Thing 38. Screencasting

Thing 38. I tried viewing Screen-o-matic's How to Create a Screencast, but my computer did not have have the correct version of JAVA. I switched to viewing the Jing tutorial but found the music interfered with the content--an example of a how not to do screencasting! The best overview that I found was Smashing Magazine's article titled Screencasting: How to Start, Tools & Guidelines. I am someone who would benefit from this type of instruction but I am not someone who could do screencasting unless I had more formal instruction. This is not something I could do at work or at home without more help. At least I know that screencasting exists.

Thing 37. Photo Tales

Thing 37: Since I never really figured out Flickr during the first 23 Things and I almost never use my husband's digital camera, I found #37 impossible to do. I guess the one good thing about reviewing this category is to see what one can potentially do with one's digital photos. I could see how these tools could be helpful when teaching a class. I really need a real live person to help me learn Flickr!!!

Thing 36 Comic Relief--Generate Some Fun

Thing 36: I picked the Generator Blog. Some of the items were simply silly and some were useful such as the design your own t-shirt. I checked out the ToonDoo and selected the Crazy Library cartoon. The cartoon showed a librarian telling patrons to be quiet. I used the Historic Tale Construction Kit under the Middle Ages Comics but I could not load it on my blog. I was able to email it to my personal email. In fact, I think I will send my family birthday greetings via this tool.

I could see the library's publics relation person using this tool, but I would not be able to use the comic generating tools for my work.

Thing 35. Books 2.0

Thing 35: In my branch that serves a higher income population, there continues to be a large appetite for the printed word. In fact, I amazed at the number of patrons who have mentioned that they have recently returned to reading as a leisure activity. The Book 2.0 tools that I investigated were primarily from the Readers' Advisory category. I even used a couple of the websites to help me get a list of similar authors. I made sure the websites were put in my work email folder.

Thing 34 Is It Competition? Online Answer Sites

Thing 34: I read the Future of the Reference Desk, That Thing You Do & Evolution to Revolution. The article that really resonated with me was the second one. It was a balanced approach as to what libraries are really doing for the public. The author made the point that 2.0 is catching up with us (libraries). We have always been a social meeting place. Yes, we need to be aware of how we need to change to be relevant. Frankly, the online answer sites have evolved into just another social "network." Some of the answers seem to be quite good, but mostly it has turned out to be another place to "connect" with the world. I have not been involved in any of the slams, but it is a reminder to the public that the library is a good place to get real info.

Thing 33 Travel 2.0

Thing 33: I read the article What is Travel 2.0. When my husband and I traveled to England and Wales last September, we had already used TripAdvisor. I did not realize that Expedia owned TripAdvisor. Green Routes (green businesses in Minnesota & elsewhere) would be a helpful site for our library to bookmark.

Thing 32: Google Maps & Mashups

Thing 32: I viewed the videos of Google Maps Introduction and How to Create a "My Map" in Google Maps. I was able to do a street view for my own address, but when I plugged in my son's address, the street view was not an option. I created a map of how to get from my home to my church. There ARE a lot of map options on the internet.