In Thy Own Image

I created an avatar real quick. I have never been into creating the unique images of yourself as if you were animated. tektek.org did seem to be the better program though. To me the Avatars we create are like having your portrait painted. The other option is to have an avatar that doesn't look at all like, these might be a symbolic representation of who you are or who you wish you are or an escape from everything (thinking about the psychology of it all might be more than you want to know).

[url=http://www.tektek.org/dream/avatar.php?a=15857882][img]http://public2.tektek.org/img/av/0806/d30/17/891b80.png[/img][/url]
Total Value: 862 Gold
[url=http://www.tektek.org/dream/avatar.php?a=15857882][Item Information][/url]

Item List:
[url=http://tektek.org/?price=1816]Black Goth Boots - M[/url]
[url=http://tektek.org/?price=1359]Baggy Gray Sweat Pants[/url]
[url=http://tektek.org/?price=4709]Bullseye Shirt[/url]



In the world of second life it seems like a logical progression of the Internet. It's more than just a game it more of an interface. Instead of having a 2D interface called Internet Explorer your browser is the Second Life application and your mouse cursor is also your Avatar. Currently it is more of a toy and less of a tool, but as more content is added it will become more useful. Some might consider it the beginning of the Matrix.

Putting pen to pixel

Most of the time I use a word processor only at work, so I just use MS Word. Google Docs I have had training before and is nice for a free word Processor, but it doesn't have as many nice features as MS Word. Zoho seems to narrow that gap. Google Gears also seems like a nice feature, taking Zoho to your desktop when you are not connected to the Internet (like on a laptop).

There can still be bugs just as any piece of software (and trying to load things off the Internet). In time there should be fewer and fewer glitches.

Searching.........

It's a rare day when I don't use a search engine to find something. We use Google to replace our Phonebook, Atlas, Menu Guide, and Encyclopedia. Most of the time I can find what I am looking for using the correct search terms. Sometimes I use the Advanced Search to limit certain words or to make it only search one specific web site.

I used dogpile a few time about eight years ago and it doesn't seem to have changed to often. It's nice if you have an odd search term and you want to do a compare and contrast between all the different search engines out there, but some information didn't seem useful (like the information coming from yahoo ads search). Mamma.com seemed to improve things slightly with a cleaner look.

When I was starting to form my own brand loyalty to a search engine I never used Yahoo because it was too busy and had blatant advertising. Checking it out today it seems they have cleaned up the appearance of their site.

In the end I suppose Google works for me, so I use it.

What Will Pop Out of that Pod?

Which library podcasts did you listen to?
The library podcast that I downloaded was called the "Library Survival Guide" that I found through Podcast Alley. It was interesting listening to their first podcast compared to their later ones (Their first podcast had a loop of music looping constantly throughout the entire episode, later episodes did not make this mistake).

When I checked out the Podcatchers I looked at Fireant, but they didn't have it available anymore. Fireant did endorse a successor called Miro. It's a Video Podcatcher, a basic search through the directory didn't give a many good options for "Library." I found one called WineLibrary, but watching a guy spitting wine is not exactly my cup of Merlot. When you begin expanding your search to other sites you get more options, but it does require some weeding down and instead of adding a subscription you add a channel.

Do you see podcasting as a useful tool for Sno-Isle Libraries? Any ideas about which topics our patrons might be interested in hearing?
The biggest problem with podcasting is the level of quality that is out there. If you are looking for something that has the audio or video quality of radio or television you will be disappointed by the vast majority of content out there. It is a way for someone who aspires for greatness to make a break into the market. If there is a storytime that is always packed we could provide that librarians performance to the world, just as Nancy Pearl does her Book Talk on KUOW (which I think can be downloaded as a podcast). Quality is very important to retain a reliable audience, they have an entire world of media to choose from.

Topics that might have potential is a audio version of the events at a specific branch or across the entire region, Storytimes, booktalks, and highly popular programs of an educational nature that have high attendance.

Do you have any experience with listening to, or creating podcasts?
I have never created a podcast, though I have occasionally listened to one. I don't own a MP3 player, so downloading a podcast means I only listen to it on my computer. Most of the time I can find something far more entertaining on the Internet (like hulu.com) to spend my time with.

A picture is worth a thousand words, or at least as many as you put into it.

I didn't really get into this one too much. The sites seem to be primarily about advertising. One of them that I tried was a program where you could type out text and convert it into an image. This could easily be done with almost any image creating program. If you don't have experience creating images on a computer this might be a fun site.

Overview of Overdrive

Did you notice anything you liked, didn’t like?
It was interesting going through the titles and I found a few books that I didn't realize that we were purchasing for the system that I wanted to put on hold. Using the Overdrive Media Console to play the stories at a quicker speed could be useful to students who need to get through a book quickly. It will be nice when IPods are added, then we will be getting a major increase in usage.



How was the selection of titles on the topics you browsed?
Many of the titles I browsed actually had hold queues that surprised. Sometimes the waiting list was longer for the downloadable version than the physical version. Some authors that I liked had a good selection, some only had one title available. Downloadable video was not that great since most items I wouldn't normally want to watch if the TV was on and I didn't have anything better to do (though the documentaries could be useful in a research way).


Were your favorite authors available in the collection?
They had at least one title, some had quite a few.



Did anything surprise you about this service?
The amount of holds that are pending for many of the items.

A place for links

How can libraries take advantage of social bookmarking sites?
It seems to be a way that librarians might be able to share new resources that are always changing and being added to the Internet. When it comes to the public, most patrons would probably just like to have a links section and not have to go to another website.

Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance?
In personal research I see it similar to asking a friend for what sites they found useful... with a social bookmarking site you have many more friends to ask for advice (though be careful which friend you ask).

Or just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?
If I needed that feature, it would be very useful. Most of my favorites I use at work I only use from within my computer at work. Sites I use at home I normally only use at home. The few sites I use at both places I have memorized. Occasionally there are sites that I hardly ever use, but quite often the site has changed or there are better sites by the time I need it again and a fresh search is very beneficial.