3M vs. Envisionware

Here's a short little article I found on Marshall Breeding's Guide Posts about 3m filing a law suit against Envisionware.

#23 Evaluation

After months of procrastination I am officially at the end of the 23 things. When it comes to new technology, however, there is really no end. One of the most important things I learned with this process is to keep up with learning. Sure I was familiar with many of the "things," but some of them I had not actually experienced or looked at in depth. The "things" that were new to me were mostly beneficial. I was interested in reading everyone's opinions, pros and cons and experiences with the the different "things."

My favorite was Thing #15 Podcasting. It was something that always sounded interesting, but I never made time to look at it. I actually was inspired to take a Podcasting course this past summer and found it not only fun, but easy to create your own podcast by using a free software called Audacity.

Improvements? Perhaps more collaborating between staff or pairing up people at different technology skill levels to work together maybe helpful. Other than that I thought it was a good learning experience and liked that I could go at my own pace, even though I was a tad bit slow.

I will try to maintain my blog so this is not the end. More to come...

#22 Keep On Learning...

Web 2.0/Library 2.0 is ever changing and it appears that new technologies and tools pop up daily. Even though I was already aware of many of the "things" we looked at throughout these exercises, I still learned a lot and am more aware of these as well. I have my RSS feed set up and am going to try to make use of this tool and keep up with information.
My current goal for this blog is to use it to post technology related things I learn whether on my own or through my SLIS classes. I am taking a Consumer Health Informatics course this semester, so I am hoping this will be a catalyst for new posts.
Already through my class I have learned about Prezi, a zooming presentation editor. Think of it as Power Point with a kick. Basic use is free, but there are pay plans for more advanced use. The presentations I have seen with these are very interesting to view and I myself have not actually tried it out to see how easy/difficult it is to use. When I actually use it, I will post about it.
I hope to keep up with my blog and post at least once a month. I think I will just have to make a habit of it.

#21 Aggregators

I checked out the various Web 2.0 aggregators and found Spokeo most disturbing. It made promises of being able to dig up all the dirt and darkest secrets of people you know. That seemed a bit too much for me.

I decided to check out Profilactic and Friendfeed. I felt that Profilactic was easier to use, organize and edit.

Like many things, I think I would make use of an aggregator for a few days and then forget about it. It's just another thing added to the list to look at. Even though the aggregators purpose is to organize all my web sites/social networking and combine them into one viewing spot it seems like I would never stick to this. I compare it to buying a planner at the beginning of the school year in August and by the end of the year noticing I stopped using it in September. I like the concept, but it probably won't work for me. Privacy seems to be an issue as well. I'm not sure I like putting all my accounts together in one place. For now, I think I'll use RSS and keep everything separated!

#20 Gaming

Although, I'm not a big gamer myself, I think gaming in libraries is fine and it should be thought of just like any other program that we offer to the community. I know there is a lot of controversy on this topic, but I think its another way to reach out to patrons and get them involved and keep them informed about what the library has to offer. Reach out to teens with game tournaments or events, and they may come back looking for information for school or to check out books. Gaming also does not just mean playing video games, but this encompasses board games as well. Games build social skills, and learning skills and in the library provide a safe and organized environment. Why not get adults involved in gaming as well and develop those intergenerational relationships.

The St. Joseph County Public Library has a gaming program and called Save Point. They also have video games for check out. They do charge $1.00 for a 5 days. I'm not sure if we would want to delve into renting video games, but I think it would be interesting to see what our community thinks about gaming at the library.

#19 Drupal and CMS

Being a member of the Lint committee, I have had the opportunity to explore what Drupal can do and create pages, etc. Being a member of the committee has helped me realize how much work goes into creating a a new Lint. I think the benefits of using a CMS are worth the work. One great benefit is content can be posted and edited easily from anywhere. I do not have any experience with Contribute (what we currently use) but I think this software has to be installed on the computer being used. Depending on the settings, all users can create pages and leave comments. The creates more communication and collaboration. I think the new Lint will be kept up-to-date and edited more frequently because it's easy and users do not need to know any computer language or codes to post an item.

The new Lint is much easier to use than the previous. For starters it has drop down menus which help condense information, yet provide a fast way to main pages, regardless of which page you are on. Also, everyone can edit their own contact information and post their own picture for their profile. Overall, I think the new Lint has a cleaner look and I am hoping that the department blogs will be used to build better communication between different library departments. In circulation, I think a blog is needed. We will be able to discuss topics and issues that come up in between our department meetings.

In the future, I would like to try making my own website using Drupal...if I ever have time. :)

#17 Ning

Well, I thought I would be done with the 23 things by the deadline but work, classes and procrastination got the best of me. I signed up for Ning and had no idea how to post the badge to my blog so I have a link instead. The only other social network I belong to is LinkedIn which I joined and never really got around to doing anything with. I never stopped to think how many social networks there are.
I really have to limit what I get involved with as I am superb at procrastinating, so if I ever want to join another network it should probably be the 43 things for getting things done. I can see social networks as a place where a group of people can work towards some sort of goal or discuss a certain topic. For now I think I will refrain from joining anything else that will help me waste more time unless it seems useful.

#16 Social Networks

I've used both Myspace and Facebook before doing the 23 things. Of the two, I prefer Facebook for it's organized layout and for it's ease of use. I find that it tends to load up much faster and not appear as busy as Myspace. I think this is why Facebook tends to appeal to more people, especially those in the over 25 age group.

Myspace to me, was just a way to stay connected to friends that were out of town or find lost friends. I rarely use it and I think I am about to pull the plug on it. The only thing about Myspace I use now is for looking up music pages. Useful when trying to find more information on a band. It feels like more people I know use Facebook and I use it to stay connected with family, friends and even old co-workers. I did find the "Why You Should Be Aware of Facebook" article interesting and have since observed that all the advertisements next to my profile reflect my interests. Clever. I also found it ironic that I could share that article using Facebook :)

The libraries I viewed using Myspace (Denver and Hennepin) seemed orientated to teen's which are probably the most significant population of Myspace users. The good thing about these pages were blogs about book lists and programs at the library. They also incorporated into their page, links to research databases and even a search box for the libraries catalog. Although it seems like a great way to reach out to teens, I am curious to see how many teens use this.

I enjoyed the article by Meredith Farkas, especially where she said "I think there is a big difference between “being where our patrons are” and “being USEFUL to our patrons where they are." Like any of the Library 2.0 features, they require patron interaction to be effective. Incorporating Facebook or Myspace may help build a connection with our teen patrons.