2007 August archive at infodoodads

Archive for August, 2007

Bubblr: unleash your inner comic (strip)

Published by Kate on August 31, 2007
Categories: Mash-ups, Photo, Publishing and Visual 1 Comment

Fridays are always a good day to review something fun. Bubblr, a program to make comic strips using Flickr photos, seems like just the thing. Whether you use your own photos or find others’ (public) photos Bubblr will let you put words in someone’s (or something’s) mouth. Creating a comic strip is as simple as finding photos you like, dragging thought, speech, or caption bubbles to the right spot, and adding text. The hardest part is coming up with something for your “characters” to say!

Practical uses? Maybe this could be a fun way to introduce your staff, an easy way to make a “talking” greeting card, or even a platfom for a photo-based tutorial. Really though, does something that lets you fill in the thoughts of farm animals and your friends alike need a practical use? I think not.

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Ninjawords

Published by Jane on August 31, 2007
Categories: Academic and Web 0 Comments

For the last year or so I have been wanting to replace my dictionary. I’ve had it for 10 years or so…it’s the classic red, Merriam Webster, with dried out leaves from autumns long past, randomly stuck between pages to dry flat. It’s missing a good decade’s worth of new words and its binding is beyond broken in. I keep it for the leaves and for the sense of personal history I feel when I use it. But, it’s time for a new one.

Enter Ninjawords, a really fast dictionary. Fast is right! And pretty to look at-no ads, clean, minimalist layout and design. All the words I randomly tried were included, which makes me like it even more! It does not seem to be totally up on the latest slang, it didn’t know the definition of “sick” as cool. (I only learned it through this video I randomly caught this a.m.)

ninjawords

Other features include spell checker (via Google spell check api), simultaneously searching multiple terms from the search box and the address bar,
search multiple
search history, linking to a group of words, and adding a Ninjawords to your search bar.

search bar

Definitely like a ninja!

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Tafiti - do research

Published by Margaret on August 29, 2007
Categories: Academic, Searching, Teens and Visual 1 Comment

Tafiti means to “do research” in Swahili. This Microsoft search environment helps users visualize, store and share research results. The twist is that Tafiti works across platforms (works with Mac) and across browsers including Firefox and Safari as well as IE. It requires downloading the Microsoft® Silverlight™ plug-in and uses the Live Search search engine.

There are some neat features in Tafiti. The look and feel of the site is distinctive and inviting and plays on both old and new symbols of research. When you enter the site, a single simple search box is displayed in a pseudo index card, reminiscent of a catalog card, complete with aging. Results are displayed in a card catalog drawer with your search terms in the label. When you click “Go” some magic happens, and you get a display of your original search, your search results, a “carousel” of search options and a “glass shelf” where you can drag and stack results you want to keep.

The search carousel shows different categories of results from the web, inside books, news, images, RSS feeds, and videos. When you click on a result type on the carousel, it rotates and gives you that type of result. At the time I tested it, the books option was apparently inactive, but the carousel is a really effective way of moving around inside results.

Saving results you like to a stack is simple, just drag the link to the glass shelf, stack things up, and add a label if you like. If you log in with your LiveID, Tafiti allows you to store your results and your stacks for another session, or to share with others by e-mailing the stacks or posting to a blog.

Clicking on the small tree at the top of the results view gives you a visual representation of your results and their relationships.

Tafiti would be great for students just learning the research process, especially visual learners. It shows the connections between concepts, and it helps students move easily around within results. One missing piece is a way to help students to cite their references and/or create bibliographies from the results in their stacks.

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Thinkfree - Webapps done right

Published by Hannah on August 27, 2007
Categories: Productivity and Web 1 Comment

While Google Docs still rules the webapps landscape, and Zoho is also going strong, Thinkfree is another webapps option that is definitely worth looking at. Whoa, for those of you saying “slow down cowgirl,” what are webapps? Webapps is just a fancy way to say document/spreadsheet/presentation software that is hosted on the web, enabling you to share the documents with others or just to access the documents via the internet from the computer of your choice.

