Survey says...#18

Surveys are everywhere. From reader polls on online newspapers to online stores for customer service follow-up, surveys are an easy way to get some quick info. Certain stores even put them on their receipts. I usually don't mind participating in random surveys, except when they get too long and redundant.

I never created my own survey before using any of the online applications, but I have taken surveys that have used Survey Monkey (we use this in Circ. ) and Zoomerang. The Singer Group sent a library wide survey a while back using Zoomerang. Survey Monkey and Poll Daddy seem like a good applications for basic surveys although the free accounts have limitations on the number of questions and responses. Question Pro and Zoomerang seemed to have more options to analyze results and they seem like applications for a more professional approach.

In circulation, a survey is useful in getting a quick information or an opinion from everyone on a topic. Everyone typically has a moment in the day to check e-mail and take a quick survey. We could use small surveys to get patron feedback on things such as our website, if they use self-check, or whatever questions come up that we would like a fast answer to. In-house we could use Survey Monkey for feedback on things such as Staff Day programs etc.

I used Survey Monkey to create a survey. It was fairly simple to use however, there were a few options I had to play with to get the questions set up correctly. You can edit questions and preview them until you get your survey set up how you would like it. The most difficult part was thinking of the questions. Take a quick survey here. Click Here to take survey

Library Thing! #13

LibraryThing was one of the easier things I've signed up for online, they don't lie about that. Since I can only add 200 books with the free site, I might have to splurge and sign up for the lifetime membership. LibraryThing is a great way to keep track of the books you've read, review them, sort them and get recommendations. Books can be searched for using many different terms. I thought it was also interesting that you could search from Amazon.com, Library of Congress and foreign language sources. The fact you can customize your profile is great and I was excited that I could edit the book cover image to the book edition I read. After adding so many books to your list, it's nice that a search function is available. LibraryThing is also an opportunity to practice tagging and provides a way to categorize your library. It's a great way to discover new books to read and get insight from other people about different titles. You can get a whole new perspective on a book this. The preset for the widget was easy to add to my blog and different display choices were offered. Also very addictive and fun!

How can MCPL use LT?

• create a list of books that have been read and reviewed for the public to see.
• a way keep track of all the One Book nominations and winners (use tagging).
• tell patrons about LibraryThing to help them keep track of the books they have read.
  
• patrons could pull up their book list as a resource for a librarian to recommend a title.
• another way for patron's to participate and interact with the library.

Tagging #11...

I've had a Del.icio.us account for awhile now. Besides having fun exploring other popular bookmarks, I liked the idea of being able to access my list of important websites from anywhere. Del.icio.us was where I actually first learned about tagging items. I haphazardly did this for awhile so I'm glad you can edit them! Since then, I have attempted to be a little more systematic with my tags in order for them to actually be useful. My biggest problem with Del.icio.us is I tend to forget about it's usefulness at important times. Last semester, I was working on a project that involved finding a lot of resources. I inefficiently e-mailed myself a list of links to have on hand. Del.icio.us would have been a much easier way to organize these and have immediate access, no matter where I was working. This is the one downside of having so many different Lib. 2.0 technologies to use. Sometimes, if we don't use them often enough we forget about them.

Tagging can get a little messy. Sometimes I get carried away with tagging or realize later that I could have used more logical terms. This can present problems, because different people tend to think of different ways to describe something. Sometimes I look at how other users have bookmarked a particular site to see a predominant description. That is the coolness of social bookmarking; we can collaborate and learn from each other.

Libraries can definetly make use of this technology. Incorporating tags on their public website to help people find a certain topic or subject would be useful to patrons. These could be used internally as well for the organizations Intranet. The library could have a Del.icio.us bookmark of websites for patrons. It would be a great place to put frequently asked for information, websites pertaining to homework help, government resources and tax information, and community information. Especially nice for people who have a difficult time getting to the library. We also could even have one for staff with important professional links and links to our benefits.

#10 Wiki Wiki!

When it comes to wiki's, I've been more of reader and less of an editor. This will orce me to be a participant. Personally I use Wikipedia to find general information on a topic or to answer all the oddball questions that pop into my head. In a school setting most teachers don't allow them as a resource and I know that many Wikipedia pages are actually filled with great, updated information. I think it can be a good starting place for research. Sometimes links are provided to articles and websites, for more authoritative sources. I wouldn't cite it, but would use it as a stepping stone.

After looking at the Albany Public Library's staff wiki, I think wiki's would be a useful tool for the circulation department. Policies and procedures change and new things are always being added. A circulation procedures wiki could easily be updated at any time or added to. Of course we'd have to limit editing to managers/supervisors when it comes to procedure to maintain accuracy. However, if we ever had to work on an ideas as a department wiki's would be a great tool because it wouldn't require a scheduled meeting. Likewise wiki's might also be a good method for collaboration on committee work. Definitely easier than archiving a zillion e-mails about changes made to a project. I noticed many active committees already have these pages.

The downside to Wiki's is the fact that they might not be updated by users as frequently as they need to be. This happens with many website and blogs as well. Although they are subject to being vandalized, I don't see it as a problem for MCPL's internal wiki's.

I edited the 23 things wiki favorite book section and added a popular newspaper as well. The PB wiki was really easy to get access to. Once I received the e-mail to verify my account, the steps were easy to follow to set up the account. The View tab and Edit tab were easy to find and editing was similar to the blogger format so nothing new. I prefer the wiki approach to the Google Docs approach, although I can see the purpose in each one.