The Brevard County Libraries 23rd "thing" requires participants to look at the Florida Electronic Library and look at one of their databases. Since you need to have a library card in order to look at any of the databases, instead I'm going to look at Badger Link, which is the Wisconsin equivalent. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction provides access to certain databases for the entire state. One of the cool databases that I really like in the list is called Newspaper Archive. Newspaper Archive allows you to search for people's names or topics in certain newspapers. The newspaper coverage is kind of spotty in some geographical areas and during some time periods, but I like to go to this database and look up the names of my family members and just see what comes up. I found an article in which my grandmother was interviewed about what she does with her free time--she said that she didn't have free time--she had to help with chores on the farm, raise two daughters, and she was the president of the American Legion Auxiliary and the Rosary Society at church. Seeing this article made me smile and miss my grandmother.
This database could be an awesome tool for patrons who are doing genealogy or who are just interested in looking up themselves or their family members. It would also be useful if they want to find local coverage of a national news event in a historical time period. It has been useful in my work at the Wisconsin Historical Society--just a couple of weeks ago, a customer came in wanting to find photos of a statue in Henry Vilas Park because they were trying to restore the statue--we only had one picture in the archives, but there were many news articles about the statue in Newspaper Archive, some with pictures. There are a myriad of uses for this database and the others provided by the state of Wisconsin. It is definitely something that librarians should explore.
This 23 Things project has made me try out some things that I might not have without participating (Twitter, for one) and provided me with experience and a way to reflect on what I've done throughout the project. I think that is a useful tool for teaching librarians, especially those who might not be as familiar with Library 2.0 or Web 2.0 sites and tools. I enjoyed participating in the project and sharing my thoughts with you.
What (if any) library databases do you use the most often? Are there any that you say to yourself--why would we spend money on THAT? If you're a fellow 23 Thing participant, how do you feel this project impacted your professional life? Do you think you'll incorporate any of the tools you learned into your job?
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Thing 22: Library Extras (aka LibraryThing)
I had never used Library Thing, so I created an account, and added a bunch of books that I own to my library. I felt like the system and interface of Library Thing was a little clunky compared to Shelfari, which is a similar site created by amazon.com. The interface of Shelfari is more streamlined and your books actually sit on a virtual shelf and the site allows you to review and rate them, tag them, and set up borrowing systems. Both sites allow you to share what you're reading and what you think about it with your friends. Library Thing, Good Reads, and Shelfari are all good sources for book reviews by readers as well as ratings and recommendations--they would be really helpful in readers' advisory.
Have you ever used any of these sites that are social communities of readers? What do you think of them? Are there any other sites that aren't included in this post that have similar functions?
Have you ever used any of these sites that are social communities of readers? What do you think of them? Are there any other sites that aren't included in this post that have similar functions?
Thing 21: Virtual Worlds
For this "thing" we had to make an avatar. Here is mine--it was made using DoppelMe, one of the suggested avatar makers. I wasn't really impressed with the options available to free users; there were a lot of options that you had to pay for, but I wasn't really willing to do that just for an avatar. I'm not really sure how avatars would be useful to librarians, but I know that librarians are very active on Second Life and other virtual worlds. I have tried some similar programs, such as the game Sims to create virtual people, worlds, and other things of that nature, but haven't really been able to get into it. I'd rather just live my life in the real world.How have you used virtual worlds or avatars? Has your library used them? Are you a virtual reference person in Second Life or in a similar game? Let me know your thoughts.
Thing 20: Security and Technology Threats
For this "thing" we're supposed to blog about our most pressing security concern in using the Internet. One thing about being so connected is that there are malicious websites and documents out there which can harm your computer. I'm fairly familiar with virus threats, as my old computer was infected with a virus--I got the blue screen of death and lost everything. I've also had my Facebook account and Hotmail accounts hacked, so I've learned to use strong passwords.
Now, my most pressing concern is protecting my computer with malware. I use virus protection software that I regularly update. I also scan my computer for viruses and malware, and make my passwords very strong when I'm dealing with passwords for my online credit card and bank accounts, and fairly strong for all other online applications, especially for websites where I am buying things.
How do you protect yourself online? What are your biggest security concerns?
Now, my most pressing concern is protecting my computer with malware. I use virus protection software that I regularly update. I also scan my computer for viruses and malware, and make my passwords very strong when I'm dealing with passwords for my online credit card and bank accounts, and fairly strong for all other online applications, especially for websites where I am buying things.
How do you protect yourself online? What are your biggest security concerns?
