#23 Thing: Reflections

Overall this was a good THING to do. Staying current on emerging technologies is part of our (the collective System) jobs. We need to be careful of overload however. An idea to make it easy to keep staff aware of current emerging technologies & trends would be for a library-techie enthusiast to identify an RSS feed or two to add to the CCLS website. There anyone, staff or customer or passerby could take a quick look.

To make this program better, more managable, more clarity around the levels of participation would have been good. Most of us thought we needed to create all the accounts and do everything in order to participate. That is a much more time consuming project than the “discovery” only track.

#22 Overdrive eAudiobooks

I’ve actually been successful at downloading and burning to disk at home. Today I’m getting a message about Digital Rights Management. These things are great when they work. When I have time I’ll go back and see what I need to do to get this to work at work.

This kind of glitch can be a real barrier to library customers using Overdrive. We need to make it easy for our customers. This kind of glitch should be dealt with quickly!!!

#21 Podcasts

I actually downloaded iTunes8 so I can get David Pogue’s weekly New York Times Video. But then I also added the RSS Feed to my Bloglines account for O’Reilly podcasts … where Pogue also appears. Later I’ll go back and find a strickly “Library” podcast.

#20 YouTube

I’ve used this site to explore how to give a High ‘n’ Tight hair cut. Today, I didn’t have time to find a useful one. If the resolution is not high, you really can’t see how to do the cut right.

As far as libraries using YouTube, yes, brief videos can be useful for instruction, tours and advertising.

#19 Social Networks and Libraries

Having a presence on these networks sounds like a good idea, but how much time does keeping it up take? I think we will need to choose our battlefields wisely. We can’t embrace everything that comes along unless the commissioners are expanding our budget.

#18 Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

OK this is cool too. I took a quick look at WuFoo for creating forms and collecting data. I love this stuff: looking at data, analysing what it means.

For library application, what better way to collect information from your users? How do you like our website … right in an online form, which tabulates the data for you.

COOL!

#17 Online Tools & Apps

This is a GREAT idea. But, it may fall away. Devices now have incredible amounts of storage space. On the other hand, if you want to collaborate and not haul your device around, this is a work-around. But then, devices are getting smaller and smarter. How hard is it to haul around an iPhone?

Questions: Privacy, Security? Hmmm….

#16 Playing Around with PBWiki

I’ve added my blog to the “Favorite Blogs” page of the CCLS 23Things Wiki. As I said in the previous post, I’ve been using a wiki for awhile now.

#15 Wikis

CCLS is using a wiki to collect comments on databases trialed. This seems a good medium to use: A page for each product. All librarians have access and can jot down their thoughts in the wiki. The result is easy to read: a page of comments for each product. Is this using the cloud? Instead of housing our resource on the CCLS network, which we can only access from within the network, we can see this wiki from any internet-connected device.

I also looked at the SJCPL Subject Guide. Another good application for a wiki. Each page with an assigned author and room for comments from visitors. This may give us a forum for customer feedback. Hmmm….

#14 Library 2.0 Perspectives

Without reiterating a definition of Library 2.0 or the history of … it appears to be a variation on or mashup of:
- Continuous Quality Improvement
- including customer feedback (it always does, doesn’t it)
- in the setting of a learning community (read agile, embracing change)
- using any number of technologies, like those that are part of Web 2.0 and
- techniques more traditional
All to enhance and improve library services.