I tend to be doubtful of the use of things in my posts, but I do really appreciate the 23 Things and the More 23 Things programs, because they force me to actually use the things I read about in the professional literature and in discussions. It makes that someday into today. That's very helpful. Even if our library is not going to use something, I know exactly what it is that we're not going to use from personal experience. And if we do find a place to use these things, I have ideas on how to do it best.
Also, some Web 2.0 things like Facebook have their own time and place. A year ago, there weren't enough Century students using Facebook to make it worthwhile to have a library presence. Today, if our library weren't there, we'd look stupid and would miss out on a lot of good reputation.
Personally, I'll use the lunch finder, the music, possibly Lifestream, and many of the other tools.
I appreciate the time and effort it took to put together this round of 23 Things. Kudos!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thing 46 - WebJunction Minnesota
I'm glad to see WebJunction featured in the Things. It seems to me that WebJunction Minnesota should be THE place for Minnesota librarians of all stripes. But to this point, it hasn't had enough participation by the types of librarians that would make it useful to me. Now that some of my fellow 23 Thingers are joining, it should be more useful.
I found that some of my friends on WebJunction had joined the Library 2.0 Interest Group, so I joined as well.
I've thought for a few years now that I would take a course or two in my copious amounts of free time. :-) Maybe this summer I'll actually do it now that I'm almost done with the More 23 Things.
I found that some of my friends on WebJunction had joined the Library 2.0 Interest Group, so I joined as well.
I've thought for a few years now that I would take a course or two in my copious amounts of free time. :-) Maybe this summer I'll actually do it now that I'm almost done with the More 23 Things.
Thing 45 - Cloud Computing
The cloud concept is interesting. I do wonder about the long term security of data stored on various proprietary services. After all, it's a pain to transfer my data stored on this computer to another computer, but supposed Google goes bankrupt tomorrow. Who gets my GoogleDocs? Where do they go?
At work, we're using Google calendar, which is an example of cloud computing. Calendar functions are normally run by software on the desktop. We can access our calendar anywhere, even from home when calling in sick. We even track room usage with it. It has been a useful way of sharing information, although it's not as customizable or reliable as we would prefer. As an example of the lack of reliability, we had accounts set up for all staff. Then one day, with no notification, Google combined one employee's gmail account with her work account. All her personal appointments now showed up in the work calendar. We didn't ask for them to be combined, there was no way to separate them, and of course, trying to contact Google for help is fairly futile. In the end, we deleted her work account and reinstated it, but it cost me half a day of troubleshooting. I suppose that software on the desktop could have had similar problems, but then I would have had technical support from IT and the software maker.
Incidents like these, which have happened in other cloud computing situations I've used, make me wonder. There's a lot of data, particularly financial information, that I wouldn't feel comfortable using on websites like Mint.
At work, we're using Google calendar, which is an example of cloud computing. Calendar functions are normally run by software on the desktop. We can access our calendar anywhere, even from home when calling in sick. We even track room usage with it. It has been a useful way of sharing information, although it's not as customizable or reliable as we would prefer. As an example of the lack of reliability, we had accounts set up for all staff. Then one day, with no notification, Google combined one employee's gmail account with her work account. All her personal appointments now showed up in the work calendar. We didn't ask for them to be combined, there was no way to separate them, and of course, trying to contact Google for help is fairly futile. In the end, we deleted her work account and reinstated it, but it cost me half a day of troubleshooting. I suppose that software on the desktop could have had similar problems, but then I would have had technical support from IT and the software maker.
Incidents like these, which have happened in other cloud computing situations I've used, make me wonder. There's a lot of data, particularly financial information, that I wouldn't feel comfortable using on websites like Mint.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Thing 44 - The Economy
This is a very helpful Thing!
I checked out eRideShare. No carpools for where I need to go, but I will keep and eye on this and recommend it to others. GasBuddy is equally useful, although I wish a zip code search were available.
The pennypinching blogs aren't that interesting. Post after post about similar things. Believe it or not, I'd rather read hints like these in the print media, where at least an editor has had a stab at them.
I will let one of my colleagues know about the garage sale sites. She will be delighted! And I'm going to bookmark the coupon sites for personal use.
I checked out eRideShare. No carpools for where I need to go, but I will keep and eye on this and recommend it to others. GasBuddy is equally useful, although I wish a zip code search were available.
The pennypinching blogs aren't that interesting. Post after post about similar things. Believe it or not, I'd rather read hints like these in the print media, where at least an editor has had a stab at them.
I will let one of my colleagues know about the garage sale sites. She will be delighted! And I'm going to bookmark the coupon sites for personal use.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Thing 43 - Online TV and Video
My husband and I love Hulu. I did not know about Joost before doing this thing. Streaming seems to be the future of video media. I wonder how long cable will be around in it's present format.
Our TV at home is actually used as a monitor for a computer, which acts as our Tivo. We use Myth, a Linux based free program, to perform the functions of TV. Thus, when we want to view something on Hulu, we just browse to what we want and make it full screen on our TV. Sometimes it's a little jerky, but it's not bad. The main problem with this setup is that many DVDs will not play on a Linux computer, so we have to have a separate DVD player.
I'm forseeing in the future that libraries will subscribe to services that stream movies and other media and will not have collections. I will be glad, because there will be no more obsolete equipment for obsolete formats.
Our TV at home is actually used as a monitor for a computer, which acts as our Tivo. We use Myth, a Linux based free program, to perform the functions of TV. Thus, when we want to view something on Hulu, we just browse to what we want and make it full screen on our TV. Sometimes it's a little jerky, but it's not bad. The main problem with this setup is that many DVDs will not play on a Linux computer, so we have to have a separate DVD player.
I'm forseeing in the future that libraries will subscribe to services that stream movies and other media and will not have collections. I will be glad, because there will be no more obsolete equipment for obsolete formats.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thing 42 - Music 2.0
I signed up for Pandora and Last.fm. I find neither intuitive. There are too many options, and when I want to go back or do something again, it seems really hard to figure out. I never know quite where I am or what I'm supposed to be doing, and I had a lot of trouble adding tracks. I kept adding tracks, but they never showed up.
That said, I find these personal radio stations interesting. I did like most of the music they pointed me to.
One thing about the social aspects of these sites and Lifestream and Friendfeed: Unless your friends are also on these sites, they are not very interesting to continue to use. The 23 Things is nice in that way, because I know other librarians who have joined so I can "share" with them.
I don't really see how these music sites relate to libraries, but I may use them personally in the future.
That said, I find these personal radio stations interesting. I did like most of the music they pointed me to.
One thing about the social aspects of these sites and Lifestream and Friendfeed: Unless your friends are also on these sites, they are not very interesting to continue to use. The 23 Things is nice in that way, because I know other librarians who have joined so I can "share" with them.
I don't really see how these music sites relate to libraries, but I may use them personally in the future.
Thing 41 - Mashup Your Life
I signed up for Lifestream. This service makes sense to me, because I post on Twitter when I'm on there for something else, and I also post on Facebook occasionally. My posts rarely overlap in content, so it makes sense to aggregate them somewhere. I also added Delicious to the services I follow. I don't know that a lot of my friends or colleagues are using this service, though. Until it reaches a critical mass of people I know who use it, it's not really helpful to anyone but me.
I added the badge to the sidebar of my Blogger page. I finally had time to figure out how to do this. I think Blogger could make adding javascript a bit more easy.
It will be interesting to see what other people think when they hit this Thing.
I added the badge to the sidebar of my Blogger page. I finally had time to figure out how to do this. I think Blogger could make adding javascript a bit more easy.
It will be interesting to see what other people think when they hit this Thing.
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