Thing 19: Search Engines
I used Google, Bing, and Yometa, and searched for news articles on the Occupy movement.
On Google, my first results were Wikipedia articles, and then Google News results came up, and then there were several websites for specific Occupy protests and then separate results for news articles from the UK--The Guardian and The Telegraph.
On Bing, the first results were for separate news articles, then a separate result for all Bing News results, then Wikipedia articles, and then videos about the movement and recording the clashes between police and protesters. After that, there are a bunch of news results for US news outlets and some separate occupy websites mixed in.
On Yometa, which searches Google, Yahoo, and Bing, provides results in a Venn Diagram so that you can see which results come from each separate search engine and which come from two or all three of the search engines. I think that Yometa could be useful after getting used to it, but for me it was kind of confusing to decipher what it was telling me. I think a results list with an icon for each of the search engines (to let the user know which search engine each result comes up on) would be much more straightforward to the user.
What search engine do you use the most? Which have you found to be the most effective? And have you ever used meta search engines (that search more than one at once)?
On Google, my first results were Wikipedia articles, and then Google News results came up, and then there were several websites for specific Occupy protests and then separate results for news articles from the UK--The Guardian and The Telegraph.
On Bing, the first results were for separate news articles, then a separate result for all Bing News results, then Wikipedia articles, and then videos about the movement and recording the clashes between police and protesters. After that, there are a bunch of news results for US news outlets and some separate occupy websites mixed in.
On Yometa, which searches Google, Yahoo, and Bing, provides results in a Venn Diagram so that you can see which results come from each separate search engine and which come from two or all three of the search engines. I think that Yometa could be useful after getting used to it, but for me it was kind of confusing to decipher what it was telling me. I think a results list with an icon for each of the search engines (to let the user know which search engine each result comes up on) would be much more straightforward to the user.
What search engine do you use the most? Which have you found to be the most effective? And have you ever used meta search engines (that search more than one at once)?
Thing 18: More Google Products
For this "thing", we're supposed to explore two Google applications that we haven't used yet. I decided to use two that I had never used before--there weren't very many, I use a lot of Google products (Google Maps, Google Shopping, etc)
I first looked at Google Trends. It provides information about what the current trends are in online searching on Google at the moment. This could provide a lot of good current information for reference librarians who are asked to look up current topics. The current trends when I was looking at the site were for football players (Adrian Peterson, Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson), recipes for Thanksgiving (stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, pies), Black Friday ads, UC Davis (due to the pepper spraying of the occupy protesters there) and Rhodes scholarship--the results of the scholarship were released today (11/20/2011). I think this would be a useful tool for reference librarians.
I also looked at Google Offers, which seems to be Google's attempt at competing with Groupon and Living Social to provide deals for people at local restaurants, stores, and events. I looked and it doesn't look like Google Offers has deals for Madison, WI yet, but they do have deals for Milwaukee and they'll notify me once Google Offers expands to Madison.
Which Google tools have you used? Which ones do you find the most useful?
I first looked at Google Trends. It provides information about what the current trends are in online searching on Google at the moment. This could provide a lot of good current information for reference librarians who are asked to look up current topics. The current trends when I was looking at the site were for football players (Adrian Peterson, Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson), recipes for Thanksgiving (stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, pies), Black Friday ads, UC Davis (due to the pepper spraying of the occupy protesters there) and Rhodes scholarship--the results of the scholarship were released today (11/20/2011). I think this would be a useful tool for reference librarians.
I also looked at Google Offers, which seems to be Google's attempt at competing with Groupon and Living Social to provide deals for people at local restaurants, stores, and events. I looked and it doesn't look like Google Offers has deals for Madison, WI yet, but they do have deals for Milwaukee and they'll notify me once Google Offers expands to Madison.
Which Google tools have you used? Which ones do you find the most useful?
Thing 17: Information and Document Sharing (aka Slideshare)
For this "thing" we are supposed to explore Slideshare, a place where people can share presentations on different topics. I looked at one of the featured presentations, "Music and their Audiences" about the different audiences and the way that the music industry has changed. I believe that the presentation is meant for some sort of academic conference, and doesn't provide much information on the slides, but has some awesome visuals. It would be a great way to share presentations from ALA or state library association meetings; or if you have a presenter coming to your library to give a talk, you could share their slides online on Slideshare. I would definitely use Slideshare for my professional presentation sharing.
Have you ever used Slideshare? What has been your experience?
Have you ever used Slideshare? What has been your experience?
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