Jott.com must be for those of us who live on our mobile phones. I must admit that I'm more likely to have forgotten my mobile than paper and a pen! Still, I can see that this service has its merits.
For no fee (there are more benefits if you pay a fee) Jott allows you to phone them, tell them where you want the meesge to go (e.g., email) and leave a voicemail message to capture notes, set reminders and calendar appointments, stay in touch with friends and family, and interact with your favorite web sites and services. Jott captures the voice, turns it into text, and sends it to the destination you chose.
I expect that it won't be long before a similar service starts up in Australia.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Thing #42: Google Groups
Google Groups was very slow to use over the desktop but I did find out some interesting info on the Society.libraries.talk user group. Browsing the postings, I found out that this month, the 2nd edition of Library World Records will be published. Something to keep in mind for a retirement/leaving gift!
I used the search facility to search for mention of Web 2.0 technologies but only got one hit! This I found quite surprising.
I joined the NEXGENLIB user group just so that I could check out the postings of this forward thinking user group but nothing had been added since January so figured that this user group ran out of momentum.
In the end, the poor response from the Internet over the desktop convinced me to abandon mission. I'll have to return another day.
I used the search facility to search for mention of Web 2.0 technologies but only got one hit! This I found quite surprising.
I joined the NEXGENLIB user group just so that I could check out the postings of this forward thinking user group but nothing had been added since January so figured that this user group ran out of momentum.
In the end, the poor response from the Internet over the desktop convinced me to abandon mission. I'll have to return another day.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Animoto
It's been a while since I did any of the 2.1 Things. I was busy at work and then got out of the habit of doing them but now I'm back on the wagon with Animoto!
This is an easy tool to use and I am sure that it could become very addictive! It would be very useful for social events and workwise, could be used for promotional activities.
Using Christmas and cats as my theme (because it's Christmas and my cat is rather unwell so in my thoughts at the moment), I selected some photos from Photobucket and then used Animoto to make a video. Here's the link to Moggy Cheer: http://animoto.com/play/z3lXdSYxMu3fFtzt8P6wLw. As yet, I haven't heard the music (I chose it blind so hope that it's appropriate).
Enjoy.
This is an easy tool to use and I am sure that it could become very addictive! It would be very useful for social events and workwise, could be used for promotional activities.
Using Christmas and cats as my theme (because it's Christmas and my cat is rather unwell so in my thoughts at the moment), I selected some photos from Photobucket and then used Animoto to make a video. Here's the link to Moggy Cheer: http://animoto.com/play/z3lXdSYxMu3fFtzt8P6wLw. As yet, I haven't heard the music (I chose it blind so hope that it's appropriate).
Enjoy.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Thing #35: Twitter
Hi
My introduction to microblogging was through Twitter. I can see the value in joining Twitter if you have a group of friends who all have Twitter accounts but I could think of no people among my acquaintance that would twitter so didn't go down the "find a friend to follow" path. Alternatively, if all library staff had accounts, we could use Twitter as a means of communication - unlike email, you could access Twitter with your mobile phone.
While I was looking at Twitter, I did read Christina Laun's Twitter for librarians: the ultimate guide. She gives the following reasons in favour of libraries setting up a Twitter account:
• Keeping in touch with librarian friends and colleagues. Twitter makes it easier to keep up with what others are up to and to share and collaborate on projects.
• Stay on top of the latest technologies. Even if you don’t think Twitter has any applications that will work for you at the moment that doesn’t mean it won’t in the future. Staying on top of the latest technologies will give you a leg up and may make it easier in the long run to adapt them to your own purposes.
• Read the latest news. Many major news sites, like CNN and the BBC, have Twitter feeds. This makes it easy to just quickly check to keep up with news and find the latest information, a particularly relevant application for libraries.
• Get information on conferences. Some geekier conferences of interest to librarians have Twitter feeds that will allow you to keep up with registration deadlines, speakers and accommodations without having to visit the site itself all the time.
• Have Q and A sessions. Thinking of making some changes to your library website or changing policies? You can get suggestions and opinions from patrons quickly and easily through Twitter. This can work with any kind of question and answer type situation and the possible uses are quite broad.
• Learn more about colleagues. Not sure about the new guy? See if he has a Twitter feed and read more about his life. Who knows, maybe you have more in common than you think. You could also do the same thing for authors, artists and writers you like as well if they have Twitter accounts.
