Wednesday

Thing 12. Do You Digg?

In the “olden days,” reference and information staff would scan the headlines in local and national news sources for the latest in breaking news, government reports, or celebrity scandals in an effort to be one jump ahead of library users trying to find behind the headlines information. Now there are thousands of “new” news sources—not only mainstream media online, but Internet-only news/scandal sources, blogs, chats and more—to keep up with. What’s a person to do?

One way to see what people are interested in is to check out what's popular on social media sites that allow users to nominate and then “vote” for news and other items they find interesting. There are many of these sites—and everyone from mainstream media (for example, The New York Times, slate.com, and the Washington Post) to blogs and Web sites includes links so readers can recommend content from these sites to other readers. Look for boxes labeled “Share” or “Article Tools” on news sites, blogs, and Web pages to find links for sharing the article. These are examples:



Here are some of the popular sites:
  • Digg “is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web...You won’t find editors at [Digg]… provide[s] a place where people can collectively determine the value of content and we’re changing the way people consume information online.”
  • Reddit is a “source for what's new and popular on the web…We want to democratize the traditional model by giving editorial control to the people who use the site, not those who run it.”
  • Newsvine lets “you...read stories from established media organizations…as well as individual contributors ... Placement of stories is determined by a multitude of factors including freshness, popularity, and reputation... editorial judgement (sic) is in the hands of the community.”
  • Mixx “is your link to the web content that really matters. There's a lot of information out there… And who knows better than you what informs you, what makes you think, what makes you laugh? So why should some faceless editor get to decide what's important?”
See a theme here? No editors to decide what information is important, user-generated content, reader recommendations/sharing, and you and others get to vote on what makes the top lists—the very definition of Web 2.0.

And it can affect libraries—top stories/recommendations will drive reference questions and resource requests. Love it or hate, it pays to be in the know.

In this Thing, learn more about the four social media sites mentioned. Then read an article and recommend it to others via the site you choose to use.

1. Explore the sites above to see how each is organized and operates.


2. Read one or more stories on a news/information site (for example, New York Times, Washington Post, BBC News, or another site) and then recommend it via the Share tools.

There are other sites like these, too, including StumbleUpon, which focuses on Web sites. Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Del.ic.ious offer this sort of news/site recommendation, too.

Blog Prompts
  • How do you think you can use these tools in your library or at home?
  • Do these tools seem to be a productivity enhancer or a productivity detractor?
  • Have you ever read a story/item as a result of seeing it on one of these sites?

Challenge (optional)
Dig deeper into these social media sites by creating an account in one or more of them. Each site offers suites of tools that allow you to comment, chat, create your own news column, and more. Having an account lets you be a participatory member of that community.
1. Create the account(s) and explore the tools.
2. Blog about the various tools and any uses you see for your library or media center. Let us know what you do!
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Monday

Thing 13. Online Productivity Tools

While it may seem that the Internet is populated by people with endless time on their hands who are out to torpedo our productivity, there really are Web-based applications that can improve productivity--or at least make some things easier.

These applications fall into a variety of categories including online office tools like spreadsheets and word processing, calendars, start pages, project management tools, to-do lists, personal organizers, sticky notes, online collaboration tools, and much, much more. A search on “online productivity tools” turns up many lists of these tools.

We have already introduced you to some productivity tools—RSS aggregators like Bloglines do save time as you keep up with the news and information you need. Del.icio.us is a tool that makes bookmarking more efficient. You tried other productivity tools, like GoogleDocs and Zoho, in Thing 9. Online Collaboration Tools.

In this Thing, we have selected several productivity tools for you to try. Here are some tools we think have use in libraries & media centers, as well as at home.
1. Having a customized home—or “start” page—that lets you collect and organize information of importance to you all on one page can be a productivity help. iGoogle, PageFlakes, and My Yahoo! are three places to start. Each lets you choose headlines, weather reports, links to your email and RSS feeds, and dozens of other widgets (or gadgets, in Google) to manage information—or your life. Note that many dgets require a download. So, look at the intro pages for all three of these and choose one to create a customized start page. Add features, delete features, re-arrange the features on your new homepage. Each site will have widgets/gadgets to add and you can find many, many more on the Web. Here's a Countdown widget:

Now you now how much time you have to complete 23 Things On a Stick!

