#65 Dragging everybody down with them

Global economic crisis. Cheap money, costly results. If I am P...sed how much more so the money managers of so many countries. But can't really blame the US it is a global game now. Greed has its own rewards. Smoke and mirrors and shady deals, someone must have done well out of this mess, find them and borrow from them.(and or hit them with a large blunt object) Ah well! there goes the super.

#64 Springing into apps

So Spring has...(and so forth) up and out of the cave I go

Something useful is only useful if you use it.Will I ?will we? incorporate them into our daily tasks. Workplace Internet restrictions can slow downloads and make many of the tools practically useless however if we can just find a few each wemay convert each other.
character copy and past would have been great for a patron last week who wanted to translate English to Polish and got a strange result which he said was because the characters were not
available
Regator is great, some more needed organisation in the blogosphere , however many great blogs are missing I tried a search for Boroondara and found none. I find I haven't been using Bloglines as much as I used to, may be this format will be more useful. It does provide the option of creating ones own blog directory and organisation tools. So popped the library ones and a few professional ones in my directory maybe I can link it into another tool grazer and have it just there on the blog.
Kuku Klok
Your computer yelling at you in the morning how irritating would this be, not going to happen.
Stormpulse when hurricanes threaten Melbourne we will need another version meanwhile maybe I should put off that holiday in Florida this year.
Pixadus
Not as good as some other picture sites
Fake Name Generator
This is me (not) of undefined gender (never know could be useful.Not)

Gérard Tardif
62 Dossiter Street
Recherche TAS 7109
Website: Skipnte.com

Email Address: http://www.fakemailgenerator.com/GerardTardif
Phone: (03) 6275 2069
Mother's maiden name: Mercier
Birthday: August 16, 1980
MasterCard: 5231 7228 8490 0076
Expires: 8/2011

PicApp useful resource for library images but it seems can only be used on the web otherwise copyright infringement.

#63 Foxit pdf

More pdf fun ? with software from Foxit a pdf reader.
Ok so a patron wants to fill in a pdf form online in your library and they can't, do you let them down load this program to your terminals? Once again there is a catch, an evaluation mark is left on the form so it cannot be sent online for that job application and some extra costs to fulfill some changes etc. You can print this form off without the evaluation mark but where is the advantage you still have to post it, you had to do that anyway you could have just printed it out at the beginning and just written neatly then sent it off. (maybe you could scan it in)
It may well be a quick and and small pdf reader but if you already have a reader installed would you bother with this one.

Winter vacation, now where did I leave that cave?

#62 fun with pdf ,not

A tool to make a non editable form usable online. PDFescape.com
This tool requires a fee to operate well (large promotional logos are placed on top of free documents) and at this exploratory phase I am happy for others to bother.
Do work places put out these non editable forms much these days anyway.

#61 library faces

Libraries have taken Facebook by storm as groups many tools and applications can be found, some are created externally. Libraries Australia and Pub med are good examples the ability to search these in one place may just win me over.
If this tool loses popularity a lot of work may be in vain but I suppose we could migrate to new tools and leave trails check out
101 reasons why Librarians should be on facebook slideshare

#60 Faceoff

Facebook.... OK, its part of the exploration but I like annoyed Librarian can't help but think it could get out of hand. (but think of those door statistics)
I can see if used as a group tool it may be useful, many libraries including our own Boroondara public libraries have a presence that highlights library activities and links to booking sheets etc. It would interesting to check out how many people found out about library events via these social networking sites. Which one to use, or should we be a present on as many as possible, are we trying to be all things to all people? Maintaining links is a challenge in itself to access my RSS feeds to keep up to date could take all morning and then lying waiting are all the standard work emails and we have just scratched the surface of a day.
Can't bring myself to bother with chatter on a personal level on top of this, at some point I must sit out in the sun I promised myself.

#59 Books at last

Book reviews and things at last, I was getting irritated (who moi )by cooking widgets etc. So good, I immediately crossed over to my library online and placed a reservation for "The Archivist's tale" If book club links on our library website can lead patrons back to the catalogue it will be a very relevant and useful site. The book report network is a useful professional tool for keeping abreast of Author information and providing numerous links to specific genre sites author sites etc Author yellow pages handy for author groupies and Authors on the web has lists of up and coming publications reviews and author sites. Links to these on our ref desk web links guide could be really useful.

#58 feeling green

Don't get me started (too late)
A wired life means electricity but if we could just turn off so much could be saved. I did have my candles and a perfumed oil lamp ( was that green?) on earth day . Yet here I am blogging about going green while recharging my battery from electricity created from burning coal. (Such a hypocrite.) Without green electricity we cannot live this life and enjoy these toys and tools. I consider the biggest challenge for Australia the attempt to create a electricity from coal by utilising carbon sequestration it may take 10 to 15 years to be practicable if ever.Can we wait that long?
The little personal steps we take may make us feel good about our selves but change the worlds total global warming problem very little. However having said that let me say this(where have you heard that before)money talks and if we buy green products that utilised green IE: low energy inputs etc in production we could put some high energy/water user manufacturers out of business. Check out the Virtual kitchen. Even though a small nation in population terms we contribute greatly to pollution by selling coal to other countries. These other countries may not even utilise this new technology even if we can get it online.
Do we have a responsibility to leave it in the ground?(aka uranium) does the argument that they will source this raw material from other countries justify our role in the global warming mess . If you know the answer let me know
At least a few major initiatives have been started in Victoria with the worlds largest solar power station to be built in 2009
It will be interesting see if any brilliant new ideas come from the 2020 ideas summit.
But back to the library, I saw that hallmark are creating cards from recycled paper and sugar cane pulp.
Many books are printed now on recycled paper and are easier to read (less glare) Should we move to buying a pod for supplying print on demand only books and lending ebook readers for the economically disadvantaged.
As for Internet tools Google has created a search engine that only searches within green sites?(see side bar)

#57 Tasty Oh yes!

Well what can I say ,food. Pretty pretty, and get thee behind me Satan. Losing this battle, I might as well go down with a smile on my face. Good tastyspot, fits a niche that magazines (the gourmet variety) have filled for me . Mind you epicurean .com is seriously tantalising
How it relates to the library setting I am not sure,maybe a special display of cooking books with this site revolving on a screen, perhaps augmenting the promotion of a cookbook Author talk.
A link from the site leads to a HP printer site that guides you to make your own cookbook .(could be fun)
Widget hunting though was time consuming.It looks as though you can only get the widget for recent posts not all are my cup of tea if you know what I mean. I searched widjets and found a link to widjetbox
A link in the widget will take you back to tasteSpotting where you can search and drool all day.(stop that control your self)

#56 Sharing smiles

So onto the next toy , found that Smile box is an executable file don't really want this one on my PC still traumatised from another tool, photo bucket which kept flicking up photographs from my computer that I had never uploaded or setting them as screen savers, I found it worrying so will not download this one. Also in the wisdom of the IT department I am unable to down load it at work. However it appears to have similar attributes to many other programs . The ability to create small shows with music and background onto which you place your photographs. Did something similar on Nero for my mothers funeral. However courage in hand I began the process but it told me I cannot create it on firefox (a touch irritating) so switched to explorer and it still told me that it could only work on windows. (I was there grr )
I can see how you might be able to create a promotion or show clips from previous events with this tool if it was possible to access it in the work space. Currently we have a large screen on which we can create such promotions so it may just remain a personal tool at this stage

#55 sliding with others

Slide share could be a very quickly useable tool as it is based on power point demo's of which most libraries would have many already created for training both staff and patrons. I can see an immediate use for "how to" slides for accessing databases using the catalogue etc. How ever it does not have the use of a pointer tool as in Camtasia but you can use screen dumps and the usual PowerPoint tools. It would be quick to load (always important ) so immediately useful. See the slideshare in side bar Australian libraries in second life (time to fly on in)

#54 Jetting around with Books

Book jetty what a useful tool, finding books in near by libraries is great.The site is a fiddly at first finding the way around, but the quick flash ups of reviews are useful in the reference desk setting.

#53 don't take that literally

Litclubs Great site that can offer very detailed reviews and author information. review "people of the Book"
Well I have just read this offering from Geraldine brooks (sorry couldn't wait) I bought it in the airport. It is a bit of an airport sort of book it staggered in places but it did have big themes .
How all cultures revere the arts, and the commonality of people who work with books and big ideas. How many people of the book bring to their work the same core values. That the beauty and skill of producing such an item is triggered by big ideas and that the history that the item represents is valuable, more important than religion or politics. The tale delved also into the middle east and the conjoined histories of the communities there that have more in common than they have differences.

Perhaps this site could be the basis of a book group that meets regularly at the library using its tools as a focus and guide.

#52 clipping clipping

Clipping just another information management tool it could present a real danger of taking bits out of context.I can already do this with Grazer in a more organised and complete fashion, care must be taken with this tool that you do not loose the references if information is to be used for any serious study.
I found a you tube video ( see side bar) that will challenge your place and relevance as a (information provider,organizer, facilitator, knowledge manager) not only can we find information but it can find us. Three tags, three places, instantly ,all is miscellaneous

#51Social web

How much is too much ? Library of congress photos appeared to create a storm of response, where to go with this?
Connection speed will be very important(the three clicks rule etc) younger users are joined at the hip (wrist?) to their phones so services need to target this tool . The speed of change in technology may be an impediment, just when you get set up the rules will change. How can organisations face the necessary costs involved? will it mean the end of the free public library and a move as so many things are now toward user pays. How will this sit with a goal of providing information access to all?
Se Chan(“Social media, social networking - learning from libraries, the new
OCLC report,”) suggests it will be very messy but that we should open the doors to user created input in the library but that it will be "right on mission"privacy rules will need to be opened up He disagrees with the OCLC research that

strongly challenges the assumption that libraries should copy social media services on their own sites, and instead recommends that libraries open up for users to make use of content in their own ways on other services. Participation on library sites will be low.

Competition is high and the messy approach will be the norm there is a push for libraries to reinvent themselves from suppliers of information and providing access, into creators . Watch this space.

#50 Hold the cheese

Cooking in libraries? or is it the community site idea that is relevant here? a group of like minded people with a passion who forgive little mistakes because they all have the same interest.
Lasagna all ways intimidated me with all the different cheeses, but Bill and Daves version complete with oil spatters on the lens of the camera and the bottle of Chianti (that was consumed during the making of it I kept wondering when they were going to add it) made it all seem so much more approachable.
That is the value of this homey type of video a non threatening demo that anyone can relate to. A too technically perfect style may not be the way to go.
However the site does give tips on how to create more professionally and links to tools that can convert different video files. Small videos can be created with a digital camera ( and tripod for steadiness)and windows movie maker a free download if not already on your computer.

#49 Sounds scary

Soundsnap Ok I know sounds are the go with mobile phone ring tones going off all over the library (I liked it when we had a group of Irish backpackers wandering around the library little Irish fiddles and ballads would suddenly erupt behind the ref desk) but how to make this work for us. Possible intros to book talks, EG: the crime novel so popular in Melbourne (lets not get into the why just now ,suffice to say that this city has had a colourful past and not just a long time ago, may be the intrigue of it all rubs off on the general populace) anyhow I found a chilling sound that would work a treat just before the Author talk. Perhaps a science fiction sound like" ambient tension" could be introduced into the teenage booktalks or in the sessions "about the boys"

#48 let the music run free

Here was I thinking I had made it but no ! onward ever onward Music download a good site a logical progression for new musicians and for established ones to promote new work and give out some free. I can't really see library users coming in and asking "show me the free music" but you never know. I cannot see us helping them to burn Cd's just yet but watch that space. Found some jazz from "the Shapiro project" some of this is great might just visit now and then. May just have to hunt up their albums "true colours" and "open road" May need investigating just how free is free? Can we use these samples in a public space or is it just for private enjoyment.

#47 Just Jammin

Ok, so I am on holidays . Just checking and jammin, heres a questionable creation 'GOING" from jam studio sounds a bit like lift music Not sure where we could use this tool a little catchy intro to a training guide or a local history photo collage perhaps?

#46 keeping up

Great use of Zoho by Jamie on the PLMC blog to keep up to date with tools that are constantly changing I can see we will need to be regularly checking for updates or it will get messy. Which tool do you go with?. Do you change when they do? Can you move information over if they close ? Will you lose information? ( backups backups) I like the use of the very tools we explored "zoho" to maintain currency
I see in the update that Google have added something similar to librarything to Google books but without the social aspect, the emphasis is on research not socialising although the tags and personal libraries are accessible to others.
Just an interesting aside, Kingston library have incorporated" library thing" into their public catalogue good on them, worth watching to see how the community use it.
I decided to check out one of my favourites web 2.0 tools Zotero (really useful research tool only available with Firefox browser) and yes, updates were available it now can search, upload ,link export and take snapshots of flickr ,you tube pages as well as many other formats and provide a wider range of citations. You can snap shot a web page see it within the tool highlight sections and add side notes just as you would to hard copy.