So, back to the point, why Thinkfree. Well, for starters, I’ve been annoyed with the presentation style (or lack thereof) of Google Docs. Tabs get messed up, the charts are minimal, margins get all funny, etc… There is simply a general lack of prettiness (and no presentation software). I haven’t played with Zoho yet, they do have presentation software, wikis, chat, and more and I really must review them more, because they appear to have a chance to give Google a run for their money. But that still doesn’t tell you about Thinkfree…

Thinkfree

The deal with Thinkfree (from my perspective) is that a large part of their marketing is that they do look so much like Microsoft Office products. Thinkfree allows you to go back and forth between Microsoft Office products “seamlessly,” and the editing tools look virtually identical to those you find in Microsoft products. Another cool thing about Thinkfree is that they will soon have a Facebook widget so that you can create a document library within Facebook. They also offer widgets for easy navigation from your browser bar. Plus, since it’s free, it’s definitely worth a try. As more and more people have the bandwidth to use webapps, Microsoft’s days of dominating the office software scene will quickly be coming to a close, and Thinkfree might be there to watch it happen.

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Booktour - Where Authors and Audiences Meet

Published by Laurie on August 26, 2007
Categories: Books 0 Comments

Founded in late 2006 Booktour was created by three authors to connect authors to potential audiences. Any author can create a page in Booktour featuring their books, biography, tour dates, and availability. Readers, librarians, and bookstore owners can then browse the profiles and information to see who is touring in their area.

This website has some great potential, but improvements could be made. For example, I wanted to search bestselling authors, but this was not an option. Granted, each book does provide a link to the Amazon listing, but going back and forth to see how the book ranks in Amazon is cumbersome and annoying. Also, the design of the website created some problems for me, because I am farsighted. The section on the homepage titled “The Library: Browse” is very tiny so I increased the font size, which threw the design out-of-whack.

I think I’ll visit this site again in a few months to see how it has developed. For now, it provides some interesting ideas about how authors can connect with their audiences.

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YouAreTV: indie tv

Published by Jane on August 23, 2007
Categories: Video 0 Comments

For me, one of the best things about the web is learning about people, places and events — especially, those in areas geographically distant from me. Usually, I get my fix via online news, my rss feeds and the occasional foray into YouTube. But, I have just learned I can also feed my fix via, YouAreTV (YATV).

youaretv

YATV’s tagline promises the best independent films, shows and videos online. I’ll let you determine whether they are the best. In the meantime, you can use their top videos, video channels or video tags to explore. I enjoyed exploring and was not bombarded with pseudo-porn or personal rants. I like that I could set up my own profile so I can save favorite videos, I can share with my friends and even review, rate or autograph others’ videos.

Watching others’ videos is only one part of YATV. For many, it’s about having a place to host video content. Like YouTube, you can post your video content. Unfortunately, I don’t have a video camera otherwise I’d give it a go. If you do and you post a video, let us know what you think! Until I get a camera, I’m off to check out the video Why Granny Shouldn’t Skydive.

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Google 411 - World Domination is Next

Published by Laurie on August 22, 2007
Categories: Personal, Productivity, Restaurants, Searching and Travel 1 Comment

Will it ever end? Every time I turn around Google has some great new tool! This time, it’s Google 411. It’s for business searches only and I’m an addict already. I just called 1-800-GOOG-411 and said the name of my town, “Corvallis, Oregon.” Then, I said a category, “pizza.” The voice on the phone listed the top 5 pizza places. And they were in order of popularity (I could tell because I’ve lived her for 11 years and I’m very familiar with the local pizza joints). This is going to be a great tool for upcoming vacations and conferences!

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Getting in shape with Web 2.0

Published by Margaret on August 21, 2007
Categories: Fitness and Health 5 Comments

Nothing motivates me to get in shape like class reunions, and for the next one, I’m really going to need a year to get ready. My workout buddy recently moved to North Carolina, so I’m not rolling into the gym at 7am anymore. I’m more likely to be rolling into the coffee shop at 9am, looking for a snack. Web 2.0 to the rescue? Well, maybe… I looked at traineo, Gyminee, and Nike Running. With all of these, you can track workouts, and to a lesser or greater degree, find a like-minded community for motivation. All require registration, have easy-to-use interfaces, and offer some customized features.