2. Calendar: These calendars all offer similar features—add events, get reminders, search, repeat events, coding, etc. and of course, the hallmark of Web 2.0, the ability to share your calendar online. Google and Yahoo! Calendars integrate with their other services and features. Choose a calendar from this article and try it out.
3. Just about everyone makes lists. Try one of these online list tools to manage your activities. Ta da list or Remember the Milk
4. Some tools roll multiple features—calendars, lists, reminders, etc--into one service. Take a look at Backpack features.

But wait, there’s more! Here are some other tools you can explore on your own:

Online Calendars
30 Boxes
Scrybe

Personal Organizers
Stikkit

Sticky Notes (requires download)
StickyNotes.net
MyStickies

PDF Converters
CutePDF (requires download)
PDFConverter

Zamzar

This program will covert one file type to another. Especially handy in libraries that may not be able to open a student or patron file because it doesn’t have the right software.

Resources
Really interested in improving your productivity? Here are some lists of tools to explore. Although searching these lists and trying the tools might drain your productivity, at least until you find the tools you need.

Blog Prompts
  • Which start page did you choose? Why did that one appeal to you? Will you make it your permanent home page?
  • Did you find a tool that has some uses for you at the library or at home? Which tool(s) would you recommend to others?
  • How can the online calendars be useful to you?
  • What about the to-do lists—helpful, too much work…?
  • Did you try out Backpack? What did you think?
  • Did you try any of the other tools in the list? Any good ones we should all try?
Challenge (optional)

1. Have a big project that you need to complete? Online productivity tools can help with complicated tasks involving multiple people, deadlines, and activities. Compare and contrast these project management services. Let us know what you think.

Project Management Services
2. Explore more tools from any of the lists above. Share any you find especially useful.
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Sunday

Thing 14. LibraryThing


We know you are probably a booklover, but are you cataloger at heart? Do you enjoy knowing what others are reading? Then LibraryThing may be just the tool for you. Developed for booklovers, this online tool not only allows you to easily create an online catalog of your own book collections, it also connects you to other people who have similar libraries and reading tastes.

Note: It may help to set-up an account before you browse these links. It takes seconds and will eliminate the "highload" error message you may get when trying to browse without an account.

Add a book to your catalog by just entering the title (it’s so easy that you don’t even need to know MARC format) or connect with other users through your similar reading tastes. There are lots of ways to use LibraryThing. You can view your books on a virtual shelf, add a widget on your Web site or blog to display titles that are in your catalog, or install a LT Search box on your blog. There is lots of other interesting info, too.

Libraries have started using LibraryThing, too. Small libraries are using LibraryThing to catalog their collections. Libraries are using the LibraryThing widget on their web pages to recommend books and list new titles. Being a non-commercial site makes LibraryThing a good option for libraries. According to their website, LibraryThing "is exploring relationships with libraries, to offer non-commercially motivated recommendations and other social data."

Minnesota libraries and librarians are using LibraryThing for a variety of things. Explore these links:
So why not join the ranks of the many librarians who have added their personal collections to LibraryThing and create your own library online. With over 95,000 registered users and 6.7 million books cataloged, you’re bound to discover something new.

1. Take the LibraryThing tour and learn more.
2. Create an account--it takes seconds and will eliminate the "highload" error message you may get when trying to browse without an account.
2. Add a least 5 books to your library.
3. Blog about your use of LibraryThing. Be sure to link to your LibraryThing catalog on your blog. How popular were your books? Did you find any discussions about your favorites?

Resources
Blog Prompts
  • How can you use LibraryThing for your library?
  • How else do you share booklists, etc. with library patrons? Would LibraryThing offer an alternative?

Challenge (optional)
Do more with LibraryThing:
1. Add a LibraryThing widget to your blog or another enhancement from the Things You Can Do list.
2. Explore GoodReads, another social network site built around books and reading. With a big mission "to improve the process of reading and learning throughout the world," it connects friends who read and recommend their reading. Might be good for book clubs or other reading groups. What do you think?
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