Thing #34 Online Answer Sites

Online answer sites are appealing to many people. A couple of reasons for this appeal are probably the anonymity of asking a question when no one can know that it's you and the ease of just typing in whatever you are thinking. The questions I saw on the various sites were about a plethora of topics such as whether it's okay to lie to an employer and one about how to brush a dog's teeth.

I think these questions should be directed to a library if people will actually ask some of these questions at a library. Some of the questions may be strange or considered inappropriate even but it doesn't hurt to answer them at the library. I don't think any question should be outright ignored. For example someone called the library one night when I was working multiple times he wanted to know how to spell the name of a certain kind of marijuana because apparently, at least this is what he said anyway, he wanted to know how to spell it for a tattoo he was getting.

People most likely know about the library but then choose these answer sites because they are easy to get to and more accessible from home.

The slam the board events and what they do does look interesting and will educate people more about where answers are coming from. Another aspect of this is seeing the nature of the answer boards, anyone could still pretend to be a professional or librarian if they really wanted to. Overall though it's an interesting idea/might teach people something they need to know.

Online answer sites are going to always be used because they are anonymous and easy to use but knowing about them and encouraging patrons to ask questions could raise the visibilty of good information and that the library is here to help.

Thing #33: Screencasting

Screencasting is one of those things that I've seen and known about but never actually tried before. Making the screencasting was much easier then I thought it would be. If I would actually be using it at the library I would have to polish the way I presented it and probably write down a script of what I was going to say. The tool I chose to use was ScreenToaster. It was pretty easy to figure out all you have to do is register and then you go to start recording. After you press start recording it gives you the options like full screen and whether you want audio or webcam. To record just go to where you want to start recording and push alt and s. Then when recording you can pause it and stop it when you're done.

There could be definite applications for this in the library, Elkhorn actually does have some already available, and there will always be new things that are easier to explain/handy to have on the website so people can learn about it.

Overall I was very glad to learn about this and may indeed have to use screencasting in the future.

Capture your screen in seconds

Capture your screen in seconds

Thing #32 NetVibes

NetVibes is a great idea and would be benefical to probably any library in some capacity. At first it was a bit confusing as can be seen from my personal page but I figured out what I was doing on the public page. I really liked being able to import pictures, websites, rss feeds and all the diffent widgets easily into one place. Some of the past things I made a part of the page were rss feeds, google maps, facebook, and librarything. Overall a useful tool that I know would benefit the library where I work and likely many others.

Here's the link to my page, http://www.netvibes.com/geckyboz

Thing #31: What is the Future of Libraries and Librarians?

The presentation New Librarianship by R. David Lankes was a little long to listen to all in one sitting here at the library but nonetheless very interesting. There were some really great ideas/points that he made. Nothing was super revolutionary or new to me, most of what he said, you have probably heard something like it if you have taken any library science classes within the last five years. One thing that he probably could have gone into more was funding and how it needs to be increased inlibraries and how to improve libraries while also having limited funds.

It is always great to hear that libraries won't be obsolete any time soon and the idea of an ideal future vs a predicted future may help people have optimism is the profession versus the fatalism of just doing the same old same old everyday.

A great part was where he talked about how to keep people in the libraries when the recession ends and points out what many have probably see that use statistics do go up when computers are added to the mix of the library.

The most intriguing point he made was about knowledge and that it is not a thing it's how we understand something like with the example of the geologist and the rock. This philosophy is encompassed by his quote, "The mission of librarians is to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in their communities."

Overall a pretty entertaining presentation that gives you something to ponder about the way you see libraries and maybe yourself.



Write a blog post responding to the video. Do you agree with Mr. Lankes? Is he way off base? What do you think?

Thing #30 Webby Wonders

Looking through the Webby Nominees and Winners was pretty entertaining. This eclectic list is full of something for everyone. I chose a site from the Youth section because it looked like it would be a lot of fun to explore. The nominee I chose was Marvel's create your own superhero at http://marvel.com/create_your_own_superhero.

Making your own superhero is indeed a lot of fun. I liked how easy the site was to use and that if you sign up it will save the characters that you make and you are able to download the characters. The template is easy to follow and you just go step by step until you are done making your hero. I could see this site being benefical in many library settings. The easiest place to use it would be as an activity in public libraries with patrons from children to teen. It could also be useful in all library settings as perhaps a fun team building activity. You could do this by saying make your version of a superhero and then explain about why you made them and what powers they would have etc. I made a whole superhero library team.

Overall the Webby Awards are a great idea and a place to find sites you may have never gone to before and http://marvel.com/create_your_own_superhero is a fun site whether you use it personally or in a library.

Thing #29 Book-Based Social Networks

I chose weRead as the Book-Based Social Network that I would join. It is a pretty interesting site and also easy to use. The profile section was simple to set up and the features like adding favorite books and books that you have read are easy to understand. It will even recommend more books for you to read.

Some interesting features of weRead is the never ending quiz which sounds like exactly what it is, a never ending quiz and their collection of books that you can read online.

I believe that services like weRead and all the other Book-Based social networking sites could indeed complement and not compete with programming offered by libraries. If anything it is a way to expand a libraries reach with patrons. It allows more of a personal feel or sense of community around what people read. Patron's could see a librarian's favorite books and the library can see what the patrons are reading and would like to read. It would make things like setting up book groups easier and reviews are readily available. Overall I see these services as a supplement to the library and not competition.

Thing #28 Google Reader

Google Reader is a very handy tool when it comes to organizing the information that you want to see everyday all into one easy to access place. I have used Google Reader since one of the earlier thing activities and have seen that it can be very helpful.

Google Reader would be very beneficial to libraries because it could allow patrons to be updated easily about what's happening at the library and for the library to be updated with the potential RSS updates of different organizations or patron groups.

My favorite feature of the Google Reader is the Send to feature. It is a great feature because it allows you to pick from a wide range of places to send whatever you find interesting like Blogger, Facebook, or Twitter but you can also add in other places to send what you want to share.

I'm subscribed to Books, News, and many different blogs and web comics.

Overall Google Reader is a great tool to organize what you wish to read on the web and to find new things to read about topics that interest you.