One thing I really like about traineo is that it tracks diet as well as

exercise. You can also choose to make custom logs of your BMI, your happiness level, or your Halo level, for that matter. Using the calorie expenditure calculator, I found that if I play Wii for 1.5 hours at Medium (cow tossing, anyone?) I’ll use 459 calories!

If I were just interested in tracking my workouts, I might choose Gyminee. There are a lot of pre-set variables to track, such as water intake, blood pressure, waist size, and vertical leap, in case you’re working on that. Workout routines can be chosen from a list (killer abs, beginning walking routine) or created using a custom form.

One of my colleagues is preparing for a mini-marathon. She and her training partner have been using Nike’s running site. There is a training log where you can load running schedules and results, and generate graphs of your progress over weeks, months or years. A pace calculator can help you figure out how fast you have to run splits to make your time goals for a race. A guide offers advice on getting ready for races. Also, if you get the Nike+ ready shoes and the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit, your shoes can “talk” to your training log, as well as play your “power song” when you need extra inspiration (assuming you have an iPod Nano). While the site is best suited for semi-serious or serious runners with disposable income for Nike shoes and gear, it could be adapted for walking.

It really helps to have some supportive people around as you work toward health and fitness goals. Sites like these could foster that support. But for me, even the small amount of extra effort to use the sites would be a barrier. At this point, I’d be better off investing in an alarm clock that plays my “power song.”

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Google Web History - Big Brother Really May Be Watching

Published by Hannah on August 20, 2007
Categories: Searching and Web 0 Comments

I admit to not being into computer and web security as much as I should be - I just don’t like to worry about things that I think/hope won’t happen to me. Google Web History might be enough to push me over the paranoia edge, however. You have likely read about the way that Google has increasingly personalized searches to “match” your searching needs. Well, one way they can do this is through their Web History project. The good side of Web History is that it allows you to keep track of your searches over time and return to them (very librariany, no?). For example, I can see what I was searching for a couple of weeks ago, or even just look for the maps I have searched for over time, or the images.

However, the freaky side is that since the Web History application is accessed any time you are logged into your gmail account (that’s how they keep track of your individual habits), your searches are tracked. While I know that’s essentially the same thing I said about Web History in the “pro” sentence, it’s a whole lot different when you start to think about who else can see what you’ve searched.

Google Web History is an important application to watch develop over time, especially as we move from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 and the interaction between people and their machines continues to increase. For now, I’ll return to my Web History when I want to find that perfect map I discovered two months ago, but may avoid it otherwise just to keep my worrying levels in check.

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Top 13 Web 2.0 Tools for Librarians

Published by admin on August 17, 2007
Categories: Instructional 13 Comments

That’s right, we felt too constricted with a top ten list so we created a new kind of list, the “baker’s dozen” list. It wasn’t easy to put together–we debated, discussed, and pondered. We lost sleep and avoided eye-contact with each other. We asked, “Should we include only new tools? Are we suggesting tools librarians should learn about or tools that are tried-and-true? Should Google be one tool or five?” Emails circled for days as we discussed the pros and cons. We tried to keep it to just 10, but we couldn’t do it. Here’s our top *13*. Do you agree? What would be on your list?

1. Google Suite

There are so many useful Google tools we decided to create a new name for all of them, “Google Suite”. Every librarian can find something useful in the seemingly endless list of tools including Google Scholar, Google Books, Google Maps, Google Reader, Google Docs, and of course, the standard Google web search.

2. Meebo/Chatango

The number of libraries using Meebo or Chatango for virtual reference grows everyday. When Oregon State University added the Chatango widget to their website in the Spring of 2007 virtual reference questions increased by nearly 400% in one term. Wow!

3. Wikipedia

Love it or hate it, Wikipedia is here to stay. We have to admit the external links at the bottom of every entry can provide a wealth of useful resources.

4. Worldcat.org

Imagine the ability to search thousands of libraries in one search engine. WAIT! You can. Although library patrons may be unaware of it, librarians know all the advantages of using Worldcat for collection development, reference, and interlibrary loan.

