I made it! Woot!
What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I enjoyed all of it. I think my favorite was learning about online presentations. Prezi was pretty cool. I also enjoyed the Netvibes lesson. I currently use a wiki for one of my library webpages. I might use a Netvibes page instead.
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I keep thinking of ways to incorporate these tools into my library instruction. I keep debating about getting a doctorate of some kind focusing on instruction. I think these tools could help me if I ever get off my duff and pursue that. Hopefully, they will also help get a full time job.
Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
There are loads of take-aways! I want to try all of it (when I have time...fall is coming...!!!!)
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I don't know. I think it's pretty good. I like the self pace. I like the discovery exercises. I think we're given enough time to complete the program.
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
YES!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Beyond Method 11
I've used online survey tools before. We did a LibQual survey a few years ago. That was insane. We had select classes come in to fill out a survey. We incentivized it with a prize (a gift card or something, I can't remember). It provided a lot of great data. I've also used surveys I've created to get feedback from students. I used SurveyMonkey to get information about how students used the library, what they wanted, and suggestions for improvement. I've been compiling those for years. I am hoping to use them to get more computers in the library (fingers crossed!). I have also used paper surveys to rate my instruction at the end of instruction sessions. We are thinking about moving to GoogleForms for our surveys. I think that would be way easier. Paper forms are good, but the amount of time we spent inputting the data into an Access database (which I created) to create reports is not worth it. I've used them once in class using LibGuides' poll function. The data is harder to catch for later. I've also found them fun during presnetations (as an audience member). I like watching them populate. In fact, this method has inspired me to try to use them more in our information literacy sessions (see Qualtrics below). I think I might want to have an open-ended question at the beginning asking them what they want me to cover. Then, sprinkle multiple choice questions throughout the session asking them information literacy concepts to see how much they're learning, what they know, and what concepts are totally over their heads. I think it would be fun.
How does your library typically survey its patrons?
At one of my libraries, we use a paper survey and SurveyMonkey.
At the other, we use mostly paper surveys.
Do you see that changing in light of anything covered here?
Yes
Why or why not?
I think they could be fun ways to get the students more engaged. I think they could also save us LOADS of time since students would be filling out a form online, which populates a spreadsheet, which we could download...saving us from having to enter each paper survey.
And regarding live audience survey tools such as PollEverywhere, do you see a use for such tools in your library?
YES! I want to use them for info lit instruction!
BONUS!
I wanted to see what the Qualtrics can do. It sounds like a pretty cool survey platform: Qualtrics Survey I created
I created this for a tutorial...I was thinking of using it...but, thought it was too silly. Here are two of the viewing options:
This one is just for taking the poll:
This one you can view it as it changes:
How does your library typically survey its patrons?
At one of my libraries, we use a paper survey and SurveyMonkey.
At the other, we use mostly paper surveys.
Do you see that changing in light of anything covered here?
Yes
Why or why not?
I think they could be fun ways to get the students more engaged. I think they could also save us LOADS of time since students would be filling out a form online, which populates a spreadsheet, which we could download...saving us from having to enter each paper survey.
And regarding live audience survey tools such as PollEverywhere, do you see a use for such tools in your library?
YES! I want to use them for info lit instruction!
BONUS!
I wanted to see what the Qualtrics can do. It sounds like a pretty cool survey platform: Qualtrics Survey I created
I created this for a tutorial...I was thinking of using it...but, thought it was too silly. Here are two of the viewing options:
This one is just for taking the poll:
This one you can view it as it changes:
Beyond Method 10
Have you ever used any online meeting or online conferencing tools?
Yes - not always with a library.
If so, which ones?
Skype - my sister was studying abroad in England...this was much less expensive than calling on the phone, Elluminate - used this for attending seminars and for library instruction, GoToMeeting - used this to learn about different things (mostly database demos), and a few others. I took a few online classes through Texas A&M and we had a weekly discussion where we used a virtual conference software (I can't remember which one).
Is your library currently using any of these tools in conjunction with staff or patrons?
Yes. We use Elluminate to provide library user instruction to off-campus classes/students. I think it's very helpful for students. They can can ask/answer questions, do polls, learn, and watch it later if they want.
I would love to see this used more. I really like the idea of librarians sharing information. I think it would save some of us (those who have to pay for all associations/conferences out of our own pockets) a lot of money on travel and registration fees if there were more virtual conferences. (Plus, when there are a million slotted at the same time, you could watch the saved conferences later so you don't miss anything).
I really like the idea of the author visits via skype. I think that could be expanded to guest lecturers (maybe not for libraries, but for classrooms).
