Forgot to mention my favorite things I learned about (I think that was part of the assignment...)
Anyway, I really liked discovering Goodreads. That thing is awesome. The only bad thing is I'm trying to remember all these books I've read, and so far I've only got about 300 rated. I started keeping track of what I check out from the library sometime last year, and my list is up to 2000. So I definitely need to work on that.
Also, covering some of the research databases was super helpful, as well. I didn't know I could look up things like how many coffee shops are in certain zip codes. I very seldom get reference questions like that, but it's good to know that that resource is available to our patrons. I've been using some of the other databases (like the encyclopedias, journal articles, etc.) for years. I'm glad I have a better knowledge of these services that the library offers.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Last Thing
I've really enjoyed 23 Things. I had a basic knowledge about almost everything we covered (and I had a lot of knowledge about a few things) but it was nice to get a little bit more experience with some of these sites and programs.
I have heard some stodgy people grumble a bit about having to learn about these things, yet they aren't allowed to use some of them while they are working (like facebook.) Well, get over it. You need to know new things to be an effective librarian (or clerk, or whatever.) We probably wouldn't have hired you if you hated books and never read, but that doesn't mean you get to veg out at the desk with your favorite novel, either. Some people just like to complain, I guess. I can tell you that 23 Things will help all of us provide better service to our patrons in the future. Also, I have an online friend who lives in Pennsylvania and works for a library system up there. I have been telling him a bit about 23 Things and he thinks his library system could really benefit from it, as well. I will be sending along the link I found on the 23 Things homepage that details the original project.
In many cases, I do feel that 23 Things was time well spent. I like hands on, self-guided learning better than going to a training session to learn this stuff. I think that the program could have been adjusted a bit for some of our employees, though. As a clerk, I should have basic knowledge of most everything covered in 23 Things- there isn't always a reference person at the desk and I should be able to handle stuff on my own, in some cases. However, our pages have had to participate in every week's "thing" and this poses a few problems. First, finding "back time" is hard for anyone at our branch. It's especially difficult on the pages. Clerks and LAs can do a bit of this stuff up at the desk (the blogging part or perhaps browsing the research databases) but the pages don't have that privilege. Second, if a page was to attempt answering a reference question- particularly the kind encountered when we covered the library's research databases- he or she would get into trouble. I know this both from secondhand and personal experience. So maybe there should be a different set of "things" for the pages to know about. Or maybe they shouldn't count toward a branch's completion goal. I don't know. It just seemed a little unfair for them. That isn't to say that they didn't enjoy and appreciate the experience, though.
I definitely think our patrons would benefit from a similar program. I know that at our branch the number and types of computer classes we offer is a bit limited because of staffing and space. It would be great to see mini-classes offered to patrons on the subjects we covered in 23 Things. Right now we basically just do internet basics, computer basics, and Microsoft Word. Maybe we could have a traveling band of 23 Things teachers come to the branches and offer classes on subjects like social networking, research databases, and reader's advisory tools.
I have heard some stodgy people grumble a bit about having to learn about these things, yet they aren't allowed to use some of them while they are working (like facebook.) Well, get over it. You need to know new things to be an effective librarian (or clerk, or whatever.) We probably wouldn't have hired you if you hated books and never read, but that doesn't mean you get to veg out at the desk with your favorite novel, either. Some people just like to complain, I guess. I can tell you that 23 Things will help all of us provide better service to our patrons in the future. Also, I have an online friend who lives in Pennsylvania and works for a library system up there. I have been telling him a bit about 23 Things and he thinks his library system could really benefit from it, as well. I will be sending along the link I found on the 23 Things homepage that details the original project.
In many cases, I do feel that 23 Things was time well spent. I like hands on, self-guided learning better than going to a training session to learn this stuff. I think that the program could have been adjusted a bit for some of our employees, though. As a clerk, I should have basic knowledge of most everything covered in 23 Things- there isn't always a reference person at the desk and I should be able to handle stuff on my own, in some cases. However, our pages have had to participate in every week's "thing" and this poses a few problems. First, finding "back time" is hard for anyone at our branch. It's especially difficult on the pages. Clerks and LAs can do a bit of this stuff up at the desk (the blogging part or perhaps browsing the research databases) but the pages don't have that privilege. Second, if a page was to attempt answering a reference question- particularly the kind encountered when we covered the library's research databases- he or she would get into trouble. I know this both from secondhand and personal experience. So maybe there should be a different set of "things" for the pages to know about. Or maybe they shouldn't count toward a branch's completion goal. I don't know. It just seemed a little unfair for them. That isn't to say that they didn't enjoy and appreciate the experience, though.
I definitely think our patrons would benefit from a similar program. I know that at our branch the number and types of computer classes we offer is a bit limited because of staffing and space. It would be great to see mini-classes offered to patrons on the subjects we covered in 23 Things. Right now we basically just do internet basics, computer basics, and Microsoft Word. Maybe we could have a traveling band of 23 Things teachers come to the branches and offer classes on subjects like social networking, research databases, and reader's advisory tools.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Novelist Thing
I have used Novelist before and usually find it pretty useful. There have been very few circumstances where I haven't found what I was looking for using that tool.
I searched for teen historical fiction set in the 20th century. I need to print some of this stuff to update our teen reader's advisory binder I created two or three years ago. It would be so much more helpful than just googling stuff and stealing (or borrowing!) from other libraries' websites.
I have recommended Novelist to patrons in the past, but I think I'm going to use it more now. I honestly don't read much fiction (I check a lot of it out, but lose interest or get disappointed and never finish the book) and one question I get asked a lot is "do you have any books that are like [insert author here]?" Since I don't read any of that stuff, I usually say "no" and send them to one of our clerks or LAs who do read fiction.
Another tool I like to use for book recommendations is Amazon (or other booksellers' websites). I can type in a title or subject term and see similar titles, plus the titles that customers purchase along with those books. For example, recently I read Lisa Gardner's Live to Tell, which is about some crimes that take place involving a children's psychiatric ward. I finished the book because I had never read about children with severe mental health issues (usually the kid has cancer or some other physical ailment) and it was very interesting. I wanted to learn more. I searched several terms in the library catalog, and came up with nothing interesting. I tried Novelist, with the same results (I just kept getting books written in Lisa Gardner's style). I finally tried Amazon and found one or two that turned out to be ok. I guess the main problem in this scenario was that there are very few books written about this subject, fiction or non-fiction. Nevertheless, Amazon can sometimes be helpful in these situations.
I searched for teen historical fiction set in the 20th century. I need to print some of this stuff to update our teen reader's advisory binder I created two or three years ago. It would be so much more helpful than just googling stuff and stealing (or borrowing!) from other libraries' websites.
I have recommended Novelist to patrons in the past, but I think I'm going to use it more now. I honestly don't read much fiction (I check a lot of it out, but lose interest or get disappointed and never finish the book) and one question I get asked a lot is "do you have any books that are like [insert author here]?" Since I don't read any of that stuff, I usually say "no" and send them to one of our clerks or LAs who do read fiction.
Another tool I like to use for book recommendations is Amazon (or other booksellers' websites). I can type in a title or subject term and see similar titles, plus the titles that customers purchase along with those books. For example, recently I read Lisa Gardner's Live to Tell, which is about some crimes that take place involving a children's psychiatric ward. I finished the book because I had never read about children with severe mental health issues (usually the kid has cancer or some other physical ailment) and it was very interesting. I wanted to learn more. I searched several terms in the library catalog, and came up with nothing interesting. I tried Novelist, with the same results (I just kept getting books written in Lisa Gardner's style). I finally tried Amazon and found one or two that turned out to be ok. I guess the main problem in this scenario was that there are very few books written about this subject, fiction or non-fiction. Nevertheless, Amazon can sometimes be helpful in these situations.
Bookletters Thing
I subscribed to "Past and Present" and the Teen bookletter thing.
This would be a good tool for our internet-savvy patrons who want to know about new books. A long time ago, when our branch was a little slower and we had some free time, one of our clerks used to type up lists of new and upcoming books that would be on our Bestseller's shelf. We have patrons who still expect us to do that kind of thing. Those who are not afraid of email could sign up for these bookletters and maybe not be so grumpy with us for not writing up the list for them. ^_^
Bookletters is also the place to go for patrons who want to sign up for the Library newsletter.
This would be a good tool for our internet-savvy patrons who want to know about new books. A long time ago, when our branch was a little slower and we had some free time, one of our clerks used to type up lists of new and upcoming books that would be on our Bestseller's shelf. We have patrons who still expect us to do that kind of thing. Those who are not afraid of email could sign up for these bookletters and maybe not be so grumpy with us for not writing up the list for them. ^_^
Bookletters is also the place to go for patrons who want to sign up for the Library newsletter.
