Things On a Stick News Archive

Last Issue of Things On a Stick News

2010-11-30T22:30:00.000-06:00

Things 69 & 70 (below) make up the last issue of Things On a Stick News. Minnesota's seven multicounty, multitype library systems have been introducing new "Things" to library staff since 2008--more than 1600 staff have read & learned about Web 2.0 tools using various online learning methods.

So, what's next? The seven multicounty, multitype library systems are exploring various options for continuing 23 Things On a Stick. You can help by completing this evaluation of Things On a Stick News and the future of 23 Things On a Stick. Thanks for reading and sharing this with your colleagues. Stay tuned for whatever is next!

Evaluation

Thing 70. Productivity in Your Pocket: Portable Programs

2010-11-30T20:27:00.000-06:00

A portable program is a piece of software that you can carry around with you on a portable device and use on any other computer. It can be your email program, a browser, system recovery tools, or even an operating system. The best part about it is that all of your data and settings are always stored on a flash drive so when you unplug the device, none of your personal data is left behind. Handy, right?

Does anyone really need portable applications? Laptops and smartphones have made  mobile computing as easy as grabbing your device(s) and hitting the road. With cloud computing like Google Docs, Delicious, Zoho, and more, you can access your stuff from any Internet-enabled computer. One reason for portable apps seems  obvious--you don't own a laptop or other portable device. Another reason--you must rely on public computers at the public library for access to online services. Flash drives with portable apps let patrons access their information from any computer--they don't need to worry which version of which software is on the computer; they have the one they need in their pocket.

The USB flash drive has virtually eliminated the existence  of a floppy drive unit on most computers because the flash drive serves the  same functions as the old floppy, except that flash drives are more durable  and offer much greater storage capacity. Flash drives are even more  portable than laptops when you consider the size difference. Plus, you can use  a flash drive in any computer that has a USB drive.

Window PC users are able to download a wide range of portable applications  using PortableApps.com. The PortableApps.com  platform is available for download onto any portable device including a  flash drive, portable hard drive, PDA, or iPod. One  download can capture a complete collection of apps. PortableApps.com has three choices that  allow you to pick various components for your suite. The application directory  provides a number of open source applications including word  processing, graphics & pictures, games, music & video, and more that give you productivity and entertainment wherever you are. Mac users can find portable apps at Freesmug.org or MakeTechEasier. Need more choices for portable apps? A Google search on portable applications with either Mac or Windows will turn up hundreds more.

How does any of this apply to libraries? As Nick Prieve suggested  in his 2010 MLA session Distance Tech Tools for Your Average Patron: Ten  Ways to Make Technology Viable, Marketable, and Cost-Effective in Reaching  Distance Patrons libraries should consider educating patrons about portable applications. It may be possible provide patrons with a pre-loaded flash drive of their  very own, either free or at a nominal cost. This would allow patrons the freedom to access their files and applications from any computer station. As flash drives continue to decrease in price and more free applications become available, portable applications are accessible and useful to most patrons

For those of you envisioning horrific scenes of virus-infested work stations  or other technology calamities, consider that the risks associated  with allowing patrons to use portable apps on their own flash drives are no greater than the  risks you already face every day. Patron education about security and these devices is still necessary. PortableApps.com does include a  number of security tools, including portable antivirus and spyware programs that can help ease your mind and your patrons'. 

Even if you're not ready for full-blown patron usage of PortableApps.com,  give it a try on your own and see what you think!

By Lynn Stern, SAMMIE

Thing 69. No Issue with Issuu: Digital Publishing

2010-11-30T20:26:00.000-06:00

It's time to publish that annual report and this year you really want to make a "go green" effort. Here's an easy solution! Introduce yourself to Issuu, an online digital publishing platform that allows for amazing presentation of all types of material including newsletters, magazines, catalogs, or similar publications.

"Issuus" look like a magazine or book--color photos or illustrations, layouts as you want them, pages that turn digitally. Start thinking, "Right now, what does your library offer, be it on your website or through a direct e-mail that you would really like to present in the most professional way?" If you can think it, Issuu can probably make it happen with a little effort from you.

In 2009, TIME magazine included Issuu as one of the 50 best websites of the year. "Maybe a gadget like Amazon's Kindle can compete with the old-fashioned ink-on-paper experience, but for our money - which in this instance, is zero dollars - we'll take Issuu, an online newsstand with infinite shelf space, hundreds of interesting micro - publishing projects and a slick online reader.”

Once you create your content, uploading a PDF of your publication will create a professional-looking virtual version. Besides the ability to make your publication viewable on your website, you can also link to it from Facebook or your blog. Issuu offers functionality by allowing you to use your own logos, choose colors, and include icons. The process is guided and simple. Once complete, your finished product can function as a book, complete with pages that need to be turned.

An excellent example of how this tool can be used is found at Free Technology for Teachers, a blog written by Richard Byrne, that provides “Free Resource and Lesson Plans for Teaching with Technology." Byrne has used Issuu to create resource guides on topics such as Beyond Google and Google Earth Across the Curriculum. A quick browse of the Issuu website quickly reveals a wide variety of publications on topics such as college sports, crafting, and catalogs, all of which have the glossy, full-color appearance of newsstand magazines.

Another online publishing tool is YUDU. Like Issuu, YUDU allows you to upload a PDF of your publication. YUDU automatically creates a digital version that readers can flip through just like a magazine. Publications can be hosted on the YUDU site or embedded on your website in three formats: the full version, an image of the front cover with a link to the file at YUDU, or a small flash animation of the first eight pages flipping back and forth. The last version is a nice way to introduce some motion to your page to capture readers’ attention. Readers do not have to download anything – everything can be read online. With YUDU, you can add audio and video for a multimedia experience, and you can include live links to allow readers to click through to related sites.

With costs for printing and postage rising all the time, why not take a moment to consider virtual publishing as an alternative by exploring these new tools?

By Lynn Stern, SAMMIE

Thing 68. Social Mention

2010-11-02T16:33:00.000-05:00

So, you--or your library--are busy tweeting comments and announcements, keeping up your Facebook page, putting cool videos on YouTube, blogging, Digg-ing--all manner of getting the word out on social media. Ever wonder what people are saying about you on those sites? Social Mention and similar tools help you find those tweets and posts that mention you or your library--or other topics you may be interested in following.

Social Mention is, as described on its About page, "a social media search and analysis platform that aggregates user generated content from across the universe into a single stream of information." Think of it as a search engine for social media, searching such sites as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and the like.

While the site upon first glance seems very simple, there's quite a lot going on here. First, at the very top of the screen is the ability to do a real-time search from social media sites.

The default search is all types of social media sites. To narrow your search, use the pulldown menu just to the right of the search box. Searches could be narrowed to such things as microblogs, comments, and networks.

Another option for searching is to use Trends. The "hottest" trends can be found located directly underneath the search box. To find additional trends, use the Trends link at the bottom of the page.

Social Mention also offers alerts similiar to Google Alerts. Social Mention Alerts are email updates of social media results based on your topic of choice on a daily basis.

Social Mention offers a few widgets that can be placed on your own website from the Tools page. This page can either be accessed from the Tools link at the bottom of the front page or from the "Get the widget" button also located on the front page.
The site also offers API service free for personal or non-commercial use.

SocialMention is a very interesting site, but certainly not the only site out there that provides this service. Other sites to check out are Postling which seems to market itself to small businesses or Who's Talkin which markets itself as a "social media search tool that allows users to search for conversations surrounding the topics that they care about most."

I think David Lee King sums it up best as to why library staff might be interested in using one of these products: "I'm a digital branch manager – it helps me keep track of what people are saying about the library via their favorite digital spaces. It also lets me quickly see just what digital spaces people are using."

Michael Scott, Southeastern Libraries Cooperating (SELCO)

Image: 'Sign: Get Social'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65609008@N00/138657496

Thing 67. Alltop

2010-11-02T16:32:00.000-05:00

We know that keeping up with the news is important for all library staff--not only on library-related topics but world, regional, and local news, too. You know all about RSS and aggregators like Google Reader or the late, lamented Bloglines. Google Alerts is another way to keep up. You can set up a topic search and have Google send you emails with links to stories on a schedule you define. Alltop offers another way to stay up-to-date. It is a good way to supplement your RSS feeds or to find new sources of news and information.

Alltop states that its purpose is to “help you answer the question, “What’s happening?” in “all the topics that interest you.” Essentially, it aggregates websites, blogs, and other information sources for a given topic into individual webpages, such as Libraries. On any given topic page, you are presented with several information resources that
Alltop has chosen to include on that topic. The latest 5 headlines for a given information resource are shown along with that headline’s first paragraph (through the use of a mouse-over.) Topics can be accessed via an alphabetical list or search.

There are 5 tabs located near the top of the page that are constant:

Hot Topics is the default page that you see when you enter the site. These are topics from a wide spectrum of information sources. From what I can see, many of them are technology-related, but not exclusively. According to Alltop’s About page,

We use a patent-pending, semantic computational algorithm derived from the post-doctoral work of Guy at Stanford. Just kidding. We rely on several sources: results of Google searches, review of the sites’ and blogs’ content, researchers, and our “gut” plus the recommendations of the Twitter community, owners of the sites and blogs, and people who care enough to write to us. Let us declare something: The Twitter community has been the single biggest factor in the quality of Alltop. Without this group of mavens and connectors, Alltop would not be what it is today… If you’ve gotten the impression that Alltop is not based on computer algorithms or popular voting, you’d be right. We are highly subjective and judgmental.

To note, the above quote contains the answers to two different yet related FAQs, but I think it gives you a feel for how this site is set up.

New Topics lists the newest topics added to the long list of topics on Alltop.

My Recent Topics is like the History in your Internet browser; it is where you’ve been.

Holy Kaw is really interesting as it is described as “all the topics that interest us" seems to be a place for the site’s producers to post a variety of interesting, quirky, fun, or offbeat items. The format of this page is a blog with links to the original information source. Again, the items on this tab fit Alltop's claims of "highly subjective."

I've left the MyAlltop tab to discuss last as this is the tab that you can use to personalize your Alltop experience. Setting up is as easy as picking a username, password, and a valid email address.