One of my coworkers introduced me to JoinMe earlier this summer. I have not had a chance to use it, but I really want to. She suggested that it comes in helpful during reference questions regarding technical issues because you can share screens. I think that would be so useful. I've definitely had weird stuff come up that takes FOREVER over the phone, that might only take a few minutes with JoinMe.
Yes - not always with a library.
If so, which ones?
Skype - my sister was studying abroad in England...this was much less expensive than calling on the phone, Elluminate - used this for attending seminars and for library instruction, GoToMeeting - used this to learn about different things (mostly database demos), and a few others. I took a few online classes through Texas A&M and we had a weekly discussion where we used a virtual conference software (I can't remember which one).
Is your library currently using any of these tools in conjunction with staff or patrons?
Yes. We use Elluminate to provide library user instruction to off-campus classes/students. I think it's very helpful for students. They can can ask/answer questions, do polls, learn, and watch it later if they want.
I would love to see this used more. I really like the idea of librarians sharing information. I think it would save some of us (those who have to pay for all associations/conferences out of our own pockets) a lot of money on travel and registration fees if there were more virtual conferences. (Plus, when there are a million slotted at the same time, you could watch the saved conferences later so you don't miss anything).
I really like the idea of the author visits via skype. I think that could be expanded to guest lecturers (maybe not for libraries, but for classrooms).
One of my coworkers introduced me to JoinMe earlier this summer. I have not had a chance to use it, but I really want to. She suggested that it comes in helpful during reference questions regarding technical issues because you can share screens. I think that would be so useful. I've definitely had weird stuff come up that takes FOREVER over the phone, that might only take a few minutes with JoinMe.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Beyond Method 9
Since I don't have access to a microphone, I chose to use animoto and some free photos from photorack. I couldn't find more detailed information about the photos from photorack. I did include a link to the website at the end of the video.
Here are my two attempts:
Attempt 1:
Attempt 2:
These were very easy to do. The only snag I hit was working within the time constraints. I had to take out some photos. I think the second attempt works. I was also limited by the photos I had access to...I didn't have any of my own with me. Otherwise, I'd say the process went very smoothly.
I think digital storytelling would be great for marketing! I think we could market services to students, market services to faculty, highlight cool stuff in our collection, create more interesting scavenger hunts by creating a story with the digital storytelling and then having students go do the hunt (maybe even interact with the story)...maybe even some student created digital stories - good for marketing the library and/or school. This could be used to persuade administration of the all the stuff we do and why we need more money/staff - a day in the life of your library (with stats) much like the library snapshots...maybe follow around various staff workers. Also, a great into to the library. I think Michael Stevens did a cool one many years ago:
Sad that the song (Ray of Light by Madonna) is now gone from the video :(. You'd have to get a lot of waivers first!
There was also a cool one that I tried to get my Dad involved in a few years ago - a veterans' history project. I will have to try again. This time I'll try the LOC.
Here are my two attempts:
Attempt 1:
Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.
Attempt 2:
Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.
These were very easy to do. The only snag I hit was working within the time constraints. I had to take out some photos. I think the second attempt works. I was also limited by the photos I had access to...I didn't have any of my own with me. Otherwise, I'd say the process went very smoothly.
I think digital storytelling would be great for marketing! I think we could market services to students, market services to faculty, highlight cool stuff in our collection, create more interesting scavenger hunts by creating a story with the digital storytelling and then having students go do the hunt (maybe even interact with the story)...maybe even some student created digital stories - good for marketing the library and/or school. This could be used to persuade administration of the all the stuff we do and why we need more money/staff - a day in the life of your library (with stats) much like the library snapshots...maybe follow around various staff workers. Also, a great into to the library. I think Michael Stevens did a cool one many years ago:
Sad that the song (Ray of Light by Madonna) is now gone from the video :(. You'd have to get a lot of waivers first!
There was also a cool one that I tried to get my Dad involved in a few years ago - a veterans' history project. I will have to try again. This time I'll try the LOC.
Beyond Method 8
I've used screencasting software before. I've been using it as I create my online tutorial. I've used Camtasia, ScreenJelly, Jing, Screencast-o-matic (one of my favorite free screencasting), and Captivate. I've also used screencasting for reference interactions. Sending someone a quick link to a 1-minute video to demo how to do something (VERY useful). I've also started experimenting with students using screencast-o-matic to create demos of different databases. I want to use this tool for assessment, if possible. It's a great way to see what students are actually doing when they search. This idea came from a presentation I saw at LOEX: Move Aside Scotty, Jing is the Thing: Individualized Student-Created Tutorial Collections, Performance Assessment and Easy Instructor Feedback by Stephanie Wiegand (University of Northern Colorado). She used it in her class. I only get my students for a one-shot. So, I had to modify it a little. I think I might also use it to create some procedures for how to do what I do. I have them written down, but I might as well do a quick demo, too.
