Google Docs

I was already signed up when I went to docs.google.com so I pasted an article from digg.com about a breath test for lung cancer. Changing the font, font size, and background color were easy and very similar to Microsoft Word. I shared it with a friend and that was easy, too. I will recommend Google Docs to students who use our Library computers because the computers don't have Microsoft Office. Sometimes the labs are closed, so Google Docs will make our Library computers much more useful. I'm very impressed with Google Docs and I'm sure I will use it in the future.

LibWorm

LibWorm was easy to access and use. I tried RDA first with results unrelated to cataloging so I changed to Resource Description and Access (any words) with much better results. Resource Description and Access (all words) was even better, but exact phrase was the best. Categories, Subjects, and Tags did not help me with RDA, but they might be good for browsing more generally. When I searched Moffett Library as a phrase, a blog posting by Adam Beatty about a NTRLS Certified Library Computer Technologist class held at Moffett Library was the only result. I think LibWorm would be extremely useful for quality research on library topics. I intend to use it in the future.

LibraryThing

Signing up with LibraryThing was easy and I added several books while I was at work. I'll have to be at home when I add more so there will be more detail. I intend to use this tool for my home library since it seems very helpful. I think the University Library is too large to use Library Thing but a small library might find it useful. ThingLang, ISBN Check, and MARCThing were hard to find until I looked at another 23 Things blog. The Thingology blog on LibraryThing can be searched, so I found them there. I've used an ISBN checker to get the 10 or 13 digit ISBN so I'm glad it is used on LibraryThing. ThingLang and MARCThing seem very helpful and I'm impressed by Tim's site.

Digg

I watched the helpful video: Inside//Out: Digg.com video and went to digg.com to explore. I looked at 3 articles:
More ‘Evidence’ of Intelligent Design Shot Down by Science, Hemcrete®: Carbon Negative Hemp Walls, and
Mike Enzi, Gang Of Six Republican, Admits He's Simply Blocking Health Care Reform. It required extra clicks and some of the Top in all Topics humor wasn't for me, but I did find interesting articles there. It is useful for finding information on specific subjects.

Delicious

Signing up for Delicious was easy, so I imported my Favorites. Since there were 284, it took a minute or two. My page is http://delicious.com/terridecker I'm not sure I'll keep the delicious toolbar because it takes extra room on my browser, but I haven't tried to access it from a different computer. It will be very helpful to have my favorites available when I'm at the Reference Desk. I'll try that next week.

Tagging

Tagging would very useful alongside the controlled vocabulary in OPACs. Many Library of Congress subject headings are outdated and obscure to the average user. Since we want people to find our material, tags from librarians and users would add search terms in popular language.

Twitter

The twitter account was easy to set up and I'm following Jeremy Piven, Ellen DeGeneres and Asteroid Watch. The how-to video in the help section was helpful. I enjoyed hearing about Twitter after the Iranian presidential election. I think it was a great tool for the people of Iran so the rest of the world could find out what was happening there.

Instant Messaging

I chose Yahoo Messanger for the Web and created a Yahoo account with decker.terri as my user name. I looked at the webopedia site but I didn't memorize all the abbreviations. It will be a good resource for later translations. I've used a chat program at the Reference Desk, but not enough to learn the details so practice with Instant Messaging should help.

Ning

I searched for "crocheting" on the ning home page and there were 86 networks about crocheting. EtsyHookers has 307 members and many pictures on its home page. All kinds of clothing and decorative items are shown with members selling the displayed items. To become a member, you have to create an Etsy shop with 50% crochet or crochet related items with a minimum of 7 items listed. I was hoping to find free crochet patterns and there are some available, but primarily it is a site for selling. I looked at the ALA network and they have a new site they'll be using in the future: ALA Connect: at http://connect.ala.org At the old site they have 463 members and over 1000 photos, and 61 blog posts. I watched the We've been Everywhere video and it was great. I loved the librarians singing along with Johnny Cash.

More Facebook

Thing 9 More Facebook requires adding friends to my facebook page. I sent requests to a few people, added a network, added 2 What's on your mind statements, 1 with a link. I became a fan of Moffett Library at Midwestern State University and joined Libraries using Facebook pages, WorldCat Fan Club, & Libraries and Librarians for my groups.

Facebook

I'm not very comfortable sharing personal information so I included work and education information as well as a picture in my profile. I enjoyed the article about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, but I'd like to see something more recent. His article in Wikipedia has pros and cons of Facebook, including a settled lawsuit. I don't think I'll use it personally, but our Library has a facebook page, so that may be useful. I've heard younger users don't like older users on Facebook, since it was created for college students.

RSS Feeds

I love adding RSS feeds to my Google Reader. I used the Subscribe button in Google Reader as well as the subscribe button on a blog, which opened another instance of Google Reader. I'm going to add a reminder to Outlook so I'll check Google Reader regularly for new posts.

Blog Readers

Google Reader was very user friendly since it didn't ask for my user name and password before opening. Since I had Blogger open, it just opened with the blog I was following. The reader will be very useful in organizing and remaining current on blogs.

Image Generators

I used ImageChef to add text to this kitten picture and the Add Image button on Blogger with the url function. Previously, I'd saved the pictures to my computer before using the Add Image button and browsing to find the picture. I think the url function is easier.

Flickr mashups

I used Color Fields to search for yellow pictures. Of course, I got hungry for bananas. So I searched pink and came up with cherry blossoms. Color fields was fun.

I used Flappr to search for frogs and loved the bumblebee frog and the baby frog with the rose.

Flickr

Flickr is a wonderful tool I'll be able to use personnally and professionally. I explored photos of Mount Fuji which reminded me of living in Japan for 3 years as a child.

Library 2.0

I watched the Shifted Librarian: The Machine is Us/ing Us and found it very interesting. It reminded me of the science fiction books and films about computers taking over everything. If we can make our services available to our users when and where they need them, they will become fans of libraries and increase our relevance. 11 reasons why Library 2.0 exists and matters from Blyberg.net was a very good post. It made Library 2.0 much easier to understand and explained that engaging our users is necessary for our survival.

23 Things

Since words do not flow easily, my post is short.