Instant Messaging

Chat can be useful when you’re spending a lot of time online. You can talk to lots of people at once regardless of which IM service they’re using, and you don’t have to download anything. It can be portable if you have a smartphone, which I currently do not have.  This is definitely a good tool to keep an eye on to see how it develops over the next couple of years.

Libraries are using this to answer reference questions, of course. There are always those who do not approach the reference desk and this is a great way to be available for those people.

But it’s also a great way for colleagues to keep in touch.  Sometimes I have a quick question for my colleague down the hall. Do I send an email? It’s not the kind of thing I really want to keep a record of. Also, we might have to go back and forth a bit on it. I don’t want to call because I don’t want to disturb the people around me.  Voila! IM is perfect in such a situation.

Google Docs

I have not used Google Docs before, but I appreciate how easy it is and how it makes collaboration possible.  When I get my next computer, I will likely forego the expensive Microsoft Office suite and use FREE Google Docs instead.

del.icio.us

It seems like I’ve always been looking for a way to carry my bookmarked websites with me. As my final web design project in L-school, I created an XML database to store my favorite websites and wrote (what seemed like) a million lines of XSLT code to display them in a way that made me happy.  It was a fun project but I naturally stopped using it when I found the fun and simple site, del.icio.us.

Even if you never use more than one computer, someday that computer will crash and you’ll lose all your bookmarked sites. For that reason alone, get yourself a del.icio.us account.

Flickr

A study of a sculpture in the Louvre

I love Flickr and have been using it for the past year. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mi-chele.

This exercise reminds me that I have a lot more photos I’d like to put on Flickr.  I feel more organized in general when my photographs are in good shape.

Staff Picks Wiki

I really enjoy recommending good books and I decided to review some audio books for the staff picks wiki.

Since I am a typical Contra Costa County Resident with a commute time of 35 mimutes, I listen to audio books. I’ve found that listening to books contributes greatly to the richness of my reading life and benefits my health too by eliminating any tendencies toward road rage when I listen during my daily commute.

My Web 2.0: 10 Things in 10 Weeks

It makes no difference that I wasn’t hired when ccclib.org started 10 Things in 10 Weeks. Since I’m the Emerging Technologies Specialist (say it 3x fast, I dare you) I really have no excuse that allows me to opt out of this exercise.

I know blogging can be intimidating, so here are a few great books to break the ice:

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/141187537

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/76874717