The username becomes part of your personal url: http://my.alltop.com/yourusername which you then can use to directly access your MyAlltop account. To add information sources to your MyAlltop page, either click on the letter of the alphabet to go to a topic page or do a search by entering a term or terms into the Search box. Once you've found the topic page you're interested in, adding one of the information sources is as easy as clicking on the green + located to the right of the title of the information source (a mouseover on the green + gives the message "add this feed to my.Alltop").

A tutorial is available for Alltop that is a very well-done short video located on the About page. This page is also full of information about Alltop, including information about how to submit information resources to Alltop. If you are looking for an easy to use site for keeping up on a topic and don't mind that someone else has done the choosing for you, then Alltop may be for you.

Michael Scott, Southeastern Libraries Cooperating

Image: 'Laptop, the well-travelled suitcase years'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36778932@N00/2218440756

Thing 66. Politcal Engagement in a Technical World: 2010 Midterm Election and More

2010-10-02T22:05:00.000-05:00

Midterm elections are on the horizon! What time like the present to think about your own political engagement and how to get others involved in the political process? Times are a changin’ and through modern technologies, we all have the chance to be involved and informed at a greater level than ever before. This is an exciting prospect to some, but an exhausting idea to others. With greater access to information, comes increased responsibility to carefully evaluate resources. So, how do we begin to manage and learn it all, and inform others? Decision day is coming up on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, so it’s time to get crackin’!

Voting: What’s in it for me?

If you’re teaching young adults about voting and their civic duties, or trying to connect with a reluctant voter, you might appeal to them with thiscalled Voting and You! with Ed Helms and Chris Mintz-Plasse, the kid that played McLovin’ on SuperBad. It’s a silly 1950’s spoof, but does have a decent message.

But, I only vote every 4 years!

For a basic primer on midterm elections and why they’re important, try visiting CNN’s Election Center – The Basics. This website is a great place to start if you need to introduce this topic in any venue, or to further your own understanding of why midterm elections matter. Go to the Why it Matters? section near the bottom of the page. Here you’ll get some clear information on the key issues this year.

The Issues and Candidates: National Coverage

After establishing a basic understanding of the importance of voting and midterm elections, now it’s time to really begin exploring the issues and the candidates. There is an incredible amount of information out there on the issues and the candidates, but we’ll focus on just a few here.

The Politics page within the larger New York Times site is a helpful site to begin digging into the issues – regardless of state. The site is designed nicely with a helpful toolbar on the left that allows you to choose from House, to Senate, to Governor races. In addition, the Politics page gathers the latest stories of interest and is constantly undergoing updates.

NPR Elections 2010 is another great site for accessing information easily and in a timely way. Though the page is “clean” and easy to navigate, there is a surprising amount of information available. Sections like the Message Machine, Scorecard, Heard on the Air, and Podcast + RSS Feeds may be of special interest.

The Cook Political Report is a helpful source for current election information. Site reviewers claim that it is a reliable and non-partisan source. The Current Outlook section is helpful for understanding the basics, whereas the Updates area contains daily articles of interest in the following areas: National, House, Senate, Governors.

The Issues and the Candidates: Minnesota

The politics section of MinnPost.com covers all things great and small about the upcoming Minnesota election. Topics range from candidate comparisons to updates on voting procedures.

MPR has a very interactive and helpful politics section on their site. Not only are the latest news stories there, but also Select a Candidate, PoliGraph, and the Capitol View blog. Select a Candidate allows the user to find a candidate that is most closely aligned with their own political views. PoliGraph checks statements made by Minnesota political leaders to verify accuracy.

The Star Tribune covers the latest election news as well. They also include a countdown to election day.

The website for The Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, contains a wide variety of crucial information for Minnesota voters. There is information about how and where to vote, who the candidates are, and how to get involved and play an active role on election day.

Of course, the candidate’s websites also contain a great deal of information. If you’re looking to understand a candidate’s position, what better place to find the information than the candidate’s own site? Just be sure to carefully evaluate the information presented there. Nearly all candidate sites will contain some form of bias.

Let’s Get Interactive!

Try checking out your candidates on YouTube. YouTube has a campaign toolkit for the candidates called YouChoose 2010. This indicates that many of our candidates are likely active on YouTube. Try searching for candidate names in YouTube, or try something like “Minnesota Governor Candidates 2010”. Get a good search going, and you’ll find lots of valuable information – in a palatable format!

The Minnesota Secretary of State site has a few informational videos available. The first is Voting in Minnesota: What You Can Expect. The second is Using the AutoMARK. Upper-level students and political junkies will have fun testing their political prowess with this quiz from USA Today.

ALA has gathered together a bibliography of great politics and government sites for kids. Many are interactive and present important information in fun and innovative ways.

Check out interactive maps that are available online including Google’s 2010 U.S. Election Ratings and Wall Street Journal’s Congressional Contests maps

Call to Action!

Hopefully you can take this information and spread the word to your patrons about current politics, the importance of voting, and the upcoming midterm elections. There are many other sources of information out there, so take a look and maybe you’ll discover a new favorite source of information. Then, go ahead and share them in the comments area!

Kate Bessey, Information Specialist

Central MN Libraries Exchange (CMLE)
Image: VOTE

Thing 65. Web-Based Note Taking

2010-10-02T22:00:00.002-05:00

Have you ever been hard at work, online, perhaps writing an article like this one – when wham! the best idea ever hits you! Or, maybe you’re researching a topic and need to take notes as you go along. Or, maybe you’re looking at your favorite blog, like the Things on a Stick News Archive, and come across some links to tools or sites that sound interesting, but you just don’t have time to look into them right now.

The examples above provide some real-life situations that may inspire you to try an online note taking solution. Online note taking has become increasingly popular as we are connecting more and more with technology in our lives. With web-based note taking solutions, instead of having to scratch your thoughts down on a real sticky note, now you can neatly type your notes and refer back to them on your desktop, in any number of websites, accounts or apps, and on your smartphone.

Think about it, instead of scribbling down your thoughts on a piece of scratch paper and having to bring it with you, now your notes are always with you as long as you have access to the web. For most people, this will reduce the chance of a) forgetting to write the note, b) writing down something incoherent, and c) losing the note at the bottom of our purse or pocket –never to be seen again.

Like anything else in this digital world, the user has a lot of choices when it comes to picking the specific note taking software they’d like to use. If you do a search for “online note taking,” “web-based note taking” or “note taking apps," you’ll truly get an idea of how many different options are out there for online note taking. The selection is almost endless, so you may want to review this Mashable article to familiarize yourself with the top 20 note-taking solutions cited by Mashable.

One of the most popular and highly publicized online note-taking solutions is Evernote. Evernote has grown in popularity because it has the capability of “doing it all” and is a cross-platform, universal application. Some refer to Evernote as the kitchen sink approach, and rightly so! A few key services provided by Evernote include:

Capturing and saving : notes, a webpage, a photo, a screenshot
Indexing for anything you’ve captured or saved
Easy organization of notes and tags
Search by keyword, title, or tag

The Evernote site also provides a few examples of really creative ways to utilize their service. For example, they suggest planning your entire vacation and saving all of your important information into a folder on Evernote. So, you can save your itinerary, tourist websites, plane tickets, important phone numbers, and receipts for expense reports. The whole shebang!

Evernote also makes it easy to take and keep good notes. Say you’re in a business meeting. Not only do you have handouts to look at, but you probably have your own notes that you’re jotting down, along with maybe the notes of a co-worker that you’d like to review, and last (but not least) notes written by the speaker during a presentation on a white board or something similar. With Evernote, all of these notes can be saved in one place. You can take a picture of the whiteboard and upload it to the folder you’ve created in Evernote. You can also upload or take pictures of your handouts and your coworker’s notes. Lastly, you can record your own thoughts during the meeting right in Evernote. No need to use a separate sheet to record your thoughts!

Additional services that are quite powerful, like Evernote, include Stixy, Ubernote, Zoho Notebook, corkboard, and Delicious. These services also have a “kitchen sink” approach. You can record notes, upload pictures and documents, share your content with others, track changes to your notes and documents, and enjoy universal access to the software – regardless of platform.

If you’re looking for a more “bare bones” note taking approach, there are other tools that may be of greater interest to you. For example, Jjot and Listhings are basically online sticky note creators. You can write notes to yourself, similar to what you’d write on a sticky note, and then retrieve your notes later from any web connection. You can also send your “stickies” to your friends once you’ve set yourself up with a Jjot account. You can also print your notes! This could be especially handy for grocery lists or weekend to-do lists!

Let this information be a launching point to your own usage of online note taking tools. Try exploring a few of the tools mentioned above… Which is your favorite? Why? Would you recommend this note taking method to your friends, coworkers, and maybe even patrons?

Kate Bessey, Information Specialist

Central MN Libraries Exchange (CMLE)

Image: Notebook and Pen

Thing 64. Face-to-Face Social Networking for Libraries: Let’s Get Back to Basics

2010-08-31T08:45:00.000-05:00

The Web 2.0 initiative for libraries is a good and positive thing. I’m no Luddite and I’m glad my library required staff to participate in creating blogs, using Facebook, Shelfari, Twitter, et al. I don’t need to reiterate the reasons for the need of libraries to keep abreast of the multitude of technological changes showering (should I say weighing us?) down and using these apps to market and keep the library relevant. But, (you knew this was coming, right?) I think it’s time to get back to basics and refresh our face-to-face techniques in dealing with our users and promoting the use of the library. In marketing, there is nothing more powerful than mouth-to-mouth promotion and in social interaction, nothing beats face-to-face.

Be responsive to user’s requests.

There is nothing more disenchanting to a patron than to make a request and be met with a blank or uncaring stare. As they approach you, smile and greet them, by name if you possibly can. Get to know people’s names and use them. On your To Do list: find out and memorize five regular users of your library and the next time you see them greet them by name. Wait for their smile. People love being remembered.

Even if you can’t immediately help a person, show them you are listening to (and hearing) their request, and give them some sort of response, even if it is “I’m working with another patron, but I’ll be with you in just a moment.” And then, most importantly, FOLLOW THROUGH. Handle their request or pass it off to someone who can as quickly as possible. Never underestimate the benefits of building a relationship of trust in your social interactions.

