group. And have seen a few people post there. As for Meebo, I personally don't have much use for it. I use Pidgin as my IM client and it really does all I need. I have tried Twitter in the past, but I just haven't found it useful. Maybe my mind just isn't open enough about it, or maybe I just haven't found the right things to connect it too. If the Los Angeles Fire Department has found a use for it, I probably haven't been thinking about it creatively enough. One of the blogs I read faithfully is Confused in Calcutta. He's been musing a lot about twitter lately, and other social networking tools in general. A good read if you have time.
And here is a little extra food for thought about Library 2.0 in general. William Gibson has said many times that the future is already here - it is just unevenly distributed. I think he's right and that libraries can have a big part in making sure it is distributed more evenly. I mentioned before that my wife likes to remind me that the library is the great equalizer. Its just as true with Internet access and access to social media as it is with other media.
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