Thing 8: Video

The video from YouTube that I picked is about the top things to do in Seattle since I am headed there for vacation tomorrow morning! (It's on the brain...) I added this video by clicking the "insert a video" icon in Blogger and searching YouTube. After I did this, I found the direct link to blogger on YouTube which I had missed the first time around. Either way - it was pretty simple overall. I think there are many ways that libraries could use videos, maybe for advertising upcoming programs / author events, maybe for book reviews as a video instead of written.

Thing #7: Productivity & Collaboration Tools

I had fun looking through the list of possible tools and choosing the ones I wanted to try out. In the end, I couldn't choose just two, so I ended up with three.

First I tried Workflowy which was from what I could tell very simple and easy to use as a to-do list that you could add and remove things from throughout the day. It is nice that it's web based so you could access your to-do from anywhere....and it wouldn't get lost like your standard handwritten to-do list could. I definitely would use this again if I knew I had a list that I needed to access from multiple places.

Next, I signed up for Delicious. This was a very neat concept as there are times I think "dang, I favorited that at home and I don't remember the site now". Having to just remember the delicious site seems to be much easier! I think it is also useful for those favorited items that you may not look for too regularly, but would like to keep saved. I will continue to use this in the future.

I also signed up for Evernote which also appears to be quite simple in concept, but a good idea nonetheless. As with the to-do list, I like being able to access these items from anywhere and I think it might definitely be a useful place to store a bunch of recipes. I'm sure there are uses for this tool that I haven't even thought about yet but will continue to ponder.

Another interesting week! Thanks CDLC :)

Thing #6: Online Meeting

This week our learning experience covered webinars/online meetings. I like the concept and definitely find it interesting, but I didn't have very good luck in the execution. I watched an archived meeting in Eluminate but it was somewhat difficult. The software slowed down my computer significantly and I thought I was on the verge of a crash multiple times. I also had a hard time hearing and understanding the presenters, even when I put up the volume. Overall, I much prefer in-person meetings but I would try the online version again in the future.

Thing #5: Reflection

So far I have been quite pleased with the Learn with CDLC program. I loved learning how to create my own blog and share photos on it - I may use this sometime in the future to start a food/cooking blog! I also really love my new igoogle page and all of the fun things I have been able to add to it. It is so much easier to follow blogs that I like to read and see when new things are posted - I really didn't know you could do this! I can't think of any improvements I would make at this time, but I look forward to seeing what I am going to learn next!

Thing #4: Online Communities

I'm a little behind on my "things" but I am trying to catch up before I head to Seattle for my vacation! I already belong to all of the online communities that I have interest in: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, GoodReads and Ravelry. I explored these communities a little further and found several local libraries on Facebook. I think that social media is very valuable to libraries as a way to communicate instantly about a variety of things. They could promote programs that people may not otherwise know about, or remind people of closings due to weather, changes in hours or holidays. I think it is a superb tool and one that will be used for years to come, perhaps with some interesting improvements (though I'm not sure what they will be!).