THING 29: Google Tools

Google Tools were fun to try. I explored Google News, including the archives.
I researched Carnegie Libraries and got to read some of the news articles from the time when Carnegie was donating his millions to libraries. I set up a Google Alert on autism because I have a family member with autism and I'm interested in the latest ideas. I also worked on a personalized news page, rearranging the categories that were of interest to me.
Goog 411 sounds like a great productivity tool. I will try it next time I need a phone number. I watched the video on Google sites. I can see where this would be a great way to have several people sharing information. Perhaps a teen book club site?

THING #28: Customized Home Pages

Customizing a home page was fun to do. I did not make it my home page because I am using the computer at work, but will try and do that at home. I chose NetVibes to create the home page. It was extremely easy and fun. I named it lutefisk23 which is the name of my blog and it automatically added my blog. I also added weather, a calendar, google news, facebook, flickr photos, and twitter. Facebook, Flickr and Twitter wanted me to access my accounts, which I haven't done yet, but can see how it would make it easy if you were already logged in to these accounts.
It seemed to be slow to load and change categories. It might have been because I had too many selected. I also customized the settings and added a books theme.
All in all, it was easy and convenient. You would be able to access all your accounts from one page.

Maud Hart Lovelace

Maud Hart Lovelace 038,
originally uploaded by odokey.

Madison Library had a visit from Maud Hart Lovelace on Saturday, Feb. 7. She is a history player from the Minnesota History Center who portrays Maud and she discusses her writings, including the Betsy Tacy series. Everyone enjoyed her program and we would highly recommend you invite her to your library.

THINGS # 27: Twitter

I signed up for a twitter account and did lots of reading about twitter. My user name is lutefisk23. I added mnmorethings to my twitter list and several others.
So far, I can't say as I really see too many practical uses for me. I'm trying to keep an open mind. I don't really care when someone is eating or going some where!
I added Al Gore and John McCain, so maybe I'll be impressed with their twittering!
The twitter badge was easy to add. So far, I haven't found much about twitter that
interests me. Stay tuned for further updates.

THING #26: Join the 23 Things On a Stick Ning

I joined the Ning in Round 1. It was fun to see who had joined. I joined the Pioneerland Library System group and was happy to see that our group is the largest in the Ning! Dedicated aren't we! I added some comments to the ning this time and will make an effort to follow it more often. I also watched a video of the gadget workshop in Redwood Falls. I didn't get to the workshop, but heard a lot about it.
I'm still not sure of uses for our library, but will keep an open mind.

THING #25: Bloggers' Toolkit

I tried several different widgets/gadgets that looked like fun. Freefoto was very easy to add. Apture was very difficult and I never did get it to my blog. Adding a clock did not work either. I spent quite a lot of time trying to make these gadgets work (over an hour) and gave up. Today I tried again and just went into the gadgets on Blogger - piece of cake! I added Things to Ponder, the Newsreel and National Geographic Photos all in a short time. It's always more fun when it comes easily.