• Use it as a notepad. Jot down great ideas anywhere through your Twitter account. If you’re on your computer you can use it there, but Twitter is also accessible via a mobile device, making it easy to transfer the name of a book you saw on TV and to-dos for work to yourself.
• Share references. Library patrons can get online help from librarians through a Twitter account. Patrons can send messages asking about specific materials and staff can get back to them when they have information. You could also use if for your own personal information sharing with friends and colleagues.
• Announce library programs. Launching a new children’s reading program or having a book sale? Let the community know about it through your Twitter feed. It’s a simple and easy way to get information out about any library.
• Update patrons on new materials. Got exciting new resources? Let those in your area know about them through a Twitter feed. Some libraries already using Twitter send out updates when they get in new books, though for larger libraries this might be impractical.
• Send alerts about requested materials. Patrons who have a Twitter account could opt to receive notices that their materials have arrived at the library via Twitter rather than on the phone or in the mail. Some people may prefer this method and it’s one simple way Twitter can be used in place of existing technologies.
I'm not convinced by all her arguments and Twitter would not be the only means of achieving these aims but Christina's blog article does provide some food for thought. See http://www.collegeathome.com/blog/2008/05/27/twitter-for-librarians-the-ultimate-guide/ for Christina's blog.
My introduction to microblogging was through Twitter. I can see the value in joining Twitter if you have a group of friends who all have Twitter accounts but I could think of no people among my acquaintance that would twitter so didn't go down the "find a friend to follow" path. Alternatively, if all library staff had accounts, we could use Twitter as a means of communication - unlike email, you could access Twitter with your mobile phone.
While I was looking at Twitter, I did read Christina Laun's Twitter for librarians: the ultimate guide. She gives the following reasons in favour of libraries setting up a Twitter account:
• Keeping in touch with librarian friends and colleagues. Twitter makes it easier to keep up with what others are up to and to share and collaborate on projects.
• Stay on top of the latest technologies. Even if you don’t think Twitter has any applications that will work for you at the moment that doesn’t mean it won’t in the future. Staying on top of the latest technologies will give you a leg up and may make it easier in the long run to adapt them to your own purposes.
• Read the latest news. Many major news sites, like CNN and the BBC, have Twitter feeds. This makes it easy to just quickly check to keep up with news and find the latest information, a particularly relevant application for libraries.
• Get information on conferences. Some geekier conferences of interest to librarians have Twitter feeds that will allow you to keep up with registration deadlines, speakers and accommodations without having to visit the site itself all the time.
• Have Q and A sessions. Thinking of making some changes to your library website or changing policies? You can get suggestions and opinions from patrons quickly and easily through Twitter. This can work with any kind of question and answer type situation and the possible uses are quite broad.
• Learn more about colleagues. Not sure about the new guy? See if he has a Twitter feed and read more about his life. Who knows, maybe you have more in common than you think. You could also do the same thing for authors, artists and writers you like as well if they have Twitter accounts.
• Use it as a notepad. Jot down great ideas anywhere through your Twitter account. If you’re on your computer you can use it there, but Twitter is also accessible via a mobile device, making it easy to transfer the name of a book you saw on TV and to-dos for work to yourself.
• Share references. Library patrons can get online help from librarians through a Twitter account. Patrons can send messages asking about specific materials and staff can get back to them when they have information. You could also use if for your own personal information sharing with friends and colleagues.
• Announce library programs. Launching a new children’s reading program or having a book sale? Let the community know about it through your Twitter feed. It’s a simple and easy way to get information out about any library.
• Update patrons on new materials. Got exciting new resources? Let those in your area know about them through a Twitter feed. Some libraries already using Twitter send out updates when they get in new books, though for larger libraries this might be impractical.
• Send alerts about requested materials. Patrons who have a Twitter account could opt to receive notices that their materials have arrived at the library via Twitter rather than on the phone or in the mail. Some people may prefer this method and it’s one simple way Twitter can be used in place of existing technologies.