Be an ambassador for your library.

Just as the tech tools covered in previous issues help you to reach beyond your library's walls, your good, old-fashioned social networking techniques do, too. Be involved in your community. Let people know what is happening at the library, even when you’re not “on the job.” Conversely, find out what people’s wants and needs are elsewhere, and brainstorm ways for your library to help meet those needs. If possible, develop relationships with your local legislators – they are people, too, and they appreciate a smile and an offer of help as much as any one of your patrons!

Don’t forget the tools that got us here.

Tech toys and databases can be fun, useful and educational. They offer new twists on old methods, not to mention some entirely new methods and resources. There are still many, many tools of librarianship that brought us into the 21st century, and they aren’t obsolete yet. Learn your traditional resources. Don’t be afraid to leave your terminal or put down your handset and make your way over to the stacks. We constantly bemoan the fact that people are relying too much on Google or Wikipedia, but then we fall into similar, if not the same, traps ourselves.

This is a brief essay with a brief, but important, message; we need to put the ‘social’ back into social networking. Move out from behind your screen. Put away your tech toys until you need them. Make eye contact with your patrons and treat them as humans, not avatars. Use all of the tools at your disposal to give them the best service possible in each and every instance. Then you can step back and watch your library thrive.

Gena K. Zelenka, Blue Earth County Public Library

And

Dayle K. Zelenka, Traverse des Sioux Regional Library System/SMILE

Thing 63. Droid

2010-08-31T08:44:00.001-05:00

I started my career as a systems librarian, so you would think I would be up on all the latest gadgets, but that hasn’t always been the case. Until I became an administrator, I didn’t really have a great need for constant mobile connectivity, so I lagged behind the times, remaining for the most part an outsider to the cellular revolution; but life moves on and things change, and I decided to jump in…with both feet. My new Droid X arrived last night.

Even before it arrived, thanks to the multi-week waiting period for a Droid X, I had plenty of time to think about how it might change my professional practices. Like any good librarian, I started researching some of the possibilities.

My first question: How does it stack up to the competition? I found a nice mashup posted by the Lone Wolf Librarian. He states, “Going by the chart, there doesn’t appear to be much Droid is lacking – other than the 93,200 apps (100,000+ by recent estimates) that the iPhone’s app store offers. You also get Verizon’s network as opposed to AT&T.”

I moved on to looking at the ever-growing universe of Droid Apps to see which might be useful. I discovered many that will impact my personal life and information needs, but also found a few with some intriguing professional implications. One that immediately caught my eye was Barcode Scanner. This App uses your device’s camera to capture and scan barcodes. It then looks up prices, reviews – any associated information it can find in the Google universe. It can also be used to scan 2d or QR Codes – those malformed checkerboards which can contain URLs, contact info, calendar events, etc. I haven’t had much chance to play yet, but the new version even promises a bulk scanning mode. I also found many of the social networking tools featured in previous newsletters in App form; Facebook, MySpace, Twitter all have mobile versions.

Next, I sought out Apps which met specific data or library needs. To start with, I limited myself to free options from the Droid Market. There are some nice mobile adaptations out there to give you data – quite literally – at your fingertips. FactBook, one of my longtime favorites for world and country data, has a nice clean interface and intuitive design. I found it just as easy to use as the desktop version. A blog post by David Rothman of davidrothman.net led me to PubMed Mobile. While it’s interface was a bit clumsier and less suited to the touchscreen environment of my Droid, it still allowed detailed searching of the free PubMed database.

Finally, I looked at uses which I’ve seen other mobile device owners using at my local public library. One of the neatest I found (with the help of an article by the Librarian in Black) was the Overdrive Media Console for Android™. Designed specifically for use with the OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks found in many libraries, it made their download and use easy even for a new user. Other similar tools available include the Kindle, Nook and Aldiko eBook readers. These all offer free public domain texts, as well as access to their eBookstores. I haven’t tested yet, but I believe the latter two could be used in conjunction with many library eBook systems.

As the Android OS grows, I imagine we will see more and more apps coming onto the market. I also imagine that the innumerable creative and dedicated library professionals out there will continue to drive us towards creative and functional uses for these new tools.

Note that I am not promoting the Droid over other smartphones--this is my experience with that one phone. Based on that experience and my research, I think smartphones do have a place in both personal and professional productivity, as well as in library service.

Dayle K. Zelenka

Traverse des Siuox Regional Library System/SMILE

Thing 62. The Creative Librarian

2010-08-04T17:06:00.003-05:00

Photos & videos are a great way to engage library users and the community in what happens at the library. You can document events like the summer reading program finale. Post photos or videos of author talks. How about a "sneak peek" of what goes on behind that "Staff Only" door? A photo booth with fun backdrops might be a hit at a teen night at the library. A family portrait day (special guest or not) is fun.

It has never been easier to be creative with photos and video. Digital cameras make taking good quality pictures simple and inexpensive. No more taking the film to FotoMat & waiting a week only to find out you have a lot of blurry pics to store in that shoebox with the others. Digital cameras let us instantly evaluate the pictures, retake as necessary, upload the pictures online or to our computer, print them out, or store them online. In a flash, you're ready to show the world your events. Flip & similar pocket-size video cameras make documenting those action events at the library almost as easy.

Once you have a collection of digital images, there are many Web 2.0 tools that will help you manage and display them. Online tools let even the least artistic among us edit and display our photos and videos for the world to see. Think how you can use some of these tools to spark up your website or other resources. People like to see what's been going on.

iPhoto & Picasa can help you organize, label and rate images, view and edit metadata, and navigate using the folder structure of your computer. Web-based services like Picasa Web Album & Flickr offer easy ways to share your photos with others by storing them in the cloud.

Once you have your originals saved in a safe spot on your computer or online, you can play around with the photos and then upload the new versions while keeping the original for another project.

Picnik is a great (free & premium versions) tool that lets you improve the quality of your photo and add special effects like color changes, blur effects (we want those now!), frames, captions, and more. For videos, Macs come ready to edit with iMovie, while Windows machines offer Windows Movie Maker. Take advantage of this benefit to put together a few video clips or a full-length movie.

BigHugeLab and other sites like Dumpr and PhotoFunia let you put your photos into posters, puzzles, games, and more. Everyone wants to be on the cover of Rock Star!

Now that you have a set of cool photos or video--nicely edited to eliminate red eye, cropped to focus on the subject, and tarted up with text, frames, and effects, how do you share them? Save the new photos, print them out, and post them in the library. Or, for a more "modern" way to share, there are cool tools that help you easily create slideshows or animations of your photos or video. The tools generate the embed code, too, so you can easily post these to the library website or blog.

PictureTrail lets you upload your photos to create a "Flick"with many options for transitions, glitter, music, and more. Animoto automatically produces unique video pieces from your photos, video clips, and music. Both tools are fast, free and easy. Note that iPhoto and Picasa also offer a slideshows, but without the special effects.

Resources
Here are couple of places to look for help and ideas. The blog Free Technology for Teachers offers this Making Videos on the Web guide that is useful for media specialists and librarians. The ALA TechSource Take Pictures, Tell Stories is a multi-part series on photography for libraries.

The Fine Print
Librarians have been looking for legal/ethical guidance about taking and using photos in the library. Here are some sources to review, but be sure to check with the powers that be in your organization to avoid issues with posting photos or videos. Whatever the decision on photography, be sure to have a policy.

Laws for Using Photos You Take at Your Library
Photography Not Allowed – 33 (Photographs of a local library)
Library staff privacy and staff pictures on library websites
Photography of and in libraries

Libraries are creative places, packed with creative people. How have you used photos or videos to promote the library? What tools did you use?

Ann Walker Smalley, Metronet

Image: 'Kodak Brownie Starlet, 1957 - my first+camera'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/89142790@N00/2345575389

Thing 61. Online Professional Development for Library Staff

2010-08-04T14:27:00.001-05:00

As libraries of all types face budget cuts that have an impact on hours, service, and collections, the ability for staff to attend professional development events out of the library may be reduced, too. However, in times of stress and retrenchment, continuing education is more important than ever. CE events can help libraries find new efficiencies, increase the ability of staff to understand and refine their responsibilities, as well as encourage staff continue to learn and grow as library employees. The investment a library makes in professional staff development is a morale booster because it recognizes that we value our employees and their ability to learn and contribute.

Thing 50 described how to keep up with the library world by creating a Personal Learning Network (PLN), managed with a customized homepage like iGoogle or Netvibes. Sending all your RSS & Twitter feeds to one spot is an efficient way to keep up with breaking news and new developments, Add in podcast subscriptions, webinars, screencasts, & videos and you have a wide range of possibilities for free, never-leave-your-desk (or maybe your car) online learning.

Efficient aggregation of information is one thing, but where can we find the time for CE? Podcasts can be downloaded to a personal device--smart phone or mp3 player, for instance--and listened to during your commute, your daily walk, at the gym, doing dishes--just about anywhere. Webinars are often archived which makes it easy to watch/listen on your own schedule. Since the Internet is 24/7, there is no issue with others' schedule to watch YouTube or read blogs. Instead of Glee reruns, how about an informative YouTube video on Google search?

CE on library time may take some creativity, but it is doable with cooperation from administration and co-workers. How about informal brown bag lunches focused on a specific webinar or podcast. Watch/listen when you can, then have a discussion. Working out schedules so everyone gets a chance to do something CE for an hour or so a month means everyone benefits when we share what we learned. If you have creative ways you have integrated CE into your library, share them in the comments.

Here are some of our favorite ways to keep up:

Podcasts
Podcasts are like talk radio, but you get to choose the topic and commentator, rather than being stuck with what's on the radio! You can stream the content or . "Podcast" implies that the feed has a subscription via a feed. Most of these are updated regularly:

FutureTense
NYT Tech Talk
George (Needham) and Joan (Frey Williams) Thinking Out Loud
LongShots--15 minutes or so on library topics
Openstacks: One librarian's perspective of things of interest to libraries
Adventures in Library Instruction podcast by and for library information literacy instructors & interviews and discussion about teaching in libraries.
OPLIN 4cast
OPAL

Find more podcasts here:

iTunes podcasts
iTunes U (academic institutions share their faculty lectures)
DigitalPodcast

Webinars
A webinar is a live meeting that takes place over the web. The meeting can be a presentation, discussion, demonstration or training session. Most webinars are archived, so if you can't watch it live, you can watch it when your schedule allows.

