Thing 15 Rollyo

I created a list of my favorite sites and added them to my Rollyo account. I did the challenge portion of Thing 15 and added a search roll to my blog. Potential uses for Rollyo in my library are for favorite author websites, homework sites, online dictionary/thesaurus, and book sites. Rollyo was very user friendly and easy to navigate.

Thing 14 Online Productivity Tools

I placed two Countdown widgets on my blog. One for the end of Neflin's 23 Things and one for the completion of my Master's Degree in Library Science. I explored the website of Remember the Milk that makes customized lists. This is very productive for me because I am always making To Do Lists for work and for home. I can use Remember the Milk and sync it with my phone for daily to do lists.

I also took a look at Backpack, which has multiple productive tools, such as calenders, lists, messaging, etc. I took a tour of the site and found that it could be used at work. The calender feature lets users input meetings, vacations, doctor's appointments, conferences, etc. and they are all color coordinated by individual users. This could be very useful in scheduling staff work days.

Thing 13 Library Thing

Well I added several books to my Library Thing account. I have so many favorite books, it was hard to narrow down what to put in my account. I also added a Library Thing widget to my blog. Library Thing was user friendly and I like how easy it was to add book to an account. Library Thing could be use for my library to keep track of favorite authors at our library or books that are popular with the community. Library Thing can also be used to showcase library staff favorite books.

I share books with patrons through various websites, such as Fantastic Fiction. This website has bibliographies for more than 22,000 authors. They also keep it updated with new releases.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/

Thing 12 Wikis

The ability to update information easily and effortlessly on wikis is what I find interesting about the Wiki concept. I enjoyed the Common Craft video which showed how easy it is to organize information on a wiki. In the Neflin 23 things Wiki, I edit the Edit Me-Wiki Test Page. I commented on how easy it is to edit/add information to Wikis and how Teachers "ban" wikipedia as a source. I must admit, when patrons need biography information and they need it fast, I use wikipedia.

I searched the Albany County Public Library Staff wiki. I was impressed with all the training and rule procedures they have on their wiki, especially the Circ Assistant Training Plan. That is a great tool to use for training new staff and for existing staff to keep up with new policies.

http://albystaff.pbwiki.com/CircAsstTrainingPlan
http://albystaff.pbwiki.com/

Thing 11 Social Media

Social Media tools would be useful in a home setting. These tools could be used to save time by viewing news, entertainment, health, etc. on one website. Libraries can use Facebook and MySpace to promote programs and events at the library. Some of the social media tools I explored for Thing 11 seemed like a productivity detractor because of the web layout. Some of the sites had so much information on the home page, it was hard to focus on one story. This was my first time visiting the Digg and Mixx sites and I read several stories from those two sites.

Thing 10 Tagging and Delicious

Well I have heard of tagging and delicious before through work and through school, but I did not set up an account until now. I am enjoying delicious. It is easy to use and navigate. This is great if a person purchases a new computer or need to access their bookmarks at a public computer. Instead of having to go to each site to retrieve bookmark favorites, a person can just use delicious and access all their favorite websites. I didn't get the hang of tagging yet, but I am gonna go back through to fully understand tagging.

Thing 9 Sharing - slides, photos, databases

My photo sharing for Thing 9 is at the top of my blog page. I used Picture Trail to create a slide show of displays and bulletin boars that staff members have created at the library. Picture Trail was easy to navigate and customize how I wanted to display my pictures. Layouts and pictures were easy to choose and upload. Picture Trail and other sharing tools can be used on our library website to promote library services that are offered, such as children's programming and new book displays.