Thing 14: Online (This is) Productivity? Tools

Really?? Improving my productivity? Is this a joke?

I am learning TONS here on the 23 THINGS site, but it's done


for my productivity!

As far as having a customized home—or “start” page— I chose My Yahoo! because I have already been a Yahoo user for many years. It only seemed natural to organize something that would actually be useful for me.



MySpace Countdowns

I couldn't get the recommended countdown clock to work, though I tried several times to cut and paste the html code, so I found my one and customized it from a MySpace code and I like it much better.

The Google calendar looked pretty easy to use, and even though it is newer and has drag-and-drop editing, I don't go into Gmail often enough to warrant the usage. I guess Google is sticking their collective software wherever they can these days, and I'm not sure if the absolute diversification is working for them? The older version YAHOO calendar looks more like the email that I currently use, and since I already use that, it makes more sense to go to the "familiar." According to the article, YAHOO has an update already in the works.

I started to watch the Scrybe video and I felt like I was on the phone with one of the tech guys from Norton/Symantec. I had to go to YouTube to see a larger version of the actual video overview just to understand what was being said and discovered the video was created over two years ago in Oct. 2006. It all looks very slick and if it works, then the potential is phenomenal-- however even on their own website it says "Scrybe is temporarily not accepting more direct beta invitation requests" which tells me that it's not really up and running at this point! All the endorsements seem to be for the hope that it will do all the wonderful things it promises. (Kind of like our politicians!) Now here it is March 2009 and is Scrybe actually functional?

I'm not much of a list maker, so those tools hold no interest for me-- but I did look at the article on productivity tools and discovered that I had already used Google Docs and Spreadsheets in a sharing capacity with a statewide committee I am on. We were able to edit the same document even though we all live in different parts of the state. Now THAT was productive! As for the other apps and resources, some were overlaps of things we've already seen, and some are SO new and foreign, that I'll only have time to explore them when I'm retired. By then, I'm sure something else will have come along.


CutePDF
PDFConverter
Zamzar

all have some potential for use in my personal life and in my work life, now that I know about them. I can't wait to show this to my husband, who refuses to buy the Microsoft Office Suite of products for his home computer. When he sends me a $%&*#@#@!~^%#@#!MSWorks doc, NOW I can convert it to Word.

Zamzar may be good for patrons too, who often bring in their own flyers or homework they started on another computer somewhere else and with a different app, but need to finish up on the library's computers. I'm not crazy about the commercial pop-up ads, but if it could cut down on the disappointed looks, the "what am I going to do's?" as well as the "oh-no's!" then it's definitely worth a try...

Thing #13: My Library Thing-a-Ling

Oh my thing a ling, my thing a ling
I wanna play with my Library thing a ling a ling

Well I signed up for an account here, but again this is another technology that I will have to take time to sit at the computer for and input my information. It seems like with all the time I'm spending with the technology, I will never see the light of day or a cruise ship! ARGGGHHHH... I can tell you I am not one of those who embraces technology when I am on the high seas. I leave it at home. One book I chose was fairly popular! http://www.librarything.com/work/book/42539963

I can however see the potential for creating booklists and groupings of books to be shared for particular tastes or recommendations. There are many times I am looking for the ultimate in "urban" fiction, and now I can just check here! I searched using the Tag info: urban fiction and found a nice beginning list.

I think it's fantastic to give to patrons who absolutely need a list of books they HAVE read, or want TO read, HOWEVER, and the BIG BUT here is that this is limited unless you purchase Library Thing's membership. A free account allows you to catalog up to 200 books. A paid account allows you to catalog any number of books. Paid personal accounts cost $10 for a year or $25 for a lifetime. It's reasonable, but I don't like limitations. This is why I stopped using Flickr. Our library will soon allow patrons to create their own profile from a "My Discoveries" module in our AquaBrowser catalog.

I may be able to use this to organize a collection of books I am responsible for purchasing at our library. It may be helpful to get feedback from others that don't work with me and get a different global perspective.

On a personal level I won't be taking the time to catalog my own collection of books at home.

Found the LibraryThing Local.

I did also create an account on Shelfari because I wanted to see if there were any major differences. Shelfari allows you to import your lists from other places listed like Amazon, Delicious Library or Goodreads and even Library Thing. I even added an actual bookshelf widget. How cool is that?

P.S. I just got through reading runnergirl's blog at 23 Beach Lane and I felt compelled to comment on her(?) Thing 13. This is a direct quote from her and I couldn't agree more.

