I’m still plugging away on my 23 Things on a Stick. Thing 9 talks about online collaboration Tools such as Zoho Writer (http://writer.zoho.com/) and Google Docs (http://documents.google.com).
Both tools let you save documents online and share access so that many people can help write and edit a document. In fact you can all look at and edit the document together if you want.
I am a bigger fan and more frequent user of Google Docs, so I’ll focus on their service.
You can upload any of the following types of documents:
DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, PPT. You can control who has access to your documents: everyone, no one, or folks you approve.
It is very much like having a shared server to store documents. A slightly upgraded version is Google Apps, which is even more like a share server with shared access for small organizations.
I hope that’s helpful!
Today I’m working away on the 23 Things on a Stick I mentioned a few weeks ago (http://byteoftheweek.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/23-things-on-a-stick/). Thing 8 focuses on how to share files, including slide shows. They mention SlideShare, which I have mentioned before (http://byteoftheweek.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/slideshare-presentation-tool/). SlideShare is a great tool for posting PowerPoint slides. (I love SlideShare!)
I also learned about two new tools: Thumbstacks (http://www.thumbstacks.com/) and Zoho Show (http://show.zoho.com). The nice thing about each is that they don’t require PowerPoint because each tool has a presentation builder.
Zoho also allows for some web conferencing or remote meetings, which is very cool.
Happy Earth Day next week (April 22)!
OK I have a little time today and I’m back trying 23 Things on a Stick. Thing 7 is communication tools. There is a list of communication tools to try, videos to watch and articles to read. Then the assignment is to talk about how we use those tools in the library, so I’m going to improvise a bit.
Email: I live and die by email. If you want to reach me, email me. That is especially true now that I am in Dublin and most of my clients are still in Minnesota. I love it because, its quick, I can address it in my own time, and I have a record of all correspondence – which helps when I get forgetful.
Instant Messaging (IM): I have used IM for more than a year. I think it can be really useful when you are collaborating with someone but I find the problem is that it requires real time attention. I don’t always want to drop what I’m doing to answer an IM.
Text Messaging (SMS): I have to admit that I’ve become more of a texter since I’ve been in Dublin. It is more popular here than back home because it is ridiculously expensive to a make a cell phone (mobile) call here. It is a quick and easy way to convey info. I envision a lifetime of “Sorry. I’m l8” texts in my future as my kids get older.
Web Conferencing: I have presented at a few web conferences and attended even more. I prefer the conference tools that allow you to archive the presentation so that you can watch in your own time. That being said web conferencing can be a great way to offer training to a group that is geographically dispersed. If you haven’t ever attended a web conference, you can check out OPAL (http://www.opal-online.org/progschrono.htm), a great tool for web conferencing. (You can also find a conference to attend from that page.)
Remember I talked about 23 Things on a Stick a few weeks ago. It’s a program through Minnesota libraries to encourage people to learn about web 2.0 applications. Well, going through my 23 Things today, I learned about a couple of online image generators, two of which I loved!
Big Huge Labs (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/) will walk you through making a wide range pictures using your digital photos. I created a billboard with my kids on it. You can also create:
Badges with images (for a serious business application)
Fake Magazine Covers
Blog Header
A Slideshow (Great for vacation snaps)
And more…
Image Chef (http://www.imagechef.com/) has a series of template images and you can add your own text or photos. If you looked hard or had low standards I think you could come up with a quick logo or banner for a web site. I picture a banner on someone’s birthday invitation rather than law conference.
I had a little time today so I thought I’d dive back into the 23 Things on a Stick. Here’s how I fared:
Thing 3: RSS
RSS (really simple syndication) is not new to me. I have used it on several web sites to help tie in a blog with a web site. For example for the Minnesota Sesquicentennial, I built a standard web site. All necessary changes go through me. But I also set up a blog and a Flickr account so that the Sesquicentennial fellows could post blog article and pictures without my assistance. I used the RSS feeds to tie the blog and pictures into the web site homepage. So we have regular changes that I don’t have to administer.
I am not a use personal RSS user. I’ve signed up for RSS feeds with various readers in the past – but still I generally work through email. Today I tried signing up for the Google Reader and I subscribed to a couple of RSS feeds. I figure that Google was the way to go for me because I spend so much time with my Google account that I might actually stop to read the news as I work.
Thing 4: Flickr
OK I’m going to let myself test out of this. I have used Flickr for several projects. I think the best application, especially for librarian types is posting conference and meeting pictures via Flickr. It’s quick, it’s easy, and people can easily comment on the pictures.
I set up a Flickr account for a Minnesota Resort. That has made my life easier too – now the resort posts their own pictures, which saves me time but also we can post many more than when we posted them on our own web site.
I did enjoy checking out the Library of Congress Flickr account. I wish that they would set up an account of copyright-free photos to share online, if they have such things.
Here’s my second task on the 23 Things on a Stick. I’ve been learning about library 2.0 today through a video, article and blog.
I enjoyed the video from the guy from SLA – although I wasn’t thrilled to use Firefox to view it. It’s been a while since I worked at a library so it’s hard to me to speak as an insider – but simple as it is if I were a librarian today (and I always worked at small special libraries) I’d be all over email lists and RSS feeds to push update to patrons on the topics that I knew were following.
I also enjoyed Blyberg’s 11 reasons why Library 2.0 exists. He’s right on the need to re-think management to effectively use Web 2.0 tools. I think flattening out the organization chart with the 2.0 tools is a good thing – but then I work alone so that’s probably a testament to how I handle working with others right there.
OK if there were ever a project, I wish I had done, it would be this – 23 Things on a Stick (http://23thingsonastick.blogspot.com). It’s a self-directed tutorial on Web 2.0 applications. (For readers outside of Minnesota – we put everything on a stick at our State Fair and I presume that’s the etymology of the name.)
Anyways, the first task on the tutorial is to start a blog (so I’m going to cheat and use Byte of the Week http://byteoftheweek.wordpress.com/). In fairness, I’ve done a bunch of the tasks already – but there are a few I haven’t so I’m excited to get going on it. I won’t send emails on my progress, but I will post updates on the blog.
You can see a list of the 23 things here:
http://23thingsonastick.blogspot.com/2007/12/what-are-23-things-on-stick.html
Anyone can lurk around the event. It looks like official participation is limited to folks related to libraries, but I think they’re pretty loose with their definition. If you really want to participate and don’t have a library affiliation, please let me know and I’ll hook you up. If you decide to participate – please let me know.
