Week 8 - Thing 18 - Zoho

I took a look at both Zoho and Google Docs. Zoho seemed more comfortable for me to work in. It feels a lot like word and I am comfortable with that. I like the portability aspect and the fact that you could actually share your site with someone else.

Week 9 - Thing 22 - Audiobooks

I already have accounts with Netlibrary and Overdrive and am familiar with how they operate. In fact I order some of the material for Overdrive. The advantage with Netlibrary is that you have unlimited access to all titles. Overdrive however is a single use operation except for film and a select list of 50 titles from Blackstone audio. Although it provides a good variety of material that is not on Netlibrary, it does have the problem of many items having hold lists. This is due to the fact that it serves as the audiobook source for most of Maryland. The problem with both sites is that they both have DRM which means that I-pod users can not access the materials on these sites. If the day ever comes that audiobook producers see that people are not likely to be wanting to " bootleg" the free from your library copy of an audiobook, I think we will see a tremendous increase in downloadable audiobook circulation.

Week 9 - Thing 21 - Podcasts

Tried Podcast.net but it kept saying I was missing some plugins. Went to Yahoo and found it easy to search. Loaded a number of book and classical music series to my Bloglines account. I also found it usefull for financial information, provided you take a good look at what the date is on the podcast.
Podcasts would be a good tool for book talks and children's programming.

Week 5 - Thing 12 - Rollyo

I thought this was very interesting and easy to use. I already see this as being a good tool to organize a number of the websites that I currently use in my work by the type of media I am working on at the moment. I have posted my link for my search roll on my main page.

High Def DVD and Library Implications - Part 2

Yes, I am adding something just for the fun of it. Paramount and Dream works have just joined Universal in releasing next generation DVDs in HD DVD only. This pits them against Sony, Disney, 20th Century Fox and MGM which are exclusively Blu-ray. Time-Warner right now is still producing in both formats. What this means is that, where in the past with VHS and Beta, the consumer decided which would survive by picking the format of their choice for a movie, with next generation DVDs it is a matter of which corporate grouping blinks first. Do you buy your next DVD player based on whether you like Shrek more than Cars? Which do you invest in? What happens if Time-Warner decides to go to one format exclusively? I would say the jury is still out on whether to seriously invest in the next generation DVDs from a library standpoint. Of course, everyone could just go out and buy two DVD players. We are, after all, a consumer nation.

week 9 - thing 20 - YouTube

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I chose the video " Medieval Helpdesk" because it helps to put into perspective all that we are doing with this training. Everything is a new experience to be explored by people at one time or another. I learned in placing this on my blog that deleting tags to allow the HTML to be accepted was not the end of the world.
YouTube in itself can be very addicting, From a musical standpoint this is a classical and opera lovers delight. Elgar conducting Elgar! Thousand of hits on Maria Callas. Compare different opera singers in performance of the same song. You don't have to make a long listening commitment like you do with a CD or DVD. As Philip Kennicot states in the September issue of Gramophone, " We listen with curiousity, with a roving, meandering, self-directed interest...It is the world's greatest collection of musical footnotes." For me at least, that is the appeal of YouTube.
For the library, I see this as a possible learning platform and promotion of the library system and it's programs.

Week Five - Thing 11 - Library Thing

Cool site. I can see myself really using this. I liked how libraries used it for randomly displaying new material. Take a look at

Funny Requests from Patrons

from the group Librarians who LibraryThing. Among the usual items are some real gems. You can search my library from my blog homepage.