Beyond method #8 Capture your computer screen

Loved this one!  Meredith's and Mikael's articles really got me interested in trying this.  I went to screenjelly and made a really quick screencast while I was at the ref desk got interrupted with a ref question in the middle of it.   It was fun and easy and now I've already thought of several ideas to try.

I quickly did a recording without audio in how to use our online resources to access consumer reports from home.  3 minutes is longer than you'd think and i could see i need to slow down some.   Audio would improve it  a lot.   Will have to get a mic to use on the pc, as I can think of several ideas to use these great tools to demo ideas to help patron's use our system.

Beyond Method #7 Next Gen Presentations

to be honest I've realllly tried to get interested in this topic but after reading thru it and looking at a few of the examples I can't work up any interest in these presentations.    I really think I prefer a more traditional approach.

I may try to come back to this but will go on to the next topic.

Beyond Method #6 ebooks and ereaders

  Just finished the article by Meredith Farkas on ebooks and the issues she brought up are some that I really agree with.   I too have a problem spending thousands of dollars to buy access only, to books that will disappear if I don't have the money to keep rebuying the access to reference books.  At least hard copy books don't disappear from year to year although we do need to replace them, but not always every year.

But ebooks and readers are great,(I have a nook) and we are getting more and more patrons coming in or calling from home wanting our help in how to get their library book unto their ereader.  The demand is definitely growing everyday.   Our library uses overdrive and we're  topheavy on the audio books 6700+ compared to 2600+ digital books.   At first audio was more popular so our collection is larger with audio but we are increasing ebooks although patrons would prefer more bestsellers than we currently have.

Project Gutenberg was easy to use and my link is: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/77/77-h/77-h.htm to the House of Seven Gables.  There was a link for Kindle and epub which would work for most ereaders.  Shouldn't be to complicated but I haven't tried to do it personally.

Beyond method #5 social cat.

Goodreads, LibraryThing, and Shelfari.

Since I've used Library thing for several years and have a lifetime membership, I admit to a personal bias.  Goodreads was okay but the library sites looked more like book discussion lists.  Was impressed with the High Plains cat., they've done a great job adding Library Thing enhancements to their catalog and the catalog is easy to use.   It was so nice to see a decent catalogs compared to the symphony workflows crap our system has now.

Both appear to be okay,  both have book discussion groups etc.  I preferred the library thing enhancements used by libraries in their catalogs to the goodreads use by libraries.

Thought the slam the boards idea was interesting.   Because let's face it our jobs as a librarian have become less a "librarian" and more a tech person helping patrons use the computers.  I really miss the "good old days" where I could do more "reference work" and this sounds like fun.

beyond method # 4 employment

Finding Jobs page from the Texas Workskills Development in Libraries is very helpful and fairly easy to use.  The blog on networking and videos were very helpful, I discovered BranchOut on facebook which I hadn't known about.  It is very similiar to linkedin which they would also link to.  The blog had some interesting ideas.   Lots of helpful advice for a wide variety of persons looking for work (laid-off, new or returning, switching) Tutorials and classes are given.

The  workintexas site is not as user friendly as it should be as so many users of the site are not computer savy.
  But let's face it, job hunting is a time consuming project that many people aren't willing to sit down and spend the time doing.  It is a day after day search until you get a job.

Really liked the Goodwill page of free online classes.  They offered a wide variety of classes that would be very helpful for many of our patrons not just those looking for employment.  I've shared this information with many of our staff already.

We have a handout for job seekers and could offer classes in job searching,

Beyond Method 3

Spent some time exploring maps and finally figured out how to add a map to my blog after much trial and error.
  It's a time consuming project but interesting to try to figure out.   Had never noticed my maps in google before gives lots of possibilities to play around with.

#2 Customize your window...

I already have a somewhat customized yahoo and igoogle.  I looked at the other options available but think I prefer yahoo and igoogle for ease of use and familiarity.   Our library uses  igoogle as an inhouse type homepage but not for the public.  Would make a nice library homepage and both are relatively easy to use for the ones which allow public homepages.

  I looked at the Cranbury and Dublin City sites and I think I prefer the DC site for usability and information.

After reading the articles Netvibes sounded promising so I set up an account and have been playing around trying to set up a homepage.  Will take some time to get the page just as I want it to look.  The sky's the limit.  Need to first decide just what to put on the  homepage and select your choices accordingly.   Too many possibilities, need to be selective with the choices.