Thing 17: Social Cataloging

I already have a Librarything account. I set it up specifically for keeping track of the music books and scores that I own. In my other life I'm a musician, and in the intersection of that and my professional life, I do research on folk music and songs. I've amassed quite a collection of books and manuscripts and sometimes when I'm researching a new topic, I forget what I already have in my collection. So I created a catalog through Librarythng to help me keep track. (my only problem now if remembering to check it and keep it updated)

Here is the link to my Librarything catalog, if anyone is interested:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/slawlor314

I've toyed with the idea of using one of these sites for my book club, but that impose an undue degree of organization on my book club (we're a pretty casual bunch).

While not for cataloging, I have made extensive use of Bookmooch to benefit the library. We often receive donations of books that we really don't need in the collection but which are still of interest. I took it upon myself to add them to my Bookmooch inventory, and after accumulating a good points balance, I also started using Bookmooch to acquire books for TNCC. I've been able to replace worn out copies in our paperbacks collection, and get extra copies of titles for the campus book club. The mailing cost comes out of pocket, but it's minimal and I enjoy the global book exchange.

And while it wasn't one of the options mentioned in the 23 Things list, I also want to put in a plug for the "WeRead" feature on facebook. I've used that to post titles that I'm reading and it always generates a bit of discussion.

Thing 16: E-Books

What do you think of PsycBooks?
     I liked it. Since I wasn't looking for anything in particular I poked around in the browsing featured. I liked the terminology finder and the nav bar choices for narrowing down topics.

Are e-books the wave of the future? An aesthetically-challenged plot to empty your wallet? A wild west frontier?
     Yes, all of the above. I think e-publishing is the overall wave of the future and e-books are simply a part of that. As for the "empty your wallet" part - I remember reading somewhere that half the books purchase each year are never read. People buy books and get the feeling that they then somehow own the knowledge that's in them, even if they have no idea what that knowledge actually says. Buying e-book downloads is even easier and I suspect far more than half of the those purchases are going unread.

Are e-books popular with your students?
     They are once they've been introduced to them. Students still think of the library primarily as a place to get hard copy material, and seem to be surprised when we show them the e-books collections. But they do use them once they know they're there. I think out most popular collection is Safari, great for looking up technical information.

Do you own a dedicated e-book reader such as the Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook? If so, what do you think of it?
     I don't own one myself, yet. I have several friends who have and love them and I suspect I'll be getting one in the foreseeable future. I'm envisioning e-readers becoming the new format for daily newspapers and magazines. Publishing them for free online hasn't worked very well, at least not for the publishers' bottom lines. But a modest subscription fee to allow one to read the morning paper while sitting on the couch with your coffee might just do it.

Thing 15: Creative Commons

I am continually frustrated by the current copyright laws. I agree with the spirit, but the application often either leaves works in limbo or obstacles to use that potential creators simply give up. And I don't believe that the laws can handle the explosion of new media and the fluid nature of the Internet.

I definitely think it would be a good idea let faculty know about Creative Commons (if they don't already). There are many great resources already available under CC licenses which can save faculty time when preparing presentations and class material. And the more who know about it, the more collaboration is possible.

Thing 8: Screencasting

We have a license for Camtasia here, though we haven't made much use of it. Rather than wait for the process of getting permission for Camtasia I downloaded the free version of Jing and used that. I created a soundless video of the process for renewing a book online.

I'd like to make another version of this using sound and callouts with notes, but that will have to wait for the Camtasia permissions and for finding a microphone (I believe we have USB mics somewhere on campus...)

I tried for quite a while to embed the video here but wasn't able to do it, so I have just included the link.

How to Renew Books Online

Thing 14 : Online Surveys

OK, I know that firewalls are necessary, but they're really getting in the way here. After the segment on Wikis here, I got excited about the possibility of recreating our policies and procedures manual in a wiki format. It needs to be updated in the worst way and the current format is cumbersome. A wiki would be easier to update, would allow several people to make changes, and would make it more accessible. Great, but the firewalls in place here have thwarted all my attempts to set one up.

Likewise, the local firewalls completely block Doodle. Very frustrating.

Google works all right though, and I I'd like to rework some of our library survey with Google. We conduct an annual user survey but only in paper format, it would be interesting to see how many additional responses we received if we added an online component.

And, my one question survey...

Thing 13 : Document Sharing

I've used Google docs quite a bit for committee work. As the Common English clip stated, it eliminated the issue of having multiple copies of a document floating and being passed around, often with different versions of editing.

I've been trying to get the rest of the staff here to warm up to the idea of putting our operations manual into Google docs or into a wiki but so far only a couple people are on board. One question I still have is whether it's a good idea to have our policies and procedures manual publicly accessible. That wouldn't have been possible with the old hard copy version, but web versions make it easy.

I posted a document in my google account, one of my favorite Yeats poems. And shortened the url to boot.

http://bit.ly/a6DRO7

Things 10 & 11: Tweeting and Shortening a URL

I've had a twitter account for some time, though I don't really use it. I set it up to follow some of the threads at the ELUNA conference in Richmond last year, and have kept it, though all I really follow is the VCCS library and TNCC news threads (is "threads" the correct term to use here?)

I was interested to find out about the search engines and the twitterfall site, both could be potentially useful in doing research, or at least for gathering information. And I liked the scenarios that were presented describing how twitter could be used in professional collaborations. Although all these would take a good deal of tweaking to filter out the dross.

URL shortening - I've also been aware of these services but have never used them. And I suspect that if we shortened the links to our databases, for instance changing Academic Search Complete from
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/search?vid=1&hid=110&sid=7b6bd863-f795-4d4d-920d-9709528c2c3b%40sessionmgr110

to http://bit.ly/d9mmCU

that it wouldn't work from off campus. I'll have to try it from home. And just out of curiosity, I shortened the shortened link that we already have, this one:
http://library.vccs.edu/license-bin/linker.plx?ebscoa9h which takes users through the proxy server.

Shortened it looks like this: http://bit.ly/aFVU5o

Tried another, which doesn't have the proxy issues, this is the link to the listing for "The Secret Life of Bees" from our catalog, shortened from http://vccslinc.vccs.edu/F/QCU2RNSQ3UHHKYB8BDKI3K1B2ABGSLFSR6DUSAMMJQ3GA9VRYV-61032?func=full-set-set&set_number=005626&set_entry=000002&format=999

to http://bit.ly/aaXbxa

But again, the true test will be how these links work from off campus. Results to follow...