One of these days, when I get some free time (HA!), I wanted to create a series of 1 minute videos to demo info lit stuff. I wanted to do a quick 1 minute to mastering Boolean Operators. Or, a 1 minute tip to save you headaches in the catalog - showing how to browse using subject terms. I think students want short, to-the-point videos of their problem to help them when get stuck.
Right now, all my videos are super long (I'm usually showing a few things at once).
I like the idea of putting a librarian on the screen, but I don't want my face up there. At least not right now. I'll be leaving one of my libraries in about 5 weeks (which is totally sad). I don't want to give students my face when I won't be around to help them.
The video below was created using screencast-o-matic. I'm sorry to recycle this video, but I do not have a microphone at this job. I used this for a class (at my other job) to show them what I wanted their demos to look like (each group had to create their own video for an assigned database). This video shows where to go to get to the catalog and how to use it for basic searches.
We do use screencasts in our library, but we could definitely use them more. I think they are great tools. I really love Camtasia and Captivate because you can provide captions (both pay services).
One of these days, when I get some free time (HA!), I wanted to create a series of 1 minute videos to demo info lit stuff. I wanted to do a quick 1 minute to mastering Boolean Operators. Or, a 1 minute tip to save you headaches in the catalog - showing how to browse using subject terms. I think students want short, to-the-point videos of their problem to help them when get stuck.
Right now, all my videos are super long (I'm usually showing a few things at once).
I like the idea of putting a librarian on the screen, but I don't want my face up there. At least not right now. I'll be leaving one of my libraries in about 5 weeks (which is totally sad). I don't want to give students my face when I won't be around to help them.
The video below was created using screencast-o-matic. I'm sorry to recycle this video, but I do not have a microphone at this job. I used this for a class (at my other job) to show them what I wanted their demos to look like (each group had to create their own video for an assigned database). This video shows where to go to get to the catalog and how to use it for basic searches.
We do use screencasts in our library, but we could definitely use them more. I think they are great tools. I really love Camtasia and Captivate because you can provide captions (both pay services).
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Beyond Method #7
I chose Prezi:
Not a very interesting show...sorry! This took me about 45 minutes to create...mostly because I am on a dinosaur of a computer that crashed 20 minutes into doing this. Also, Prezi is not intuitive. It took me a minute to figure out how to create the shots that I wanted, when to zoom, how to get those weird frames off (I still missed one!), etc. I was trying to not make it so sickening (after reading the posts about physical illness due to the way prezi jumps around. I don't think I succeeded (I'll have to test it on my dad).
I was thinking about using this as part of the tutorial I'm creating. Much more exciting than listening to me drone on and on and on. I might try it again later.
I do have experience with SlideShare. I heard about it, so I started playing around with it. I don't think I posted anything interesting. I have heard of Prezi before this, just never played around with it. The others, I had never heard of. This post definitely opened my eyes. I also really liked the last two links listed under additional resources. I want to see what else is out there.
I usually use PowerPoints for presentations. However, I've only just starting presenting things professionally, so this was very useful. When I do classes, I usually don't use any powerpoint-esque type thing. I use Xtranormal videos, guess the google, LibGuides, websites, live demos, etc...
I think I might create slideshows for faculty and then post them in a libguide. Or use them to market stuff to students. I think they could be very powerful and fun.
I would feel comfortable directing someone to free presentation tools. I think I could even help them figure it out! (At least, I could get them started in Prezi!!)
I will definitely be playing around with these tools in the future.
Not a very interesting show...sorry! This took me about 45 minutes to create...mostly because I am on a dinosaur of a computer that crashed 20 minutes into doing this. Also, Prezi is not intuitive. It took me a minute to figure out how to create the shots that I wanted, when to zoom, how to get those weird frames off (I still missed one!), etc. I was trying to not make it so sickening (after reading the posts about physical illness due to the way prezi jumps around. I don't think I succeeded (I'll have to test it on my dad).
I was thinking about using this as part of the tutorial I'm creating. Much more exciting than listening to me drone on and on and on. I might try it again later.
I do have experience with SlideShare. I heard about it, so I started playing around with it. I don't think I posted anything interesting. I have heard of Prezi before this, just never played around with it. The others, I had never heard of. This post definitely opened my eyes. I also really liked the last two links listed under additional resources. I want to see what else is out there.
I usually use PowerPoints for presentations. However, I've only just starting presenting things professionally, so this was very useful. When I do classes, I usually don't use any powerpoint-esque type thing. I use Xtranormal videos, guess the google, LibGuides, websites, live demos, etc...
I think I might create slideshows for faculty and then post them in a libguide. Or use them to market stuff to students. I think they could be very powerful and fun.
