Thing #15: SlideShare

Here's another service that I've been using for a few years and upload most of the presentation I do.  (Including ones you won't find in the nebraskaccess account since I do speaking engagements outside of my official NLC duties.) To follow-up on the Twitter thing, here's the recent presentation that Christa and I did at Internet Librarian 2008.

What Are You Doing Now?: The Twitterfication of the Web

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: il2008 socialweb)

Thing #14: Delicious

I've been using Delicious for more than five years now (my first bookmarks were added on 20 August 2003!) and I can't live without it. Granted, I still use the bookmarks toolbar in my browsers for the sites I visit constantly, but I consider my Delicious account my archive. I also use my Delicious account in a somewhat unique way in that I use it to organize the links for all my workshops and presentations.

Pre-Delicious when someone attended one of my workshops they would get a floppy disk (yep, remember those) which always contained at least one file, a Web page with links to all the sites I presented in class. Although this worked, there were problems, the main one being that there was no way for me to keep those links up to date for those that had attended a previous class. (This was also back when sharing wasn't considered as important so part of the idea was to only give the links to those that took the class. I'm totally over that now.)

So, with Delicious I can just give attendees a single URL and tell them to go there and get all the links. For example, the links for my XHTML workshop can be found at http://delicious.com/travelinlibrarian/class-xhtml. This way as I change the class, and change the relevant links, the list is always relevant and up-to-date. And, because most of my bookmarks are public the attendees can explore beyond those bookmarks through to related ones via tags and the rest of my account through to the accounts of other Delicious users.

I also encourage the use of the Delicious tag clouds on library sites. So much so that the new version of the RVLS site (which I designed) has a Delicious tag cloud. The forthcoming redesigned Panhandle site will also include a Delicious tag cloud if everything goes to plan.

I could continue on for a whole book chapter on Delicious... wait, I already have! ;-)

(Bonus points for figuring out the relevance of the image in this post.)

Thing #13: What am I doing now?

I love Twitter but I'll admit that I understand when people just don't just get it. Honestly, it's not all "I had waffles for breakfast" and "I love my new shoes." I'm not saying that that doesn't happen but there's more to it than that.

To demonstrate I took a screenshot of my most recent tweets. This wasn't planned so I had no idea what was going to be there. (Click on the image to the right for the full size version.) Granted there's a few comments on what's happening me, and a few frivolous links (the plush bantha & playing Doom in your browser,) but much of it is participating in the conversation with my friends and colleagues, and the posting of links that might be of interest to my friends and colleagues.

Many times I use Twitter to post calls for comment or assistance. If I'm developing a new PowerPoint I'll often post a draft online then solicit comment via Twitter. Within minutes I usually have a handful of responses from people I trust.

I've also set up my Twitter account to automatically post links to new blog posts and a few other resources that I regularly contribute to. (You need to use TwitterFeed to do this.) However I will mention that I've moved much of the actual conversation over to FriendFeed which is like twitter on steroids. (Maybe we'll cover FriendFeed in the next version of the Nebraska Learns 2.0 program.)

What I can't stress enough is the need to give Twitter more than 48 hours and to make sure you participate before you give up on it. At first glance it does seem useless but in the long run it does start to make sense.

Thing #12: A Thing about LibraryThing

I love LibraryThing. I've got more than 4100 books listed in my account. Granted, I'm a book collector so I already had a database of my collection so I just exported the ISBNs from that database and imported them into LibraryThing. That doesn't mean that I've tagged every book, or that my whole collection is in there (that original import didn't include any non-fiction) but it's still a big help. Now I can access my collection on my cell phone to answer that age-old question: Do I already own this?

And, did you know that if you've published a book or two and someone has cataloged your titles in LibraryThing you can get your own LT Author page?

Besides Tim's a great guy and I've met his rhino.

Thing #11: Blog about Technology, or, where do I get the time?