5. Amazon.com

Okay - admit it, you too have used Amazon for collection development purposes. Whether it’s for the reviews or the recommender system (very early Web 2.0) that gives you ideas on what else might be connected to the subject you are looking for, you almost always end up with some new ideas for your collection.

6. Del.icio.us

Whether creating a list for yourself or to share with patrons, there is no better way to keep track of your 1,000 favorite websites. Check out these selections from Laurie (infodoodads blogger), The Laughing Librarian , and The Shifted Librarian .

7. Bloglines

If our blog is any indication, Bloglines is the most popular RSS feed-reading software among librarians. Google Reader is a close second and Netvibes a distant third. How did we ever keep up with all the librarian news before RSS?

8. Zotero

Even though it is still in its toddler-hood, Zotero’s idea of being a bibliographic manager that runs in your browser and grabs citations on your command from lists of books or journals is still appealing. Plus, the ability to make folders for your citations from particular topics is something that EndNote (via EndNoteWeb) is finally giving in to.

9. Facebook

On May 24 Facebook opened up development of their applications to the world, and in one day Facebook changed the landscape of the Web. Libraries and librarians are now adding and using all kinds of applications. Just look at this list of top 10 applications for librarians from the ilibrarian blog.

10. Wordpress

Librarians and libraries maintain 100’s if not 1,000’s of blogs; for a sampling check out LISZEN. Perhaps Wordpress is the most widely used, but there are just as many blogging software packages as there are librarian blogs.

11. MediaWiki
MediaWiki manifests major tenets of Web 2.0 concepts: web as platform and harnessing the collective intelligence. In other words, people working collaboratively via the Internet to create something: a web page, a tracking system for a group project or an encyclopedia. You’ll recognize this last use of wiki software as Wikipedia. Originally developed for the encyclopedia, many other sites use MediaWiki. We picked MediaWiki because of it’s large imprint, but there are plenty of other kittens in the caboodle from which to choose.

12. Ning

When Bill Drew created the Library 2.0 Ning group, he probably didn’t know it would grow to 2,185 members (and counting). Since Bill created his group, many other library groups have popped up including Slovak Librarians, Science Librarians, Public Libraries 2.0, and Business Librarians.

13. Twitter

Do you have a blackberry? PDA? Cell phone with all the bells and whistles? Tablet PC? Mobile instant messaging? Constantly aware of your friends’ and colleagues’ whereabouts and doings? Then you’ve probably experienced Twitter. It’s like itty bitty blog posts of your status-at-this-very-moment. Of course, libraries use twitter too, check out this site in Nebraska, or how about the University of Illinois, and this library in Boise. Perhaps the feds should explore Twitter for its parolees…

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Gazhoo: come and get your content

Published by Jane on August 17, 2007
Categories: Shopping 0 Comments

The new academic year is just around the corner for many educational institutions. With it will come the usual concerns about students and their learning and the sometimes sneaky ways some will employ to avoid working. This is where some may turn to gazhoo: Content Marketplace.

They’ve taken a great idea of sharing content via the web and marketed it to a variety of users: business, legal, marketing and students. Users upload their material “for which he owns all relevant copyrights”. gazhoo reviews the document and then posts it the next day for others to download for free or for a fee (range is posted at $1-$100). I saw many available for free.

gazhoo

I think many of the documents could be very helpful to use as a final document, a template or to generate ideas. You can search using their categories on the home page and then narrow your search using their nicely consolidated tags. I tried downloading and the process was very easy. I ended up picking a free document but if I had picked one for a fee, I could have paid with PayPal or an account at gazhoo.

I’m sure you’ve deduced that a likely audience is students. And with their Facebook application, certainly they are. So, beware the possible misuse, but as some parents insist, my child would *never* do that, no?

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Archive for August, 2007

Bubblr: unleash your inner comic (strip)

Ninjawords

Tafiti - do research

Thinkfree - Webapps done right

Booktour - Where Authors and Audiences Meet

YouAreTV: indie tv

Google 411 - World Domination is Next

Getting in shape with Web 2.0

Google Web History - Big Brother Really May Be Watching

Top 13 Web 2.0 Tools for Librarians

Gazhoo: come and get your content

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