I need to pick a topic for a panel on Web 2.0 technologies. I'm thinking of talking about widgets, and how they do really cool stuff without needing to know any programming languages or even much about Web sites other than where to place your code.
Showing posts with label widgets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label widgets. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Countdown Begins
I set up a countdown widget for myself to remind myself how much time I have left before Harry Potter Night. It's my big event for the year. This clock goes onto my iGoogle page, which I use as my home page. I may put it on the library's Web site, too, but I'll have to wait until the week of for that...
I need to pick a topic for a panel on Web 2.0 technologies. I'm thinking of talking about widgets, and how they do really cool stuff without needing to know any programming languages or even much about Web sites other than where to place your code.
I need to pick a topic for a panel on Web 2.0 technologies. I'm thinking of talking about widgets, and how they do really cool stuff without needing to know any programming languages or even much about Web sites other than where to place your code.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Google Calendars
Google Calendars wasn't working well on Friday, so I had to wait until today to play with it. The result is so neat, I just hope the other librarians will buy into it. It is so easy to set up, then you can simply embed it somewhere on your Web site. You can even choose if you want a week or month display as the default.
I want to use this as part of an advertising "campaign" to let more students know about the 8 extra computers we have in the library classroom. They are available for use whenever there isn't a class scheduled in there, but students don't know that. This way they can check to see if the room is available before they bother to come to the library.
I didn't think anyone would want to know where individual librarians were, but apparently some librarians have been using this for a while to make their schedules available to students. I suppose that Iris is at a school with more office visits and less sitting at the reference desk. Here, we don't have very many office visits and we spend lots of time out at the reference desk.
It's so great to find blogs that talk about things you would like to do, but also embarrassing when you get so excited in a post about something you want to try, and find out people were doing that years ago. I am trying to become more technologically aware. This is a big adjustment for me, but also for my library. We are often ahead of the curve when it comes to new technologies, but I haven't been able to get anyone else here excited about widgets, iGoogle, RSS, blogs, and other easy technologies with so much potential.
I'm also regretting having been a bit hot-headed in my judgement of WebFeat and federated searching in general. I still think it would confuse the heck out of a student who is good at database research, but it will be great for those who want databases to work like google. Plus I love what Villanova did for their quick-search box on their library Web site. I want to do that on our Web site... but must wait until this summer to find out if our budget (for federated searching) got approved.
I want to use this as part of an advertising "campaign" to let more students know about the 8 extra computers we have in the library classroom. They are available for use whenever there isn't a class scheduled in there, but students don't know that. This way they can check to see if the room is available before they bother to come to the library.
I didn't think anyone would want to know where individual librarians were, but apparently some librarians have been using this for a while to make their schedules available to students. I suppose that Iris is at a school with more office visits and less sitting at the reference desk. Here, we don't have very many office visits and we spend lots of time out at the reference desk.
It's so great to find blogs that talk about things you would like to do, but also embarrassing when you get so excited in a post about something you want to try, and find out people were doing that years ago. I am trying to become more technologically aware. This is a big adjustment for me, but also for my library. We are often ahead of the curve when it comes to new technologies, but I haven't been able to get anyone else here excited about widgets, iGoogle, RSS, blogs, and other easy technologies with so much potential.
I'm also regretting having been a bit hot-headed in my judgement of WebFeat and federated searching in general. I still think it would confuse the heck out of a student who is good at database research, but it will be great for those who want databases to work like google. Plus I love what Villanova did for their quick-search box on their library Web site. I want to do that on our Web site... but must wait until this summer to find out if our budget (for federated searching) got approved.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Widgets
I am having computer difficulties this morning, but wanted to point out some widgets that have a lot of potential. Two were mentioned in an article called Widgets and Widgetry for Librarians, which mentions a number of neat widgets, but either I already use them or don't see much use for them yet.
The first is the Google Calendar, where you can create a calendar and I believe post it on your Web site as a "widget". I see this as being a good tool for us in letting students know when the extra comptuters in the classroom are available, and when the room has been reserved. Of course you could have the librarians post their calendars, but anyone who wants to know that bad is really creepy.
Google Maps also has a widget where you can not only post a map of where your library is, but also it allows you to annotate your maps with pinpoints, lines, and shapes. You could create maps of recommended restaurants and interesting things to do as the library's contribution to parents during summer orientation.
del.ici.ous is a bookmarking social network application. I'm exploring ways of using it as a type of home-made library portal, but haven't done much with it yet. Others are singing its praises, but I don't yet get it. But it also has a widget where you can cutomize a "linkroll" and post that on your Web site. The author of the article suggests a list of "What I've Seen Today." I think this could have potential for our Subject Links Web site pages that are very difficult to maintain without a database behind it.
The author suggests visiting Widgipedia or Widgetbox for more widgets. I love Widgetbox, though haven't necessarily connected what I have found to useful applications. But widgets are making really need functions available to us non-programers that have a little creativity. I have been thinking continuously of other widgets/gadgets to suggest on a Library Resources tab of iGoogle. I think a dictionary, citation creator (perhaps with an its-not-perfect warning), and a countdown clock to when projects are due. Please leave me a note if you can think of other recommendations beyond what I have here.
The first is the Google Calendar, where you can create a calendar and I believe post it on your Web site as a "widget". I see this as being a good tool for us in letting students know when the extra comptuters in the classroom are available, and when the room has been reserved. Of course you could have the librarians post their calendars, but anyone who wants to know that bad is really creepy.
Google Maps also has a widget where you can not only post a map of where your library is, but also it allows you to annotate your maps with pinpoints, lines, and shapes. You could create maps of recommended restaurants and interesting things to do as the library's contribution to parents during summer orientation.
del.ici.ous is a bookmarking social network application. I'm exploring ways of using it as a type of home-made library portal, but haven't done much with it yet. Others are singing its praises, but I don't yet get it. But it also has a widget where you can cutomize a "linkroll" and post that on your Web site. The author of the article suggests a list of "What I've Seen Today." I think this could have potential for our Subject Links Web site pages that are very difficult to maintain without a database behind it.
The author suggests visiting Widgipedia or Widgetbox for more widgets. I love Widgetbox, though haven't necessarily connected what I have found to useful applications. But widgets are making really need functions available to us non-programers that have a little creativity. I have been thinking continuously of other widgets/gadgets to suggest on a Library Resources tab of iGoogle. I think a dictionary, citation creator (perhaps with an its-not-perfect warning), and a countdown clock to when projects are due. Please leave me a note if you can think of other recommendations beyond what I have here.
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