Thing 13: Online Productivity Tools

At work, we use Google Apps for Ed. and I have an iGoogle page I have been working on. I plan to add many of these things soon. At home, I use Comcast and just use their webpage, but I think I may change using what I've been learning. Probably I will change to iGoogle, too, but all our home email is Comcast. Oh, well, changes are hard. The countdown clock gadget did not countdown for me so I found one just doing a search for countdown clocks. One of my favorite sites will be Zamzar that converts file types. I get many files from my sister/brother-in-law in Africa and they sometimes come in a file type I don't have and I need to change it in order to read it. I've never had Microsoft Word at home, either and for years, I've used OpenOffice.org. This is an excellent word document program that supports several file formats and it is free. Online calendars are so necessary at work and we use Google calendaring. I really need to find one for home and these suggestions should help me decide.

Thing 12: Do you Digg?

From the New York Times, I found a movie clip about a woman who lives with 11 parrots. I thought this was fascinating because I have loved birds and always wanted one. I once tried to own a cockatiel, but with full time work I could not give him enough attention and he was nervous and demanding. We gave him away. There is so much information, some intelligent, some frivolous, some correct, some incorrect, it's hard to know ourselves what is good and useable. How are our patrons supposed to know?

Thing 11: Tagging and Del.icio.us

I set up an account in Del.icio.us and I don't really like it as much as my regular bookmarks. It's interesting to see what other sites link to yours, but it's just too cluttered and you have to browse through many pages instead of scrolling down a neat list. I'll try it out for awhile. Tagging can lead on to infinity it seems. it's great for people hungry for more information. Therefore, libraries should be using tagging in ways to reach their community with projects, online groups and brainstorming ideas.

Thing 10: Wikis

I left a wiki post on this site Wikimedia (sandbox)- Metapub - Would like to donate.I really like the Common Craft videos, original and easy to understand. I would never have thought of a wiki as a way to communicate with family or friends. My sister, brother and I are trying to sell my mother's house. We all live in different states or countries and her house is in another different state. This might be an interesting way to keep up with the realtor and improvements on the house. Wikis would be great for library communities too for dialog, book review clubs and other projects.

Thing 9: Online Collaboration Tools

I understand Google Docs because I have used it before and it makes a lot of sense. No saving, downloading, uploading, emailing back and forth. However, I could not understand or make anything work with the Google Docs Thomas Jefferson document. Maybe it doesn't work with IE? I thought everything did. I clicked everywhere and nothing happened. I just didnt have time to go to Zoho, too. I will try that later.

Thing 8:Share your Creations

This is something I've tried to do for so long. I had no idea you could find programs that would do it for you for free and have so many kinds of programs to choose from. I've bought programs that were harder to use than "Picture Trail". These sites could have many applications to library websites, for advertising programs, book lists, staff, etc. I am bookmarking the 50 Web 2.0 ways to tell a story. Incredible!

Thing 7: Web 2.0 Communication Tools

Our library has just switched to Google Apps for Education and in exploring it and organizing, there seems to be lots of connectivity with other Google products. We also use Google Chat on campus and had been using it in the library for about a year before the switch. The availability of IM works well with Reference and ILL. Problems can be addressed easily and quickly. Personally, I use IM to chat with my sister who lives in East Africa. It's free and easy and instantaneous. We cover a lot of current topics in our lives, every day if we want. I recently attended a Minitex webinar on WorldCat Local since our library is moving to the ILS this summer. All in all, these tools have made it easier for librarians and patrons to make great strides in communication, with each other, and between colleagues.