Podcasting

I listened to a few podcasts...But I didn't feel it! I guess I'm not a radio listener. However, the one that I liked the most was the Education Podcast Network. "Who Are You Really?" was the title of the podcast I listened to. Even though I wasn't able to listen to the whole podcast I found it interesting because it relates to becoming a better person.

I might listen to educational podcasts but I think I would prefer to download them on my I-Pod and listen to them in my car. I'm not sure that I would like to use this in our library. I think I would prefer videos and that is because I'm more visual. However, I think it might be helpful if the podcast is geared to fulfill the needs of our patrons. Maybe having teen podcast reviews for other teens could be fun. The Orange County Library System in Florida has my favorite page when it come to podcasting. And the reason I love it is because it also includes videos. I think this is something we should definitely use to promote programs such as storytelling, teens' programs, and to let patrons see what we do at our library.

Hulu

An interesting concept!!! I've never used Hulu before. I tried to watch something but then I felt guilty of wasting my time at work watching it. I think I will try to watch some episodes at home using Hulu now that I know how it works. However, I think it will be a while for everyone to want to completely move to watching episodes in the computer. I think people still likes big screens. Otherwise why are the TV screens getting bigger and bigger. A lot of people have a home theater and entertainment system. Yes, it is helpful to watch missed episodes but not the whole season. Then, I think we will have to order DVDs for a while yet. They might become smaller but people still enjoys watching movies in big screens.

Drinking at the New York Public Library - You Tube

This was a video I watched on You Tube...The New York public library having a cocktail party! I guess this is a great way to know what other libraries are up to! I like to watch videos on You Tube but I don't use it often. I think creating a channel for our library will be a great way to promote our programs and services. It will be nice to have some puppet shows and story times available for those patrons that can't make it to our library sometimes. Or how about having some available in different languages?

Pandora and Slacker

Thing number 17, music streaming and sharing, was fun! I had the chance to listen to Pandora's selections for a surprise party we had for my sister-in law. Since she is from Pakistan we tuned Pandora for a good variety of Indian and Pakistani music. The crowd attending the party was greatly surprised when we told them that the music playing was from Pandora. I also had the chance to listen to Slacker in the Teen room, since David gracefully offered to show me how it works. Now every time I'm in the Teen room I listen to Slacker.

This new trend will definitely change how we do collection development in the future. CDs might become a thing of the past, and downloading will become part of our future.

Google Docs

Love it! I think I'm going to write one of my papers for school using Google Docs. I have used Google sites to make websites and I find it very easy to use. I will let you know more in detail what happens when I use it for my next project in Library School.

Well, I did use Google docs to work on a paper. It worked great! Everyone was able to change their parts and edit the document. I think I will be using Google Docs in the future and teaching patrons how to use it.

Google Maps

Google maps is a great tool to find directions...but what I like the most about it is that you can see the traffic and it also gives you alternate routes. I've always wanted to go to the Library of Congress so I plugged it in and it would take me 21 hours to get there... Fun! Here is the link:
http://tinyurl.com/yh4wrwq.

I just found out that you can also use Google Maps to identify locations where books have been banned or challenged...Check it out!
http://tinyurl.com/yfnmax4

TinyURL and YouSendIt

I had the chance to use TinyURL when I was volunteering for the Internet Public Library. In order to suggest any link to IPL patrons it is required to use TinyURLs as well. Volunteers need to provide the original link and the TinyURL of the link when the link was too long. The volunteers explain to patrons that IPL provides a TinyURL for their convenience and just in case the link would be broken. I would like to share an article with you about a Canadian private school using Sony e-Readers as textbooks. Isn't this incredible? Would we switch to digital books one day? This article gives us hope though because they still will have a library with the real thing...real books! Here is the link to the article: http://tinyurl.com/yjxouh2

YouSendIt is a great resource too. Too bad is not free! I think it would be more useful for companies and individuals that need to transfer really large files. It could potentially be a great service to patrons that need to transfer multi-media; and it will definitely go into the category of exceeding our patron's expectations.