Twitter

I have been twittering for quite a while now and I find it fascinating.  People are just getting into it and so there is the potential to connect with people that you wouldn't normally.  I follow local politicians and it's interesting to see what they tweet (and what they do with the feedback they receive on twitter).  One thing that is key from a business (or library) perspective is twittering relevant information, making it interesting, and always responding to comments you receive from people.  I like twitter, and I'm pretty hooked on reading tweets, but I'm not too convinced about how it works for libraries yet.  I kind of feel like sometimes we are simply talking to ourselves as opposed (ie. other libraries and librarians) as opposed to the general public, which is who we want to reach.  Librarians are all technology obsessed sometimes, and not always in a good way! 

Still always fun though, and next we should be learning about Foursquare and Gowalla! 

:) 

LibraryThing

I have played around with LibraryThing a bit - and I think it's a great tool.  It is super easy to use and to navigate.  However, I don't have an account myself because I don't ever find myself looking for good books to read (my holds list is always insane and provides me with more than enough books to read!) Also, I record the books that I've read, reviews, etc. in a reading journal.  I have reading journals going back to 2004 and I love flipping through them to see all the books I've read.  I can't see transferring all that stuff to Library thing - so I don't use it.

Also, I do record the books the I'm reading on Facebook, using a Books app - and so that is my online social networking thing.  I do think there is a Facebook app for LibraryThing - but I don't use it. 

I can see applications for work - particularly putting our booklists up on Library thing for others to find, and to then connect and place holds to our catalog.  Although hopefully our catalogue will do that soon! 

All in all - a super fun social media product! 

Online Productivity Tools

As I've mentioned before in my "Google" post, I use a shared Google calendar daily that my fiancee and I use to make sure we both know everything that is going on (particularly important when wedding planning!!). 

However, I'm a bit less certain about Google documents.  I can see the desire to replace things like Microsoft Office products (because they are so expensive).  However, they allow companies in particular to have a great deal of control over their own documents.  Google docs opens that up a bit and allows people to share documents, open them up to others, etc. which I can see some companies being uncomfortable with.  This is the reason that I think Microsoft Office is still the number one in document management programs.

We did experiment with Userful (an open source documents software package) on the 4th Floor for customers.  Problems really came about because of formatting.  People would open their resume up from a disc/usb key, etc, and the formatting that was in Word was lost.  This meant that they had to reformat it - and then they couldn't open that version up on anything that didn't have userful as a platform. 

Google docs is different in that it's all available online. However, until companies decide to get on the bandwagon - I think we'll be stuck with Microsoft Office.  Guess we will see. 

Until then, I have been using Dropbox (at Dropbox.com) that allows me to share files among multiple computers.  Things like our wedding RSVP and to-do list.  My fiancee can access it from work, and his home PC and I can access it from whatever computer I am on.  It all just stays on the Dropbox server.   Kind of cool.  I also use Box.net which is a place to store files for our Condo board.  Lots of options out there. 

Flickr and YouTube

I haven't used Flickr in ages because it seems to have been left behind in some ways with people sharing photos on Facebook instead.  I know that's the way that I share photos, and that many of my friends do too.  A few people still have their Flickr accounts which they they connect to Facebook.  What I really like is the creative commons licensing on Flickr that allows you to use photos (as long as you give credit).  This makes a world of difference, especially when searching for photos for a peresentation or for a blog. (some work purpose there too!)

As for youtube - I find it is mostly useful for entertainment purposes.  Check out the "Iggy and the iPad" video (this is especially for you Katie as a cat lover). It's super cute and I think has definitely gone viral.  It's also good for finding obscure things (the logdriver's waltz, an NFB commercial production that was shown on CBC tv for a period of time and that many people from my age-group remember).  Some of the videos are of better quality than others (and better content as well) but I do think it's pretty cool (as are some of the commercials that CPL has up on youtube!) 

I think we should put some videos of programs, etc. up on youtube - of course that means that we need to server space to store all the videos (which is no mean feat) but I think it's a great way of promoting what we do (and our customers use youtube tons in the library!) 

Some fun and potentially useful tools. 

RSS Feeds, CPL 2.0

I've been using Bloglines for a while as an RSS feed.  Mostly it's for personal reasons, so that I can see the latest updates from my friends and family who blog.  Often their blogs include pictures of their kids and so I get to keep up with what's new. 

I can't imagine using it for work - simply because I think that keeping up on the results would be a job in itself. It's a good way of receiving information - but unless you are careful about how you set the parameters you can end up with massive lists of things to read, that just become another thing that I end up putting off on my to-do list while I deal with more pressing (and deadline oriented things). 

My advice, definitely use RSS feeds but sign up for them slowly, don't go nuts and sign up for tons at once - because it just becomes another thing you need to try and keep up to date on! 

Google Universe - CPL 2.0

The more time I spend with Google's various products the more I realize that I couldn't live without them.  Particularly the calendar feature - which is something I check multiple times daily.  My fiance and I have a joint Google calendar - that we use to plan our lives.  Between working late (author readings - family dinners - plans with friends - and particularly wedding planning) I don't think we could live without the calendar. 

What's particularly great is that I have it linked to my work outlook calendar - that I then connect to my iPhone - so I know where I'm supposed to be at all times.  The only thing that I don't like is my to-do list isn't connected as well - although that might be a good thing because it might make me hyperventilate!  Fun though. 

Thanks goodness for google and technology.  I'd definitely recommend the joint calendar to friends and colleagues! 

Facebook and CPL 2.0

I'm seriously of two minds about Facebook.  I love it for so many things.  Some of the things I use Facebook for are: Keeping in touch with friends that I live far away from, Geting to know my cousins more (mostly the younger ones), and Seeing up to date photos of my friends children, and my nieces and nephews.  I have stronger relationships with my distant family now because of Facebook - mostly with cousins that I didn't know that well - but would see at family occasions, and now I know what's they're doing - what movies they are seeing, what books they are reading, etc.  It has lead to more similarities between my family and me than I ever knew before. 

However, at the same time - I get annoyed at the ads, I worry about how much information my younger (less privacy aware cousins) feel comfortable putting out there.  And sometimes it feels just too public.  I had an argument once with my fiance about changing our status to "married" while we were in Vegas.  (He thought it would be funny - i disagreed).  Once I explained the web of connections to him (my sister-in law would see it - she would phone my dad - who would phone my mom, etc....) and he quickly realized that something that was meant to be a funny joke could be taken seriously - and could definitely upset people... 

Really for me - Facebook is a bit of a time-waster - but at this point I enjoy enough of it that I'm not willing to stop!