"You know what it is -- I'm feeling overwhelmed by all that is available via the internet. So much of it seems like just one more thing to do, to know, to use instead of something else. What I have to remember is that by participating in 23Things, we are all being inundated with technology week after week for learning purposes only. It doesn't mean I personally have to use all this stuff; I just need to get acquainted with what's out there."

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming

I just HAD to take a small break and read some other bloggers Neflin blogs! They are wonderful, entertaining, and informational.

I had been feeling a little overwhelmed with all this, only because it's getting to be MUCH MORE than the original 23 THINGS I thought I signed up for... be that as it may, I am blogging along and don't feel quite as frustrated as I did in the beginning. I consider this my half-way point and feel justified in blogging, just to blog.

NO THINGS ALLOWED!


However, I must quote bostwickblogger who may have had some trouble making it out of the starting gate. "Wow! It only took me two hours to register for this blog. What fun!!!"

(Two hours? Do I know that feeling!)

Thing #12: 'O wai kou inoa? Wiki, What is your name?

"the content of a wiki depends on the knowledge and commitment of participants."

While in theory a Wiki has a lot of potential, and even I admittedly have used the biggest Wiki, Wikipedia for quick and dirty information when I'm totally clueless, the truth of the matter is that there is no real authority to back up the content accuracy. I suppose that's the problem with most of the information found on the internet these days. Again, my grain of salt theory.

This article from the BBC News
Editorial row engulfs Wikipedia
pretty much sums up the basic issues.

1. I watched the Common Craft video on Wikis and now I am not as much in love as I was before! They do make things easy to understand, but this was a little bit oversimplified. Maybe because I already had some familiarity with wikis, PBwiki, Wetpaint, etc. I had previously attended a Neflin workshop on the Bells and Whistles of Blogs and Wikis and discovered there, that out in the WWW there was a plethora of applications to choose from and found them to be not as easy as all that.

2. I actually liked the St. Joseph County Public Library's Subject Guides. They appeared to use it much like a community Rolodex. I've been wanting to have something like that at our library for MANY years. My guess is that only staff have access to updating it. The Book Lovers Wiki, developed by the Princeton Public Library has some great things too, but our library already has some serious review info on our website like Bookletters and its BookPage reviews and interviews. I think the Book Lovers Wiki would be more apropos for a smaller library setting.

A library staff wiki has great potential for updating information in a timely manner. We tried using one already in our department for ready reference responses to email, and in theory it's great-- that is 1) if you can get it set up working the way you want it to in the first place, and 2) if you have people dedicated to maintaining its accuracy and timeliness. I would really like to see this one brought back to life.

We already have an "intranet" but it is not as user-friendly. We also have some "shared" folders on our server, but the documents take up a lot of space there. I think a wiki would allow more people accessibility and it would save space and time when it came to document sharing.

3. Added my two cents worth on the Neflin wiki... I really did!

Having done that I then went to the Core Competency blog of the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, Wiki, Wiki, Wiki! and was fascinated to find out the word "Wiki" comes from the Hawaiian phrase "wiki wiki", which is commonly used to indicate something fast. Are we SURE this is 23 THINGS?!! By the time I'm done, I'm sure it will be more like 67...


I have been to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County library in NC. They always seem to be a step ahead of everyone so it's no surprise that the 23 Things project originlly came from them, even though it's loosely based on Stephen Abram's "43 Things I might want to do this year." I agree with one of the comments posted there...

Vinnie Boombots said… "A wiki can never be an authoritive source, but there's no harm in using them as a starting point. If you find something that answers your question, you can verify that elsewhere, having something to go on."

Well put Vinnie!!!

Thing #11: Social Misfit, er um Media!

Okay, forgive me but I am from the “olden days." Ya know when we actually put cards in the card catalog, and there was no such thing as the internet or "social media!" Did I mention this before? Did I mention this before? Did I mention this before?


Am I getting "old-timers" disease already? The only technology I can recall was having a copy machine in the library and that in itself was a big deal. Today we still have patrons only coming in to use the copier (if you can believe it?)


I guess it can be interesting to find out what's "popular" but I've never been "in" with the in-crowd. It's definitely difficult to keep up with everything that is out there, so I suppose this is a handy way to consolidate or have a clearinghouse for preferred information.

I didn't care for any of it really, but I will say that since the Newsvine website has stories from established media organizations, it appeals more to my sensibilities.

