Week 15: Wikis

The end is so near....Wiki Wiki WHAT?

or in the words of Fozzie Bear. 

Wocka, Wocka, Wocka 

Picture from: Fozzie Bear Wikipedia

Well for this weeks activities I first went to Nickerson's wikipedia webpage. I edited their webpage information, because they have a new website for the city. I left the old one because it has information too. I entered the link and saved the edit. I listed it as NEW SITE right above the older site which I relabeled SKYWAYS CITY WEBSITE. Here is the link to that page: Wikipedia Nickerson.


Next activity I went to the 23 Things Kansas Wiki and added a page to the wiki and then wrote about my experience and linked a couple of my videos to it.  It was very simple and self explanatory.

I then created a personal wiki for my family and am going to see if this helps us in planning our next get together.  I am also eager to try some of the other Free Wiki Options such as PBWorks or WIKISPACES.

So... onward and upwards

Week 14: Library Thing, ETC.

For this weeks activity I tried Library Thing and Shelfari.  I already had accounts with Goodreads and Bookarmy. As for Goodreads and BookArmy, they are ok but I still like the ease of the Shelfari program.  After setting up my account I added a bookshelf to my blog and the Facebook Application to my personal Facebook Account, but I couldn't find a way to add it to my profile, like my blog.  Even though others had problems adding it to Blog, I had no issues with the widget. 

All of these programs are nice at helping you keep track of your reading history that can be accessed easier than paper lists or library history of checkouts.

I am eager to see when a "meebo" like device will allow you to group all you sites like these for easier management of all accounts.

http://www.shelfari.com/ajshutchpl

Week 13: Slide Sharing

Zoho is quite impressive.  It had many options for creating a slide show.  I played with it a little, but due to internet time contraints I created a slideshow in powerpoint and then uploaded to Zoho Show.




I have been wanting to do a virtual tour of our library, ever since I began 23things Kansas.  I took the photos and uploaded them to Animoto early on but that was just a series of photos, not much information.  So this week's Assignment worked out perfect for further expanding my virtual tour. 

I hope you enjoy.

Week 12: Screencasting

This was a very easy and informative lesson this week.  There were two options for software JING & SCREENCAST-O-MATIC.COM.  I played with SCREENCAST-O-MATIC.COM, but wasn't as comfortable with it, so I opted to use JING for this activity. 
After deciding which software to use, I chose to capture a screencast showing how to get to the online databases page of our website and explained the different access options for them.
It took a couple tries but finally created a usable capture, that is at the link below:
http://www.screencast.com/t/NjUzMWNhN

I was very impressed with this software, it was easy to work with and creates a nice finished product.  I see this as a very handy tool for our library.  We have many areas that could benefit from these educational screencasts.  I would like to continue creating these for patrons as well as co-workers and hope to get some ideas from my co-workers as to which screencasts we want to start with for both areas.
I am also creating a list of work procedures that I plan to screencast to help in cross-training in my department as well as other departments in my library.

Week 11: BREAK -- WHEW!

Break Week!!!!!!

Yeah!!!!!

This is the easiest assignement.

Here is a picture of me and some family just for fun.

Left to right

Cassy (cousin), Amanda (me), Marlene (Grandmother), & Michelle (Cousin)

Week 10: Video on the Web

Let's go to the MOVIES!...

I begun this week's activity by finding 2 videos on YouTube, that are Library based.  One is a quirky tour of a library. The second one is a Dewey Decimal Rap. 

Library Tour of Harper College:


The Dewey Decimal Rap:


I am still pretty new at blogging and so had some confusion on how to put the HTML in the blog.  I forgot to change the tab from "Compose" to "Edit HTML".  Once I got that figured out it was quite simple.

After completeing Activity 1, without too much difficulty (besides my own absentmindedness).  I decided to attempt Activity 2.  For that project I had my Husband sign using 2 different sign languages: S.E.E. (Signing Exact English) & A.S.L. (American Sign Language).  I then edited them to have a "Fade In" and a "Credits" page, as well as, differing animations.  Finally, I added some captioning so that those who can't read sign language can learn or know what is being said.

It was very easy to upload the videos to YouTube and embedding was simple since I had worked out the issues earlier in this weeks projects. 

Here are the 2 videos that I created with the help of my husband demonstrating the difference between S.E.E. & A.S.L. sign languages.

SEE VERSION


 ASL VERSION


I hope that everyone enjoys.  I know that this will be tool I will use in the future to help create a virtual tour of our library.

Grab some popcorn and enjoy!!!!

