#18 Video - Discover YouTube

The EKU University Ensemble from 1971.

While I was working on this lesson, Nicole emailed about EKU ResNet videos on You Tube. While searching for Eastern Kentucky University, I ran across this video, which is really cool. The videographer (for lack of a better term) set photos of the University Ensemble, which were scanned by us, to a digitized version of one of their songs. He/She did an excellent job and created a nice video showcasing photos that haven't been looked at for years.

The question that arises, for the archives especially, is copyright and use rules. Since images and use fees are a part of our revenue stream, where do we draw the line between fair use and substantial use fees for public display of numerous images. Should all our images be free and available to all who wish to use them?

But that wasn't the lesson, was it? The ResNet videos give us some idea of how You Tube can be used in an academic setting. I was thinking that some type of video highlighting some of the really cool items in our collections would be nice.

LB's Habitat House

Wow! I was totally amazed Saturday evening when I went by

the latest Habitat building site. Saturday morning at 8:00 there was nothing but a foundation and floor system that looked sort of like this photo, but not exactly because this is Minnie's floor, not LB's.

By 6:30 Saturday evening the outside was completely finished: siding, soffits, fascia trim, front porch (including railings) and roof completely shingled. The only things left are the side porch and electrical boxes. They also had the electric rough-in almost complete, the HVAC rough-in was complete and all the windows had been trimmed on the inside.

I was completely amazed. Eastside Baptist Church brought out all their builders and they went to work. That just goes to show how much difference it makes using professionals instead of volunteers like me that have to relearn every process each time they volunteer. A big 'O Yea" to Eastside.

#17: Processing Words on the Web

For this blog post I'm using Google Docs to compose the entry. It is:

• easy to use
• has all the basic word processing features most people would use
• best of all, it is free.

I'm playing as you can tell.

But Google Docs isn't without quirks. First, I opened a gmail attachment in GoogleDocs and got an error message after opening an account. When I did get in Google Docs the attachment was there and the Microsoft Word document had transferred perfectly. After that I opened a new document and created a blog post. The first problem I had was actually a logistic one. I am working on a different computer, since my laptop has been afflicted with the dreaded blinking cursor, and the image I wanted to insert is on my laptop. Not a major problem, I saved the file and will insert the image when I am back on my computer. Now if I had uploaded all my photos to Flickr this would not have been a problem.

The next document I opened actually caused Internet Explorer to close. But the next doc (this one) has worked well so far.

Granted the application is limited in the real fancy things it can do, but most users don't need or use the upper end features. I played around with the Presentation and Spreadsheet applications and really liked them also. I think next I will try to publish a presentation of photos to my blog and see how that works.

The export features are a strong point for the application. You have the option to export as html, Word, PDF, and other formats. Another strong point is the ability to share and see revisions. This would be a good thing for students working on group projects.

Some things I wish it would do include:

1. highlight spelling errors
2. have more fonts (but I am font crazy)
3. more control over line spacing. (Word Perfect which I use have wonderful line spacing)

Building on Faith House-Finishing Details

I haven't posted about the house in a while and since I spent my fall break working out there, this is the perfect time to update the progress. The finishing details are so meticulous and time consuming that it has been an act of faith to make myself go out there everyday. There aren't any photos, because you really can't see any progress at this point.

Most of the outside of the house is complete, except the stair handrails which will be fairly quick and gutters which they hire done. The plumbing is complete on the inside, most of the wall painting and trim work is done. The biggest jobs left on the inside is painting trim and doors, putting in closet shelves, medicine cabinets and towel racks. And cleaning.

The closing is set for next Friday and dedication for Saturday at noon. I'll try to post pictures of the finished house and dedication ceremony.

#16 Intro to Web-Based Applications

There are several applications that would benefit students, but the online 'office' packages would be especially useful. Since there are student computers all over campus, these applications would make it easy for students to grab the closest computer and work on papers or presentations without worrying about software. If there is an internet connection the paper is available.

The Zotero Firefox extension looks like it would be useful as well. I use Scrapbook (another Firefox extension) to save web pages to view when I don't have an internet connection available, but Scrapbook doesn't capture citation information or integrate with Word. Scrapbook will capture all links to a page down as many levels as you want to go, but that sometimes adds up to a huge number of page captures. If they would let you chose just the links you want to capture that would be more useful. There are many other Firefox extensions that may also be useful to students, including one that renders web pages as IE if they don't view properly in Firefox.

The "annotate the web" items could also be useful to students doing research papers. They can flag items they want to use, bookmark them in del.icio.us with a tag for the class they're writing the paper for and bingo, everything is easy to find when they start writing. Whay wasn't college this easy when I went?

Even the survey sites like Survey Monkey, Floorplanner and Google Sketchup could be useful for students in certain disciplines, but probably not across the student body like wikis, online 'office' packages and extensions.

#15 Get Your Hands Dirty in the Wiki Sandbox!

The first wiki I updated was the Blogging Libraries Wiki. I noticed that the Madison County Library wasn't listed under public libraries, so I added it. It felt really weird to be editing someone else's web content, but it was almost too easy. I didn't even have to log in or register.

If I could get Chuck on board, I could see using a wiki to work on a Best Practices for Digitization document. There is so much information already out there that this would be a place to bring it all together so we could discuss and work on our own document.

It would also work for any discussions the library will be having for an IR in the future. Or web page redesign. Or strategic planning. Or student work groups. Or...

Outside the library I have a web page I have been building for years. A wiki might be an easier way to compile the information on that web site. Allowing other users to add to the information would be a big plus. OK, I did it. In a matter of a few minutes I set up a wiki and transfered the web page to it and added even more links. I think I like this! No, I love it!

#14 Gettin' Wiki With It

The University of Minnesota Library staff wiki was really nice. I liked the idea of having all the travel information there, links to other campus web sites for employees and tons more information.

I had already come across the Biz Wiki and Lib Success wikis when looking for digitization best practices. Both of these and the UM site above have links to all things digital. Now to find time to work through all that information. The Blogging Libraries wiki was also helpful in finding library blogs.

I have also recently run across wikis used by other universities to compile subject guides for students. This could be a tool for our library, but del.icio.us can provide the same service. Also, any group working on an event or project could benefit from a wiki. An example would be the Web Advisory Group. Links to sites the committee likes could be posted, as well as various versions and test drives of the new site. Discussion and input from group members could also be added. Any group producing documents or discussing issues could also benefit.