We hope you are taking advantage the the great webinars that Minitex offers on all thing library. Learn about ELM databases, readers advisory, and more. Past Minitex are archived here. Other sources of webinars:

InfoPeople is continuing library education sponsored by the California State Library
TechSoup for libraries has live & archived sessions on many topics
WebJunction Minnesota has many free courses, including those from U of North Texas Le@D that are approved for Minnesota Certification. Courses are free if you affiliate with WJMN (also free)
WebJunction Central also offers free webinars

Screencasts
A screencast is a digital video recording that captures actions taking place on a computer desktop. Screencasts, which often contain voice-over narration, are useful for demonstrating how to use specific operating systems, software applications or website features. These are quick, easy ways to learn something new. Minitex has created a series of screencasts on several topics from Greasemonkey to RSS feeds. You can browse other screencasts here.

Making a screencast either for public use or staff use is CE itself. The screencast maker will not only share what she has learned, she will learn a few things in the process of making the screencast. Here are some free resources for creating screencasts:

Jing (requires download)
Screencast-o-matic
Screenjelly

Video
Where to begin with the availability of video on the Internet? YouTube has millions of videos of various utility. LibraryTube and TeacherTube try to focus on specific audiences. Vimeo and others have a wider range of videos. Here are some places to start:

TED Talks--technology, history, interesting people--great speeches on just about everything
YouTube has a lot of library-related videos from the humorous to the thoughtful , as well as the practical. And, don't forget to search beyond libraries for useful videos.

It pays to invest in professional development. Without the investment, when the tempest has passed--and we certainly hope that happens sooner rather than later--staff is in the same place as before, facing new challenges, but "behind the times" in their ability to meet the challenges.

Ann Walker Smalley, Metronet
Image: 'Third Generation iPod nano'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/89892960@N00/1348379764

Thing 60: Readability and Instapaper

2010-07-06T17:11:00.000-05:00

Reading on the web can sometimes be challenging. Text blocks are broken up, advertisements are flashing relentlessly, type can be tiny. What is a person to do to make reading on a web page more pleasant? Enter Readability, a nifty utility that removes the clutter around what you're reading. Readability works with most major modern browsers and has been tested on many news sites and blogs. It isn't 100% effective, but works surprisingly well.

You can choose your preferred layout style from among newspaper, novel, ebook, inverse (light on dark) or Athelas (gracefully using white space to advantage). Then choose your font size from a range of five from extra small to extra large. Finally, choose your margin width ranging from extra narrow to extra wide. All of these selection choices can be viewed for effect at the bottom of the page as you choose so you can immediately see their effects and fiddle until you're happy with your selections.

Another option is to convert hyperlinks to footnotes by checking the box at the bottom of your setting choices. What will this do? Articles are often strewn with links — distracting you from the content — and pulling your attention elsewhere. Selecting the "Convert hyperlinks to footnotes" checkbox will pull the links out of your articles and format them as footnotes. Originally linked text will be marked with a simple reference mark so that you know exactly where footnotes correspond to your documents.

Once you have selected your settings, you simply drag the bookmarklet to your browser's bookmark toolbar. When you find an article that you want to read, click on the bookmarklet and presto, you will be able to read it in the format that you have chosen.

Readability - Installation Video for Firefox, Safari & Chrome from Arc90 on Vimeo.

Install Readability and enjoy some quiet reading without distraction thanks to the folks at Arc90 and their laboratory experiment. And if you like their little experiment, don't forget to follow their RSS feed or Twitter http://twitter.com/arc90 while you're there.

Instapaper

Now that you've used Readability to declutter your reading space, you might want to check out another utility that allows you to save web pages or articles for reading later. Instapaper is an app that will bookmark web pages, but rather than saving them to your PC or Mac, Instapaper allows you to access archived articles from any computer you own, even smartphones and Kindle e-book readers. Instapaper works the same way as Readability by creating a button in your browser toolbar. Go to Instapaper and click on "register for a free account."

Once you've registered, this is what you'll see:

Simply drag the "Read Later" bookmarklet to your bookmarks toolbar. (If you have trouble with installation, check to be sure that Ad Aware or another pop-up blocker isn't blocking you from adding the bookmarklet.) Once installed, all you need do is click the "Read Later" bookmarklet on a page you want to read later. Be sure to check out the "Extras" tab at the top of the page to see what other tools, toys, features and applications are available to get content into and out of Instapaper.

There are so many ways which you can use Instapaper, it will make your head spin. Check out the many ways from bookmark to e-mail to ebook readers to mobile devices and RSS feeds that you can save content to read later. There's even an app similar to Readability but using a different technical approach called "Instapaper Text" which you might wish to try. And you can export your list of saved articles, up to the most recent 2,000 articles you've saved.
Play outdoors while the sun shines, but stock up your reading for a rainy summer day using Instapaper.

Happy reading with Readability and Instapaper!

Linda Wadman, Director
North Country Library Cooperative

Thing 59: Reading Rewards

2010-07-06T17:09:00.000-05:00

"It's summertime and the living is easy." And, oh, soooo easy for children to forget those reading skills they honed during the school year. Now that summer is upon us, we as parents, librarians, and educators fret about how to prevent "summer learning loss." After spending the school year advancing reading and study skills, how can we get kids to keep reading and engaged in pursuits to retain their literacy?

Libraries offer summer reading programs, but not all children are able to get to the library regularly. What to do? Michelle Skamene, a Montreal, Canada mother who is a web designer by trade, took a pro-active approach and decided to challenge her children to match the amount of time they spent in front of TV and computer screens with an time reading books. Her husband suggested that a web site for tracking time spent reading might be helpful to her challenge. So Reading Rewards and its French language counterpart were born. And, thanks to the social web, we can all use it.

The Reading Rewards website is very easy to use. Kids set up a free, private account which must be approved by a parent. Families determine together what rewards should be for a set amount of reading. Kids log in periodically to record their time spent reading and earn RR Miles for their reading (RR miles (think similar to airline miles) that must be validated by a parent. But the site goes far beyond tracking reading time. Users can also see what other kids their age are reading, write their own reviews, and get reading recommendations by age from a variety of sources, including the National Education Association, Coretta Scott King Book Awards, recommendations from Parenthood.com, Parents Choice Foundation, Cybils, www.readkiddoread.com, Publisher's Weekly Books of the Year, Newbery Medals and Honors, Caldecott, and American Library Association.

Reading Rewards can be used on an individual basis, of course, but there is the ability to create groups, too, making it possible for teachers or school librarians to manage a group from a single account.

Creating a group couldn't be easier. From the 'Groups' tab, click on 'Create' to set up a new group. Give your group a specific name that your kids will be able to find. Put in the start and end dates. Click on 'Create.' You will then be able to add the details for your group and put in a description and rules, if any. If you have a reading target (in minutes), you can enter it as well. Click on 'Apply changes.' You can also set up a default reward for the kids in the group (optional). When you are ready, click 'Publish'.

Once your group is published, just let your kids know how to find it. Tell them to register on Reading Rewards, and find your group in the 'Groups' tab. Once they've found it, all they need do is click on 'Join' to become a member and start tracking their reading.

Rewards can be set up as a group or by child since some kids need more encouragement than others. You can click on 'Change reward' next to each child's name and modify their reading targets. By clicking on the smiley face next to each child's name in your group, you can send little messages to encourage them. These message appear in their news feed, on their public page.

If you want to have a list of 'Books I Recommend' appear on your group's page, simply click on the 'Add book' button and find the books on their Amazon-driven website. More about this can be found in the slide show. You can learn more and keep up with Reading Rewards on Facebook, too.

Think about how you and those you know might use Reading Rewards to keep those kids reading skills in tip top shape over the long hot summer or anytime for that matter.

Linda J. Wadman, Director
North Country Library Cooperative

Thing 55 Update: Bing

2010-07-06T10:43:00.034-05:00

A recent post on Resource Shelf offers an update on new features in Bing. Here are a few the article mentions:

Updated iPhone app
More entertainment information, including song lyrics and full-length song streaming (one time, then 30 second previews)
More automobile data and financial data
Flight pricing

There is much more in the article--definitely worth the time to read and explore. You can read Bing Bang Boom! Bing Announces New and Enhanced Features and Tools on the Resource Shelf blog, another source worth subscribing to in your RSS feed reader.

Thing 58. Chat Reference: AskMN

2010-06-01T21:55:00.000-05:00

Sometimes a Google search or a ChaCha inquiry simply does not provide the in-depth, quality information that you need. Or maybe you just don’t know how to formulate an effective search strategy and could use a little professional help. And then, sometimes, it is Sunday evening, the library is closed, the assignment is due…. AskMN is there to help. Anyone with a reference question or doing research, who is comfortable with instant messaging and chat, will love the 24/7 services of AskMN. And if you are not familiar with using chat, this is an easy introduction.

AskMN is an online, interactive chat service that allows you to chat with a librarian in real time. The librarian is available to answer your questions and to direct you to various websites. This information and research help is available to Minnesota residents and students 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When Minnesota librarians are not available, there are librarians in other parts of the worldwide network to come to your aid.

The process is very quick and easy. You provide your email address, first name, zip code and your question. When you “Connect” a chat box opens and you are able to chat directly with a librarian. Further chat, co-browsing, referral to sites -- it is all right there on your screen. Sessions generally last from 5-20 minutes. The librarian will be able to refer you to print and local resources and to Internet sites, as well as subject specialists who may not be available during the live session.

When all is done, you will be sent a transcript of your session so you can easily return to sites or resources that came up during the session. It is pretty cool -- and very useful.

AskMN also welcomes classes. Teachers and school librarians can use a special form to alert AskM N when you will be visiting, your topic/assignment, and how to conduct a class visit. AskMN staff will be prepared for the demand and will make resources available on your students’ subject matter so that all students collect similar information. This is very cool.

