The End

23 Things is done! Team23 is all...


But it was an independent, self paced training so really


My favourite part was learning things from other people's blogs. I learned about books, coworkers and tech tricks.

Librarying Things summed up very nicely some of the more general "Things" I took away from this training:

what we need to be learning from all of these “things” is a general comfort and aptitude for navigating the digital world and using internet-based tools (not necessarily how to do these specific things). It seems to me that there is a fundamental shift from the way tasks were done in the workplace of the past to the way tasks are done in the more fluid and changeable digital world. Many of my coworkers want step-by-step instructions; they want to be told, “click here” “click there”, and they expect it to be the same every time. 

Navigating your way through prompts for signing up for an account or through an ever changing site interface is a skill. Seeking out additional information (in the online world that could be the "Help" section, Googling a video tutorial, finding an article or asking for help) is the way to continuous learning and important in personal and professional development. "Play" is still an important part of learning and sometimes you just have to try something to find out how it may be useful or how you cotton on to it (and yes, it is hard to have the time to do that. Totally). Don't worry about playing on the internet. You aren't going to break it.

Apps, Part 2: What's on my iPad

I read this online tech magazine (wish I could remember which one) and they had a regular feature where they would show someone's device screen and have them talk about their favourite apps. It was great for finding new apps since it's sometimes hard to find new, useful apps.

I read somewhere that the average device user has 42 apps. I have...exactly 42 apps on my iPhone. Wow. So average. I have more on my iPad since I tend to use it for work and not just play. So here is what my screen looks like (yah, I haven't upgrated to the new operating system on my iPad yet. Also, the background is by Katie Daisy):

 

All of the defaults are there, as well as some standard free apps for many of the tools already covered in 23Things: Pinterest, Twitter, Blogger...

 

Some favourites:

Duolingo - for language learning

Evernote - easily syncs across devices and so good for list making or jotting down reminders

iPhoto - for photo editing and organization

Bescherelle - for French verb conjugation

 

The heart of this iPad is in the "Create" folder.

 

 

Paper 53 - is fun for doodling (and is a lot like Adobe Ideas)

iDraw - this one is pricey for an app ($9), but fun for creating vector images or for drawing over images you import

GoodNotes - you can draw on or highlight pdf documents

iMovie - for editing or making videos. It has some templates available in it

Phoster - easily makes posters from templates. You can use solid colors, import photos, adjust image size...

Figure - allows you to create music files. I am in no way musical, but have had a lot of fun creating beats with this app

Adobe Kuler - take a photo of anything and Kuler will save the color scheme (with RGB values!)

LetterMpress - this is one of the most expensive (at a whopping $6) and frivalous apps on my iPad. It doesn't have that many uses, but man I love it. The interface is just like a letter press; you can lay out typeface, make prints, mix colors, print in layers with different opacity etc. It sounds just like a letterpress, too!

 

Phoster, LetterMpress and iDraw are great for creating promotional images.

Apps

Install OverDrive Media Console. Check.

I've had it on my iPad for a while now and use the Electronic Library often, especially when I am studying up to give booktalks to students because there are a number of titles available for J/YA that tend to have shorter holds lists in the Electronic Library.

Right now I have the audiobook for Doll bones by Holly Black. I really like getting audiobooks from the Electronic Library. It is just such a convenient format.

For an ebook I have The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo (because I read Flora and Ulysses and it was so adorable I now have an urge to read ALL THE THINGS Kate DiCamillo).

I usually use the Electronic Library to check out romances on those days when I just want something light and fluffy to read. I particularly enjoy Sarah Addison Allen and Kristan Higgins.

Explore the BiblioNB app. Check.
This app comes in handy. Particularly when the OPAC is being slow and I have my phone with me so I can just look something up faster in the app. It would be handy to advertise the app next to OPACs for patrons in a similar situation. There's totally a tent card for that. It's on the NBPLS Sharepoint site under "Technology and Computers" and then "Promotion".

Pun dog

Sharing and Scoop.it!

Scoop.it! is a great tool for staying current on library issues, finding out about libraries in the news, books in the news, new technologies or ideas for innovative programs and services.

