Getting Results with Google

I was flipping through my monthly planner this morning and I came across some old notes about a presentation I was interested in but unable to attend earlier this year. The presentation, entitled ‘Getting Results with Google’, was presented at the Columbus Metropolitan Library by Glen Horton, of SouthWest Ohio and Neighboring Libraries. You can view the presentation here. It includes some helpful tips on conducting efficient searches with Google.

Social networking & Web 2.0

Go With the Flow: Selling Social Networking

 

Do your peers run the other way when you mention blogs and wikis? These talking points can help turn the tide.

 

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6610498.html

Web site recommendations

I need to check out these web sites (mentioned in either the October SLJ or the Nov. 1 LJ – I forget!)

www.weebly.com

www.onemorestory.com

www.biguniverse.com

The 23rd Thing

Well, here we are at the end of 23 Things. The time has really flown by, and as I look back over my blog posts I am amazed at how much we covered (and discovered). To keep this one simple and organized, I am going to use libraryjoy’s prompts:

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

• RSS (once I got the hang of it)
• Google docs – I am using these like crazy now
• CML’s Power Tools
• Twitter (a surprise favorite – I didn’t think I’d be interested in it at all!)

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

• The program has served to remind me that exploring new technologies and trends is, in fact, work-related and is certainly a large part of the daily on-the-job learning I do. It has also made me realize that lifelong goals can be quite small and simple (ie. exploring twitter or leaving a post or comment on a blog). I think the exercises in this program have also enabled me to see learning/discovery opportunities more readily and encouraged me to apply these to what we at the library do or to what I myself do in my daily work.

3. Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

• Yes – that I actually like blogging! Before beginning Learn & Play I had never considered that I might have anything to post on a blog. But, it’s amazing all the things you come up with once you get started.
• I also feel I’ve gotten to know some of CML’s staff better (through blogging and twitter).

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

• Hmmm, it was really done quite well! The Learn & Play team listened to staff when we said we needed more time. The right balance was struck in offering staff encouragement/reminders/updates without overkill or making us feel bombarded.
• Maybe next time there could be more “featured participants”. This seems to have become a trend over the last week or two, and I really like it. In the future, maybe that can be incorporated throughout the entire program. The videos that the Learn & Play team have done with various participants have enabled me to check out some of the many staff blogs with the bonus of being able to put a face to the post.

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you participate?

• Yes, I would definitely participate in something like this again.

downloadable books

Since InfoLine receives a fair number of phone calls from customers regarding MOLDI, I try to occasionally scope it out and see what has changed. This afternoon, however, I delved a little deeper: viewed the tutorial, took some notes, logged in with my library card number, and browsed all of the formats. Here are a few of the things I learned from the tutorial:

• you need to download the OverDrive Media Console before you are able to download any material
• the quick search option offers ISBN searches
• the advanced search option lets you combine fields (ie. you can search by subject and date added to site)
• Digital Rights Management, or DRM, is a term that refers to technologies used to control access to software, music, movies, or other digital media. DRM prevents illegal file-sharing. Some parameters are set by publishers. By clicking on a title, you can view the digital rights associated with it. These rights will explain what you can and cannot do with the title once you have downloaded it.

And here are my discoveries after spending some time browsing:

• MOLDI offers study guides on various topics (like foreign languages) as well as Sparknotes
• there is an “always available” collection of movies – lots of comedy titles here, including the hilarious Jim Gaffigan show Beyond the Pale (“hot pocket!”)
• the audiobook collection seems pretty extensive; I found classics, early readers, chapter books, middle school and teen titles (John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines), and even graphic novels. I wonder what the statistics are for child and teen users.
• the music collection is comprised of mostly classical music – wonder if this has anything to do with music-downloading sites like limewire and iTunes…

My overall impression of MOLDI is a favorable one. If I had a portable player, I’m sure I would download titles frequently. There is the option of just downloading materials to my computer, but I’m not compelled to sit at my computer and read or listen to a book. I suppose I could see myself downloading an e-book that was some sort of study guide or reference material, but you’ll never find me sitting at my desk downloading a big fat novel.

Podcasting: Thing #21

I particularly like the idea of podcasts for news, social commentary, and interviews. I subscribed to a couple of podcasts with my Bloglines account. Starting out w/just a couple to see how I like them: The Mr. Nice Guy Show and The Amateur Traveler Podcast.

I had a hard time with the podcast directories. For example, when I looked at the “Storytelling” category on Podfeed, the podcasts were actually about legal matters (which is actually quite ironic!). However, I did better with PodcastAlley. I searched both “library” and “libraries” and found quite a few library systems who podcast in order to stay connected with their communities. One podcast that looks to have interesting info is the TeenLibrarian Podcast. I think I’ll subscribe to it also.

As far as suggestions for what CML could do with podcasting, I think it would be really cool to podcast our author visits. This seems like a great way to share conversations between authors, readers, and library staff. If podcasting is as easy as it appears, this extra feature could deliver something very unique to our customers without too much expended effort on our part.