AskMN is brought to us by Minitex and participating Minnesota libraries (currently 6 public libraries and 7 academic libraries). Try it out -- you’ll find it is an amazing service.

By Ruth Solie, Northern Lights Library Network

Thing 57. ChaCha: Mobile Answer Service

2010-06-01T21:46:00.000-05:00

Almost all of us have cell phones and we all have questions -- important questions, trivial questions, situational questions, directional questions, bar bets, and questions that result from idle speculation. Often we need information quickly, and while we’re on the go. For a quick and easy way to get answers to these questions, ask ChaCha!

ChaCha is like having a smart friend you can call or text for answers on your cell phone anytime for free! ChaCha works with virtually every provider and allows people with any mobile phone device - from basic flip phones to advanced smart phones - to ask any question in conversational English and receive an accurate answer as a text message in just a few minutes.

What’s your question?  Simply text your question to 242242 (spells ‘ChaCha’) or call 1-800-2ChaCha (800-224-2242) from your mobile phone to ask any question.

You will get an immediate response from ChaCha that your question is being processed -- and there will be an ad (which is what makes ChaCha free to you). Within a few minutes -- but often less than 30 seconds -- you will receive an answer to your question as a text message.

Behind ChaCha answers are Human Guides (over 50,000 of them) who actually respond to your query. And behind those Human Guides are librarians when questions get really tough. Questions/answers are retained in a ChaCha database which you can access via their website. ChaCha reaches over 15 million unique users per month who are primarily teens and young adults, but many of us older folks rely on it as well.

Try it! It is much easier to use ChaCha than to read about it, so simply call 800-224-2242 or send a text to 242242 with your questions from your mobile phone and take ChaCha for a spin!

If you are interested, there is more you can do at the website: you can become a Human Guide (for pay), you can follow @chacha on Twitter, or find them on Facebook, explore their Q/A database, or look at their business model, but the best part of ChaCha is the simplicity, the immediacy, and the convenience of having questions answered on the go, for free!

by Ruth Solie, Northern Lights Library Network

Thing 56. LinkedIn

2010-05-04T17:33:00.000-05:00

Are you LinkedIn? Maybe you have checked it out? Well, if you haven't looked at LinkedIn (LI) lately, you may want to revisit the largest business networking site on the web. Initially known for its use in connecting employers with potential employees and vice versa, LI has become much more. Creating a free LI profile (for yourself or your library) opens a door to connect with others in your field who are already LinkedIn. Once connected, the possibilities for sharing common ideas, problems and solutions are just a post away.

Say you are having difficulty using a MS Excel feature and just want to ask a question. Write up the question and put it out there. Within hours you will hear from people skilled with MS Excel offering directions on how to use the feature. You may receive 5 or 50 responses, and you may have to sort a bit to find the one that speaks to you at your level, yet the chances are good you will get the help needed to resolve the problem.

Another really useful tool in LI allows you to seek out, join or even create a group. A search of existing groups related to library professionals produced 127 results, library networking groups found 47, while library non-profit groups totaled 57. Being part of a group allows you to gather input, share input, and participate in activities related to group involvement. Example - your library is conducting some research on the most current trends in children's programming. You can post a survey to your group requesting input and gather programming ideas from around the globe.

LI is a great place for you to market yourself and your unique set of skills and experiences. Building group involvement expands your own knowledge base on issues and trends, and offers the ability to collaborate, share and grow. LI is also gaining popularity as a social marketing tool for more non-traditional groups that may not consider themselves a business.

Maybe it's time to get LinkedIn and powered up! Visit or revisit http://www.linkedin.com/ and check out all of the potential.

By Lynn, Stern, SAMMIE

Things 55. Google OR Bing - Which Thing?

2010-05-04T17:31:00.001-05:00

Are you “gaga" over Google or "bonkers" for Bing? Most of us are familiar with the many facets of Google, but it's time to take a closer look at Bing. Since its launch in 2009, Bing has offered an alternative to Google. While similar to Google, Bing offers a variety of unique features.

Bing takes a simple approach while inviting you in to search the web, news, travel, and shopping. You can also look for videos, search for images or maps, look up local businesses or begin with a visual search. Some key aspects to Bing include ease in exploring "how" Bing works as a search and decision tool.

Bing also provides toolbox access for webmasters, businesses and advertisers – including search engine optimization tips and advertising opportunities to make money on your site. Bing also promotes community connections with the use of forums and blogs and has a rewards program for users, such as “cashback” options while shopping. So far it sounds like Bing and Google do basically the same thing, yet each application has distinctly different offering

Of the many Bing features, below is a highlight of just a few that may be useful to you or your patrons.

Check out the ability to hover to the right of search results to get a quick snapshot of the item before actually looking at it. Example: search for your library, then hover to the right of the result. A box will pop up with basic information. Perhaps a patron is simply trying to locate your address and phone number - there it is! This tool can be very useful in locating what you are seeking with less search time. It can also be a helpful patron tool in deciding if they are even starting with the right search topic.

Searching is conveniently topic-layered to make choice easier. Example: looking for information on an author? Pick your favorite and notice as you type in the name you will see that the results begin to organize in specific categories, i.e. biography, books, book titles, etc. If you are just looking for books or a specific book listed, there it is!

Want to know what or who is hot or not? What's the trend of a book? Choose "Explore" on the Bing search page, choose xRank, click and type in the topic or person to check on popularity. Not only do you get a graph, but some additional general information as well.

No Twitter for you? Bing can still keep you up-to-date on the latest tweets - check it out at www.bing.com/twitter.

Not sure what that "thingy" you are looking for is called? Bing has visual search capability. Example: you see a cool cat-grooming tool while visiting a friend. You can look up cat grooming tools, begin an image search, and within minutes find out it's called a "cat slicker brush with combs."

Bing has many other functions worth checking out. Once you begin exploring you can find a variety of applications that can enhance your search experience. There are many tools that can be quite helpful to patrons as well. It is clear that Google and Bing each bring something different to the screen. If you’re curious to see a side-by-side comparison of the two, visit this site.

By Lynn Stern, SAMMIE

Thing 54. Hyperlocal Sites

2010-04-05T12:45:00.000-05:00

In this thing, we’re exploring the not-so-new idea known now as hyperlocal websites. “Not-so-new” in the sense that what many of these sites are doing is providing that local (town, city, neighborhood, or even block) information source that many small town daily or weekly newspapers have always provided. As many of these newspapers are beginning to disappear and larger newspapers are dropping most local coverage, this type of local news coverage is moving to the web. The field of companies offering this service is growing and have become desirable to some larger media companies such as MSNBC, AOL, and so on. To give you a sense of the variety of sites out there, let’s take a look at a couple of sites: EveryBlock and Patch.

EveryBlock, owned by msnbc www.msnbc.com, takes a granular approach to reporting local news. Rather than just reporting news for entire city, say New York City, they offer news feeds for every block in 16 cities, which as of today includes:

By entering a street address or neighborhood name, you can find news coverage, public records, and other content that is either from that area or in the same geographic area. EveryBlock states that it is trying to answer the question, “What’s happening in my neighborhood?” The company does the gathering of this information and presents it to the end user. EveryBlock focuses on four categories of local news:

Civic information – defined as public records information, including permits, crimes, restaurant inspections, etc. EveryBlock has established relationships with local governments to make this information more readily available.
News articles and blog entries – defined as information from major newspapers, local TV and radio, community weeklies, local blogs, and other local publications. EveryBlock then does the work of geographically classifying these articles.
Fun – defined as coming from diverse places on the web, such as Flickr www.flickr.com, Yelp www.yelp.com, Craigslist www.craigslist.org and so on.
Announcements – defined as news, classifieds, and upcoming events. This category even allows for the posting of announcements.

Creating an EveryBlock account
Each EveryBlock site allows users to register for “extra features.” To register, go to any of the 16 sites and click on Register in the upper right corner and follow these steps:

Type in your email address. A message will be sent to your email to verify that the email address you entered was indeed valid. Click on the link in your email and go to step
Set a password. Type in a password for your account (retype it for security purposes) and Voila! You’ve created an account.

Once you’ve created an account, you can set your preferences to what types of information you want to see on your page, what neighborhood(s) you’d like to be emailed about or would like to have set up as a saved place, and post announcements, alerts, etc. There is also an iPhone app that can be downloaded as well so that you can take your news on the go.

Patch www.patch.com is a site that really does seem to take that small-town newspaper idea and run with it. Rather than focusing on a block or neighborhood in a city like EveryBlock, Patch focuses on an entire small town or city. Currently, Patch has cities in 5 states (California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York) and as of today, 44 towns and cities.

Each page has the same basic layout, which includes sections such as news, announcements, events, and a section called essential which includes things like videos, calls for volunteers, and listings for local organizations. Here is an example of a Patch site for Livingston, NJ.

Other sites of hyperlocal sites of interest:

Outside In http://outside.in/
Placeblogger http://placeblogger.com/
The Examiner – Mankato http://www.examiner.com/Mankato Note: There are other Examiner city sites and topics, too.
AmericanTowns http://www.americantowns.com/

Will we soon rely on these hyperlocal sites to get all our news and information? Time will tell!

By Michael Scott, Assistant Director, SELCO/SELS

Newspaper Image: A Stack of Newspapers. DRB62 Photostream

Thing 53. Location-Based Social Networks

2010-04-05T10:43:00.002-05:00

One of the newest and hottest 2.0 technologies is location-based social networks. These technologies use GPS to broadcast your location and/or other content from your mobile device, known as "checking in." Most of these services are free and available for a variety of mobile devices, including the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android. So let's dive in and take a look at two of the many networks out there: foursquare and brightkite.

foursquare is one of the most popular of the location-based social networks. As it describes itself, “foursquare is a cross between a friend-finder, a social city-guide, and a game that rewards you for doing interesting things.” Foursquare can be used anywhere in the world and while it doesn’t have every city or location, it does give you the option to add a location.

