Monday, March 24, 2014

Thing 8--Social Media Management Tools

I already use Facebook personally, so I explored Twitter.  I found it quite confusing, but it was good to search for some people and see how I'd follow their Tweets.  Hmmm...do I make Kim Kardashian or Pope Francis my priority...?  I don't see myself adding this to my list of email accounts, voicemail accounts, Facebook account, etc.  I can see its applications for celebrities who want to increase their profile/appeal, or for a job search.  But personally, I don't consider communications of 140 characters or less worth the time it would take to check another account.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Thing 11--Library & Reference

I looked at the ELM Mobile webpage and was initially intrigued by the "Find items on MN History" tab.  However, when I clicked on it, it would only list collections through the "B's."   Tried it on my desktop and it worked fine.  Lots of good resources!  Also checked out the Research Project Calculator.  Finally, I looked at the databases to see if the interfaces were similar on the iPad to the desktop. 

Finally, I checked out the DCL mobile app.  When I searched for an item, it did not list the number of holds, which is something that one can learn from our regular online catalog.  That, and a couple of other quirks, make me think that if I owned an iPad I would always use the full website for more detailed, reliable results.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Thing 7--Content Saving & Sharing

Downloaded and played with Pinterest--addictive!  I'm now guessing that the 30-somethings in my family will never use a recipe card again!  I think that this would be a good tool even if one doesn't have multiple devices, and an essential one if multiple devices ARE in your life.  Created some boards which will probably expand exponentially in future days.  Also looked at what some libraries are doing--loved Owatonna Public's RA postings.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Thing 6--Creating & Editing Docs

Used Quickoffice to open, create, and save a file.  Found the navigation rather confusing, probably in part because I'm not used to a mac interface--?

Monday, March 10, 2014

Thing 5--Notetaking

Looked at Remember the Milk and wasn't convinced it was an improvement over the list clipped to my datebook!  Springpad had some nice features but I don't think navigating thru it is at all intuitive.  Might be useful for recipes, though if I had a WiFi portable device I'd probably go to the recipe websites that I already know and love...

Thing 4--Keeping Up

Had no luck with downloading/using Zite, so tried Flipboard.  Much more user-friendly.  If I had a mobile device, this app might be something I'd use, though the articles on photography and travel that I looked at didn't seem real mainstream.  I'm probably more likely to look at something like National Geographic online for photography or local newspapers/NYT for current events.  I don't have a lot of confidence at this point in who chooses the site options for Flipboard or what their criteria is.  I'd have to have a whole lot more spare time than I currently do to "play" with Flipboard!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Thing 3--Utilities

Used Google Search. Goggles didn't recognize much on my desk!  It did, however, tell me more about every book I photographed.  And it did recognized a couple of logos that I tried.  Also tried the Books app--was pleased that it offered a number of options for purchasing books, including IndieBound.  And was very impressed that it found the nearest library location of a book I searched.

Also tried the Offers and Translations apps.