This week our assignment was to play around with YouTube. I've used YouTube before, but usually someone will send me a link directly to a video to watch. What I find annoying about YouTube is searching for videos. If you know the exact name of a video, you are likely to find it. But if you don't, or you just want to browse videos on a topic, there isn't a great way to do that.
I tried searching for "library", "medical library" and "health sciences library". I got a few things, but mostly I got a lot of junk back. I did find two videos that were professional and interesting:
Building Academic Library 2.0
This was from an event at UC Berkeley. It was interesting because apparently Berkeley posts a lot of their events on YouTube, which I thought was very cool. You could even subscribe to Berkeley Events and be notified when there are new videos available.
EBLIP4 Keynote 5-9-07 Booth Plutchak Debate
This was also recorded from a session that took place at the EBLIP (Evidence Based Library and Information Practice) Conference in 2007. It was great to be able to watch something like this for those of us that could not attend the meeting. However, I did just stumble across this, I found it purely by luck.
In terms of what features would be nice in a library website, it would be nice to have videos available on our website from guest speakers we have in the library. Currently we can record these sessions, but then we have to pay to have them streamed from the campus streaming videoserver, and it is a monthly charge. Maybe we could look into putting the videos on YouTube instead. Also, maybe posting a video on the library website that is a tour of the library would be nice.
Finally, here is my attempt to embed a video from YouTube into my post:
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thing 9 - Online Applications and Tools
I choose to look at Google Docs and Zoho Writer. I choose those because I have used Google Docs before, but never Zoho Writer.
All and all I thought they were pretty similar. Both actually were part of a suite of tools although I only looked at the word processing tools.
I think that Zoho had a much cleaner and user-friendly interface. I thought it looked most similar to Microsoft Word which is what I'm used to using. Although there were a lot of buttons on the Zoho toolbar, and it was difficult for me to find the one that I needed.
In my work that involves people from outside of my library I have used Google Docs, and will likely continue too. It works really well for things like committee work. When I work with people in my library though, we usually just exchange documents via e-mail and use the Review tool in Word. I've thought sometimes that using Google Docs might be easier, but I don't know who is and isn't familiar with Google Docs. I do know that everyone has MS Word and is familiar with that.
The security/privacy issue would be a problem for some of the work I'd want to share. I'd want to know more about how "secure" my documents were that are saved on the Google or Zoho servers. I didn't see that information readily available...
I also looked at the Snipshot. I don't have an image editing program on my computer, so I was interested in it. It looked pretty neat, and had a number of common features. I liked that I could save my files in various formats, including PDF. I have bookmarked this application in Delicious so I can use it in the future.
All and all I thought they were pretty similar. Both actually were part of a suite of tools although I only looked at the word processing tools.
I think that Zoho had a much cleaner and user-friendly interface. I thought it looked most similar to Microsoft Word which is what I'm used to using. Although there were a lot of buttons on the Zoho toolbar, and it was difficult for me to find the one that I needed.
In my work that involves people from outside of my library I have used Google Docs, and will likely continue too. It works really well for things like committee work. When I work with people in my library though, we usually just exchange documents via e-mail and use the Review tool in Word. I've thought sometimes that using Google Docs might be easier, but I don't know who is and isn't familiar with Google Docs. I do know that everyone has MS Word and is familiar with that.
The security/privacy issue would be a problem for some of the work I'd want to share. I'd want to know more about how "secure" my documents were that are saved on the Google or Zoho servers. I didn't see that information readily available...
I also looked at the Snipshot. I don't have an image editing program on my computer, so I was interested in it. It looked pretty neat, and had a number of common features. I liked that I could save my files in various formats, including PDF. I have bookmarked this application in Delicious so I can use it in the future.
Thing 8 - Creating a wiki
I created this wiki:
http://exhibitscomm.wetpaint.com/
The wiki is for a library committee that I am on that is responsible for the exhibit spaces within our library. Our committee members are not all from the library, so having a wiki would be an easy way for us to share information besides e-mail.
I have used WetPaint before, but it was a little while ago. I think the interface is pretty user friendly. The ads are annoying, but it is nice to see that educational groups can get an ad-free wiki (although the wiki I created would likely not qualify).
The first thing that struck me when I got the Wet Paint site was that they don't call their software a wiki, they call it a website. They say "to create your own website, click here". I know you can use a wiki to create a website, but it was interesting that even Wet Paint is no longer called itself wiki software.
We do currently use wikis at my library. We use them on the staff side, primarily for information that used to be found in "desk binders" at our service points. Having all of the information online makes it much easier to access and to search. We are also using it for a project we are working on for a library service we call "roving".
For information that is updated frequently, I think a wiki is nice because it makes it very easy for any library staff member to edit the information. I think that is why the wiki format is working so well for for things like desk manuals.
http://exhibitscomm.wetpaint.com/
The wiki is for a library committee that I am on that is responsible for the exhibit spaces within our library. Our committee members are not all from the library, so having a wiki would be an easy way for us to share information besides e-mail.
I have used WetPaint before, but it was a little while ago. I think the interface is pretty user friendly. The ads are annoying, but it is nice to see that educational groups can get an ad-free wiki (although the wiki I created would likely not qualify).
The first thing that struck me when I got the Wet Paint site was that they don't call their software a wiki, they call it a website. They say "to create your own website, click here". I know you can use a wiki to create a website, but it was interesting that even Wet Paint is no longer called itself wiki software.
We do currently use wikis at my library. We use them on the staff side, primarily for information that used to be found in "desk binders" at our service points. Having all of the information online makes it much easier to access and to search. We are also using it for a project we are working on for a library service we call "roving".
For information that is updated frequently, I think a wiki is nice because it makes it very easy for any library staff member to edit the information. I think that is why the wiki format is working so well for for things like desk manuals.
Thing 7 - Wikis
For this week's assignment I'm supposed to post my thoughts about wikis. I did look at a number of the wikis that were suggested to us. I was actually surprised by the number of wikis that were aimed at the healthcare professionals, including students. There were a number in the radiology and cardiology areas. What struck me about a number of the wikis though was that they seemed like someone started them, but then no one else joined in to edit the wiki and the original author lost interest. There were many of them that said "we need your input in these areas" and it seemed like it was 75% or more of the content that was blank. A little disappointing, and it also shows how difficult it is to keep anything, even a wiki, maintained. It made me wonder how current some of the information was on these wikis, and if it could be trusted.
In terms of library wikis, I did think the Library Success wiki was a great idea. Although it also suffered from the same problem of being pretty thin on content. Some areas had more information (marketing, technology) while other areas had very little (reference). Biz Wiki is one I have heard of previously, and I think it is very good. But I believe it is completely maintained by a librarian in Ohio. I don't believe that it can be edited by anyone besides that librarian.
I thought I'd find a number of wikis that were aimed at patients - sort of like support groups. I didn't see too many. Wiki Cancer was likely the closest one I saw, but again, it seems like there is a main group doing the editing and that others are just posting comments.
I know in my library we are using wikis that are accessible only to our staff. These wikis contain policies, procedures, tidbits of information, etc. Since we are a small audience and we all have a vested interest in the information, the wiki is updated frequently by a number of library staff. The format seems to be working really well, and we have been happy with it. My impression is that it is easier to create a wiki for a smaller group, in which everyone can have access, rather than trying to create a wiki for everyone in the world to use.
In terms of library wikis, I did think the Library Success wiki was a great idea. Although it also suffered from the same problem of being pretty thin on content. Some areas had more information (marketing, technology) while other areas had very little (reference). Biz Wiki is one I have heard of previously, and I think it is very good. But I believe it is completely maintained by a librarian in Ohio. I don't believe that it can be edited by anyone besides that librarian.
I thought I'd find a number of wikis that were aimed at patients - sort of like support groups. I didn't see too many. Wiki Cancer was likely the closest one I saw, but again, it seems like there is a main group doing the editing and that others are just posting comments.
I know in my library we are using wikis that are accessible only to our staff. These wikis contain policies, procedures, tidbits of information, etc. Since we are a small audience and we all have a vested interest in the information, the wiki is updated frequently by a number of library staff. The format seems to be working really well, and we have been happy with it. My impression is that it is easier to create a wiki for a smaller group, in which everyone can have access, rather than trying to create a wiki for everyone in the world to use.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Thing 6 - Flickr
101 uses for gaffers tape
Originally uploaded by jwlphotography
This is the photo I selected from Flickr for Thing 6. I found it through the Calendar feature in Explore. The person whose photostream this is from is jwlphotography. He has posted tons of really cute photos of his girls. Besides the fact that his photos are very interesting, his girls remind me of my nieces.
Flickr is fun, but I don't love the interface. I think some of of the features are not very self-explanatory. I'm getting used to it, but I prefer to print my photos so I like sites that make it easy to share photos but also easy to order prints. Ordering prints seems like an afterthought on Flickr.
Humidifier (also Thing 6)
Humidifier
Originally uploaded by melissadesantis
This is my elephant humidifier. Since I live in Denver and it is very dry here I use it a lot, especially in the winter.
I had never used the tool in Flickr to post to a blog. I think it is very cool, I like it a lot.
I could waste hours on Flickr looking at other people's photos... We are looking at possibly using Flickr to share photos of events that have taken place at our library. I know a number of other libraries already do this.
Thing 5 - RSS
So this week we are supposed to write about our thoughts on RSS and newsreaders. This is not an easy thing for me because my feelings about RSS and readers is mixed.
On the one hand, they are obviously a great way to keep up to date. It is so much easier to access all the new information from a variety of websites in one place. No longer do I have to bookmark webpages and check them for updates. However, too much of a good thing can be bad. And there are *so many* different RSS feeds that there is no way I can keep up with all of them! It is worse than trying to keep up with e-mail! I subscribe to many feeds - both for personal and professional reasons. And there is just not enough time in the day to read all of them. So I get very behind in reading them and then I feel guilty.
I'm still trying to figure out what is the best way for me to read my feeds. Having a web-based reader is ideal because then I can access it from any computer. However, I have found that without prompting I don't remember to login to my web-based reader. And then when I eventually do login, I'm overwhelmed with new stories.
So then I tried having my feeds sent to Outlook, but that was just as bad - it made my Inbox huge and I still didn't read them. I have subscribed to a couple of sites that send me an e-mail every time there is a new post. Those work well for sites that don't have a lot of updates. I saw the Comment for this class about rssfwd.com, so I'm going to try that with a couple of my feeds and see how that works. I set it up to send me one e-mail a day with all the new posts, very similar to the digest version of listservs.
I guess the lesson might be that I should be more selective about what feeds I choose to subscribe too. But that is part of the problem - there are a lot of blogs and other resources using RSS to keep you up to date.
I can definitely use this technology to keep updated on what is going on in my professional life. There are a number of blogs about medical librarianship. Personally I use it to keep updated on some of my hobbies and current news events too.
My library does use RSS to push out information about what is new in the library. I think a number of libraries do this and it is a perfect use of the technology. And luckily, most libraries likely aren't pushing out a ton of updates so they are an easy feed to follow.
On the one hand, they are obviously a great way to keep up to date. It is so much easier to access all the new information from a variety of websites in one place. No longer do I have to bookmark webpages and check them for updates. However, too much of a good thing can be bad. And there are *so many* different RSS feeds that there is no way I can keep up with all of them! It is worse than trying to keep up with e-mail! I subscribe to many feeds - both for personal and professional reasons. And there is just not enough time in the day to read all of them. So I get very behind in reading them and then I feel guilty.
I'm still trying to figure out what is the best way for me to read my feeds. Having a web-based reader is ideal because then I can access it from any computer. However, I have found that without prompting I don't remember to login to my web-based reader. And then when I eventually do login, I'm overwhelmed with new stories.
So then I tried having my feeds sent to Outlook, but that was just as bad - it made my Inbox huge and I still didn't read them. I have subscribed to a couple of sites that send me an e-mail every time there is a new post. Those work well for sites that don't have a lot of updates. I saw the Comment for this class about rssfwd.com, so I'm going to try that with a couple of my feeds and see how that works. I set it up to send me one e-mail a day with all the new posts, very similar to the digest version of listservs.
I guess the lesson might be that I should be more selective about what feeds I choose to subscribe too. But that is part of the problem - there are a lot of blogs and other resources using RSS to keep you up to date.
I can definitely use this technology to keep updated on what is going on in my professional life. There are a number of blogs about medical librarianship. Personally I use it to keep updated on some of my hobbies and current news events too.
My library does use RSS to push out information about what is new in the library. I think a number of libraries do this and it is a perfect use of the technology. And luckily, most libraries likely aren't pushing out a ton of updates so they are an easy feed to follow.
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