Setting up a foursquare account

To begin, click on the Join Now button. You will be asked to fill in just a brief amount of information, including your name, location (i.e. a city & state), and your email address. Some information is optional (such as your phone number) but most of the information is required. You have the option of also adding a photo, much like Twitter and Facebook. By the way, you can link your foursquare account to both of these social networking technologies as well. And, just like Twitter and Facebook, you can search for your friends and add them into your foursquare so they can be notified when you and where you are checking-in. The key thing to know about foursquare is that it is currently available only on your mobile device; check-in can’t be done from the foursquare website (with the exception of using their mobile website http://foursquare.com/mobile/ which is obviously built for a mobile phone.) There are apps available for the following phones:

iPhone
Blackberry
Android
Palm Pre

There is a mobile website available as well if you don’t have one of the listed phones or you can send a text to 50500. Text or SMS check-ins are only available in the U.S.

Checking-in, earning points and badges, and “The Mayor”
Telling foursquare where you are is known as “checking-in.” When you check-in on foursquare, the program notifies your friends. Even if you don’t have a smartphone, you can check in like this:

@ SELCO ! Attending CE course

Once you check-in, you will earn points:

5 points for your first time checking-in at a venue
5 points for adding a new venue
1 point per check-in, increasing by 1 point with each check-in (i.e. first check-in of the day is 1, second check-in of the day is 2 points, etc.)

Right now, only points are accumulated. foursquare is still experimenting with what the points translate into. They would like to know if you have ideas about the points.

When checking-in, you have the options of adding a “tip” and “to-dos.” A tip is something that you want to share with your friends about a place. It might be as simple as recommending an item from a restaurants menu to letting them know about an especially helpful staff member at a store. In turn, you’ll be able to see what tips your friends have left for a location when you check-in. To-dos are little notes you leave for yourself at a location, like maybe trying another menu item or where something might be located within in store.

And, just like other Web 2.0 applications, you have the option to “tag” a venue. Tags can be anything and become important in earning badges. “Badges” are extra rewards that you can earn when you check-in at an interesting place and are tied to venue tags. Essentially, adding a tag to your favorite place can help unlock badges.

To become Mayor of a location, two things are required. One, you must have a photo on your foursquare profile. Two, you have to have visited a location more than anyone else. The state of being “mayor” can be short-lived especially with a large number of friends. But, unlike the points and badges, being mayor MAY actually get you some free stuff. Many businesses have tapped into foursquare and will offer“mayor” things like free drinks, hotel stays, ice cream, you name it. Think of this like those loyalty rewards cards you get from gas stations or grocery stores.

Brightkite says this about itself: “Brightkite is a simple way to keep up with friends and places. We created a product that lets you instantly see what's going on with the people who matter most to you, your friends. So check out what they're up to, meet new friends along the way and get out and enjoy your neighborhoods.”

The application can be accessed several ways:

iPhone
Android
Blackberry
Nokia
Other mobile phones http://m.brightkite.com
Text message by texting to 41414
Via mobile email from a specially designed email address
The BrightKite website http://brightkite.com

Setting up a Brightkite account

Just as with foursquare, there is a large button right on the front page of the website that allows you to set up an account, including the ability to connect with Facebook. Sign up is as easy as your email address, picking a username and password, and answering a simple verification question. Before you can really proceed, you will need to verify your email address via the email message the application sends you. Once this is done, you can add more information about yourself by clicking on Account settings. Note that this is at the very bottom of the screen on a special taskbar that is very small.

Checking in and Posting

If you’ve used Twitter, you can use Brightkite. In fact, if you check-in and post on the website, your Brightkite page looks an awful lot like your Twitter page, including using a very similar layout. You can set this page of post to show only your posts, your friends posts, or everybody’s posts; limit the area you’d like to see post from (from 20 m to 100 km or everywhere); and limit to either check-ins, posts, photos, or any combination of the three.

To check-in on the web, click on the Check In button:

To post notes and photos on the web, first click on Post:

Then, click either begin typing in your post or click on the photo button to post a photo:

By the way, to check in via text message, use the convention:

@ SELCO ! Attending CE course

You can also easily share your posts, check-ins, etc. on Twitter and Facebook.

It doesn’t seem that there are any badges or points to earn in Brightkite, just the ability to connect with your friends and others.

Brightkite Support
Brightkite does have an extensive knowledge base of frequently asked questions. This is the best place to start in setting up and using your Brightkite account. For a great example from their support page, click here to see how to check-in and post a note or a photo at the same time.

Kiteups
A kiteup is simply a meetup of Brightkite users, thus making this application more than just a virtual social network. If given a few weeks notice, Brightkite can provide its users with a public placemark for the event and a special “kiteup” kit with goodies that you can give away to your attendees. For complete instructions of how to set up a kiteup, click here.

The “Creepy” Factor
OK, so if you are getting that uneasy feeling about these applications, i.e. the “creepy” factor, don’t worry, you’re in good company. Basically, the words of advice that folks have are that if you are feeling creeped out by revealing where you are, just don’t do it. However, here’s what according to Aliza Sherman, host of site The Digital Marketer:

Yeah, location-based social networks are a little creepy. I mean you're basically checking in when you arrive someplace to let your network contacts or the public at large know where you are and what you're doing. So if you're creeped out about revealing your location, maybe you shouldn't do it. But don't let that turn you away. You may be surprised by what these networks can do for you.

For her full article, click here.

For another interesting article on the subject, check out Sarah Perez’s article on ReadWriteWeb Location-Based Social Networks: Delightful, Dangerous or Somewhere in Between?

Other location-based social networks:

It's up to you whether or not you want to have these location-based sites let others know where you are. Interest and activity on the sites tends to be friend-related--if your friends play the games, you are more likely to play along. Let us know what you think in the comments!

By Michael Scott, Assistant Director, SELCO/SELS

Image Credit:[D] http://www.flickr.com/photos/94334030@N00/3333223048

Thing 52. Putting It All Together: Building & Sharing Your iGoogle Page

2010-02-26T13:44:00.019-06:00

iGoogle or other personal start pages are great for managing your PLN, but they can further enhance your productivity by aggregating many other parts of your life, too. You can organize gadgets and feeds into tabs or pages on iGoogle by theme or topic.

Using tabs turns iGoogle into a personal web site, with multiple pages for your interests. You can have a main page with all your productivity and communication gadgets--calendar, email, to-do list, Google Reader or Bloglines, Twitter, Facebook, etc.-- and then other tabs for other parts of your life. So, all your library-related feeds and gadgets can be in one tab or page, while your hobby-or home-related items are on another. Technology can have its own page, and so on.

You know that your iGoogle homepage is visible only to you when you are signed into your Google account, but did you you know that you can share the individual tabs you create on iGoogle? Organizing iGoogle with tabs by topic makes it possible to share all or only part of your iGooge site. By creating a PLN tab or page, you can share it with your colleagues or others.

Creating Tabs in iGoogle
To create a tab or page in iGoogle, click the arrow next to Home in the left sidebar to get the drop down menu. Then click Add a tab. This box pops up:

Name the tab. If you are feeling lucky, you can let Google add stuff to the page, but you probably want to uncheck that box so you can choose what to add yourself. Once the tab is created, go to Add Stuff and start adding! You can customize the theme of each tab, just as you do on the home page, so each tab or page has a distinctive look.

Create tabs as you need them for organizing or sharing. All your tabs will be in a list in the order created in the sidebar below the Home tab.

Sharing Tabs in iGoogle
Once you have your tab(s) the way you want them--full of great gadgets and feeds--you can share them with others. In the sidebar, click the arrow next to the tab you want to share in the left sidebar. Then click Share this tab.This box will pop up:

You can uncheck the box next to anything you don't want to share. Fill in the email addresses of those you want to receive your Tab, add a message, and click Send. Couldn't be easier to share all the great "stuff" you've found.

So now that you understand the basics of setting up, organizing, and maybe sharing parts of your iGoogle page, it is time to think about what else belongs either on the front view of your page or behind some of those newly created tabs.

What Should I Add?
Thing 51 showed you how to find gadgets and feeds by searching the Add Stuff pages, but since there are thousands upon thousands of gadgets, here are some ways to narrow your search and a few recommendations for cool gadgets.

To view and add the newest gadgets to your page, click on Newest under Sort by on the Add Stuff page. If these gadgets aren’t your speed, try clicking on Hottest or Editor’s Picks.

Recommendations
Google News is becoming a favorite customizable, news-source aggregator. This gadget is helpful because it is fully customizable and all news sections appear in separate categorized tabs. You can specify national, state, and local news. Users can simply click on the tab that interests them to get set up. In your initial set-up of Google News, you have the option to add only the topics that interest you. You can click on a + sign to indicate which subjects or topics you’d like to add to your Google News page. This allows you to manage the flow of your news sources from the get-go. For a recent Minnesota event, Buffy Hamilton (The Unquiet Librarian) put together a helpful libguide titled, Harness the Power of Google News.

How about a book gadget! Some favorite gadgets for book lovers include: My Google Book Search Library, Book of the Day from Google Book Search, NPR Topics: Books, London Review of Books and The New York Review of Books. For others, search for book, literature, or another term of your choice for more.
A search for library returns a wide range of feeds and gadgets, including gadgets for catalog searches (WorldCat or Hennepin County Library, for example) or the Librarian's eLibrary, a custom Google search for resources from the American Library Association.
Search iGoogle Showcase to track down the iGoogle pages of celebrities and modern thinkers. It may surprise you! You may also get ideas for some fun or professional gadgets to add to your own page.
Add a gadget for your favorite websites. Simply track down a few favorite websites and their URLs. Then in your iGoogle page, click on Add stuff. Next, click Add feed or gadget. Copy and paste the URL in the provided space, and click Add. If the website allows feeds and updates it will go through without a hitch and will be added to your iGoogle page. If you select a website that does not allow automatic updates or feeds, you’ll get a message stating that it cannot be found. At that point, try looking for the site’s RSS feed instead.
To-Do gadgets are great! Go to Add stuff. Search for To Do and choose from the list. Once you’ve selected the one you prefer, add it to your iGoogle page. Now you have a place to store all of the “to-do” items that you normally would have put on post-its or in a scheduler. This also will bring you back to your iGoogle page often–which is a good thing if new feeds are consistently being updated on your page.
A Facebook for iGoogle gadget is also pretty handy. A few users have complained of errors here and there, so it may be a bit fussy. Work with it for a while and see how it goes. You can always make adjustments to your settings or preferences.
There are gadgets to add your Twitter feed to your iGoogle page, too.

