Twitter

Twitter is about posting or sending short messages. Twitter is great way to gather information in a brief format. We live in a fast paced world where we do not always have time to sit and watch the news for an hour. Plus, the information would be available immediately rather than having to wait for the news hour. In other words, we are able to check Twitter on our cell phones.
Technology is changing rapidly and Twitter is a great way to access information that we are interested in. I signed up for Twitter and became a follower of Dr Oz which provided links to health information that I am interested in. I can see why Twitter is a online phenomenon.

http://twitter.com/

Library Thing

Library Thing is set up in a easy to use logical format with several tabs including search. The search consists of Works (Title/Author/ISBN), Authors, Tags, but it does not allow for searching for a Title and an Author. I searched for the book The Shift by Wayne Dyer. The title search provided 95 results which I tried to sort by author and then by title and I finally found The Shift. I also tired to search by Author and this search provided 27 matching Wayne Dyer, but only lists as combine/separate works and there is no books listed until you click on individually on the author's name. The Shift is a new book so it was listed under the first listing of the author. There were no reviews of this book listed plus there were no recommended reading by the members or LibraryThing.

This site is easy to navigate, but there seems to be several steps required to locate the book's information.

http://www.librarything.com/

Online Productivity Tools

I took a tour of Google docs, so I decided to create a document using Google docs. I typed a short note, then I inserted a table and uploaded a picture. I continued to type more information after the picture. I did not know how to save the document so I decided to print the document, but before I could print, I had to choose between opening or saving the doc. I opted to open the document and print it. The complete document was not printed - the information at the bottom of the page was lost somewhere. Who knows where! The only way I could find the document was by going to Adobe Reader and it was saved on the C drive. I thought that the document was to be password protected and being on the C drive it is not protected as far as I know. Now I am unable to delete the file from the public computer C drive. It is not that important because there is nothing in the document that is personal or confidential. I would still like to be able to know how to delete it.

After my short experience with Google docs, I have decided to stick with the traditional Microsoft Office which I have on my computer. Maybe with more refinement Google docs will be a good option. As part of my tour of Google docs, I read about known problems for Google doc products so I know that I am not the only one having these problems. It is good to know from personal experience that there are a few problems and because of this I am less likely to recommend the Google doc products at this time.

http://www.google.com/google-d-s/intl/en/tour1.html

Flickr & YouTube

I checked Flickr and I found a variety of photos from Scotland and Saskatchewan including from specific town in both places. It is quite easy to use after taking the tour. I did not sign up for Flickr because I don't have time, to use this site at this time.
YouTube has many videos to watch, but the video "Who Do You Think You Are?" which I wanted to watch was not available. Both Flickr and YouTube are user friendly.

http://www.flickr.com/

RSS

I successfully set up a RSS feed for a website that I check about once a week - Genealogy.about.com. RSS has the potential to be convenient if you have several sites that you check on regularly, but I don't check that many different sites regularly.

http://www.rss.com/

Google

Google is a great search engine and provides a spelling aid for us. I love Google maps because it provides us with directions when we need to know how to get to a specific location. This is good when we are in unknown territory, but the directions provided are not necessarily the most direct or up to date. I have recommended google maps to several people.
A friend recommended vpike.com which uses google maps/earth and shows the street view of houses and businesses. It maybe similar to google earth, but I like it because it gives me the opportunity to view places in far off locations. I do family history research and it is neat to see where my ancestors once lived. It does not always zoom into the absolute correct address, but at least it gives me an idea of what the houses on the street look like.
I tried to access Google Earth, but it is not available on CPL's computers and I was not allowed to download Google Earth so I was unable to view it.
I checked Google docs, specifically Template Gallery which contains thousands of templates including: research paper, resumes, service invoices, personal monthly planner to name a few. This is a great resource for people who do not have "Microsoft Office" on their computer.
In addition, one of the labs that is currently listed is "Aardvark" where we will be able to "Ask a question and I'll find someone to answer." This site has the potential to be very helpful.
http://earth.google.com/
http://www.vpike.com/

Facebook

Facebook is both useful and a time-waster. It is a great way to keep in touch with friends and relatives who live across town, across the country, as well as, in other countries. Facebook's applications can be a great time waster. I know people who spend a great deal of time playing the various applications or games which can be very time consuming or a time waster.

http://www.facebook.com/

Wikepedia

I have a few areas of interest, so I checked information about flying aircrafts, but I did not find any thing that I could change. Then I checked information on family history, but nothing that I knew about needed changed. Finally, I decided to check the information about Aspergillus fumigatus, a fungus that is a pathogen. I used to work in microbiology so I found a simple mistake. Aspergillus is the Genus and fumigatus is the species. They had Aspergillus as the Genus, they had A. fumigatus as the species which is incorrect because fumigatus is the species. A. fumigatus is an acceptible abreviation for Aspergillus fumigatus. I changed the species to fumigatus (removed A.). The error was factual.

Co-workers Blogs

It is interesting to see what other people have done with their blogs.

Delicious CPL's Best Websites

The Delicious "Best Websites" is totally different from CPL's old "Best Websites". The Delicious website is very busy and a little intimidating when you first look at the site. BUT now that I have had the opportunity to work with this site, it is more manageable. I am definitely more comfortable with the new "Best Websites."
My tip is from the History and Genealogy tag which has bookmark for Intute under the History sub tag. Intute is a great website which lists a variety of subjects including Psychology (another of my favorite subjects). It was through this website that I accessed the BrainBlogger blog which I have mentioned in a previous post on my blog.

http://delicious.com/CALGARYPUBLICLIBRARYFAVORITES

I hope to learn about the internet diverse program like YouTube and LibraryThing. Last fall, I took a workshop at Village Square Library about Facebook which was very helpful. My younger co-workers have been very helpful when I needs some help with Facebook.
I am a genealogy addict so I love learning about new (at least new to me) internet options.

Blogs

I have created a blog for the first time. It took less time than I thought it would.
I checked out two blogs
- one blog was created by a former co-worker on Word Press. She writes about the books on her book shelf that she has not read yet and why she has not read them until now.
- the other blog was Brainblogger which is specifically about the brain and the blogs that I read were about a young boy with a brain abnormality and how half of his brain was surgically removed.

http://brainblogger.com/