Thing 16. Student 2.0 Tools

RPC and Assignment Calculator is an easy way keep to assignments on track. It gives the student a clear plan to complete the assignment on time without it becoming overwhelming. RPC could also be a great way to stay on top of library projects as well. If we need to create a presentation or planning some other event, RPC could help keep everyone on schedule.

Thing 15. Online Games and Libraries

I played puzzle pirates. I found it difficult to talk to other pirates and do the job I was supposed to be doing. If I tried to talk to anyone I would fall behind on the job and the other pirates would get upset. Maybe I am antisocial when it comes to online gaming but I would rather just the play game and not worry about trying to chat at the same time.

Thing 14. LibraryThing

LibraryThing could be used to create list of staff recommendations. I do not see too many other ways we would use it in our library at the present time, however, it will definitely be something we should keep in mind in case something comes up. Right now we have created a recommended reading list using Shelfari and we have used Flickr in the past as well. We like Shelfari because it still looks like a book display even though it is online. LibraryThing could maybe be something we use in the future for our recommended reading lists. Here is the link to my LibraryThing catalog http://www.librarything.com/catalog/vikingp_2000 I used books from a series that I really enjoy reading.

Thing 13. Online Productivity Tools

Start Page
I chose to use My Yahoo as my start page. I chose My Yahoo because I use Yahoo for my personal email. It was fun personalizing the page but I am not sure if I will like using it as my start page. I will give it a go for awhile and see what happens from there.

Calendars
I looked a little at Yahoo calendars. They seem to be very similar to Google Calendars which our library currently uses for room scheduling. These calendars would also be very good for staff scheduling which our library does some of on Google Calendars as well. However, I do not think that I will use these for personal things. I seem to remember things a lot better when I physically write them down on a piece of paper. So I think that I will stick to my paper copy.

To-do lists
The to-do list sites, for me, would be helpful for things that I would be doing around the computer. Like things that I need to get done at work or maybe things that need to be done around the house before company visits. For things that I need to get at the store I think it would be easier for me to just write it down on a piece of paper.

Thing 12. Do You Digg?

I have always wondered what the point of these tools was and, to be honest I am still wondering. This seems to be a huge productivity detractor to me. I do not know why I would want to go to another site to read articles just to find out what other people have to say about it when most of these same websites have comments sections on their pages. It just seems like an extra step that doesn’t really get me where useful.

Thing 11. Tagging and Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us is obviously a wonderful resource for people who are using multiple computers. It is nice having your bookmarks accessible on every computer you may be working. I can see that this may be useful for research purposes providing the sites are tagged in ways our library patrons are able to find them. For example, I added a Norwegian newspaper to my list and tagged it Norway news. There are 536 other people who have tagged this site and none of them did it the same way I did. Tags that make perfect sense to me may not make sense to other people at all.

Thing 10. Wikis

I think that wikis, if they are kept up and monitored, are fantastic tools. This would be a great way of keeping track of everyday work issues like a departmental manual and figuring out shifts for our student workers. It would be great if library users could add comments about materials or services to a wiki. They are a simple easy tool to use. I edited the wiki sandbox and had no problem. However, I can also see the drawbacks of wikis. There is always a chance of somebody adding incorrect or inappropriate content to them. For this reason, it is understandable to the teachers/faculty would not want their students to Wikipedia as a source.