Recommendation Thing
Maybe it's just me, but it took a little bit for me to find the place to recommend the book on GoodReads. I found the profile, and wandered around a bit. I ended up clicking "more" and finding it there.
I recommended Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, because it's awesome. Duh.
I recommended Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, because it's awesome. Duh.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Wiki Thing, again
I went to a small high school whose biggest weakness was preparing students for college-level paper writing. I frequently used Wikipedia for information, and then didn't cite it so the teacher couldn't give me a heads up that Wikipedia was totally unreliable. When I started college in 2006, I used Wikipedia for my first essay in a political science course. I'd talked to my professor about my lack of preparation for these types of things so he let me rewrite the paper after gently telling me that Wikipedia was basically full of crap.
That being said, I don't see how I could ever recommend Wikis as a source of academic information. However, if a patron was looking for a bit of trivia, these types of sites would be good for reference. I was watching a rerun of The Cosby Show a few weeks ago where Cliff has a dream involving Muppets. I'm a big fan of Jim Henson and was familiar with all the characters except one- an insanely creepy scientist-guy that really weirded me out. I needed to know his name and why on earth he had been created. I turned to Muppet Wiki for the answer. He was a character on a short lived Henson show that apparently wasn't very good, was on when I was an infant, and never made it to video or DVD. Hopefully I will never run into him again.
Because there are so many possibilities for the spread of misinformation, I don't think that wikis would be very valuable to "advancing the library's mission." Feel free to correct me on this, though.
That being said, I don't see how I could ever recommend Wikis as a source of academic information. However, if a patron was looking for a bit of trivia, these types of sites would be good for reference. I was watching a rerun of The Cosby Show a few weeks ago where Cliff has a dream involving Muppets. I'm a big fan of Jim Henson and was familiar with all the characters except one- an insanely creepy scientist-guy that really weirded me out. I needed to know his name and why on earth he had been created. I turned to Muppet Wiki for the answer. He was a character on a short lived Henson show that apparently wasn't very good, was on when I was an infant, and never made it to video or DVD. Hopefully I will never run into him again.
Because there are so many possibilities for the spread of misinformation, I don't think that wikis would be very valuable to "advancing the library's mission." Feel free to correct me on this, though.
This guy will destroy your soul.
Wiki thing
For this exercise I updated the Favorite Movies page and the Favorite restaurants page. I found this exercise to be super easy. Of course, I had the instructions right there, I didn't need to cite my work, etc. I think that editing on a big site like Wikipedia might be a little more complicated, but hopefully not any more difficult.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Podcast Thing
I can honestly say I'm not the biggest fan of podcasts. That's pretty weird since I'm not necessarily bothered by the lack of visual entertainment- I browse the internet all the time while listening to episodes of shows and movies. Podcasts just don't do anything for me. As for the "important" podcasts, like of news stories....why not just read the news? I mean, you're already online. You might even get through the story faster than whoever is talking on the podcast.
I checked out Piers Morgan's podcast about the concerns over radiation coming from Japan. It seems to me that a lot of podcasts (this one, anyway) are just an outlet for the people from 24 hour news stations who aren't on the air 24 hours a day to be on the air a bit more. It's not like he's not going to talk about it tonight on his show. I could just listen to the radio, or whatever. I promise I'm not trying to be stubborn about technology...I'm just not into podcasts. ^_^
I do know that there are other podcasts out there that I might be interested in (like a few years ago when I was into the whole paranormal investigation scene, the guys from Ghost Hunters had a weekly podcast that I thought about listening to). I just don't really care. I'd rather read than listen- I read faster than people can talk, anyway.
Needless to say, I won't be subscribing to any podcasts in the near future.
I checked out Piers Morgan's podcast about the concerns over radiation coming from Japan. It seems to me that a lot of podcasts (this one, anyway) are just an outlet for the people from 24 hour news stations who aren't on the air 24 hours a day to be on the air a bit more. It's not like he's not going to talk about it tonight on his show. I could just listen to the radio, or whatever. I promise I'm not trying to be stubborn about technology...I'm just not into podcasts. ^_^
I do know that there are other podcasts out there that I might be interested in (like a few years ago when I was into the whole paranormal investigation scene, the guys from Ghost Hunters had a weekly podcast that I thought about listening to). I just don't really care. I'd rather read than listen- I read faster than people can talk, anyway.