1. I watced the “Social Media in Plain English” video from the Common Craft Show. I'm beginning to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Common Craft people. They should do ALL staff training from here on out!!! Of course I still think "social media" should be taken with a grain of salt, as opinions are like a*******s, EVERYONE's got one! And the grain of salt is better left for the ice-cream makers.

2. I explored the sites and though all seemed to have some sort of a subject menu, Mixx was too busy, Digg was popularity-based, Reddit just seemed like rambling nonsense, and Newsvine at least had some of the top wires listed. Of these, again-- Newsvine is the only one that really speaks to me, socially or intellectually.

3. So I learned how to share. Not only did I share, but I replied too. What a good person I am! :-) I found the most appropriate article and I shared it to the site I least disliked, but you probably could figure that out by now, duh--Newsvine.

Thing #10: Tag, Your IT and I'm Delicious!

1. It's funny that on this assignment we're being asked to tag (label) when I have been tagging my posts all along! I feel like I've got this one in the tag, I mean bag!








I previously had a Delicious account, but I wasn't really crazy about sharing my bookmarked items with the general public, I mean they're MINE, and I'll admit I'm basically selfish! I'll share when I'm good and ready. What's mine is mine! Talk about big brother getting into all of your goodies. I'm sure he's watching over my shoulder as I type my blog... That is until I discovered I didn't have to share with everybody, as I could edit my "Network Privacy" and make my own bookmarks private.


Then after I FINALLY figured out how to export my considerable amount of bookmarks from my work computer and import them back to Delicious, it was like an "AHA" moment. It did not put them in subject folders like I already had them, and the only option for sorting is either "alphabetically" or "most recent." It was kind enough to add instant tags to my just imported bookmarks, and I suppose that's where the tagging/labeling comes in handy, but quite frankly I don't have the time to do this now. I hope the instant tags are relevant for searching later on.

It seemed much easier for me to create a folder and just throw them in the folder!

The fact that Delicious lets you access your bookmarks from any computer is very appealing, but it will only be a great timesaver once I've invested the time in sorting and tagging the bookmarks in a much more usable way other than the two default sorting methods. As far as it being "Delicious" in that the social aspect of the bookmarking service rates highly with many, but for me... I'd rather be offered a big slice of fresh carrot cake, thank you very much. Now THAT's delicious! mmmmmm....



And while we're at it, can I share this great recipe website?


All Recipes is one of my personal favorites.

Awesome Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2. DOH! “Social Bookmarking in Plain English”
Why didn't you put this video FIRST? I'm going to have to look at ALL the videos this Common Craft Show produces, because they make everything so easy to understand. I a may even start recommending some of their videos to my patrons. After viewing this, I think my "anti-social" viewpoint of Delicious has just changed. Actually, I still don't have that much time to go back and tag, but at least now I do see the relevance. YAY!


3. Looked around NEFLIN23things Delicious account and picked "blogs." I found an interesing link to the Top 25 Librarian Bloggers (By the Numbers)

4. digg
digg.com/

People have saved this 53923 times, and 7693 wrote notes. It was first bookmarked on 05 Dec 04, by streetblader51.

5. I tried several times to save my "Network badge" script and it failed every time? I followed the instructions, so I don't know what went wrong. Running out of time... argggghhh!!!


P.S. I briefly unfurled Furl but did not have the strength at this time to sign up for yet another account, so I merely used this mostly as a search engine. Even through the search box and the "Explore" menu, I was able to find some interesting websites so it's worthy of keeping as an extra tool.

Thing #9: Sharing - It's electric...slides, photos, databases

I don't know why I had such a hard time with Mosaic Maker from BigHugeLabs, but I did. Maybe it's because I had to upload individual pictures from my computer instead of my Flickr account, but I wanted it to be ELECTRIC! You know the assignment said to add some pizzazz to your Web page or blog. Well I'm pretty certain my travel pictures couldn't cut it, but maybe some of these will.

I briefly viewed SlideShare and felt it was certainly a great resource for PowerPoint type presentations. Definitely could "borrow" some ideas here.


PictureTrail offers some very cool Photo Flick Slideshows!

After spending SO much time on Thing #8, I was determined not to do so on this assignment, and I can see already how it can suck all my time away like an energy vacuum...

As mentioned earlier, for photosharing I already use KodakGallery,Photobucket,and Snapfish and that's enough!!!