Sunday, June 15, 2014

Thing 23. Evaluate 23 Mobile Things

http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/23-evaluate-23-mobile-things/


Wow! What a ride it has been! This is one of the most interesting and helpful 'classes' I have taken in a long time!

As helpful as 23 Things on A Stick was several years ago in introducing me to Facebook, Flickr, Del.ici.ous and others, this has been even more helpful in teaching me about apps for mobile devices.

It's amazing to think we knew we were cutting edge then, when this seems even moreso. I had a working knowledge and experience with many of those sites before my much-cooler-than-I teens were!
Am I ramped up in my coolness factor again? I'll have to test the app-ability of my now-young-adults!

What 23 things will we learn in another five years? One can only speculate.

I'd like to thank those of you who went to all the effort and hard work to put this together for us librarians. We have busy work lives. Budget cuts have made them even busier. Yet, we still strive to keep ahead of the learning curve so we can help our patrons to the best of our abilities. You folks have made this easier for me, and I appreciate it.

We have patrons who use the Overdrive app, which tells me we have patrons who have mobile devices. That knowledge makes me realize that I can now add apps to the repertoire of offerings I give to our patrons for research, learning, and entertainment purposes. Thank you for equipping me to do my job better! :)

Au revoir, until the next 23 Things...


Thing 22: Discovering Apps

http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/22-discovering-apps/

Who knew there were apps that enable you to find apps?


I am anxious to try Quixey, the app search engine a sort of catalogue of apps,



but what I focused on for this Thing was:


Apps Gone Free. This is an Apple only app that daily gives a list of apps that were paid, but are now free for a limited time, or just for the day. I have used this app for a week now, and find its offerings useful. Being Scottish, I love saving money, so this is a great app for me!

Also, while it is not at all an app search engine, I still found that I was discovering new apps each day, so it is a good way to find them, a few at a time.

Thing 21. Free-For-All

In this entry we were encouraged to showcase one of our favourite apps.
I do a lot of Bible reading and study, and I had to share the app I use the most.

The ESV Bible App sits right on the dock of my iPhone with the three other apps (phone, Safari, and messages) that can fit there. It is no reflection of what kind of person I am, but it IS a reflection of how important this app is to me, and how accessible I need it to be. I find myself waking up at night, and clicking on this one, reading a few verses of the Bible, then drifting off to sleep. If I were able to also infuse my veins with tea at the same time, it would be a perfect world... :)

Crossway, who produces this app, also has an ESV Study Bible app which is great for that purpose. Both apps connect with their online services, where they keep track of the verses you've highlighted and favourited, as well as notes you've written. This is extremely useful in the unfortunate event of losing your app, which happened to me once!

Another Bible app I really enjoy is BLB or Blue Letter Bible. This one, shown here for iPhone, has most bible translations, a built in concordance, commentaries, etc. It really is a powerful and useful tool. It, too, has a robust website attached to it.

Thing 20. Games

http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/20-games/

When I saw this Thing, I was sure they would encourage us to try Angry Birds, so I was surprised to find it missing. I have not tried it yet, as I am afraid of the addictive factor my friends have fallen prey to, but I imagine it's not on the last as they assumed everyone had tried it.

What I did find, and really enjoy, is Word Abacus. Like most games, this one starts out easy, and progressively gets harder with more and more obstacles and time limitations added per level. As a writer, I find this sort of game helps me with my writing and thinking skills.

Another word-oriented game I really enjoy is W.E.L.D.E.R.

Thing 19. Hobbies

http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/19-hobbies/

For this one, none of my hobby interests match the apps offered, so I went off exploring on my own. I have several hobbies, a new one being sewing, but of enduring interest to me my entire life has been the enjoyment of tea.
So, I downloaded a couple of free tea apps. Nearly every app offered had a company behind it, so of course their teas were promoted. Of these, I chose Dilmah Tea. This app has a Tea Sommelier which helps you choose the right kind of tea to serve at any meal. It also has a brewing guide and a timer.
I thought I knew almost all there is to know about tea, but no...there is plenty more to learn, and this app is going to be a great learning tool for me!
I also downloaded the Teavana Perfect Tea Touch app, which seems similar to Dilmah Tea. I will be comparing the two over the next few days to see which I like better. They both have gorgeous graphics, and both send you over to their websites where you can purchase the tea.

While I was searching, I also found a couple of paid apps that I would like to try. Mr. Tea HD is $1.99, but it looks well worth it for someone like me who is crazy about tea!

Thing 18. Education

http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/18-education/

Again, this was another entry with hours and hours worth of fun and interesting apps!


GoogleEarth was a great one. When I get homesick for the Yukon, I can just zoom over there right on my iPad!



Khan Academy was also a very interesting app. I can't believe all of the education available for free on this app!







TED talks have been of interest to me lately, so it was the perfect time to download and explore this app. I will be sharing this with the young adults in my library!

Thing 17. Connecting to Community

http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/17-connecting-to-community/

This was one of my favourite Things to explore. There are so many interesting apps showcasing our wonderful state and its offerings!

 I have used the MN511 app several times to check out road conditions before I venture out. I have also used the Mayo Clinic Patient app, which I find incredibly useful (I have used their website to direct patrons to find reliable information about their health conditions.)

The MN Museums app was of particular interest to me. I did not even realize we have over 500 museums in this state!




And, I can already see myself guiding my patrons (and myself) to the

UpNorthExplorer,





Minnesota State Fair, and





ExploreMinnesota apps.


Thank you for all the great ideas!

Thing 16. Audio



I chose to explore Sound Cloud. It is an amazing way to listen to amateur and professional audio and music from around the world. Of course, I was happy to find that my favourite preachers are also on here via podcast. It's another great way to get my audio content, and it's improving every day! What a way to connect with the whole world! 

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Thing 15. Infographics

http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/15-infographics/

One of my favourite blogs, Challies.com showcases a lot of good infographics. I am a visual person, so I find these very helpful and fascinating. These ones have a Christian theme and often describe a book of the Bible, or a biography about a famous preacher.
I was pleased to see that 23Mobile Things MN offered an app, i Visual Info Touch Lite, which enabled me to make my own infographic easily and quickly. This would be a lot of fun to use in the library for signs, or for passive programming.
Both Info.graphics, and Infographics Hub apple apps were for iPads only, so I was unable to download them onto my iPhone. They worked fine on my iPad.
Info.graphics was fun to look through, and since my son is getting married in about a month, I found a wedding infographic helpful (I tried to copy and paste it into here, but I could not get it to stay.)





Thing 14. Video


http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/14-videos/

I like the idea of what Vine presents: 6 seconds of video. I think this would be fun to post quick things on Facebook or Twitter.
However, Viddy is a better option for us at our library, I think, since it allows one to creaate 30 second videos. I recently had a meeting with my community's mayor, and she asked that the library put some public service announcements on our local cable station. Once I become more proficient at it, Viddy will be the perfect solution for that.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Thing 13. Presentations

http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/13-presentations/

I am excited about the options in this one! I was not aware of any of these presentation apps, so I feel like a child in a candy store! I can see these being useful for team meetings, training, presentations at schools and at City Hall, etc.
deck presentation Deck Slideshow doesn't require any design skills. While I sometimes spend an inordinate amount of time making things look pretty, or centered, or 'just so', I can see this helping me to simplify my presentations. Just plug in the information, and let this app do the work! I'm sure I'll still be tweaking it... ;)
Haiku DeckHaiku Deck is the one I will probably be using the most. While there is a need for presentations, etc., in a small all-purpose public library like mine, we all wear several hats, and there is no time to spend on just one thing. However, I still want a high quality presentation, so Haiku Deck will be just the thing for that!
This really is an amazing app. I could not believe the number of options of fonts, layouts, photos, etc. it gives you to use. I make a short presentation in under 10 minutes! I especially love the phrase "Patience Grasshopper. This page is still loading..."!
Good job, folks!