#45 Oh yes, in the flow

Isn't it nice to know where you are going. A novel experience por moi. Thus I have all ways looked on mind maps as a way out of the avalanche of possibilities. (me I all ways see the grey) Me and Mr hats ( you know the fella ) are like that(attempt at crossed fingers on line) Played with Giffy Flow chart, created a fun flow chart
' what do cats and librarians have in common " Not a bad tool, but clunky, much the same could be done with paint or with word. Mindmapping is the precinct of de Bono as well .Stopping to plug all this in might inhibit the flow sometimes a pencil and a paper will do it. Mind you it's rarely readable to oneself afterward let alone others and this is where these tools come in handy.Is this where we are going?? mind map of future librarians

#44 Jotting Not

No,I won't do this, it will cost me an arm and leg (fore arm and paw) phone chatter has never been my strong point. (I used to run away from them, no joke, it was the country, I was ten and the operator at the local exchange(very very rural) was a cranky cow) so the idea of paying out to get arrested for using a phone in a moving car ( no hands free) does not appeal I will just have to remember with out the jolt. No phone messages to my self for me.
I can see how in a few years this could become commonplace,but at the moment it is unnecessary ,unworkable, expensive (for me ) and unrealistic.( winge winge wine... oops!)

#43 Midi Marvelous

What a toy! a major hobby right there, I can't help but wonder though where you stand with copyright.The program will only last for 30 days unless I pay up. I downloaded a midi version of Rainy night in Georgia and couldn't bear to alter it permanently. There is such a big range of midi music available from Google when I searched for a rainy night in Georgia a whole selection of blues came down with it. I sighed and immediately saved the entire site so I can play them while I work. I noticed that audacity was available from the same site .
The midinotate player program can locate midi files on the Internet and convert them to sheet music. It uses its own browser and as soon as you locate a midi file and down load it it unzips it and sets it in is browser you use the play buttons etc similar to most audio programs. I can see how this could be good for budding musicians and composers but it is s bit out of the requirements of a standard public library.Perhaps it is somewhere to point people toward however the program is an exe file, so I cannot see it getting past most IT restrictions.

#42 net Groups

Well now the affiliated group for peculiar library workers appeals to me but the general theme lately of persecution in the main soc library group is worrying. There are so many other options for group interaction on line now,inevitable that stats are falling but may be its because some of the information they wish to share is of a decidedly erotic or lewd nature (tsk tsk)lowers the tone. A lot of the library groups have not had movement since 2004 2005 .Only moderated groups seem to be active and it is the only way to be free of spam. Still so much out there one article in the library science education group reminded of Veropedia a verified source of information taken from wikipedia .
Must dive into them again

#41 Bongiorno

live Mocha: Learning other languages is something I have put off many times, I studied French at school (ovre la finetre ?? ferme la bouch ) needs work I know . I studied a bit of Italian at La Universta per Stranieri in Perugia but that was molti anni fa. It was the immersion method where only the language being learnt was spoken and the idea was that at about week four it all started to make sense. To some extent it worked but my sense of the correct grammar was lost in the experience. I never really used it and now most of it is lost. When I saw this site I thought great now I can tidy up all the loose ends, but at this point they do not have Italian I shall have to settle for French I do not have the will power at this stage to tackle a new script such as Mandarin.
If the site stays free it would be a draw card for some people to the library if they do not have their own computer or want to do a half hour class during their lunch break.

#40 Going backwards

Retroland a little wander through our Americo centric past worrying really how many things one recognised. Many are related to the USA television experience, not much of interest here but I can see how it would become a useful historical record a bit further down the track if you looked back a hundred years this would be an important record of social priorities .
Me I remember the Afro hair the Afro comb in the back pocket, the men's fitted shirts, the clogs the caftans.
The relevance to the library could be that it could be used as a template for a site that encourages people in the local area to reminisce and thus create a safe community place for personal stories etc about the area to unfold.

#39 animoto

#38 Comic relief

For your viewing pleasure ( you will need flash its more amusing to just scroll across)




A lot can be said with pictures may be we can channel this into something on the library web page to EG: to promote special events like the click goes the library series of events.
However below is my creation.