Week 9: Instant Messaging

IM'S, EMOTICONS, AND MEEBO'S OH MY!

Well in the beginning chat/IM's, were completely taboo in libraries. They were not seen as a benefit or even a possibility of something that could be used professionally, but times they are a changing. With modern day Instant Messaging/Chat, the programs are not as invasive to the computers. They can be used from the Internet with or without complicated programs and downloads. As mentioned in this weeks lesson many Internet based emails have chat programs that are included with the email accounts, i.e.-Gmail/Gtalk, Yahoo, AOL/AIM, Hotmail/MSN.

In the beginning I used Yahoo IM and ICQ, in fact I met my husband on Yahoo, because at that time chat was more of a social networking setting where you could talk and meet people or discuss common interests. Now chat is seen as a communication tool similar to phones that allow us to break down communication barriers. It also gives an advantage in providing better information and service in certain cases because we are able to send links and pictures etc, to better provide and understand the information that we are supplying.

I know that with Kansas we all jumped into IM reference questions with KANANSWER. It helped those who were still new to the idea to get comfortable in this new technology. Now with KANANSWER having ended many libraries have continued on this service by using MEEBO and TRILLIAN. My library is currently using TRILLIAN. We use Hotmail and Yahoo accounts that are on our webpage. We get a few questions, mainly consisting of requests for information about our library or for information on our website but this only benefits those who come to our site and happen across the IM links. Our library is also networking all staff with Gmail Accounts, allowing us to communicate via chat or shared calendars/Documents. The use of this technology seems to make office communication a little easier. Some of us have also begun to experiment with BUZZ on Gmail, mainly to share helpful websites or information that we have come across that may be good for answering reference questions.


I love Instant Messaging. I use it daily for work and home. My husband is deaf and we communicate easier by text/chat than by phone(relay calls), we are even starting to use the video chat programs for communication (i.e.-Gmail/Skype). As for work if a co-worker is online I can shoot them a message without interrupting them, if they are with a patron. Then they can answer back when they are able.


For this activity I signed up for MEEBO and added my Facebook, Yahoo, and Gmail accounts. I then added those who were listed on the comments for Week 9. I haven't found them "online" yet but hope to get a chance to practice when they do come online when I happen to be online. However, I have begun using MEEBO for my family and work contacts because this allows me to see those in my contacts when they are online, without having to login to 3 seperate accounts. The interface on MEEBO is very clean and easy to use making individual as well as group conversations very easy to use. Making my life a little less complicated. Which is something that we can all benefit from. I plan on using this with all my email/messaging accounts in the future.


In the end, I hope that more programs will begin to work together and allow better interaction without 3rd party software like MEEBO and TRILLIAN. I also hope we can find a better way to get the word out to users about the IM services that are becoming more available throughout libraries.


On to the next... Activity.... c u l8r

Week 8: Cloud Computing

Faster than a speeding bullet,
More powerful than a locomotive,
Able to leap tall stacks of books in a single bound,
Look, up in the CLOUDS!
It's a bird!
It's a plane!
It's a Super LIBRARIAN!

Maybe with my SUPER LIBRARIAN powers I can attempt to catch up on my bloggings for 23thingskansas. So many activities, so little time.....

Cloud computing is still new for me, but for the last 6 months at work we have been using it to share Calendars for various departments within our library and also as an alternative for communication via instant messaging. I have uploaded some of my files into the documents side to make it easier to find when needed also.

For my collaborating project I created a Google docs Presentation that shares things our library has to offer or things that are new to us. To find my partners in CRIME... I used a twitter hashtag and sent a tweet to 23thingsks asking for someone to collaborate with. This worked great and had a taker with in an hour or so as well as 2 more the next day. I then invited a co-worker to also participate, but she is also a participant in the 23 Things Kansas Project, so she was a two-for.

I sent them the links as well as invited them to the GOOGLE DOC. I had already created 2 slides besides the Title Slide. As the collaborators add to the presentation I have asked for them to enter their name on the Title Slide to indicate the participants in this project.

The presentation can be viewed below:

As the participants update and collaborate on the presentation it should update here also.



Participants included were: Amanda Stephenson (Me), Katy Androski (Co-worker and 23kansas participant), Paulina Poplawska (Liberal Memorial Library - Director and 23Kansas participant), Janelle Jarboe Mercer (SWKLS - Assistant Tech Consultant/Trainer and 23Kansas Participant).

I am quite impressed with the results from this collaboration presentation. The ease of creating the "poweroint" was great and I was quite surprised with the options that were available, such as the backgrounds and themes for the slides.