Needless to say, I won't be subscribing to any podcasts in the near future.
Monday, March 14, 2011
NetLibrary Thing
This is the first time I've actually used NetLibrary, even though I tell patrons how to use it several times a week.
The audiobook I selected was actually a collection of a few books from the Old Testament. I'm reading through the Bible this year, and I'm currently in the book of Joshua. The audio version available through NetLibrary is four hours and thirty minutes long. It contains three books of the Bible. It's good to know that these are on here because we often have patrons who want the Bible on audio and there are very few books available in the system (which I find odd, considering the general popularity of the text. I'm sure it's expensive, though.) We have some lectures and some books on tape, and maybe one or two on CD. Most of the materials are lectures, though. Patrons will be glad to know that they can actually download what they're looking for, and it will be free.
The audiobook I selected was actually a collection of a few books from the Old Testament. I'm reading through the Bible this year, and I'm currently in the book of Joshua. The audio version available through NetLibrary is four hours and thirty minutes long. It contains three books of the Bible. It's good to know that these are on here because we often have patrons who want the Bible on audio and there are very few books available in the system (which I find odd, considering the general popularity of the text. I'm sure it's expensive, though.) We have some lectures and some books on tape, and maybe one or two on CD. Most of the materials are lectures, though. Patrons will be glad to know that they can actually download what they're looking for, and it will be free.
Video Thing
"When I discovered YouTube, I didn't work for five days. I did nothing. I watched 'Cookie Monster Sings Chocolate Rain' about a thousand times."
-Michael Scott
I was pleased to see that YouTube has a reliable section of their site where videos are posted from universities around the country. Just like with any other form of search engine on the internet, the info you find may not be useful info at all. Some YouTube videos are mislabeled on purpose. Some have a screenshot to make you think you're about to watch what you need, but then the screen will turn black and you're stuck listening to some song you don't care about. It's pretty stupid and frustrating. If I needed videos on an academic subject, there is a better chance of finding what I need (with accurate info) on these channels.
Here's the video I chose to embed:
I made this video for an American Presidency class back in 2008. We had to make a campaign video. My professor really liked it. I wasn't quite as impressed. I got the music from a cd from the library.
-Michael Scott
I was pleased to see that YouTube has a reliable section of their site where videos are posted from universities around the country. Just like with any other form of search engine on the internet, the info you find may not be useful info at all. Some YouTube videos are mislabeled on purpose. Some have a screenshot to make you think you're about to watch what you need, but then the screen will turn black and you're stuck listening to some song you don't care about. It's pretty stupid and frustrating. If I needed videos on an academic subject, there is a better chance of finding what I need (with accurate info) on these channels.
Here's the video I chose to embed:
I made this video for an American Presidency class back in 2008. We had to make a campaign video. My professor really liked it. I wasn't quite as impressed. I got the music from a cd from the library.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Feed thing
I have a little bit of familiarity with RSS feeds, mostly from accidentally clicking the RSS button when I'm heading to the library's list of new titles. I have never really liked the look of google reader, so I've just stuck with visiting my favorite websites individually. However, I think that I will make the switch to using the RSS feeds on my google reader from now on. There are several websites that I like to check on a regular basis, but my internet at home is not currently working. When I do get to a computer, I have a hard time remembering all the things that I want to check. Google Reader will help me with that (I don't know why but I always thought it was just for blogs, like the kind people post using blogger. Now I know better.)
Since our assignment was to sign up for two RSS feeds, the ones I chose were ZooBorns and Cute Overload. I love animals. I mentioned in an earlier post that I could look at pictures of animals all day long. Cute Overload is just a place to show off pictures, but ZooBorns actually serves a purpose. It showcases new baby animals at zoos and aquariums all over the globe. They range from animals that are at no risk to those that are critically endangered. It's very exciting to see zoos helping to bring these animals back from the brink of extinction. And, of course, most of them are just plain adorable.
As for the feeds versus visiting the individual sites, I think there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Certainly the RSS feeds are more convenient, as they show you everything on one place. There is something missing from not visiting the sites. The people that maintain them (usually) put a lot of effort into the page design, and staring at Google Reader is definitely less colorful than going to each site. Additionally, when I logged into Google Reader I had more than one hundred unread posts waiting for me. I had already looked at these posts on my blogger homepage, so I guess now I have to scroll past them to get them to go away on my Google Reader page. I think I will definitely be using the RSS feeds of various websites in the future.