#37 Music

Streaming music is blocked in the work place and on the public PCs download limits etc make it difficult to get around this one . It is a natural progression joining radio and Internet and making them interactive . Users can select own music and listen while working with the inevitable invitation to buy. Groups grow up around the liking for a similar style of music similar to those that grow up around the books in " library thing" this to me is a more comfortable use of the idea of Internet community not just chattering aimlessly. Tried creating a quilt of covers but it leads away from the page promoting the album and with intrusive advertising.
How could this be incorporated into the library? Perhaps at the beginning of a special Internet training program with a theme, Chinese music? not for a while yet I suspect. For my radio widget I chose Fela Kuti a famous african protest singer his son now sings in a similar style but I like the old master and his highlife jazz

#36 before and after curious

Image editing , is something I have never done, was curious but I suffer from the modern disease of impatience waiting at some of these sites to get from point a to point b stifles the creative imagination I wanted to try the one with more features like adobe photoshop however Fauxto has changed hands to Splashup and logging in takes for ever (several seconds over and over) maximum pool size had been reached (how many thousands were fiddling with their pictures at the same time it's scary) Much easier to get the software and get on with it. I turned to Picnik no registration now required and so much quicker to get into. Curious one exposed to the world before and after.

#35 What a twit

This reminds me of the men you see in supermarkets who have to ring home to their wife to find out which aisle the potatoes are in. A constant need to be in touch has got to be unhealthy. It is like text messaging but on a PC, instant messaging has been around for a while. I had an Aunt once who had to tell me in minute detail what she had been doing all day ( she was my Aunt so I listened) For many others I would have to say a big ( talk to the hand)

#34 Fit (OK already I am trying don't nag)

Well this is also a bit of nonsense, if I was organised enough to fill in each morsel I eat etc etc, then I would be walking every morning without fail and filling in points books and religiously adhering to diet regimes (not happening Jan) When I saw the title of this exercise I thought something useful. The better health channel wins hands down on these sites, include recipes ,tools, health facts

#33 arty

Me, I love the snowflake maker it reminds me of a Kaleidoscope I had many moons ago.

#32 Storage plus

omnidrive sounded good but every time I tried to register it had problems it kept hitting an internal error. Imagine if that happened while trying to access an important document . A free account must be accessed every 60 days or it will be lost. I do like the idea of storing this amount.
Google docs can hold a lot as well but this site has the added image tool if only I can get in ( I will return )Finally tackled boxnet storage with success has many possibilities including faxing ,permanent url and posting direct to a blog.

#31 Organised, who me?

Plaxo is yet another organiser but with with links to others but it could be intrusive. You can do a lot of this with lotus. I don't , I tend to rely on the old diary simply because I like to take info with me (maybe when I own a blackberry I would input all info as it is, I see it as a doubling up on input) Care must be taken setting up, each level of privacy needs to be specified otherwise it is open slather. I won't be subscribing to anything life is too short and my downloads are too small. Just how many people do you want to have your email address. If you are a totally Internet activated phone orientated person who can not bear your own company it might work for you.
At work if linked only to your team it may be useful to synchronise meeting information, training notes, professional reading etc but could be a time wasting not a time saving tool.

# 30 lolcats

Well this is a pretty bit of nonsense that could be utilised for creating posters etc. However this is not a reliable platform much of this could be created just using adobe or another graphic program even paintshop possibly. Little old puddy tat lolling in the blue yonder

#29 Scraps

Scrapbloging: Just how much time could you spend on this one (and then some ) scraps will be it from me, so far to go so little time . Could possibly see this used on a library website to promote an author talk but dedicated time is required for this one to look good. It is getting a bit repetitious here different sites using similar techniques.Scrapblog server was down a couple of times and flickr was having a massage? so will come back to it

#28 covering up

Had some fun with this, personal rather than work applications made one up for my husband to be on the cover of a golfing magazine (move over tiger). Continued the feline theme with this little creation

#26 minime

Played with the mini's and created tab of tools could be useful sitting in desk top for quick consult at beginning of the day google has something similar used to set up own page of tools.

#25 letterpop

Letterpop could be useful with so much marketing going on posters etc could be created as well as newsletters . Limited number of use free could lead to problems however. Check out my first attempt. Cats at work

#24 Yikes!! Zamzar
While I was out partying (I did a little) cooking up a storm, recovering, shelving, shifting, inhaling paint fumes, other folks were blogging on. The reality is this exploration of 2.1 must be done in home time you need to be able to convince family members that you are not obsessed or exploited that yes you will go out in the sunshine today. Having said that let me say this (polly speak) I wondered about the rest of the program being tackled overseas and meant to get to it this year (yeah when, I here you say) quite right I needed a nudge and so to I dare say do we all(shut up and get on with it)

Zamzar .....great tool, useful for training notes right format for the right situation etc. pdf for long document are easier to scan online than straight docs. Tried it with my local history resources (where the hell do I start) guide used in my branch but found I needed to tweek the contents again stay posted. Useful also for library users who need that another format to print or create that we may not provide the software for.