Thing 9: Online Collaboration Tools

Well, it has been awhile since I actually did this Thing. It's been kinda crazy lately. I recall having some trouble being able to edit, but the idea is good. I have shared a booklist using Zoho Writer with some of my colleagues and I think that it will work well and we can each add titles and edit as needed to make the final document.

Thing 8 again

I created and posted a Flickr badge, too. That's kinda fun. I used everything tagged with "23 things"

Thing 8: Share your creations

So apparently I can import this to my blog. I tried to do a Zoho show, but I really didn't have anything to create a slide show about. All of these tools seem useful, but I'm not sure what I would use them for right now. This Zoho writer seems like a good idea so you don't need a word processor on your computer and can easily share online. Ok, now let's see if I can post this thing.

Well, here it is! That worked pretty well. I just wrote this post on Zoho writer.

Thing 7: Web 2.0 Communication Tools

Of course we have used email in the library for years. Can't remember how we lived without it. I tried out IM with some coworkers. It's a quick, easy way to communicate, but you have to be sure that the other person is online and logged in. I don't do texting, it takes too long to find the right keys on my phone. I did try it for the ALA awards in January. I would rather have gotten an email with all the awards listed instead of a bunch of separate text messages. I can't imagine trying to use it for library reference. I guess I'll leave that for the young. I haven't really done web conferencing either. I can see that it could be useful and save travel time, but even getting time during a busy day to participate can be difficult. I listened to part of a couple of archived programs on OPAL to get a feel for it. Lots of stuff out there.

Thing 6: Online Image Generators

Here's my trading card. I also added something I made on ImageChef to the bottom. It would be fun to use somehow with programing and publicity. I could spend a lot of time on this, but I'd better move on. My fellow thingsters are urging me to get to Thing 20 so I can be their friends on MySpace or Facebook. I have a lot left to do!

Thing 5: More fun with flickr

Hockneyized Moppet
Originally uploaded by suzannepalm

Here's my cat Moppet using the Hockneyizer at Big Huge Labs. I played around quite a bit with this "thing". It is definitely easy to waste a lot of time playing with flickr. I added a couple of things to my blog earlier. A link to a Splasr presentation on the left sidebar and a "Spell it with flickr" on the bottom. It kind of gets lost there, but I'm not sure how to insert it between posts. I guess we could find lots of ways to use this at the library. I might try using flickr to create signs for book displays. I think photo sharing is a great idea, but I was a bit reluctant to put myself out there. It took me a while to decide to let anyone see the photos in the first place, but I had to make them public if I wanted to blog about them! When I first got my digital camera, about 5 years ago, I signed up with Ofoto (now Kodak Gallery) and I have been using that as backup storage for my pictures. It's mostly a place to share with family and friends, and of course to buy prints and stuff. I haven't used it for anything but storage. I think flickr is more for public sharing and having fun with the pictures. I might consider adding more of my personal pictures here at some point, or just using it exclusively. It's easier to use, too.

Thing 4.2: more flickr

I just added a picture from my flickr page to the sidebar. It took a while to figure out where to put the HTML code, but it seems to be working OK. I'm finding this a little frustrating. I've tried to attach one of my flickr pictures to this blog post using the add image link and inserting the HTML code to link back to flickr and I get 2 copies of the picture plus some misc junk. Aargh! OK, I just tried to put the HTML right in the post using the "Edit Html" tab. That seems to work. So, here's our "Happy Birthday" cake for the summer reading display: