Thing #19: Web 2.0 tools

I was surprised to see how many of these winning tools I’ve used and/or just played with.  Here’s a list:

• bloglines (my BIL’s blog is there)
• Library Thing (for learning 2.0)
• Yelp (just because)
• Yahoo!Local (just because)
• Craigslist (found my apartment there)
• PBWiki (for learning 2.0 and school)
• WetPaint (for school)
• 43 Things (just because)
• Google Maps (Because I get lost)
• Zoho (for learning2.0)
• Flickr (for learning2.0)
• Yahoo!Answers (just because)
• Zillow (because I’m into real estate)
• Rollyo (for learning 2.0)
• Del.icio.us (for learning 2.0)
• YouTube (because it’s fun)

So, picking one that I hadn’t tried already and that looked interesting was hard!  Well, since I’m planning lots of weekends away, I chose to look at Farecast.  Their search engine has a clean appearance and is easy to use.  There are very few options, so you don’t have to worry about clicking too many buttons or checking too many boxes.  Because it was so clean (no major pictures/advertisements) each page only took a second to load.  Currently, there are only two tabs: one for flights, and one for hotels.  The hotels are still in their beta version. 

I appreciated being able to search multiple airports for flights, and then being able to narrow the flights from there.  The sliding bar adjuster for times was easy to use as well.  Farecast also lists the different websites where each price can be found, so that you don’t have to look all over the place, or open a million browser windows to find what you’re looking for. 

I think they might do well to offer vacation packages, but I do know that they’re still new and in their beta stage, so it’ll probably come later.

Thing #17: Zoho

 The document I created with Zoho and published to this blog is below.  It’s basically an outline of what I have to write for a paper that’s due on Monday.  I’ll have to scramble to finish it, because my day has been taken up with waiting for the window guy to show up at my apartment.  So far, it’s close to 3PM, and he’s nowhere to be seen.  Either way, I have to pick a public library at which I won’t be recognized, so I can’t pick a library that I work at.  *sigh*  Lots to do.

Zoho seemed pretty simple and straightforward.  It would really work well for those that don’t own regular document creation software.  It would also make online group work very easy for the same reasons a wiki is helpful.  I haven’t played with any of the other options though.  I’ll have to do that later.

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Due 3/3/08

Evaluation of Library Management

Length: at least 8 pages

Format: double spaced, APA style

This assignment is designed develop your skills of observation and to practice doing an environmental scan.  The ability to objectively observe, analyze, and report the current environmental findings about a specific site is essential to creating a strategic plan.

Public Library name:

Address:
Community Demographics:

 

Website/discussion:

 

External environmental variables that affect management (ID 5-10):

• Explain how each affects management of collections and services
• Compare/contrast community demographics with collections and services
• Include visuals (graphs, tables, charts, pictures)
• What are the implications of these variables when compared with strategic plan?
• Neighborhood
• Location

Internal environmental variables:

• People (customers) reaction and feelings as they enter
• Signage clear and consistent?  Easy to find?
• Navigation within the building
• Cluttered or clean/sparse?
• Staff easy to find and ID?
• How does the library change on different days/times?
• How does the internal environment fit in/reflect the external?
• How doesn’t the internal environment fit in/reflect the external?
• What is the organizational structure?
• What were the expectations based on external?
• What surprises you when you compare the internal and external?
• What are the implications when you compare them to the strategic plan?

Note any indications of organizational culture of the library

 

Constituents:

• Observations
• How is the library answering demographic trends you IDed in your research?
• What does the library do to address those constituents?
• Which constituents are underserved?
• What are the implications for a strategic plan?

Summary:

• Summarize your main points
• Briefly restate your findings and the best supporting evidence
• Review the implications of your research on a strategic plan
• Add any personal or editorial comments

Use the required readings and any additional sources to support your position. 

Use APA style format for your citations.  List your references at the end of your essay, again using APA style format. 

Post your Essay to the assignment manager in Blackboard.

This assignment is worth 10% of your total grade.  In points it is 40 of a total of 400 points

Content is worth 90% of the grade.

WorldCat’s New Competition

I was looking through my bloglines subscription today when I came across an article from the SF Chronicle about Open Library.  The Chronicle is billing Open Library as a major competitor for WorldCat because it offers everyone the chance to add, edit, and update the information on the books in their database.  Not only that, but Open Library allows the user to search the database to see if the book is at a library near them.  Granted, the library must be part of the Open Library family, but still…  It seems like Web2.0 is finally hitting the official library catalog/databases.

I added a post about this to one of my class’ bulletin boards, and the students were quite enthusiastic.  What do you all think?  Will this take the place of WorldCat?

Thing #17: PBWiki

I was intrigued by this assignment because I’ll have to use PBWiki in one of my classes this semester.  It was nice to play with it and see what I can do, but I must admit it was a little scary to know that if I slipped and hit the wrong buttons a couple of times, I could erase everyone’s entries.  Luckily that didn’t happen.

So, I added my blog under general blogs because I didn’t see a blog list for ACLibrary.  If someone could point me to the list (if it exists) I’ll re-list mine.  I also added Las Vegas to the favorite vacations page.

Alright, I’m exhausted.  Too much to do and not enough time.  Worked today, then to mom’s to cook dinner, then to a birthday party, and now I’m home.  I think it’s time for a nap.  A nice 8 hour long one.

Ironing

Did you know that I can iron 7 shirts in 30 minutes?  Yeah, me either.  Funny what you learn when you’re playing with a timer.

