Open URL

Of all the 10 things I've worked on, this this was the hardest one for me to grasp. Too bad the CommonCraft folks don't have an instructional video for Open URL. I did do the activity and found the following article on Google Scholar, Global warming in the twenty-first century: An alternative scenario. When I changed the volume number and year using Citation Finder, it still gave me the same results but it had my altered information in the citation. I even changed the last name of the author and it gave me the same results. Interesting. I wish I could add some insightful comments on the subject, but I'm still trying to understand it.

Here's an Open URL for an article on helicopter parents.

Title:	The tethered generation
Source:	HRMagazine [1047-3149] Tyler yr:2007 vol:52 iss:5 pg:40

http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/fullerton?&auinit=K&aulast=Tyler&atitle=The+tethered+generation&title=The+Personnel+administrator&volume=52&issue=5&date=2007&spage=40&issn=1047-3149&sid=libx

Wikis

A wiki would be quite useful for our cataloging section to access and share information and resources that we use in our day-to-day operations.

Wikipedia is a site that you can't ignore. It is one of the first places many users look because it often appears on the first page of a Google search. I think it has had both a positive and negative impact. On the plus side, articles are added quickly so its coverage of current events is extensive. Also, there are many topics in Wikipedia that other encyclopedias just don't cover. On the negative side, its sources are unreliable. It may be a good place to begin a search to get information on a topic before moving on to more reliable information sources.

Cloud computing

My comments can be found in Google Docs

Social Bookmarking and Tagging

Here is my delicious account.

One of the things I really like about social bookmarking is the ability to pick the brains, so to speak, of those interested in the same subjects that you are. While I was bookmarking a cataloging related website, I found out all the other users who bookmarked it and then took a look at their lists. I found other really useful sites that I otherwise may not have discovered.

Beyond Internet Explorer

I'm familiar with Firefox because I use it, almost exclusively, at home and at work. But the plug-ins are entirely new to me. I installed LibX and it became readily apparent how useful it is to have direct access to the library's catalog. This is another tool that can be used to bring the library to the user. I also downloaded the Google toolbar and am enjoying exploring all of its features.

Jing

I think Jing is terrific for visual learners like myself. Sometimes it's just easier to be shown how to do something rather than following written directions. Jing seems to be a perfect tool to create tutorials that demonstrate searching tips or explain the various features of our library's website.

Here's my stab at Jing. This video shows how to search for children's books that have won the Newbery Medal.

Thing 4--Photo sharing

A picture is worth a thousand words. This is a photo I found on Flickr from the Seattle Edible Book Festival. It's titled Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Bread. There were other very creative entries, and it was great fun to look through.

It seems that there is a big push for libraries to highlight their collections that are unique. Photosharing seems like a perfect tool to use in showcasing some of the one-of-a-kind items we have in Special Collections.

RSS

I have to say I really like the CommonCraft videos that accompany each unit--simple and easy to understand. I love simple! I enjoyed experimenting with RSS and using Google Reader--a great way to stay up to date on all the sites you are interested in. I did find that subscribing to a site with a large amount of updates can really load you down so I dropped CNN.

It's a great service to have RSS feeds to the Pollak Library's news and information, but how about using RSS feeds to alert users to new additions to the catalog for topics they find interesting. It would be like bringing the New Book Shelf to them.

Web 2.0 Technology

I'm excited about learning the different ways to communicate with Web 2.0. Although I have to admit, some of it takes me out of my comfort zone. Blogging, for example, is something that I probably wouldn't have explored on my own. I doubt I'll ever be a prolific blogger, but I appreciate the opportunity to test it out.