There are new gadgets rolling out every day! We’ve only scratched the surface of possibilities. Be sure to check out others at your leisure. They’re all available by clicking on Add stuff and then selecting Gadgets.

Staying Current with Google
There is no doubt that by the time this newsletter goes live, there will be new Google news. At the moment, most everyone is wondering when Google Caffeine will become available and whether they will like the new way that Google search results are served up. The recent rage (and controversy) is all about Google Buzz. Released 2/10/10 in its beta form, Google Buzz is available directly through Gmail. Here’s a short video from Google, introducing users to this new social networking tool.

How to keep up? The Official Google Blog will help you stay current with all things Google! Add it as a favorite RSS feed to your iGoogle page and you won’t miss a beat!

Don’t be afraid to help your boss, administrator, or students in setting up an iGoogle page. They will think you are a genius. A customized homepage allows you to feel in control of the amount, types, and flow of interesting information.

Your PLN and customized homepage allow you to learn and explore at your own pace; it’s anywhere, anytime learning. Even in tough economic times, we can keep adding to our own personal learning!

Google Mobile Apps
Here is a final challenge…set up your phone with your Google applications. You will see iGoogle, Google Reader, Google Calendar, and Google Docs among an uber list of other great possibilities. Go here for more info. Now, you are productive on the go, too!

Did we miss your favorite gadget? Got another favorite customized home page tool you want to rave about? Post your favorites or other iGoogle reflections in the comments area below.

by Kate Bessey & Patricia Post, CMLE
Ann Walker Smalley, Metronet
Image Credit: Don Solo

Thing 51. It's An Avalanche! Managing Your PLN via a Customizable Homepage

2010-02-25T16:28:00.166-06:00

As all of this information comes at us through our PLNs, how can we organize it so that we can avoid becoming buried? And, how can we actually boost our productivity? As mentioned in Thing 28, many professionals now set up a custom homepage (or a personalized profile/start page) where they can access all of their accounts, social networks, information feeds, and contacts in one central location. My Yahoo!, Pageflakes, NetVibes, Webwag, Protopage, & iGoogle are some of the leading customizable homepages.

Each of these customizable homepages has something unique to offer. For example, iGoogle is praised for its ease of integration and no-frills usability, whereas PageFlakes is noted for its appearance and functionality. Due to the sheer popularity of iGoogle, it has emerged as the front-runner of customizable homepages. If you already have an iGoogle page, you may be surprised at some of the new possibilities for your page. For both iGoogle newcomers and long-time iGoogle users, read on for the latest on iGoogle.

iGoogle
If you already have Gmail or another type of Google account, you can easily start your iGoogle page using the same log-in information that you use for your other Google account(s). Conveniently, iGoogle will effortlessly link-up the Google services you already use!

If you don’t have an iGoogle account, you can get started here. This video details the process behind setting up an iGoogle account.

If you need a bit of an iGoogle brush-up, here’s a quick video called iGoogle: a Mini Product Tour that should bring you up to speed.

If you’d like iGoogle to be your browser’s default homepage (recommended), access this link for more information.

Once you’ve created your essential iGoogle account information, you can now start customizing iGoogle to your specific needs and preferences. Many new iGoogle users start with choosing a theme for their iGoogle page. Remember, this is your start page, and you want it to be something you enjoy viewing! Whether you choose birds, swirls, your favorite model or actor, polka dots, or something else is really up to you. Google has even made Artist Themes available; this video shows off a few popular ones.

You’ll also want to start adding specific applications and gadgets to your page. Gadgets are defined by PCMag Encyclopedia as “mini application[s] that reside on a computer desktop or personal home page, typically found in the Windows environment. Gadgets provide a myriad of functions, including customized news and stock quotes, calendar, dictionary lookups, cartoons and games.” Here is a brief overview of how to add and edit gadgets on your page.

RSS Feeds and Your iGoogle Page
One great feature of iGoogle is its ability to allow you to add RSS feeds directly to your iGoogle page. Having a hard time remembering what RSS feeds are? Refer back to Thing 3 from the original 23 Things on a Stick Program.

Are you in a bit of a rut with your current RSS feeds? Consider looking around for something new.
•   Do a blog search in Google. This search will limit search results to bloggers talking about what you are interested in.
•   Use the Bloglines search tool. Use the Search for Feeds option in the pull-down menu to locate interesting RSS feeds.
•   Look at LibDex for library blogs worldwide.

You can view your RSS feeds two ways on your iGoogle page, so take a minute to think through the options. You can have the feed go directly onto your iGoogle page, or manage the feed inside of your Google Reader. Either way, when you open your iGoogle page, your feeds will be there waiting for you!

To view an RSS feed directly on your iGoogle page without clicking into any gadget, follow these instructions. This is a good option if you want to pounce on new posts of a few select feeds. So, be careful to only add your favorites, and know that you can always edit how you set things up. Do this:
1.   Navigate to the blog or website you are targeting for a feed.
2.   New tab, login to your iGoogle page.
3.   Click on Add stuff towards the top right side of the screen.
4.   Click on Add feed or gadget, located underneath the Narrow by category column.
5.   Insert the RSS feed URL of your choice (from step 1 above).
6.   Click Add.
7.   The RSS feed should now be added directly to your iGoogle page.
8.   Click on Add stuff to start the process again.

Now, for the second possibility! The power of using Google Reader is in its ability to compile and organize all of your RSS feeds, and hold them together for when you have time to go to one place to get caught up on what’s new. No more navigating to site after site looking for news, let this tool do the work for you. For a refresher on Google Reader, skip on back to the original 23 Things program and read the section on Google Reader. If reading isn’t your best way to learn, check out this handy video.

Extra tip…We love the new Google Toolbar!

It makes it even EASIER for you to add RSS Feeds to your iGoogle page or Google Reader account. *You may want to get permission to install the toolbar from an administrator or from technical support at your library.* Once the toolbar is installed, if you’re visiting a site with an RSS Feed icon, simply click on the button and a prompt will appear asking if you want to add the RSS Feed to your iGoogle homepage or to your Google Reader page. So simple!

The time investment to set up or fine tune your Reader will be a huge productivity booster, we promise! And, you will be able to demonstrate that you are current and up to date on what’s new in library land.

As time goes on, you’ll be surprised at how your PLN grows and connects you to a larger world of people interested in things that interest you, too! Your expertise in setting up and monitoring your RSS feeds is one of your greatest tools for awareness and professional/ personal growth. Getting them in one place will make it even easier to keep up. Thing 52 shows how to use iGoogle tabs to organize your PLN--and other parts of your life. 

By Kate Bessey & Patricia Post, CMLE
Gourd Avalanche by: Benoît Derrier

Thing 50. Personal Learning Networks (PLN)

2010-02-23T12:15:00.015-06:00

Twitter, RSS Feeds, email, web conferencing, social networking… Oh my! Developing and maintaining professional connections through a personal learning network in our fast-paced, virtual world may often seem like a daunting task! The key is to focus on the role these and other Web 2.0 tools can play in our professional lives. Instead of having to rely solely on face-to-face communication, telephone calls or conferences, it’s now possible to meet and discuss professional topics with our colleagues from the (relative) comfort of our desks! When it comes down to it, in many ways we can actually SAVE time and money by conducting the majority of our professional development interests online. So, let’s hunker down and focus on what we mean by a “Personal Learning Network” (PLN).

What are PLNs?

A Personal Learning Network or PLN can be defined as a collection of resources (whether human or virtual) that provide learning and developmental opportunities. In the past, Personal Learning Network typically referred to the people, goals, and connections that made learning a possibility. Take a look at David Warlick’s article on the beginning of Personal Learning Networks and the Stephen Downes blog post “Origins of the Term ‘Personal Learning Network". Buffy Hamilton has created a great video highlighing the professional use of PLNs by librarians across the country.

Increasingly, the focus for PLNs is harnessing the power of Web 2.0 tools. With tools like RSS, Nings, & Twitter, our PLNs are expanding beyond immediate personal interactions to encompass the communities of library and technology people online. We can connect and converse with friends and colleagues from around the world with a click of the mouse. It’s really amazing when you think about the possibilities!

With this increased accessibility and communication, the key is … keeping the information we create, send, and receive current, accurate, and useful. Of course, what’s important to one person can be meaningless to another. So, it’s really up to you to determine who you will “invite” into your PLN. It’s yours, so take it and run with it!

Developing your PLN

Regardless of how long you’ve been working in libraries, it’s safe to say that there’s always something new to learn. Every day there’s a new tool, gadget, widget, feed, etc. being released. Admittedly, some have the same basic function or purpose, while others are entirely new and unique. So, the question remains, how will you keep yourself informed and on top of new trends?

I bet many of you may be thinking “With my PLN!” Remember, a PLN can consist of both face-to-face interactions, as well as through online communication. We have to be actively engaged in both, and allow them to feed off each other. For example, perhaps our colleague down the hall is an expert in creating and hosting webinars; so, we should absolutely look to them for guidance when we’re creating a webinar of our own. With our current budget woes, going to face-to-face workshops is often not possible. However, it’s still important to keep learning and to produce our best work possible. By digging a little deeper, and doing our research, we will uncover scads of information in addition to our co-worker’s guidance and expertise.

So, if we have some face-to-face connections already developed, what are some online communications that we can include in our PLN? Start by thinking about the Web 2.0 tools you’re already using. Nings, wikis, blogs, podcasts, RSS Feeds, Voice Thread, video/web streaming, Flickr, Twitter—these are all social networking tools that allow for sharing, networking, and collaboration between friends and colleagues. If you’re already using them, they’re already a part of your PLN. How convenient is that?! Next, think about tools that you haven’t used or those you wouldn’t initially consider as part of your PLN. A social bookmarking site, like Delicious, is a great example. While traditionally Delicious isn’t used to converse with people, you CAN use it to explore a mentor or colleague’s bookmarks. This would be a convenient way of identifying new and useful websites to explore.

If you want to expand your PLN, here are some places to start:

There are hundreds more. Be warned; it is easy, as you know, to be overwhelmed with information!