Thing #16 – Wikis

Thanks to services like Wikipedia, wikis are here to stay.  I’m not sure how I feel about that; I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea of unpermanent (is that even a word?) information.  Call me old-fashioned or even self-centered, but the thought that someone could change or discard my thoughts makes me sad.  It makes me feel as though my words are unimportant.  This doesn’t mean that I’m against wikis, because they can be very useful tools, but still…

I can see wikis working very well for group projects or commonly used search tools.  It definitely makes more sense to allow group members to update one page instead of having a bunch of different documents floating around in cyberspace.  And with search tools, it’s easier to prune away dead links or add better ones than it is to try to save everything to all computers.  So, I can see where they’d be useful, but I still don’t think I like them.  I’d have to play with them some more to make sure, though.

 Here’s a link to an article I found on Library Link of the Day.  It’s about Wikipedia and School Curriculum. 

One Chapter at a Time

I received a link to a Wall Street Journal article today.  This article was about Random House testing the feasiblity of offering books for sale online one chapter at a time.  They likened it to record labels selling individual songs from CD.

It seems like an interesting idea, and it might appeal to those who only want to read the first chapter to see if a book appeals to them.  It might also work well for a “serial” novel that would be published one chapter at a time, but I wonder how well it would work on a larger scale.  I can’t see it working for the vast majority of books, or customers. 

What if the library started offering e-books one chapter at a time?  How would that affect our usage licenses?  Our circs?  Do you think it would be something that would appeal to patrons, or would it cause problems?

Mixed Bag

Today was a mixed bag: ups and downs all day.

I started out by answering emails and doing school stuff.  It was mostly bulletin board postings and getting the gumption to finish writing my papers.  I was talking about the changes a local library made and mentioned that I’d like to interview their library’s director about the changes.  Of course, my teacher chimes in and says “why don’t you?  And then you can post your findings for us all to see.”  *sigh* Why did I open my big mouth?

I went to Ikea with my friend C.  She’s 6 weeks pregnant, so she wants to work on making her house safer for a baby by swapping an ottoman for a coffee table, and getting curtains instead of mini blinds.  I had a gift card and was hunting for curtains, area rugs, and maybe some decorations.  Three hours later I came away with stuff to make my half bath more “beachy,” a couple of household items, and a Valentine’s present for my hunny.  C found household items and an area rug.  Oh well, there’s always next time.

Ikea’s checkout system sucks bad.  They force you to use the self-checkouts, but they’re not easy like the library’s.  When you need help, the cashier folks get mad.  I guess it’s because everyone needs help all the time, but still…  I’d rather have someone ring up my items.  It’s less hassle for me, and it gives someone a job.

I got stuck at a train crossing on the way home.  Some jerk behind me was leaning on his horn – like it would make the train go any faster!  People like that are idiots.

Then I got home and decorated the bathroom.  My hunny got home and was in a bad mood.  I guess 8 hours with people rich enough to buy a Bently and then 3 hours on BART will do that to you.  He was hungry, so I went to make some dinner while he went upstairs to relax and improve his mood.  I was chopping celery on a slippery cutting board on a slippery counter with my shiny new knife when – you guessed it – the knife slipped and landed on my index finger.  I shouted many swear words (it didn’t hurt, it was just reflex) and my hunny ran down the stairs, slipping and falling, to come to my rescue.  Blood everywhere, and now my finger hurts.  I’m sure the endless typing hasn’t helped.

So, we ate dinner and went to the mall to redeem a See’s Candy gift certificate Hunny got for supporting a program last year.  I got to build my own box, but it took forever because of all the people trying to get their Valentine’s gifts before the big day.  Ever since then, I’ve been upstairs working on homework, writing my papers, reading the books.  Lots of work to do.  I took a break to clean up the kitchen and set the coffee maker, but I haven’t been able to motivate myself to get back to work.  I guess that’s a sign it’s time for bed.

Yeah…  1:15 AM and work at 9?  It’s definitely time for bed.

Library Automation 2007

One of the members of a listserv I subscribe to sent this link to the group.  It contains the results of Library Technology Guides’ Survey of Library Automation.  The survey was international, but most of the respondents were from the US. 

One of the programs ACL uses is on there so it was good to see how highly it was rated.  The results themseves weren’t as interesting as the comments made by the responding libraries.  One of the most common complaints I saw on the comments was cost: this particular program is expensive, it’s not very customizeable, and things that some libraries think should be part of the basic package are sold as add-ons.  Also, printing is terrible in this program as we’ve all experienced at ACL.  On the other hand, the system was developed by a large company and it’s very stable, so many of the respondents liked that.

I’ll probably post the link to my class bulletin board, since we’re studying database technologies in one of my classes. 

To do: Week of 2/10-2/16

Pretty typical week… 

Library 200:
Review LIS Periodical/Magazine
Read Buckland; Rubin (chapter 2); Schiller; and “pick one”
Post 1, Comment 3

Library 202:
View Lecture 4
Read Chowdhury chapters 3 and 4
Assignment 1 (database) due 2/16
Get notes together for quiz
Post 1, Comment 3

Library 204:
Work on Assignment 1 (due 2/18)
Work on Group Project
Reach Steuart & Moran, Chapters 7 and 8
Post 1, Comment 3

Work:
Timesheets
Learning 2.0 

Household/Other:
Groceries
Laundry/Ironing
Cleaning (Monday-basic, all others-bathrooms/office, declutter-15 minutes daily)
Ikea with C, 2/12
Brakes 2/9 or 2/10
Feed Mom (what nights?)