Thing 15: Rollyo

Rollyo has absolutely cutest logo, so cute you could eat it or chew it, so I tried it out before signing up for one more account. The lure of creating my own search engine faded when I realized that the amount of work in setting it up really did not equal the reward. However, after reading some of my colleague's blogs, I realize that may be there is a purpose after all for Rollyo...and maybe even in a reference roll-ee-o.

Thing 14: Online Productivity Tools

I already have a calendar in my e-mail but I took a look at the Google calendar which looks fairly cute. Since we are getting a new system to keep track of programming (Evanced) I am not sure how these calendars would work in library settings but it is possible that staff scheduling might be lurking in there somewhere. The most fascinating tool I found was the one which added up all the time one spends on a project. I wish I had found this earlier so I could add up how much time I have spent on the 23 Things.

Thing 13: Library Thing

Where the wild things are

Library Thing initially looks like a really useful online tool: finally a site for book lovers with the ability to paste in book covers to make it visually attractive. I could see this being a great site for reading groups and library programming gigs. For myself, though, I am thinking about this and wondering who would want to know what is in my library. Not only that, I have already signed up at so many social sites such as Digg, Zolo Wiki, Flickr, that I am beginning to feel like a flighty, thrill seeking butterfly. Library thing is a fascinating concept though. I did find some lists on Florida hurricane fiction that looked really interesting.Mmm. Nothing on Gainesville and no reading groups.My inner cataloging alter ego says that I better shelve my misgivings about another account, sign up, learn the ropes and revisit this site when I have more time to catalog the collection in our house, including my husband's entomology and biology books. For posterity and bug lovers all.

Thing 12:Wikis

I have used Wikipedia as one of my go-to sites for at least two years. It is a great tool but not an authority. However, the ability to keep database information evolving by sharing the work and input has lots of uses in any library. I am thinking of our local community database which I have been working on with a colleague. The St. Joseph County Library subject guide's ability to integrate the catalogue records with photos of books, and links to websites was a new concept for me. Sort of another version of AquaBrowser.
I went to Zoho.com and signed up for my own wiki. I have a personal/editing/writing project on Florida place names that I have tried to put into a computer file at least two times in the last few years. Because of the potential input from the public, I think a wiki could actually be the answer to my nagging problem: How to post my work for the benefit of the public and harness their editing power. More on this later.

Thing 11: Social Media

Digg has variety ...science to politics. . I read an article about a cloned extinct mountain goat. First time I have ever heard of this! So I added a Digg widget so I can keep up with science and wow my husband with the stories.Then I tried out Mixx which had an article about the evolution of the human jaw and how it eventually affected the size of the human cranium and the size of the brain. More wow! I even e-mailed this one to my husband. Then, I found an aritlcle on Reddit revealing a new planet in the Hubble telescope data. Pretty interesting stuff. Maybe I need a widget for all three. I think I am an information junkie and I think even the truly useless information is great. You just never know who or what may pop up on the public reference desk and find this useful. I can see that new channels for information are necessary if you are in the information business. Let's go for it. Unfortunately, social media has edged out the RSS feeds in my list of favorite things.

Thing 10: Tagging and Delicious

I signed up for a Delicious account at least a month ago because one of my co-workers said it was really great. My favorite websites have traveled well, sticking like glue on my network account, always returning on Internet Explorer, as I moved from workstation to workstation so I really did not see the need for another way to keep them by my side. But, I signed up anyway since it is the thing to do in "23 Things". Then a problem: layers of Delicious address lines and subscreens were loading whenever I just wanted to answer a question at the Reference desk.I started going into "Tools" and "View" and removing address lines, but never actually going so far as to dump Delicious because I needed to work up a resounding and fascinating post about it. I even learned how to disable add-ons. So Delicious, if nothing else, you have taught me a few tricks on how to manage the myriad of new gadgets, widgets, add-ons and general paraphenalia that comes with this exercise. Reviewing Delicious, I ran through the five most popular sites and found one that put a group of gorgeous blogs together in one place. All these sites would really help a library programmer because they are so full of graphic detail that takes creativity to new heights. Tagging my favorite sites was fun and it is supposed to bring new friends and contacts, so we will see what happens with that endeavor. For the meantime, I've got my Delicious Badge.

Thing 9 : Sharing: slides, photos, databases

Searching around for something to put on Slideshare, I found an old PowerPoint presentation on the duties of a Library Page at my former branch. Dusting it off and updating it took a minute and then I finally was able to upload "Page Power" to Slideshare. I was not able to embed it because my workstation has an identity crisis. However here is my link:

http://www.slideshare.net/secret/aVMem4qSlApWEY

Looking through Slideshare, I saw a lot of good presentations...even on library topics, so there are lots of opportunities to review what others are doing to publicize their efforts. Letting the world know the role that libraries the new W.2 world is a big job and we need to use every tool we can to accomplish this.

Back to Flickr where I went to a gadget that allowed me to display my two lion photos vertically and horizontally ....but they look like so many more!