When asked "where do you find the time to do all this online social stuff?" I always begin my answer with "well, I'm one of the luck ones. It's my job to do all this online social stuff." Granted, I also do it at home but unlike some of you, and I assume most all of you reading this as part of Nebraska Learns 2.0, I've expected to do this on work time. However I will quickly add that after "doing" then then have to "think", "analyze", "synthesize", "apply", and "present" on the "fun" I've been having to others to show them how they can make the most of these technologies with what little time they have. So yes, I do have fun at my job but it is work too.

But that doesn't actually answer the question does it. When I'm asked where does "Michael" find the time my guess is that the questioner really wants to know how are "they" going to find the time in their already busy schedule. Well folks, here's the hard truth: hard as you may look you might not find the time but that doesn't mean you can't get away with making the time.

Here's how B.L. Ochman put it in her recent blog post "The Secret to Finding Time For Social Media":

Here's the secret: Pick a couple of social networks -- mine are Twitter and LinkedIn -- and concentrate on those. You can't be everywhere and you don't need to be everywhere, unless you want to be like this dog chasing its tail.

The key to all this is "focus". (Man I'm using a lot of quotation marks in this post.) In the Nebraska Learns 2.0 program we're having you experiment with literally dozens of different online services and tools. No one on this end expects you to use all of them once the program is over. In fact, no one here expects you to even find all of them useful. (In fact, even we don't all agree on which ones are useful.)

But none of this means that you can get away with avoiding these technologies and still be considered, dare I say, relevant.

Libraries are facing tough times in this economic climate. Philadelphia is closing eleven branches to help alleviate a budget shortfall. Trouble is, studies show that as money gets tighter, people use the public library more. I'm not saying that your ability to blog will save your library from closing but if the specter comes calling, your blog will be yet another avenue to alert the faithful.

Twitter might seem both interesting and incomprehensible at first, but the more your participate the more it makes sense. I know some participants have searched the Twitter archives for the name of their town. What if you found a "I wonder what the population of [insert name of your town here] is?" How about using your Twitter account to send them an answer. I'd find it so cool to wonder out loud to to cyberspace and to have a librarian magically appear with the answer completely unbidden. (Did you know there are ways to find Tweets based on geography? Imagine following Twitter users that live in are visiting your town and then helping them when they need it.)

Is technology, or more specifically online social media, the solution to all our problems? Of course not. However they are tools that are available to us and we ignore them at our peril.

Image: badboy69

Thing #10.5: statr for flickr

(If you're viewing this on the day it was posted it's not all that impressive since it's only got 24-hours worth of stats. Over time it'll get more interesting, promise.)

Thing #10: Image Generators

I love image generators. I have over 60 bookmarked in my Delicious account and subscribe to the Generator Blog. As I mentioned in my previous post, I tend to use them on this blog and in presentations. Here's a fun one that I've not actually used in a presentation... yet.

Thing #9: Compfight

Compfight is an indispensable tool for me, one I use almost daily. I'm constantly looking for a photo to illustrate a point. Wether it's for a blog post or a presentation, I love using photos to make a point. I'm also generally sure to use only Creative Commons (cc) licensed photos in my work. Not only does this ensure that I'm not going to be sued but it promotes CC and lets me turn my presentations into teaching moments about more than just the direct topic of the talk itself.

But why Compfight instead of the standard flickr search option? Check out these two screenshots showing search results for library:

Flickr

Compfight

Srs'ly? Can you no doubt the usefulness of Compfight. Same search, completely different screen full of results. I'm less concerned with the content of the results (though I think Compfight's better at that too) but more with how those results are presented. Compfight gives you screens full of images that you can look and and choose from. Flickr, you get  25 at a time with a lot of scrolling involved. Clicking on any one of these images takes you to the photo's page for further details and downloading.

Yea Compfight! My presentations are better because of you.

Thing #8: Billy's new bike

Billy's new bike Originally uploaded by Travelin' Librarian

I love flickr! I've currently got more than 21,000 photos in my account. Granted, this one I didn't take,it was sent to me by my dad. This is him with his new bike back in 1956. I've always been into photography (as my dad has) but I never took the time to learn all the picky details as a kid since it was such an expensive hobby. Film, equipment, development costs, it just wasn't gonna happen. Now, with digital and a $300 dollar camera I can take photos to my heart's content. I'm still working with (an advanced) point & shoot digital but it's got an 18x optical zoom and lots of options so it works well for me. One day I'll learn enough to move up to a digital SLR but then that whole "it's expensive" problem (lenses anyone?) comes into play. No matter what, here's my advice: take as many photos as you can and be sure to share them.