I'm not convinced by all her arguments and Twitter would not be the only means of achieving these aims but Christina's blog article does provide some food for thought. See http://www.collegeathome.com/blog/2008/05/27/twitter-for-librarians-the-ultimate-guide/ for Christina's blog.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Thing #32: Box.net
Hi
Mindful of the pwc report on security, I made sure to upload an innocuous review of a conference on this offsite storage site. It was fun to use Zoho again and I had to smile at the evocative picnic imagery displayed while the picnik editor was loading - I was in the moment with the warm breeze, blossoming flora, chardonnay and pate(I added this one!)...
While, for security reasons, we should avoid using this service, it was easy to use and it could come in handy some time down the track.
Here's the image that I uploaded to Box.net: http://www.box.net/shared/zooi3jx4ck
Looking forward to the next Learning 2.1 activity.
Mindful of the pwc report on security, I made sure to upload an innocuous review of a conference on this offsite storage site. It was fun to use Zoho again and I had to smile at the evocative picnic imagery displayed while the picnik editor was loading - I was in the moment with the warm breeze, blossoming flora, chardonnay and pate(I added this one!)...
While, for security reasons, we should avoid using this service, it was easy to use and it could come in handy some time down the track.
Here's the image that I uploaded to Box.net: http://www.box.net/shared/zooi3jx4ck
Looking forward to the next Learning 2.1 activity.
Thing 31: Plaxo
Hi
I set up a calendar on Plaxo and played around with the entries. I tried setting up a schedule for Australian soccer and the tv program, Lost (although the last episode will be screening next week and I am so looking forward to having all the gaps in the story filled but I suspect that that this won't happen!); unfortunately, Plaxo kept reporting errors with finding the calendars on ical.com. I wondered whether the fact that they were created on a mac had anything to do with this. The calendar on Outlook is sufficient for my work needs so, most likely, I won't be using Plaxo for this purpose. Even so, it's a neat tool - very easy to use.
I also set up a list of tasks - I made them all work-related. I'm a big fan of To Do lists - I get a lot of satisfaction out of crossing tasks off the lists as I complete them. Plaxo would enable our library team to set up group/individual lists that we could share. We could have short term (weekly) and longer term (monthly) lists. However, with such a small team, we rely more on verbal communication and email and paper and pen work well for us.
Off to tackle the next thing...
I set up a calendar on Plaxo and played around with the entries. I tried setting up a schedule for Australian soccer and the tv program, Lost (although the last episode will be screening next week and I am so looking forward to having all the gaps in the story filled but I suspect that that this won't happen!); unfortunately, Plaxo kept reporting errors with finding the calendars on ical.com. I wondered whether the fact that they were created on a mac had anything to do with this. The calendar on Outlook is sufficient for my work needs so, most likely, I won't be using Plaxo for this purpose. Even so, it's a neat tool - very easy to use.
I also set up a list of tasks - I made them all work-related. I'm a big fan of To Do lists - I get a lot of satisfaction out of crossing tasks off the lists as I complete them. Plaxo would enable our library team to set up group/individual lists that we could share. We could have short term (weekly) and longer term (monthly) lists. However, with such a small team, we rely more on verbal communication and email and paper and pen work well for us.
Off to tackle the next thing...
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Thing 29: Scrapblogging
Hi
I had a fair bit of fun with this thing. However, I spent some time trying to upload the Photobucket album into my scrapblog and couldn't get this to happen over the desktop or using the standalone. I was able to authorise the use of Photobucket but didn't get to the point where I could upload the actual photos that I'd saved. In the end, I saved the Photobucket photos to My Pictures and then uploaded them to Scrapblog.
I created a scrapblog for Stephen King's Duma Key, his latest release. It's more of a blurb than anything else. I enjoyed creating the page, finding stickers, adding text, playing around with the positioning of the photos, adding tags etc. You can view the Scrapblog at http://www.scrapblog.com/f4df922600/5F799237-381B
That brings me up to date with my Learning 2.1. Whoo hoo!
I had a fair bit of fun with this thing. However, I spent some time trying to upload the Photobucket album into my scrapblog and couldn't get this to happen over the desktop or using the standalone. I was able to authorise the use of Photobucket but didn't get to the point where I could upload the actual photos that I'd saved. In the end, I saved the Photobucket photos to My Pictures and then uploaded them to Scrapblog.
I created a scrapblog for Stephen King's Duma Key, his latest release. It's more of a blurb than anything else. I enjoyed creating the page, finding stickers, adding text, playing around with the positioning of the photos, adding tags etc. You can view the Scrapblog at http://www.scrapblog.com/f4df922600/5F799237-381B
That brings me up to date with my Learning 2.1. Whoo hoo!
Thing 27 - Photobucket
Photobucket was very straight forward. There are clearly millions of images on this site as I searched for some very obscure photos to add to my album! After pondering for some time over the matter of my favourite book, I decided to collect images relating to the book that I am reading at the moment - Stephen King's Duma Key (yes, I have a weakness for horror/thriller). I found images for sunsets on the Florida Keys which is where the book is set, green rowing boats, twin girls (actually, I uploaded the twin girls from the Shining movie - it's not the first time that Stephen King has used ghostly twin girls), roses on water, etc. It was all entirely painless but I must make a mental note to be circumspect about the keywords that I use to search for images as the terms, "China dolls" and "twin girls" brought up some risque photos that I wasn't expecting!
Still having fun.
Still having fun.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Thing #26 Widgets
Hi
This afternoon, I played with some widgets - I liked the To Do list one as I'm forever writing to do lists on scraps of paper! Some of the widgets had definite work application while others were more fun than anything - couldn't resist adding my favourite Dixie Chicks album cover to my testpad tab. To see my widgets at Yourminis follow this link (I'll type it in as my links often go astray!)
http://www.yourminis.com/yourminis/AmandaKaczmarek/testpad
As the Countdown Widget indicates, it's time for me to go home so it's good night from me...
This afternoon, I played with some widgets - I liked the To Do list one as I'm forever writing to do lists on scraps of paper! Some of the widgets had definite work application while others were more fun than anything - couldn't resist adding my favourite Dixie Chicks album cover to my testpad tab. To see my widgets at Yourminis follow this link (I'll type it in as my links often go astray!)
http://www.yourminis.com/yourminis/AmandaKaczmarek/testpad
As the Countdown Widget indicates, it's time for me to go home so it's good night from me...
Monday, April 21, 2008
#25 Pop goes the letter
I started to create my mock up invitation before I'd signed up for Letterpop and discovered that there was a limit to how much I could do without signing up. Once I'd registered, I could upload images, preview etc.
In the end, I wasn't too happy with my creation because I couldn't seem to edit as much as I wanted to - you're confined to the allocated space - any extra text does not appear in the space provided. And I completely lost a column of text (the option to add text completely disappeared). Next time, I would choose a more fancy template as the one I chose was very basic. Anyhow, here it is warts and all: http://letterpop.com/newsletters/?id=86083-e0ecd3
Once I get better at using Letterpop, it will actually be quite a useful tool for publishing invitations for work and otherwise. I'm actually glad that I persevered with it and got as far as I did.
Now, back to the desk...
In the end, I wasn't too happy with my creation because I couldn't seem to edit as much as I wanted to - you're confined to the allocated space - any extra text does not appear in the space provided. And I completely lost a column of text (the option to add text completely disappeared). Next time, I would choose a more fancy template as the one I chose was very basic. Anyhow, here it is warts and all: http://letterpop.com/newsletters/?id=86083-e0ecd3
Once I get better at using Letterpop, it will actually be quite a useful tool for publishing invitations for work and otherwise. I'm actually glad that I persevered with it and got as far as I did.
Now, back to the desk...
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Zamzar - Shazam!
I've added this tool to my Favourites as it has the potential to be very useful: clients have asked us how to convert files in the past. As long as the files are unclassified, I can see no problem with using Zamzar.
Zamzar was very easy to use (in fact, the hardest part about this session was finding my Blogger password). I requested a file to be converted from Word to pdf. It took some time for it to be emailed to me - the email was waiting for me when I came into work the next day. It worked - yay Zamzar!
For some reason, when I hear Zamzar, I think of Shazam - a 1970s cartoon about two kids, a camel and a Genie who appeared whenever two halves of a ring were united and the word, Shazam, was yelled victoriously!
Zamzar was very easy to use (in fact, the hardest part about this session was finding my Blogger password
For some reason, when I hear Zamzar, I think of Shazam - a 1970s cartoon about two kids, a camel and a Genie who appeared whenever two halves of a ring were united and the word, Shazam, was yelled victoriously!
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