So as I was cruising around I found this site -->http://supercrazylibrarianguy.wordpress.com/
and thought it was interesting. Technically it is just some guy's blog but as I was looking I saw that many, many of the tech tools that we are going to be exploring have a quick post about them, including some basic starter steps to get you going. It just seemed like a good place to get basic info and somewhere that you could direct others for explanations of terms that they may run into with a brief "lesson" to try. The biggest appeal for me was everything was in one place and easily accessible.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Google Reader vs. Bloglines
Having graduated from blog virgin to blog neophyte my ability to compare product lines is fairly rudimentary. But here goes...
Google Reader does not appeal to me aesthetically. The left sidebar navigation seems like it was just slapped together without much care for appearances. I also feel like the "trends" section is completely useless (maybe I am missing something - do other people care about these statistics?). The one area that I felt was superior to Bloglines was the ease of retrieving all past items in a blog without having to open the actual blog.
BlogLines has a much more appealing look and feel. The tabbed navigation on the left hand side seems easier to manage. The things I did find more difficult were using the hotkeys and finding the all items display function (it is there just not as easy to locate).
I think either reader would do the job, I just like the look of BlogLines better. That's my .02.
Google Reader does not appeal to me aesthetically. The left sidebar navigation seems like it was just slapped together without much care for appearances. I also feel like the "trends" section is completely useless (maybe I am missing something - do other people care about these statistics?). The one area that I felt was superior to Bloglines was the ease of retrieving all past items in a blog without having to open the actual blog.
BlogLines has a much more appealing look and feel. The tabbed navigation on the left hand side seems easier to manage. The things I did find more difficult were using the hotkeys and finding the all items display function (it is there just not as easy to locate).
I think either reader would do the job, I just like the look of BlogLines better. That's my .02.
"Feed" freaked me out!
Well I must say the premise of "Feed" freaked me out! Desirable? No thanks! Possible? Hope not! Although I gotta admit the potential of walking down the street and seeing a great pair of shoes on someone - then instantly knowing how much they cost could be quite intriguing!
The sensory overload depicted in this novel is just too much for me! I am rather "spare" in my visual and auditory sense needs...having all the twitter-ing and meebo-ing and RSS feed-ing is already causing me to twitch - imagine what Titus' brain is doing!
The other portion of the book I found quite interesting was the panic created when they got hacked and subsequently disconnected from their feed. I imagine it is a bit like a current day high school-er losing their iPhone :)
Though for sheer entertainment value the bit on page 65 about reading and writing and protesting the "silent e" at the School(trademark) was hilarious!
I am interested to see how the story ends....more thoughts later.
The sensory overload depicted in this novel is just too much for me! I am rather "spare" in my visual and auditory sense needs...having all the twitter-ing and meebo-ing and RSS feed-ing is already causing me to twitch - imagine what Titus' brain is doing!
The other portion of the book I found quite interesting was the panic created when they got hacked and subsequently disconnected from their feed. I imagine it is a bit like a current day high school-er losing their iPhone :)
Though for sheer entertainment value the bit on page 65 about reading and writing and protesting the "silent e" at the School(trademark) was hilarious!
I am interested to see how the story ends....more thoughts later.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Blog site comparison
After setting up my first ever blog - actually I have hardly even ever read any blogs - I am a blog virgin - I tried to set up a second blog on WordPress to compare... here are my very rudimentary thoughts.
Blogger -->
easy to set up, intuitive
was able to see how to change settings and start blogging right away
customization, while not extensive, was available - decent for a free product
the blog following section was easy to understand
preview mode to see what the posts look like was helpful
it had more than enough features for a beginning blogger
WordPress -->
easy to sign up for but then not nearly as intuitive to get started
I actually struggled for awhile after the intial sign up to see how to post
after the initial chaos... it did seem more robust, more options
had many features that I am sure other people know right away what they are for - I do not have enough experience with blogging to find the use yet for many of the features!
in a nutshell -->
beginners or casual bloggers go to Blogger
more advanced users or people who feel like they immediately want to start on a more robust platform give Word Press a shot
Blogger -->
easy to set up, intuitive
was able to see how to change settings and start blogging right away
customization, while not extensive, was available - decent for a free product
the blog following section was easy to understand
preview mode to see what the posts look like was helpful
it had more than enough features for a beginning blogger
WordPress -->
easy to sign up for but then not nearly as intuitive to get started
I actually struggled for awhile after the intial sign up to see how to post
after the initial chaos... it did seem more robust, more options
had many features that I am sure other people know right away what they are for - I do not have enough experience with blogging to find the use yet for many of the features!
in a nutshell -->
beginners or casual bloggers go to Blogger
more advanced users or people who feel like they immediately want to start on a more robust platform give Word Press a shot
Just me and my gadgets
The Brown and Duguid chapter this week really rang some bells for me. I part-time telecommuted for years and found the same ups and downs as the reading relates. My company at the time got on the bandwagon of issuing laptops to everyone and "freeing" the employees to work from anywhere. What I found was I put in at least 12 hours a day of work between the office and home which didn't make me feel "free"!
As far as impact for libraries...I think the biggest point is the technology itself doesn't make or break the exchange of information it is still a people based process. Providing tools that work for people is the key - if the patrons want the technology provide it. If they don't - don't force it to be the only option. Just because something *can* work doesn't mean it has to....find the balance that works for your community. My tiny boro library appeals heavily to the pre-school set and has no need to Ask a Librarian IM services - my larger township library services the community at large and has added many more social software tools to their offerings.
As far as impact for libraries...I think the biggest point is the technology itself doesn't make or break the exchange of information it is still a people based process. Providing tools that work for people is the key - if the patrons want the technology provide it. If they don't - don't force it to be the only option. Just because something *can* work doesn't mean it has to....find the balance that works for your community. My tiny boro library appeals heavily to the pre-school set and has no need to Ask a Librarian IM services - my larger township library services the community at large and has added many more social software tools to their offerings.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
NMH School library blog
I found this library blog --> http://nmhlibrary.typepad.com/the_reading_room/ and I liked it alot. Visually it had clean lines with clear links to other information I might be interested in. (I know you arent supposed to end a sentence with a preposition, but really does anyone say "in which I might be interested"??) Anyhow back to the blog - the entries are concise with a mix of pictures and text and MOST IMPORTANTLY they are regularly blogging. I was suprised to see how many blogs I ran across that were not updated very often - what is the point of that? I thought the "Bookmark of the Month" entry was a great idea as well.
On the flip side... I found this blog --> http://www.grandviewlibrary.org/ wow scary - I was completely overloaded. There could be the best information in the universe here and I would never know because there is just too much for my pea brain to process on this page.
On the flip side... I found this blog --> http://www.grandviewlibrary.org/ wow scary - I was completely overloaded. There could be the best information in the universe here and I would never know because there is just too much for my pea brain to process on this page.
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