Evaluation

image uploaded by Farl

Thank you CTLS for providing this opportunity to learn about 2.0 tools. This is a great program. I knew very little about all of the tools before beginning CTLS 23 Things. Now I know that I will need to explore the tools some more, so that I can assist library patrons. I want to find ways we can make use of the tools to promote our library.

Audio Books

I found out that the web is a great source for audio books. I listened to the Introduction to Netlibrary. Then I went to the Texas State Library NetLibrary site and read a children's book, All About the Saint Bernard. At librivox I chose to browse the Recently Cataloged titles and listened to Short Poetry Collection 073 by Various. It was easy. The book opened right away in Winsows Media Player. I think it would be fun to listen to an audio book with an MP3 player. I will try when I finish CTLS 23 Things and get my MP3 player.

image uploaded by Emily O

Podcast

Podcast.com was the easiest to search. I found several interesting podcast there. Podcast Alley lists podcasts by genre, but it requires the download of a Podcast Aggregator. My search on Yahoo Podcasts came up with only music albums when I searched for library or public library. The Educational Podcast Directory had a wide range of educational podcasts. I listened to Miettes Bedtime Story Podcast. I know some libraries are podcasting stories. This might be an easy service for libraries to provide. Part of the time we have a link to Interact on our library web page. Interact is powered by Ingram Library Services and offered free. It gives access to author interviews. image uploaded by theunabonger

betty's meez

This avatar was created for me by Veronica

I found this video Thai Fruit Carving on the cooking section of YouTube. I liked the way the chef showed the process of carving a watermelon flower, step by step. I think that the library could create how to videos, story videos, program information videos, book review videos, or oral history videos for library patrons.

Web 2.0 Awards

I selected the maps category and explored CommunityWalk. CommunityWalk provides simple interfaces for users to create useful maps. I created a map of the location of the Taylor Public Library. The map I created is accurate. This tool could be used by the library. One drawback is that there are adds to the side of the map. There is a charge for creating a map without adds. It was fun making the map and putting the little balloon at the library location. This is a link to my map.



image uploaded by Valerie

Google Docs

I copied the Zoho Writer document into Google Docs and made changes. This is the changed document.

Zoho Writer

I am creating a new document with Zoho Writer. This program looks much like Microsoft Word, and it seems to have most of the same word processing features. It is a great idea to have documents accessable through the web. It is an easy way to share documents and to collaborate on changes to a document. At work we store our library documents on the library server, so that they can be shared by all our staff members when they are at work. This online program makes sharing documents possible from any place that has web access.

Uploaded by Fenfoto

I wanted the text to wrap around the picture, but I could not figure out how to make this happen.

CTLS 23 Things Favorites wiki

I added a favorite to the Favorite Programs at your Library section of the CTLS 23 Things Favorites wiki. My entry was about our Teen Summer Reading Program.

Wikis

I viewed several public library wikis. I thought that they were interesting and helpful for reaching out to the public. I checked some college/university wikis also. I think we could use a wiki for library staff collaboration and a wiki for subject guides for public. Other uses for a wiki might be for book reviews or for library news. I liked the look of the Florida State University Libraries Wiki because the look was consistent with the rest of their website. Theere is an article, CMS the Wiki Way, in the December issue of American Libraries.

Technology Trends

I read chapter 3, Technology Trends for a 2.0 World, of the Sept/Oct 2007 edition of Library Technology Reports. We are learning about these 2.0 technology trends through our 23 Things project. One of the ideas we may be able to use in our library is creating a library blog. I think many of our library patrons would be interested in LibraryThing.

Uploaded by Lynchbuerg College

Technorati

The 2 searches for learning 2.0 in blog posts and blog directory came up with different results. I think one search looks at bolg tags and the other search looks at entire posts. The search on bolg posts had 2,126 results. The search on blog directory had 363 results. There were videos as well as blogs on the Blogger Central / what’s popular page.
[blog directory]

Games

I played with jigsaw puzzles because I enjoy doing puzzles. This was different than doing a physical puzzle, but it was fun to play with. I tried Free Rice. It was entertaining and educational. I earned 11000 grains of rice.

uploaded by deanna515

I viewed the Del.icio.us tutorial and looked at Del.icio.us. I can see many posibilities for using Del.icio.us in our library.

Exploring FaceBook

I posted this note on my FaceBook page.

MySpace

Here is the link to my MySpace profile. I have sent out invitations asking people to join as friends. I haven't received any replies yet. I created a blog on my MySpace page. The process of creating a blog is the same as the process used for this blog.

The image is from MicroSoft clip art.

IM Chat

I tried chat with Mary Jane. It was fun to try this out. It was easy following the conversation. Messages from both people were displayed, and there was a note stating that the other person was typing. I would probably not use it much. I am used to sending email and prefer this format to IM. I thought that the lists of chat accronyms was interesting. I had no idea that there were so many out there.

Taken on July 15, 2007, uploaded August 26, 2007 by givepeasachance

RSS

I had already become a follower of other CTLS - 23 Things, so those blogs showed up as RSS feeds. I added NPR News and NPR Books to my list of RSS feeds. I knew about those Rss feeds from listening to NPR. I looked at Topix.net, Syndic8.com, and Technorati. Feedster is not currently available. All the RSS feed sites had numerous news content to chose from. Technorati was the least useful for me. I tried a search for public library on the three functioning RSS directories. I got the best results with Syndic8.com for that search term.

Framed Sunset Picture

I explored Toys, Games, and Utilities on Big Huge Labs. There are lots of fun and useful things to do on this site. I tried several of the activities and decided use Framer to create a frame for a photo I selected from Flicker Creative Commons.

Originally uploaded by Akari

TPL Technology Trading Card

My creation
Originally uploaded by bthompson7459

It was fun creating a trading card with Trading Card Maker. This image is from Microsoft Office Clip Art. I explored Mappr, Flicker Color Picker, and Montager.

I used bighugelabs.com flickr toys.

Staff Halloween 2008

Our library staff dressed up for Halloween. It was fun, and we did not scare many patrons.

Flickr

March 31, 2008 we celebrated our first year in our new library. Our patrons and our library staff enjoy our beautiful new facility. We appreciate all of the support from our community for our library.

What I learned from Google

I like Google maps, especially the street views. I learned that setting up a Gmail account is easier then email accounts with Yahoo or Hot Mail. I am still exploring Google features.

7 1/2 Habits

I am posting about the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners. The easiest habit for me is Habit 7 1/2 Play. It is fun to learn while playing. I like Habit # 7 Teach/mentor others. I was a teacher for 23 years an enjoy helping others and learning and sharing with others. Collaborative learning works best for me. The most difficult habit for me is Habit #5 Create your own learning toolbox.

customer service and technology

I want to provide good customer service for our library patrons. I think that technology can help us provide better customer service.