Thing #11: Tagging and Del.icio.us

I've heard of Del.icio.us before but have never looked at it or used it. While it seems like a good idea on the surface, my current bookmarking function using Internet Explorer Favorites generally works pretty well. Maybe it'd be more useful in a collaborative setting such as in my work group (rather than on my home PC).

The ability to make your bookmarks portable by logging in to your Del.icio.us site from any computer is a great feature, though. Maybe I'll try shifting my work PC bookmarks over to Del.icio.us gradually. The tagging feature would be helpful--especially for websites that I see infrequently.

Thing #10: Wikis - Exciting!

I've looked at Wikipedia before, so the concept of wikis isn't new. But after editing the Messed-up Classics and looking at the resource links, I think this is the most useful tool so far.

We're currently updating our Resource Guides in my corporate library. We write them in Word and then link the documents to our website but constantly struggle with keeping them current. After I looked at The Ohio State University Biz Wiki http://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/bizwiki/index.php/Main_Page I'm convinced that this is the way to go. Initially I was thinking we should only let library staff add entries, so I realize if we let everyone add to the wiki we'll probably learn about new resources that our employees use. Plus--we'll have time for higher level questions if our users are finding answers to the easy ones by using the Wiki.

If anyone has hands-on experience with using a Wiki subject guide , I'd love to hear from you.

Thing #9: Collaboration - Word Docs

This will be short. Google Docs was much more user-friendly, not to mention fun. I never did figure out how to use Zoho writer. I registered but couldn't figure out how to access the document on 23 things, so wound up copying and pasting the Declaration of Independence into the Zoho text box to edit it.

We could certainly use this in my group as we collaborate on documents frequently.

Thing #8: Share Your Creations

The tool that I could put to immediate use in Thing #8 is the first activity, creating and sharing slideshows. We have several databases with site licenses and offer hard-copy self-help guides to assist our users in registering and using the databases. If we created slideshows with these instructions and used live links, it would be easier for our users to get started, and I think, easier for our library staff to keep these instructions updated as changes occur in the interfaces.




These are a few of our databases.

I also really enjoyed eFolio Minnesota. Using these for student portfolios seems an obvious classroom use. I'll have to think about how to use these in a business library. I particularly liked viewing David Adam Mehoves' eFolio. He's a jazz trumpeter--check out his audio feeds on his "Work Samples" tab.

P.S. I noticed some typos on my previous postings even though I had previewed and proofread my posts before publishing. I just noticed the spellcheck icon above, so hope this posting is (relatively) error-free.

Thing #7: Communication Tools

These tools (email, text messaging, IM, and webinars) are all old friends. My corporate library receives about 98% of all reference requests through email and we deliver results via email also. I liked the article about email productivity, especially the tip to turn off auto-check on your email--or set it to 20 minutes. My auto-check runs continuously and it is very distracting to see messages flashing across my screen all day long.

I use cell phone text messaging frequently to stay in touch with my teenagers. (They prefer me to text message rather than to call them). It's a convenient way to send a message when you really don't need two-way communication, e.g. "dental appointment @ 4 pm". Here I am sending a message. Well, the only real resemblance between this stock photo and me is that I wear glasses. After completing the Flickr activity, I feel like it's rather boring to post anything to my blog that doesn't have an image.

I've used IM in a library science course and it worked well, especially because my professor was young, enthusiastic, and available via IM almost 24/7. We've also recently loaded IM at work and we've tried it out among my work group. It's hard to remember to use it though, as old habits (yelling across the room, emailing someone who's in the next cubicle, etc.) are deeply ingrained.

Webinars are another frequent tool in my library. I participated in a MINITEX webinar on Advanced Web Searching last week and it was a great way to pick up some new ideas. We haven't developed any webinars within my work group, however, so maybe this is a tool we should consider using. One possibility is to offer instruction on serching our databases though webinars.

Thing #6: Image Generator

I decided to make this post short after spending way too much time on Thing #5.

Again, I need help with the resolution of these images I downloaded from the Web.

I can see an immediate use for images generators in my job. My company runs on PowerPoint presentations (AKA "decks") and we could use image generators to create customized images.

Thing #5: Mashups

Per the 10 Best Flickr Mashups, "the best mashups achieve a level of visual poetry that approaches true art." I'm still waiting to be convinced, but hey, I'm a skeptic at heart.

I did enjoy these activities, even though I couldn't seem to edit my Flickr Spelling html code correctly to get it to upload. I also couldn't upload the picture that I captioned of my cockatiel. Oh well...

Here's a photo of the cockatiel sans the caption. The resolution is terrible, but this was taken with a cell phone.