You Tube

I did some exploring and searching on You Tube today and encountered a couple interesting videos that I can relate to work or libraries, or something other than the random wackiness that most of the vidoes fall under.

Since I was just scrolling around and not looking for anything in particular, I noticed some things I hadn’t before, like the links to “most viewed”, “most discussed”, and “top favorited”. If CML does eventually embrace more Web 2.0 technologies on our website, like tagging and sharing, I could see these also being fun to incorporate. Here are a couple examples:

• Looking for a good book? Log on to CML’s catalog and take a look at the top favorited books of CML customers and staff.
• Need a title for your book discussion group? Check out the most discussed books in CML’s catalog.

So, that’s my take on You Tube for libraries. (Aside from the obvious, and already ’standard’ practice of using You Tube to connect with teens, virtual library users, or those who have not yet discovered CML.)

And, I even took on libraryjoy’s challenge and embedded a video below! This video was the first result when I searched ‘Columbus library’, and I think it’s a cool video/pop-up book commercial for the Columbus Library (Columbus, NE, that is)!

Power Tools

I was scrolling through the Power Tools page looking for something to blog about for Thing #19, and I noticed that OCLC’s World Cat is promoted here. Good! World Cat makes such great information available and I think it’s an often-overlooked resource.

A couple of posts back I wrote about the new ways that OCLC plans on incorporating Web 2.0 technologies into their database. Things like tagging, reviews, list creation and list sharing to name a few. These are definitely “power tools” because they are giving over some of the power to the user, and with that power the user is able to put these web sites to work for himself.

I’d like to see CML apply some of these power tools and widgets in the near future. Customers (and staff) would certainly make use of tagging, reviews, and lists. Having a “currently checked-out” widget would be fun as well as useful–sort of an extra reminder of what materials you have checked out!

Anyway, since World Cat wasn’t a new discovery for me, I am exploring TechCrunch for Thing #19. Wow, there are blog posts about a ton of tech things that I am not familiar with! But, I think I will start subscribing to its blog feeds. I could learn more about Web 2.0, and I like the humor within the posts. Like this one, about the top Google searches during the Presidential Debates. Or, this one, which uses twitter feeds to illustrate the destruction of Bloglines!

And the award goes to…

Thing #18 is to explore the Web 2.0 Awards and select a tool to explore. I found quite a few that interested me, at least at first, (and, suprisingly, a fair amount I am already familiar with). A few of the professionally-geared web tools I like are:

• VuFind – an online catalog designed specifically for libraries; like Aquabrowser; clients appear to be mostly university libraries.
• confabb – info on best conferences all over U.S.; search by category or speaker; share and discuss. This seems to have the potential to assist professionals with career development and networking within your desired field.
• upcoming – get info on upcoming events in your area or in a city you plan to visit; search; narrow by date; narrow by category; create an account (with your yahoo login) so that you can keep track of events you are interested in; add friends so you can share events; add events. This site could definitely be useful to CML as an external way of promoting our events and activities. (Westerville Public library is using it to advertise their storytimes.) A site like this could help to get the word out about library programs to people who do not regularly visit the library or our web site.

And, for fun, I like these:

• threadless – combo social/sharing site and online t-shirt shop; browse the hundreds of t-shirts that are for sale, or if you’ve got a great t-shirt design or slogan, submit it; templates are provided for idea submissions; over a 7-day period ideas are rated and commented on; if your design is chosen to be produced, you win cash, a threadless gift certificate, and a little bit of fame!
• yourminis - cool customizable widgets for blog, web site and desktop.
• yelp – guides and reviews to shopping, restaurants, and entertainment in cities around the U.S.; narrow search results by those with the highest rating, most reviewed, category, $$, and more.

Thing #17 – Google Docs

Thanks for the introduction to Google Docs! I am really impressed with what I’ve discovered so far. I used Google Docs to create a document outlining what I found/liked as I played around with it. I also created a Google presentation for the experience as well (just for fun).

I can see many situations in which Google Docs would benefit the user(s). A few that come to mind are:

1. Students working on a project or presentation. No longer will one person be assigned the (awful) task of editing and collating all the work and research into one document. Students who each have to create several slides for a presentation can share a Google presentation with each other and not worry about which copy is the most up-to-date.
2. Colleagues collaborating on a project, article, presentation (for the same reasons as above).
3. A simple, guided process for creating a form.
4. A couple, family, or business partners who need access to a spreadsheet to create a budget.

Libraries, and in particular, CML, could certainly make use of Google Docs.

• To streamline the process of attaching documents to email, editing and revising, and sending back.
• Employees and their managers could use it to complete the employee’s annual assessment.
• Mileage forms could be created and shared with a Google spreadsheet.
• Committees and task forces could use it as a brainstorming tool.
• Powerpoint Presentations can be viewed in an audience–staff can access the presentation, see who else is watching and IM with each other in order to address questions or discuss.