I was familiar with flickr, but only as a site for sharing vacation photos and the like. I wasn't aware of all the apps and other features. We've been talking about creating a virtual tour for the library, and also for the new Williamsburg Campus, and this may be just the tool for the job.
I've created a mini tour of the Williamsburg campus using some photos that we took back when the new campus opened in September.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Week 9.5: Generators
Well this was fun. As I mentioned in the previous post, I was familiar with flickr before this, but not with all the apps and features.
I created a banner fo the library using the spelling app, I'd like to use this as the banner for our blog if I can figure out how to get it in there.
And tried this with the ImageChef generator:
I created a banner fo the library using the spelling app, I'd like to use this as the banner for our blog if I can figure out how to get it in there.
And tried this with the ImageChef generator:
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Thing 7: Sharing Slide Presentations
In an interesting juxtaposition, I jut returned from a two day workshop on hand book binding. Rather at the opposite end of the spectrum of library work.
This week's information was mostly new to me, and I can see how this sort of service could be useful for creating short demos or instructional clips on using databases and the like. Though I have to say I'm not terribly impressed with SlideShare. I've tried multiple times to create an account and it keeps timing out, either telling me that the site is too busy to show the page, or just freezing up.
So, I haven't been able to create a presentation, or use the share feature (that wasn't working either). About all I can do is imbed a link, which I'll do with the Reality Check slide show.
Reality Check 2010: 5 Trends Shaping Libraries
on to flickr... (did anyone else notice the typo in the Reality Check show? "5 trands...")
This week's information was mostly new to me, and I can see how this sort of service could be useful for creating short demos or instructional clips on using databases and the like. Though I have to say I'm not terribly impressed with SlideShare. I've tried multiple times to create an account and it keeps timing out, either telling me that the site is too busy to show the page, or just freezing up.
So, I haven't been able to create a presentation, or use the share feature (that wasn't working either). About all I can do is imbed a link, which I'll do with the Reality Check slide show.
Reality Check 2010: 5 Trends Shaping Libraries
on to flickr... (did anyone else notice the typo in the Reality Check show? "5 trands...")
Monday, May 17, 2010
Thing 6: Chat
Hmmm, I thought I had posted this last week, but it doesn't appear to be here...
Chat - starting at the end of the reading and working backward. I set up the Questionpoint Qwidget for the VCCS libraries, so I'm quite familiar with it. We've put it on our webpage, as has TCC and it seems to have been incorporated into the Live Reference queues without much problem.
Chat boxes seem to be popping up everywhere these days. I've used this method several times when troubleshooting computer issues (mostly at home), or when looking for information on wireless plans and the like. I've also use IM services for meetings on a couple occasions, seemed to work like a conference call with the added benefit of being able to copy and paste the entire conversation for use later as notes.
However, I don't particularly like having chat constantly active whenever I'm online. I don't like the assumption that just because I'm online I'm available for (or even interested in) conversation. When I am online and a chat window pops up I feel that it would be rude not to respond and because of that I disabled the IM clients that I used for the aforementioned online meetings. I'm trying to figure out how to disable chat in facebook but have had no luck so far.
Chat - starting at the end of the reading and working backward. I set up the Questionpoint Qwidget for the VCCS libraries, so I'm quite familiar with it. We've put it on our webpage, as has TCC and it seems to have been incorporated into the Live Reference queues without much problem.
Chat boxes seem to be popping up everywhere these days. I've used this method several times when troubleshooting computer issues (mostly at home), or when looking for information on wireless plans and the like. I've also use IM services for meetings on a couple occasions, seemed to work like a conference call with the added benefit of being able to copy and paste the entire conversation for use later as notes.
However, I don't particularly like having chat constantly active whenever I'm online. I don't like the assumption that just because I'm online I'm available for (or even interested in) conversation. When I am online and a chat window pops up I feel that it would be rude not to respond and because of that I disabled the IM clients that I used for the aforementioned online meetings. I'm trying to figure out how to disable chat in facebook but have had no luck so far.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Thing 5: Wikis
I was already vaguely familiar with wikis, I've used a couple in the past but viewing the Wikis in Plain English video got me thinking of ways to use them here. Most immediately, a wiki might be a good way to carry on a discussion that we're having about redesigning the college website, what we've been doing is flinging around a lot of email and it's getting hard to keep track of the ideas.
I had a mixed reaction to the suggested sites. The usefulness of wikis is often more apparent to the people using them internally than it is to someone just viewing them. To a viewer they really don't appear much different than a web page. However, I was impressed with the page at Antioch that has what was basically the library operations manual turned into a wiki. We've been struggling here to keep our operations manual up to date and turning it into a wiki might be the way to go.
The challenge would be getting everyone involved to adapt to a new format, and to use in rather than reverting to tried and true methods (like flinging email). I started a library blog last fall and so far have had very little success getting anyone else to post to it, or even to comment.
I had a mixed reaction to the suggested sites. The usefulness of wikis is often more apparent to the people using them internally than it is to someone just viewing them. To a viewer they really don't appear much different than a web page. However, I was impressed with the page at Antioch that has what was basically the library operations manual turned into a wiki. We've been struggling here to keep our operations manual up to date and turning it into a wiki might be the way to go.
The challenge would be getting everyone involved to adapt to a new format, and to use in rather than reverting to tried and true methods (like flinging email). I started a library blog last fall and so far have had very little success getting anyone else to post to it, or even to comment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)