Can you identify your PLN? Try thinking about all of the key players in your PLN; it’s amazing, isn’t it?! Do you find that the key players in your PLN are online? If so, you’re in luck!! Thing 51 is all about organizing our online influences.

Do you have an online resource you want to tell the world about (or at least your librarian colleagues)? List them in the comments area below!

By Kate Bessey & Patricia Post, CMLE
Image Credit: Cobannon

Thing 49. TweetDeck: Manage Twitter, Facebook, MySpace & LinkedIn Together

2010-01-29T12:32:00.007-06:00

So you've signed up for Twitter and now the tweets are coming in fast and furious, people are mentioning you, you're getting direct messages, people are retweeting you, and maybe you even decided to have multiple accounts, a personal one and one professionally or for your business. Are you overwhelmed with how to follow it all? We have just the tool for you!

TweetDeck is free software you can download that will connect you to your Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn accounts, all in one location. You can organize things from those accounts in different columns and you can even update your statuses in those accounts from TweetDeck.

TweetDeck also gives you the opportunity to monitor more than one Twitter account at a time. If you have a personal Twitter account and one for your business or group, save time and monitor them both through TweetDeck so you don't have to log in and out every time you access them on the web.

Get TweetDeck
Go to TweetDeck to download it and you will also be prompted to download Adobe Air if you do not already have it on your computer. You need Adobe Air for TweetDeck to work, so make sure to download it, too.

TweetDeck Beginnings
When you open TweetDeck you will be asked to log in. The first time you log into TweetDeck on a computer you need to set up your TweetDeck account, so below the username and password boxes, look for the sentence that reads: "If this is the first time you've used TweetDeck on this computer, click here," and follow those directions to log in.

The first time you use TweetDeck it will also prompt you to add your Twitter account. You can also add Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and additional Twitter accounts, too, by going to the Accounts tab in your Settings. The Settings button is on the top right-hand corner of TweetDeck, next to these other buttons you may need:

Buttons, from left to right:
1) Refresh
2) One column - makes TweetDeck smaller so you scroll left to right to see all columns
3) Settings
4) TweetDeck Support - brings you to the TweetDeck Support website
5) Log out

Another thing you'll probably want to do in your Settings is to turn off notifications and sounds. In TweetDeck you can have a box pop up every time something new is added to the columns you make (see more about columns below) and there is also a sound that can play to notify you of anything new. I disabled both of these things, and to do that just go to the Notifications tab in your Settings. There you can stop the notifications from popping up and you can turn the sound down to zero.

TweetDeck Columns
Once you're logged into TweetDeck it will look similar to this:

All the columns in TweetDeck are for something different in each of your accounts. You can have columns for friend updates in Twitter, status updates in Facebook, mentions in Twitter, or even for photo uploads in Facebook. Here are some tips in using TweetDeck columns:

To add columns, click on the plus symbol on the top left-hand corner of TweetDeck.
Multiple columns can be added for each account.
There is no limit on the amount of columns you can add.
To delete a column, move your mouse over the Twitter symbol or the Facebook symbol at the top of the column and you will see an X appear. Click the X to delete the column.

Updating Statuses
In TweetDeck you can update statuses in any of your accounts, like a new post in Twitter or your status update in Facebook. If you want the same text to be updated in multiple accounts, it's very easy to do. Here are some tips for updating your status:

To update your status, click on the yellow compose button on the top left-hand side of TweetDeck.
Choose which accounts you want to update with that status by clicking on their names.
Type your status and hit enter. Your status will be updated in the accounts you selected.

More TweetDeck
There are many additional things you can do in TweetDeck, so for more tips, check out some of these websites:

TweetDeck basics - This is a fabulous blog post about the basics of TweetDeck. Two videos are embedded in the blog, and I highly recommend watching them for step-by-step basics help, including different settings you may want to do, how to add and delete columns, and how to update your status.
TweetDeck Support page - TweetDeck's support forum where TweetDeck and users respond to questions
Unofficial TweetDeck forums - TweetDeck users answer forum questions

Mobile TweetDeck
If you use an iPhone or iTouch, TweetDeck can also be mobile. Check out all the information on how to get the TweetDeck app on the TweetDeck iPhone page.

Other Tools Like TweetDeck
TweetDeck isn't the only tool you can use to better manage Twitter and other accounts. Here's a list of some other tools you may want to check out:

DestroyTwitter
Nambu (coming soon, but only for Macs)
Snitter
Toro for Twitter
twhirl

If you really want to get into Twitter, the blog Big is the New Small has a list of Twitter tools & apps organized into handy lists: information gathering, network building & management, business & finance, Twitter management, sharing tools, health, organization & productivity, life tools, & blogging.

So, dig in & explore. Who knows? You may be the next star in the Twitterverse!

By LeAnn Suchy, Metronet

Thing 48. Twitter: Not Just for Breakfast Anymore

2010-01-27T14:56:00.009-06:00

You’ve heard about Twitter, you’ve seen Twitter, and you’re either on the Twitter bandwagon or you’ve dismissed it. There seems to be no middle ground when it comes to those who love and hate Twitter, but since 23 Things on a Stick and More Things on a Stick, Twitter use has exploded. Professionals and businesses are tweeting, news is updated instantly on Twitter, celebrities connect with fans via Twitter, and almost any interest you have can be nourished with a variety of Twitter feeds.

Twitter can be a great professional development tool for you, so if you’re one of the people who dismissed Twitter because you heard it’s about people telling you what they had for breakfast, open your eyes to some of the ways Twitter is being used:

Library professionals are on Twitter
Twitter can be a social platform, but it can also be a professional one. Librarians are tweeting about programming, articles, books, events, lesson plans, and a host of other library-related topics. For lists of professionals to follow, check out: Libraries on Twitter, Librarians Twitter Directory, 100 Best Twitter Feeds for Librarians of the Future, and the list of librarians in the 23 Things on a Stick Ning who are in Twitter.

Follow businesses of interest
If you frequent certain businesses, chances are they have a Twitter feed. Do you use Ning social networks? Follow Ning to get status updates. Whole Foods tweets about happenings in their stores. Southwest tweets about flight updates and deals. If you use a lot of Google tools, follow them for update information. Or maybe it’s local businesses you want to follow, so get great coupons by following Punch Pizza in the Twin Cities. Use the Twitter account search to your advantage and find businesses of interest to you.

Get news updates
News is updated instantly on Twitter as you may have heard about during the Iranian elections. During the elections individuals in Twitter were posting news updates, but there are also news organizations doing the same thing, like Minnesota Public Radio, The New York Times, and American Libraries. Other organizations like The Huffington Post, ESPN, People Magazine, and The Onion have Twitter accounts, too. Check out this list of 100 Best Twitter Feeds for All Your News and Know How.

Follow government feeds
You may have heard about members of congress tweeting, some even getting in a little bit of trouble for what they tweet, and even a candidate running for Minnesota state senate had some problems, but there are some good government feeds to follow. The White House Twitter feed put together a list of different government agencies tweeting, like The Library of Congress, the Department of Education, and NASA. You can even follow certain NASA astronauts, like T.J. Creamer who recently posted the first tweet from space.

There are government feeds about certain things, too, like the Food and Drug Administration feed for food recalls or Flu.gov’s feed highlighting flu information. And, if you are interested in following members of congress, here’s a list of tweeting members, including our own Michele Bachmann and Keith Ellison.

Local and state governments use Twitter, too. In the Twin Cities, St. Paul Public Works updates its Twitter feed with snow emergency information. Other jurisdictions also use Twitter, so check with your local government. Weather woes lately make following MNDot a good idea!

Find book-related information
We librarians are book lovers, so find out more about books through Twitter. Follow publishers, like Random House, Dark Horse Comics, Milkweed Editions, and Graywolf Press. Follow those writing about the book industry, like Publishers Weekly or The Library Journal. Maybe you need more book reviews, so try New York Times Books, LA Times Books, Just One More Book, and local reviewers like Minnesota Reads. Authors post interesting tweets, too, like Neil Gaiman, Meg Cabot, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kate Jacobs. Even book characters tweet! For more book-related tweets, look at the Directory of Book Trade People on Twitter and 100 Best Authors on Twitter.

Take time for some laughs, too
We do want you to think about using Twitter for professional development, but you should also take some time to laugh, right? These are some of our favorite, funny Twitter feeds: the whale on the ceiling of the Natural History Museum in New York City tweets; Fake AP Stylebook is priceless for any librarian who helps students with citations; Ben Franklin is tweeting through a 13-year-old Minnesota Historical Society volunteer; even Laura Ingalls Wilder is tweeting.

We could go on and on and tell you about all the great people and organizations you can follow in Twitter, but why don’t you try searching for that which interests you. Just login to Twitter and click on the “Find People” link at the top and search for someone or something. Check out who your favorite Twitterers are following to get even more ideas for useful feeds. You might be pleasantly surprised at who or what you find. After all, even the Pope is promoting Twitter.

Do you follow anyone we should follow? Let us know in the comments.

By LeAnn Suchy, Metronet

A New Year, a New Things!

2010-01-27T14:00:00.002-06:00

...On a Stick, that is. This newsletter (and the Archive blog) is the 2010 version of 23 Things On a Stick. Each monthly issue of Things On a Stick News will highlight at least two new Things--a tool, a concept, an idea, whatever is happening now--or offer a new perspective on a previous Thing. Each Thing will be introduced in the newsletter and then linked to the News Archive blog for more information.

In this version of Things On a Stick there are no blogging requirements, no deadlines, no checking in (no prizes either!). Just a lot of Things that will keep you up-to-date on how Web 2.0 tools can be used in libraries or at home for productivity, communication, organization, and more. The only sign-up is for the newsletter subscription.

We do encourage comments on Things on this Archive blog. The 23 Things Ning is going strong, too, and is a great place for seeking support on the Things, asking questions, suggesting ways to use the tools, and other conversations.

Things On a Stick News is sent monthly to your email--or you can follow the Archives blog from the homepage. Whatever you choose, we encourage you to participate via the comments, by email, and by sharing what you learn with us and your colleagues. Please forward Things On a Stick News to library staff you think would be interested.