Thing #7: Searching for RSS

I can't remember the last time I actually searched for an RSS feed. Granted, I'm not the typical participant in this project but I look at it as a "you'll be out here some day too" scenario. Once you're hooked on RSS, you'll notice it virtually everywhere. It's hiding in search engines like Google News and PubMed. It's attached to practically every blog and online newspaper in existence these days. And, if there isn't a feed for the site you want to follow, you can use a service like Page2RSS to make a feed for you. Just keep your eyes open and the RSS will start to fall into your lap.
Image via OpenSource Vector Art

Thing #6: RSS

My thoughts on RSS. Well, I have written a book teaching others how do use it so I guess you could say I'm a fan. Seriously though, I'd say RSS has completely changed the way I receive information. Every time I get handed some monthly newsletter, wether print or electronic, I've pretty much already heard about everything the newsletter has printed. (Ok, not the ultra specific stuff but if it talks about larger issues or new tech, chances are I've already read about it.) Those that say there's not enough time to read all that they could subscribe to, I have the following suggestion: For every few RSS feeds you subscribe to, drop something that isn't RSS. Or, if you can, find the RSS version of something you read in print or via a specific Web site. (Your newspaper for example.) Quickly you'll see that you're spending the same amount of time yet receiving more information in that same amount of time.

Thing #5: IM

Now that I'm back in the office after two weeks of conference it's time to get caught up with Nebraska Learns 2.0. Today: IM.

Instant Messaging is something that I find I don't use all that much. Granted, all of my co-workers in my department do so I find myself using it more and more. It's not that I don't like IM, I do find it useful from time to time, but I just forget to log in. Then, while logged in (via Meebo of course) I forget to set my away messages when I leave my desk. I'm trying folks, I really am.

Maybe my problem with IM is that while logged in, if someone sends you a message you're expected to drop everything and respond immediately. With e-mail and twitter I can respond when I want, not when they want.

On the other hand, I do see the usefulness of IM especially when it comes to reference services. I've even used MSN messenger on my smartphone to contact the Commission's reference desk to ask a question.

So, my rambling on this topic just shows how mixed my feelings are. Hopefully it'll click in my brain one day and I'll never want to live without it again. Then again, maybe not.

Screencast-o-matic

My first attempt at using Screencast-o-matic for a basic how-to tutorial. In this case, how to find, copy, and past a blog post permalink for the Nebraska Learns 2.0 program.

Nebraska Learns 2.0 - It’s time to start learning!

Cross-posted from the NLC Blog:
It’s time to start learning! The Nebraska Learns 2.0 program starts today. The program is made up of 23 short online lessons called Things. The Things are designed to encourage staff to learn more about emerging technologies on the web that are changing the way people, society and libraries access information and communicate with each other.

In addition to learning new Things everyone who completes all 23 Things by January 30, 2009 will have a chance to win one of nine 8GB Creative Zen MP3 Players. These prizes have been made available through generous donations from ITART, NEMA, and NLA. Also everyone who completes the program before the deadline will receive 15 CE credits. More information about prize eligibility and CE credit can be found on the Nebraska Learns 2.0 website.

Here are a few things you may be wondering about.

• You do not need to register. However, to be eligible for prizes and CE credits you do need to blog your progress. Instructions on how to do this will be included in Thing #3 and Thing #4.
• There is no cost to participate.
• ALL Nebraska librarians, library staff, library friends, library board members and school media specialists can participate. (Other folks are welcome to follow along; however, we will not be offering any official technical support nor will you be eligible for the prize drawings or CE credit.)
• This is a self-directed learning program. No in-person classes will be offered.
• Have more questions? Check out the FAQ on the Nebraska Learns 2.0 website.

To start learning go to the Nebraska Learns 2.0 website: http://l2ne.blogspot.com/2008/09/thing-1-discovery.html