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.

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