Week 10 # 23 The End?

In preparation for this post I went back through and reread all nine weeks worth of postings. It reminded me how cautious I was at the beginning and how now nine weeks later I have gained a lot of confidence in using the various tools. I am not sure I will be using all of them but it is great to be familiar with them so I can assist customers.

As far as library use, I do think Wikis would be a great way to do collaborative work among the branches. As we are getting more and more involved in using pictures from the branch activities on the website, the Flickr training and photo editing tools will be very useful.

I would like to sincerely thank all the iHCPL team who put this training together for us: the ones who did the videos, who created the discovery exercises, who have been tracking our posts and who dutifully sent out the bling every week. It has been absolutely the best and most useful training program I have participated in since I came to HCPL.

Week 9 # 22 Downloadable Media

This exercise couldn't have come at a more perfect time. The other night my granddaughter had left her book at school - A Wrinkle in Time. She needed to read the next chapter and answer some questions. Of course, it was after the library was closed. However, Grandma came to the rescue with Overdrive!!!! I found the book in our catalog, downloaded it to our home computer, and voila - she was able to listen to Madeleine L'Engle herself reading to her. Of course, we also had a wee talk about being responsible and remembering important homework tools. Sweet child!

I did look into Wowio and am waiting for my account to be approved. I found a book I will download when I can called It's My Party and I'll Knit if I Want To.

As far as Audio books I will definitely stay with Overdrive. We have such a great selection of books.

Week 9 # 21 Podcasts

I tried all three directories and found that podcastalley was the most interesting. I found a lot of library related podcasts. They ranged from very technical ones to the Annie the library lady reading classics. I don't know what happened to her because she seemed to stop around Chapter 18 of Pride and Prejudice. I hope she's OK.

I then went on to subscribe to the RSS feed from one of my knitting stores. I had noticed that they were posting on their catalog site about new podcasts and this gave me the perfect opportunity to subscribe. The site is www.knitpicks.com.

Week 9 # 20 YouTube

YouTube is an old friend. I discovered Father Matthew Presents a year or so ago. He is a young Episcopal priest who has used this new medium to connect with young people (as well as not so young). He uses humor, pop music and short clips to get across important concepts of our faith.

I think the crew who created the One-Minute Marketing videos and the iHCPL videos has clearly shown a way YouTube can be used in a library setting.

Week 8 # 18 Social Networking

I explored several of the sites. The one that interested me was Ning. It had groups to appeal to almost any interest. I was already a little familiar with Myspace. My 20something sons have Myspace pages and I have occasionally been allowed to see them. They are full of fun and foolishness. They have also used their pages to reconnect with high school friends.

I created an account on Dogster so I could look at the adoptable dog pictures. I am not really in the market to adopt a dog right now but I do love to look at doggy pictures.

Week 8 # 19

Week 8 # 19 Zoho

 

This is a pretty nifty new tool. I really like having my documents available to me anywhere. I can't tell you how many times I have wanted something at home that I have saved at work. So I will be definitely using Zoho.

 

Now if I can only get this on my blog I will feel that I have met the challenge!