Post #8: Social Media Management Tools - Friendcaster

This was the hardest blog for me so far.  The task of linking social management tools together is not a concept I am interested in.  I have a few accounts, like Facebook and LinkedIn, but I don't particularly want to link them together using one app because, to me, they are completely separate - one is for my personal life and one is for my work (career) life.  I decided to try Friendcaster, so I could focus on Facebook without having to link it to anything else.  I downloaded the app and I actually didn't find it very useful or engaging.  It's good for people who like to check Facebook on their mobile devices, but it doesn't do very much that a person couldn't do on a personal computer or laptop.  It displays friends' posts in cascading order and has a sidebar where the user can click on all of the different "pages" from their Facebook account, but it adds nothing new or interesting.  Also, the app runs annoying ads on the bottom of the page which attempt to get the user to click on surveys, paid games and other advertisements.  The only useful application for a library that I can think of is this app could be installed on a librarian's mobile device and used for showing patrons the library's Facebook page, as well as the links to library services.  Otherwise, its only good for those who use their mobile devices to interact with their Facebook accounts.

Post #14: Videos - Viddy

Viddy is a program that enables the user to record brief videos and share them with others via Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites.  Videos are easy to record and share because of the easy links.  Accessing recorded videos on the ipad is a bit more difficult, but overall the app works well.  This app would be useful for making and posting short videos of people doing testimonials for a library's services or for providing people with a tour of each part of the library.  In the classroom, ipads could be used to record student presentations (or at least small parts or snippets) to help students become better presenters.  The length of the videos is short, so it is limiting.  Another use would be in the English learner classrooms, where students often need to work on developing their reading and speaking skills. With this this app, students could record each other reading or speaking and then play them back to make improvements.  All-in-all, there are uses for this app, but it is very limited and would never take the place of other video programs with more features and options.

Post #13: Presentations - Deck Slideshow Presentations

Deck Slideshow Presentations is an app that allows users to easily create a slideshow of information without having to work on the design aspect themselves.  It provides easy-to-type boxes for the user to insert text and then presents the information in an attractive way.  It has many different slide layouts/designs to choose from, but many don't seem very professional and most cost extra to purchase.  I have used several different types of programs to present information - Power Point, Google, Projeqt and others - and I like them all better than Deck Slideshow because there are more tools and choices for how best to present the information.  This would be a useful app for someone who is just learning how to present on a computer or other electronic device.  It would also be useful in a classroom if a teacher wanted students to focus on presenting information instead of the different "bells and whistles" of other presentation programs.  The app is simple and easy-to-use and the creations can be exported.  A third use would be for people who are traveling and want to work on presentations while moving around - focusing on content instead of layout.  Personally, I don't think I would ever use this app - I actually like to include some creativity in the presentations I make - so this app actually takes some of the fun out of it.

Post #12: Books, Books and More Books - Free Books

For this "thing," I downloaded the "Free Books" app for the ipad - after all, how can someone pass up access to free books?  The first thing this app did when I opened it, was to present me with a summary of all the new features that have been added recently.  Users are able to highlight text or add notes, as well as look up words in a dictionary post.  There are also more options for "connectivity" - sharing with friends and using an "idea forum," where users can vote on ideas submitted by others.  Also added is  a "Modern Books" collection that includes works that are not in the public domain.  The app is user-friendly and while it doesn't have a lot of features, those that it does have are pretty cool.

I perused the selection of books to see what the app had to offer.  Since I like to read paper books instead of using an electronic device, I wanted to see if the selection would warrant using an electronic reader for the first time.  I clicked the "Modern Books" tab first.  There is an interesting selection, including works by Kurt Vonnegut and treatises published by the European Union.  After examining the titles, one possible use for this app would be for high school or college social science and English courses - the titles are free and there are a plethora of scholarly works that include research on many topics.  It would also be perfect for a course teaching "classic" literature, since many titles can be accessed for free with the app.  The fact there are tools for highlighting, note-taking and organizing books and notes make this a very valuable app for students or teachers.  Clearly the fact that many of the works included are from before 1923 is a drawback, but the user knows exactly what they are getting with the app.  This is a valuable resource for primary sources and classic novels, especially if users are on a budget of some kind - unlikely if they own an ipad or iphone, but possible.

Post #11: Library and Reference - The Hennepoin County Library App

I downloaded the Hennepin County Library App for ipad today.  Since I often use the library to look for and check out books, I used the search feature first.  I checked to see what titles the library had by famous science fiction author Philip K. Dick - the library had many titles, which could be clicked on and reserved.  I couldn't find a way, however, to find the bibliographic information of the books, which seemed very odd.  It was hard to believe that information couldn't be accessed using the app, especially since this information was readily available for new and upcoming titles. 

The "Events and Classes" tab was much more helpful and user-friendly.  Users can search "events by library," "events by type," "events today," or "events by audience."  The individual entries for events have dates and times along with descriptions.  It's important to have these easily readable for people "on-the-go" so people can see what is going on at their local library when they are "out and about."  This may increase traffic into the library since people may decide to stop at some events if they are already driving around.

The other features all seem to work nicely on an ipad or phone.  eBooks and eAudiobooks can easily be downloaded on the device and there is a BookLook feature that allows the user to scan the barcode of a book to see if the Hennepin County Library owns a copy.  This is a useful feature if the user is in a store and finds a book they think would be interesting - if the library has the book, they could check it out instead of buying it.  The options to also follow the Hennepin County Library by Facebook or Twitter are also a handy way of keeping tabs on what is going on at the library without going to the website to check.  All-in-all, this app is pretty useful for ipad users.