I would feel comfortable directing someone to free presentation tools. I think I could even help them figure it out! (At least, I could get them started in Prezi!!)
I will definitely be playing around with these tools in the future.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Beyond Method #6
I had to look up DRM (Digital Rights Management). Many of the articles kept referring to DRM.
Just some quick thoughts:
If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a sci-fi lover. And the message is usually, don't trust the machines (because they'll fail, they'll develop AI and kill us all, or there's no Off switch, etc...) I do like a lot of features with ebooks: notes, highlighting, dictionaries, easily searchable, links to chapters, and some even give the proper citation. All very cool features. However, the thing that makes me the most nervous is the lack of ownership. (Actually, Meredith Farkas brought up TONS of great reasons to really think about ebooks). I just keep thinking about the Amazon versus Orwell incident. My budget is TINY. And the thought of spending tons of money on licenses for ebooks when they can dictate how many devices I can put a copy on, how long they can go out, the length of time I will have that title, printing, copying, lending, etc makes me nervous. What if they decided they need more money? What if they start imposing harsher restrictions than what copyright law already dictates? I don't want to limit my patrons to public domain. I want them to have everything.
Exercise:
I first searched Project Gutenberg using the popular author search. I thought that was pretty good. Then I looked up Thoreau and picked Civil Disobedience (HTML download).
Looking at the download options (also not owning any ereader of any kind and never even using one), I would say it is easy to know which one to select if I had a Kindle. If I had another device, I don't think I'd know which one to choose (unless the device came with directions like "look for ePubs"). But there is also a mobile version of this website. That might help me determine which file type to use on my device (if I was using a mobile device as my ereader).
Reading the title from my computer, I found the HTML download much easier to read than the read this ebook online option right above it. Reading the HTML version was just like reading an extremely long article.
I've used Gutenberg before. It is even easier to use than it was before. I love it. I think patrons would be interested in a service like this if they needed to read books in the public domain. I work in two academic libraries. Most of my patrons don't read for fun. They read for assignments. So, unless they were assigned a book in the public domain (and we didn't have a physical copy), they might not use it. But that doesn't mean that it's not awesome. We still have links to the site.
If a patron required help with getting an ebook on an ereader...I don't know if I could help them. I usually just try stuff until it works. Like I said before, I don't own an ereader and have never used one. I've only read ebooks using a computer (usually a desktop). And I usually go through specific ebook websites like ABC Clio, NetLibrary, or ebrary.
This post might be a little all over the place...sorry! I need to go eat some lunch.
Just some quick thoughts:
If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a sci-fi lover. And the message is usually, don't trust the machines (because they'll fail, they'll develop AI and kill us all, or there's no Off switch, etc...) I do like a lot of features with ebooks: notes, highlighting, dictionaries, easily searchable, links to chapters, and some even give the proper citation. All very cool features. However, the thing that makes me the most nervous is the lack of ownership. (Actually, Meredith Farkas brought up TONS of great reasons to really think about ebooks). I just keep thinking about the Amazon versus Orwell incident. My budget is TINY. And the thought of spending tons of money on licenses for ebooks when they can dictate how many devices I can put a copy on, how long they can go out, the length of time I will have that title, printing, copying, lending, etc makes me nervous. What if they decided they need more money? What if they start imposing harsher restrictions than what copyright law already dictates? I don't want to limit my patrons to public domain. I want them to have everything.
Exercise:
I first searched Project Gutenberg using the popular author search. I thought that was pretty good. Then I looked up Thoreau and picked Civil Disobedience (HTML download).
Looking at the download options (also not owning any ereader of any kind and never even using one), I would say it is easy to know which one to select if I had a Kindle. If I had another device, I don't think I'd know which one to choose (unless the device came with directions like "look for ePubs"). But there is also a mobile version of this website. That might help me determine which file type to use on my device (if I was using a mobile device as my ereader).
Reading the title from my computer, I found the HTML download much easier to read than the read this ebook online option right above it. Reading the HTML version was just like reading an extremely long article.
I've used Gutenberg before. It is even easier to use than it was before. I love it. I think patrons would be interested in a service like this if they needed to read books in the public domain. I work in two academic libraries. Most of my patrons don't read for fun. They read for assignments. So, unless they were assigned a book in the public domain (and we didn't have a physical copy), they might not use it. But that doesn't mean that it's not awesome. We still have links to the site.
If a patron required help with getting an ebook on an ereader...I don't know if I could help them. I usually just try stuff until it works. Like I said before, I don't own an ereader and have never used one. I've only read ebooks using a computer (usually a desktop). And I usually go through specific ebook websites like ABC Clio, NetLibrary, or ebrary.
This post might be a little all over the place...sorry! I need to go eat some lunch.
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