I am more of a consumer on Scoop.it! than a sharer (hmm...like Twitter. This seems to be a trend for me). Some of my favourite Scoop.it! pages I keep bookmarked (and they're all curated by NBPLS librarians!):

AboriginalLinks - LiensAutochtones - Patricia's links related to Aboriginals
LibraryLinks - LiensBiblio - Robin's links for library staff
ProfessionalDevelopment - PerfecionnementProfessionnel - Robin's links about skills for information professionals
Bibliolecture - Michelle's links for library staff
Bibliotheque et Techno - Patrick's links about libraries and information technology

When our Electronic Library first went live and new ereaders were being cranked out faster than you could keep up with and publishers were trying to peg down an ebook lending model (not that that isn't still happening), I curated a Scoop.it! page about ereading. It was time consuming and I stopped doing it about a year ago, but I still follow other ereading Scoop.it! accounts like this one to stay current.

Multimedia: Podcasts

I only have a couple of podcasts that I subscribe to. Neither of them are particularly library related:

Stuff You Should Know - It's like Wayne's World meets the Discovery Channel. They just present research on different themes.
Welcome to Night Vale - a fictitious community radio station for the town of Night Vale where weird and suspicious things happen.

 

There are others I check in on and only download if the topic interests me (most of them are CBC and are about information in general, information sources or information issues):

CBC's Ideas - documentary style episodes on topics in science and social studies.
CBC's Quirks & Quarks - mostly popular and new science.
CBC's Rewind - a look back on older broadcasts and how they covered specific events or themes.
CBC's Spark - kind of like Ideas, but covering more tech stuff.
Nerdist - pure pop-culture. Usually interviews with comedians or actors.

I try not to download too many because I'll get stressed out thinking there is too much I am missing if I don't get caught up on them all! I am always up for recommendations, though.

Multimedia: Videos and Professional Development

Embed a video. Check.
I love this short animated video, "Out of sight", about a little girl who is blind and discovering the world through her other senses.


out of sight from kynight on Vimeo.

Find a video or podcast that relates to libraries. Check.
In this TED talk, Andrew Blum talks about Discovering the physical side of the internet. He was the keynote speaker at Library Journal's Digital Summit.



I also like some of the free professional development videos available from American Libraries Live and Overdrive's annual webinar about new devices you can use with the Electronic Library.

The next hour-long Booklist Webinar is a pretty timely topic. It is on "Reaching Your Patrons in the Digital Age" and it will be March 4 at 2pm. I will probably register to reserve a seat even if I might not make it because it is free and they email a link to the archived version after the talk. 

I often use the Share or Embed option on video sites so I can copy and paste the code since I don't really like the search feature for inserting videos in Blogger. I also like to customize the size of the video so they are all the same. Because I'm anal like that. :)

1st Catchup

The best is yeti to come by ILoveDoodle on Flickr.
 

Felt winter appropriate.

Creating a Pin It button

The PR Daily Newsletter sometimes has interesting tips and tricks.  In January they had an article about Pinterest.

You can create your own Pin It button to add to blog posts! You need an image that is posted online somewhere (so you can use the URL for the image instead of uploading it from your computer), but once you have that then filling out their form is straight forward. They create the code for you to copy and paste into the HTML to put the button in your blog post.

Pin It buttons are great because they let people know you encourage them to share an image you've created or posted. It also makes it easy to share.

I created this printable Jane Austen themed Fortune Teller (when I was in elementary and middle-school we called them Cootie Catchers) for Valentine's Day. Right click on the image to select Print Picture and it is sized to fit on letter sized paper.

Images, Part 2

I seldom use my Pinterest account for library related content (I have one generic "Library Stuff" board). I pin a lot of recipes and illustrations.

I follow a few libraries, mostly for reading suggestions:
Library Reads - a pannel of library staff pick the top 10 books released every month
Bookish - Pinterest account for a sort on Reader's Advisory, book review, book article blog

Most accounts I follow are for general library or book stuff and promoting reading:
Harper Collins Canada
Epic Reads
Delightful Children's Books (there are a lot of children's activity ideas as well)
Out of Print

There are a lot of great ideas for campaigns, displays, promotion and activities and some things that are just cute like...

From Heels and Pearls Tumblr

I don't know the original source or the author of the poem to give proper credit. I saw this pin and traced it back to the blog it came from and the blog didn't have any further information.

This leads me to a somewhat related mini rant about sourcing:

Meme from theotherausten on Tumblr

Images, Part 1

I can't help but notice most of the "animals reading" on Wikimedia Commons are cats.

