Tweet, Tweet, Twitter

Well, Twitter is twitter, until you are tweeting to promote your organization. Then, you might find reasons to use some of the tools mentioned in the  Melissa L. Rethlefsen's Product Pipeline column "Power Tweeting: Next Steps" in the October 15, 2009 issue of Library Journal.

If you are curious about how your Twitter content is being used by readers, investigate
Bit.ly which does more than provide shortened URLs
Favstar.fm sends notification when a tweet is favorited
Twitoaster depicts responses to tweets

Other tools for outreach, photos, and screencasts are given in the article.

Thing 16 Wikis

Is there more to learn about WIKIs other than Wikipedia? Yes, I've discovered. For quite some time, I've been considering different ways to gather and organize the reference information I've gathered. A Wiki might be the answer.

Mediawiki: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki - the software originally written for Wikipedia
GoogleDocs
Wetpaint: http://www.wetpaint.com/
PBWorks

Would a wiki be a good option for branch or system projects which require documentation and collaboration?

Wiki about use of wikis in libraries:  LibraryWikis 
LibraryWikis categorizes its contents by intended users:
-collaboration between staff
-collaboration between staff and patrons
etc.
http://seriesbinder.lishost.org/index.php/Main_Page is an example of a wiki built to give access to children's and teen literature in series (chronological lists)

Thing #10 Image Generators

Image generators are fun...be yourself, but better, OR be a new you altogether. I'm failing at copying the image over to other websites though. I need HELP from someone who has done this successfully.

Yahoo Avatars: http://lookup.avatars.yahoo.com/ewimages?enc=Zsx4zRFFScHVdzSmrRWTEpDpWhY-&size=medium&type=png&.intl=uk

Who's Blogging About What?

Technorati was one of the first search engines for blogs and blog entries. It is now self-described as giving service to the blog industry...tracking popular blogs & topics, connecting bloggers to advertisers, and creating new content.  According to Technorati's Top 100 List, The Huffington Post was the #1 most popular blog on June 14, 2010.  The Top 100 List is updated once daily.

Google's Blog Search is another option for locating blog posts. The advanced search option allows searching by URL, author, language, and date range.

What are you reading?

LibraryThing, Shelfari, and GoodReads are all social sites that allow you to share your reading experiences with friends.  All three offer a way to discuss books online. The Adult Services Steering Committee has discussed the possibility of using an online book discussion via one of these sites for readers advisory training. What do you think?

RSS and News Feeds

Challenge: keeping up with all the internet information news updates that I would like to follow
Solution: subscribe to sites of interest and manage the subscriptions with on a feed aggregator such as Google Reader.


Since the 23 Things training was developed, RSS and newsfeeds have come a long way. In 2004, CNET was reviewing applications that you installed on your computer to subscribe to newsfeeds. Today, you can create an account on the web to track your feeds and the latest versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox allow you to subscribe to newsfeeds without any additional software.  You'll find instructions for using RSS feeds with Internet Explorer's on Microsoft's website.   Google Reader is another option for maintaining a list of feeds.

Thing 5 - Flickr

Flickr is a photo management service that people use to share their photographs with the world. I uploaded a few photos from Brookside Gardens as a test. I'll try adding additional photos of "my favorite tree" over several months and should end up with an album of the changing seasons in Maryland.

One feature Flickr offers is the ability to map and tag your photos. I suppose if I were really interested, I could search for other photos of trees all over the country (or world).  Maybe I'll do that in my spare time.

If you're wondering what my favorite tree looks like...click the link.

Another photo sharing site is the 365 Project. The site is a place to document a year of your life in photographs.  An interesting concept ... perhaps a better place for my tree photos. Photos are easily shared via Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and others.