Thing #17 Say What?!

Podcasting in libraries is HUGE! Thanks to this Thing, we have learned about super easy to use programs that allow us to chat up a topic and save it to share for others.

The Boulder Public Library (CO) has a Teen Webcast page but I found a variety of PODCASTS there, created with Gcast. What a great idea and way to encourage teens to contribute to our branches.

The Kankakee Public Library (IL) hosts a podcasts & vodcasts page. Their site shares a wide variety of recordings, including an author visit.

Here’s an example of how a podcast is being used to promote a county-wide book read at the Pierce County Public Library (WA).

Thing #16 Video Killed the Radio Star

There’s no doubt that music videos are a hit on YouTube. But for those of us in the information world, sites such as YouTube serve as a portal of information sharing. Libraries are using YouTube to promote programming and services as well as offer instruction through online tutorials. SJCPLS will be uploading tutorials to the website and YouTube in the near future!

Vimeo and YouTube are both great sites to find libraries! Check these out:

An online tutorial:

A book talk:

03/16/2009 – Book of the Week from GreeneLibrary.info on Vimeo.

A library branch tour:

Turner Video Tour! from KCK Public Library on Vimeo.

Thing #15 Customized Search Engines

In this Thing, we explored Rollyo. There are a couple of other customized search engines that may be of interesting, including Google Co-Op and Eurekster.

Possible benefits of customized search engines:

Tailoring a search engine to your needs

Invite friends/co-workers to contribute

Automatically generate a search engine based on your website links or blogroll

View search results without ads

Thing #14 Pushing Productivity

Document sharing couldn’t be any easier, thanks to those cool kids at Google! If you’ve never tried Google Docs, check out this great Common Craft video for a quick overview.

Reminder

REMEMBER: Every NEFLIN member who completes the entire program will receive a completion incentive and be entered to win additional prizes. To be eligible for prizes, you must register your blog as described in Thing 1 and complete all Things by April 15. Only NEFLIN members are eligible for incentives and prizes. All NEFLIN members who complete the 23 Things by April 15th will be eligible to win our grand prizes…one of four Amazon gift cards (valued between $50 and $200).

Thing #13 Library-Type Things

The first of two videos by LibraryThing founder, Tim Spalding about LibraryThing:

Other sites similar to LibraryThing and Good Reads:

aNobii
BookJetty
Shelfari

And for those interested in a book club site, check out Booksprouts!

NPR’s Martha Woodroof’s article on social networking sites for bibliophiles.

Thing #12 Wacky Wikis

Does anyone really have a reason why NOT to use a wiki in the workplace? Seriously, they’re GREAT! What a way to streamline information sharing. Email is SO out! Since the near-unanimous vote favors the use of wikis within libraries, let’s move on to wikis that probably should not be used in libraries!

Family Guy Wiki
Futurama Wiki
Uncyclopedia
Wikiality: The Truthiness Encyclopedia