Image by Eleassar via Wikimedia Commons

Some of my favourite sites for free images:
Fotopedia (just make sure your search is for items labeled for reuse)
Google Images (with Search Tools set to "labeled for reuse")
Icon Finder
Stock.xchng
fuzzimo
Vecteezy
Vector4Free (despite the fact that the ads on it are insane. Don't click on any of those)

I created a Wordle, but it was way too annoying to post the image here. You had to post an image that was a link to the image on Wordle and that image was too small and poor quality. Why do they get to keep and host the image? I guess because it is free. So yah, Wordle fail. 

The Fine Print

Last night my bedtime reading was the new Terms of Service agreement for Tumblr (they were just acquired by Yahoo). Don't judge me. They are actually way more interesting than you would expect. For starters, below each term laden with jargon there is a text box that explains it in layman's terms.

Some of the highlights:

 



I think this is great. Especially for a tool with over 39% of users under the age of 25 (Source). They've gone out of their way to make their Terms of Service accessible and even interesting.

They did the same with their Community Guidelines:

Now that we have a generation that grew up with the internet, it is assumed by many that they just know how to use it. The mechanics, maybe, but what about guidelines and best practices? Do they know or do they just click on "I Agree"?

Twitter feed

It's just too much sometimes.

Social Reading

I like the social features in the library catalogue, especially the lists and reading shelves. I like creating lists to be able to keep track of series with multiple authors (aren't those lovely? Especially when the series isn't always part of the title?). The Seven series is one:

I also follow staff from other libraries to see their lists (SeattleTeenLibrarian's lists are good ones).

I prefer Goodreads for sharing information about what I'm reading because you can connect with Facebook friends and post your reviews to your Facebook feed. I also categorizing the books I read using tags so I can sort them better later (yah, that is the librarian in me for sure) and like the recommendations you receive based on items you have read and not just what your friends are reading (even though you still get to see what your friends are reading).


Extra Cool Extra Thing: Rainey.me posted on how you can create that cool carousel feature on your blog.

Twitter

Confession: I am the WORST at Twitter. I've had it for years and I only have 265 tweets (most of those are retweets and that one time I was asked to live tweet a hockey game).  When I do tweet they are such insightful gems as:

I may not be up for all that content creating, but I do like reading what others have to say. I like searching for specific hashtags to see what people are posting about events or news stories. I use Twitter primarily for professional development and finding interesting articles.

My favourite library related Twitter accounts:
NY Public Library - @NYPL
National Reading Campaign - @readingcampaign
HuffPost Books - @HuffPostBooks
YALSA - @yalsa
American Library Association - @amlibraries
Fake Library Stats - @fakelibstats

Privacy

Since we started training some have had concerns about privacy and the amount of information we are asked to share online. I think that is an important concern and also part of the learning process. How much are you comfortable sharing online and how can you limit what you share (or how it is used)? I tend to try and share the minumum amount of personal info I can get away with. When I created my Google account I didn't give my phone number. You don't have to! They make it seem like all of those fields are mandatory, but they aren't.

I try not to be super paranoid, but am sometimes uncomfortable with my digital footprint.

CBC's Spark program frequently talks about the future of privacy. Here is one podcast from October following the Privacy and Access conference in BC. "We need to be educated on how to use data, when to protect it and when to just let it free."

PBS has a short video that has some US specific backstory, but there are some parallels with current concerns in Canadian legislation

Blogger App

I'm attempting to use Blogger for iPad.

I have no idea what each tiny icon means. I'm just trying them all. I turned my first post back into a draft? Enh. 

Blogging

I started blogging about 10 years ago, but it didn't stick.

Top 3 reasons why I failed at blogging:

1. I wasn't consistent. I only posted when the mood struck, whether it was twice a day or once every two months.
2. I didn't plan ahead of time. Tips for success include sitting down and making a list of ideas for posts, blocking them into a calendar, scheduling time to write posts or saving drafts.
3. I was all over the place. I had no target audience, nothing I was trying to promote and no cause. I have a lot of different interests so I definitely couldn't stick to a theme.

Here's hoping I can be disciplined enough now to overcome the first two reasons. I still struggle with the third. I'm interested in library stuff, but if I had a blog about library stuff where would I put my other interests like circumpolar exploration, illustration, animal rights and gifs of kittens? 

 

I prefer Tumblr as a platform because it is generally easier to post (especially from my tablet) and to follow my different interests. Because it is so easy to repost content I do find it frustrates me in terms of copyright and attributing author, though. 

EXTRA Cool Extra Thing - I recently started playing around on Weebly and really like it for creating modern looking websites that are a bit more complex than the standard blog.