Beyond Method #6

The post by Meredith Farkas on eBooks and libraries was timely and informative.  We will probably add ebooks to our library collection at sometime in the future (not in the near future).  The information in the post will help us explain the problems and issues with providing ebooks for library patrons. 
I looked up A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and the Divine Comedy by Dante.  I could not figure out which which file to select if I had a Kindle.  The various files all work on a computer or an Ipad.  Since I do not have a Kindle, I could not check to see which file might work on the Kindle.  The basic HTML version of the text was easy to read.  I downloaded "A Christmas Carol The original manuscript."  It was easy to read on my computer.  Here is the file: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30368/30368-h/30368-h.htm.  This version includes pritures and images of scanned original pages.  I'm not sure if this file would work on a Kindle.

Beyond Method #5

I signed up for Goodreads.  It is a nice tool.  I think that using Goodreads and/or LibraryThing as readers advisory tool would work, but it would require staff time to add a sufficent number of book titles in order for it to be an effective reader's advisory tool.  Some of our patrons would like one of the services for their own perosnal bookshelf  to keep track of what books and authors they have read.  When I browsed different libraries using Goodreads, I noticed that many of the libraries use Goodreads for their book clubs.  "What Should I Read Next" was disapointing.  Some of the suggestions did not seem at all related to the title I searched.

Beyond Method #4

The VisualCV site states that they will cease operations effective December 30, 2011.  Indeed was easy to use.  I searched different jobs in my local area and got good results.  Texasjobs.com was not as helpful.  The site found jobs in San Antonio, while Indeed found the same type of jobs in Austin.  CareerBuilder was not as intuitive as Indeed. It would be harder for someone not computer literate to use without assistance.  Bixee was more geared to international jobs.
The Goodwill Community Foundation's tutorials are excellent.  They would certaintly be helpful for patrons learining computer skills.  I would recommend these tutorials for computer training.
We have Resume Builder available on our public access computers. We did offer some computer training classes at our library through a grant.  Currently we do not have staff to do more training though it would be helpful for job seekers.  We could direct our patrons to the free online resources we found through this exercise.

Beyond Method #3

Google maps is a great tool. After a tech trends workshop, I created a map in Google places for our library.  I added pictures and library hours.  Here is the link to our library map:  Taylor Public Library Map

Beyond Method #2

I tried out the iGoogle customized Internet window.  The page is easy to use (an easy way to read my Gmail).  The page is a little busy with more information than I will use.  The spotlight video was annoying, but I was able to change it to one of the other videos.  The gadgets are easy to add or delete.  They are fun to play with if you have the time to play.  It is easy to change the theme.  There are several to choose from. I read about Netvibes, My Yahoo!, and Pageflakes. Many of the Netvibes features are not available in the free version.   Netvibs, My Yahoo, and Pageflakes look about the same.  It was interesting to try out different customized windowsl  I can use most of the features for these services with our library pages and Outlook. 

Starting over

It has been over 3 years since I posted to this blog. So it is like starting from the beginning for me. On Friday we are doing Wii bowling for the seniors from the Taylor Senior Center. I added some photos from the last Wii bowling session. I had problems arranging the pictures.  I will have to play with the program lots more to learn how to format my posts.