Since our assignment was to sign up for two RSS feeds, the ones I chose were ZooBorns and Cute Overload. I love animals. I mentioned in an earlier post that I could look at pictures of animals all day long. Cute Overload is just a place to show off pictures, but ZooBorns actually serves a purpose. It showcases new baby animals at zoos and aquariums all over the globe. They range from animals that are at no risk to those that are critically endangered. It's very exciting to see zoos helping to bring these animals back from the brink of extinction. And, of course, most of them are just plain adorable.
As for the feeds versus visiting the individual sites, I think there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Certainly the RSS feeds are more convenient, as they show you everything on one place. There is something missing from not visiting the sites. The people that maintain them (usually) put a lot of effort into the page design, and staring at Google Reader is definitely less colorful than going to each site. Additionally, when I logged into Google Reader I had more than one hundred unread posts waiting for me. I had already looked at these posts on my blogger homepage, so I guess now I have to scroll past them to get them to go away on my Google Reader page. I think I will definitely be using the RSS feeds of various websites in the future.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Database thing, part deux
I think that the most useful, frequently used databases are the magazines, journals, and newspapers on EBSCOHost. I can usually find whatever I'm looking for on there, and it's great for basic searches for patrons. I can't tell you how many high schoolers I have told to use the databases for research papers. Many times the kid just needs some written source with a bit of info on a person or event. Since the articles on the databases are written sources, they come in handy- especially if the student in question is a bit of a slow mover and his or her classmates have already checked out all the books on a subject. I think that the library staff needs to advertise the databases more in general. If we tell patrons about them, they can explore them more on their own and may find things they've always wondered about but didn't know how to look up before. Then the databases will be used more, and everyone will be happy. If we had to just keep one database I'd go with the EBSCOHost because it has so much stuff on there. We could probably use search engines and books to find a lot of other information. That's a tough question, though. Hopefully we will never be forced to make a decision like that.
Database Thing
Betty Jean McMichael's obituary was published March 18, 2008. She had four sons.
If I did the search right, LFPL doesn't have access to Telos, but we do have access to the British Journal for the History of Philosophy. Full text is available on a 12 month delay, and the journal is available through EBSCOhost. Clinical Medicine and Research is also available through EBSCOhost. It appears that full text is available, and there isn't a note about any delays.
The manager for the mutual fund Vanguard Target Retirement 2020 is Duane F. Kelly. Under "stewardship grade" it says that "this fund makes the grade in most respects." The overall Morningstar rating is 4 stars.
I was able to pull up an article from a 2008 issue of Consumer Reports regarding LCD TVs. The abstract is text only, but the full article is available in PDF format.
The next question was tough! I think that the biggest competitor for the 40202 zip code would be Starbucks. There are three of them. There are also two Dunkin' Donuts. This is definitely a question I would pass on to a reference librarian, though. ^ _^
If I did the search right, LFPL doesn't have access to Telos, but we do have access to the British Journal for the History of Philosophy. Full text is available on a 12 month delay, and the journal is available through EBSCOhost. Clinical Medicine and Research is also available through EBSCOhost. It appears that full text is available, and there isn't a note about any delays.
The manager for the mutual fund Vanguard Target Retirement 2020 is Duane F. Kelly. Under "stewardship grade" it says that "this fund makes the grade in most respects." The overall Morningstar rating is 4 stars.
I was able to pull up an article from a 2008 issue of Consumer Reports regarding LCD TVs. The abstract is text only, but the full article is available in PDF format.
The next question was tough! I think that the biggest competitor for the 40202 zip code would be Starbucks. There are three of them. There are also two Dunkin' Donuts. This is definitely a question I would pass on to a reference librarian, though. ^ _^
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Photosharing Thing
I don't recall ever getting a question about photo sharing specifically, but I do get questions from patrons asking for pictures. The most recent one needed to print some electoral maps from recent elections. Flickr and other photosharing sites are good options for getting these sorts of images. At the time, the student who needed the pictures was just sifting through a google image search. For this exercise, I searched Flickr using the same search terms she had used, and I was more satisfied with those results than what Google provided. I can also see the library staff using these photosharing tools to find images for programming. I frequently help our children's librarian prepare for storytime or other programs by printing pictures to display around the meeting room (for instance, arctic animals for a storytime on that theme). Photosharing sites would be a good place to look for these images- and I've found more results that fit what I'm looking for. Sometimes things pop up in Google searches that have nothing to do with what I'm looking for. Flickr seems to be a bit more concise.