Thing 12: Books, Books, & More Books

http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/12-books-books-more-books/

YALSATeenBookFinderlogo I like this app! You can search by title, author, genre, year, award, or booklist. You can also favorite books, so you can make your own list of favorites. This is just what I have been looking for to help me recommend books to teens, especially since I don't personally read many books in this category.

freebooksicon FREE BOOKS: I downloaded this app for free onto my iPad, but they were charging $.99 for it for the iPhone! Aside from this glitch, I really enjoy this app! While I will always prefer the tactility and stability of a paper book, I do read ebooks, and will really enjoy the access to so many free ones that this app provides! This is one I will share with my patrons, as well.

Thing 11. Library & Reference

http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/11-library-reference/

I have taken a class about all the offerings of the Electronic Library of Minnesota , and it is a great resource! I have used and promoted it for years. Kudos, ELM folks! :)

My library system, Great River Regional Library, does not have a mobile app, but we do use the Overdrive app that allows patrons to check out ebooks and audiobooks from our library for free. I have used that app on occasion, and I do love it!
Even though GRRL does not have a mobile app, I find I am easily able to navigate their website on my iPhone as well as my iPad.

Thing 10. Sharing Photos

http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/10-sharing-photos/

The two apps profiled for this 'thing' were Instragram and Snapchat.

Instagram logo I have an Instagram app, which I mostly use to follow my daughter's photographic journey through life. It really is a straightforward, easy to use app, and I enjoy it. I can see this will be helpful for taking photos of library events.

Snapchat logo I dowloaded Snapchat on my iPad and checked it out, but it's transitory nature makes me wonder if there is a real use for it in the library world right now. Perhaps it would be useful if I wanted to send a quick photo of an event or idea to my supervisors or coworkers who also have Snapchat accounts.

Thing 9. Taking & Editing Photos

 http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/9-taking-editing-photos/

Wow, I had no idea there were so many cool apps to help with photo taking!


First, there is  CamMe
CamMe, which "allows you to set your device down and just wave at it to take a picture. You can be in a group or by yourself but taking the picture is as easy as a wave." What a cool app! This is one I will be sharing with my husband, who has perfected the art of setting up the camera then running into position during group photos. I had some difficulty with getting the hand wave to work after the first couple of photos, but I'm sure it just takes time and practice.

line camera Line Camera would be a great tool in the library if we had more time to make our own flyers, etc. in our small library,
color splurge Color splurge is one of my new favs. I always wondered how people manipulated the colors of their photos!

Thing 8. Social Media Management Tools

http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/8-social-media/

 LinkedIn logo I recently opened a new LinkedIn account, and mashable.com's "The Beginner's Guide to LinkedIn" helped me learn more about it. I did not realize it is "the world's largest professional network on the internet" with 225 million members in over 200 countries. I have been building my number of connections (they recommend having at least 50 connections), and have joined a couple of library related groups.
 Twitter_logo_blueTwitter and
FB logo Facebook were already mentioned, but as I am a regular user of both of these, I did not explore them. I especially like twitter for following news services, etc.

getglue I had never heard of the tvtag app., and I want to try it. I think that will be helpful when helping patrons who have more media-related questions and requests.

Thing 7. Content Saving & Sharing




http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/7-content-saving-sharing/
Pinterest iconFor this 'thing' I worked with Pinterest. I have used Pinterest in the past, but not to its full extent. I have found it to be overwhelming, but I think it's because I have not previously spent enough time to really explore what it can do. I can't recommend it enough for the fabulous ideas I find on there for book display ideas, craft ideas, etc. Of course, a website is only as good as the people who add content to it, and thankfully Pinterest has taken off, and is full of great ideas! My next plan is to look for photos of how other libraries organize their spaces--ours needs a bit of a facelift!