On a more personal note, I like the "groups" feature that Flickr offers. Simple search engines don't offer tools like this. I searched 'arctic animals" and the site suggested the Animal Planet group. I love animals and would be very content to sit here and look through all 460,000 images, but I think that would be considered off task.
On a more personal note, I like the "groups" feature that Flickr offers. Simple search engines don't offer tools like this. I searched 'arctic animals" and the site suggested the Animal Planet group. I love animals and would be very content to sit here and look through all 460,000 images, but I think that would be considered off task.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Social Networking Thing
I've been a member of the Facebook community since shortly after its creation, back in the weeks when high-schoolers were first allowed on, but they couldn't communicate with college students unless the collegians (Facebook's original demographic) approached them. I don't know if this is something to be proud of or not, but my knowledge of the ever-changing social network has come in handy a few times working at the library. I've also been on twitter for a few years, though I don't use it nearly as often.
I can't think of a situation in which we would need to consult Twitter or Facebook to answer a specific reference question, but I think it is important for library employees to know at least something about modern technology and popular websites, particularly since the number of people who use those sites continues to grow. That's one thing I like about this 23Things project. Even if you don't have a computer at home, or don't want to participate in social networking, librarians are here to help, and you can't help many people by refusing to learn about new things.
One way I think Twitter could be valuable to our patrons is as a source of news. If a patron is looking for a website where they can learn about news updates, Twitter can be very handy- if you're following the right people. I follow a few news sites like MSNBC, CNN, and the other popular networks, plus a few news anchors (like Anderson Cooper) and other sources (like the office of the prime minister of England). In some ways, Twitter is more convenient for learning about breaking news than visiting news websites themselves. Posts are updated more frequently. This is the only practical application I can think of offhand, though.
As for important things to tell patrons about Facebook, I always tell people that a.) the site is always changing, and b.) to be sure they read the fine print, as it were. Facebook's many issues with privacy controls in the past indicate that the creator of the site might not always be willing to share with the users when things are going to change, and what those changes entail. Our patrons are understandably appreciative when we share bits of information regarding their privacy- like, "don't forget to log out of your email because the person who gets on the computer after you might be able to read your stuff". Facebook is no exception here.
I can't think of a situation in which we would need to consult Twitter or Facebook to answer a specific reference question, but I think it is important for library employees to know at least something about modern technology and popular websites, particularly since the number of people who use those sites continues to grow. That's one thing I like about this 23Things project. Even if you don't have a computer at home, or don't want to participate in social networking, librarians are here to help, and you can't help many people by refusing to learn about new things.
One way I think Twitter could be valuable to our patrons is as a source of news. If a patron is looking for a website where they can learn about news updates, Twitter can be very handy- if you're following the right people. I follow a few news sites like MSNBC, CNN, and the other popular networks, plus a few news anchors (like Anderson Cooper) and other sources (like the office of the prime minister of England). In some ways, Twitter is more convenient for learning about breaking news than visiting news websites themselves. Posts are updated more frequently. This is the only practical application I can think of offhand, though.
As for important things to tell patrons about Facebook, I always tell people that a.) the site is always changing, and b.) to be sure they read the fine print, as it were. Facebook's many issues with privacy controls in the past indicate that the creator of the site might not always be willing to share with the users when things are going to change, and what those changes entail. Our patrons are understandably appreciative when we share bits of information regarding their privacy- like, "don't forget to log out of your email because the person who gets on the computer after you might be able to read your stuff". Facebook is no exception here.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Thing 2!
I think that one of the most helpful services Google has to offer our patrons is the Google Docs application. We have a lot of patrons who come in to work on homework, resumes, etc. and they sometimes get frustrated switching back and forth through programs, saving in the right format (before we got Office 2007), remembering their flash drives, or even understanding how flash drives and floppy disks work. Google docs allow them to work on their projects using just internet access- no other programs or external memory devices. Many patrons also need to sign up for email addresses when they submit their resumes online, and the fact that they can use Google docs with a gmail address just makes things even simpler.
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