Eventful

I learned about Eventful through Webware 100's 2007 awards site. First, the good news... Eventful looks like an up and coming tool for people to learn about special events in their area. Also, it is a great way for non-profit organizations such as libraries to publicize their events. In addition, several organizations are using the site to publicize specific volunteer opportunities. On the negative side, the search function needs some tweaking. I was surprised to find that Eventful does not support search by zip code. You must match the city name exactly. I live in Broward County where there are 30+ cities in one county. I don't want to have to guess that a performance is going to take place in Sunrise or Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A proximity search by location would really help out here.

Update: Brian Dear from Eventful contacted me with some helpful information on how to use the proximity search in Eventful (See his comments). After taking a closer look at the web site, I recommend using the Advanced Search for conducting proximity searches.

Zoho

Zoho is an impressive attempt to provide a free on-line version of office productivity software. Presentation, spreadsheet, word processing, organizer, and even database software are all included. The first benefit is the cost savings. Tools such as Microsoft Office are quite expensive. Zoho costs nothing to use. Another plus is that your files are always with you, no matter which computer you are using. A big caveat here is that you must be connected to the internet.

Living in South Florida means this is a big caveat indeed for me. After Hurrican Wilma, I was without internet service for 3 weeks. Imagine what would have happened if I had depended on a service such as Zoho to store an important document I needed during that time. Zoho does offer an online feature, but you must install additional software on a computer and download the documents in order for this to work. This defeats the benefit of having access to your files anywhere.

For my purposes, I will shell out the bucks for Microsoft Office.

Wikis at the reference desk

The Library Success web site lists several wiki examples. I think that wikis are even more useful for libraries "behind the scenes" rather than for the public. For example, a wiki allows reference librarians working at different shifts (or even at different locations in library system) to share their current research findings. For example, a librarian working the Monday morning shift might find he's suddenly getting a flood of calls about a local news story in today's paper. That librarian can post some helpful research links about the story in the reference desk wiki. Then, other librarians working later in the day can quickly access those same resources, make comments, and add their own resources. A wiki allows for quick collaboration. In the reference world, several heads are clearly better than one.

Disney vacation plan search with Rollyo

The Rollyo web site allows a way for anyone to create and save a customized search of several web sites at once. This is a great way to consistently search only the web sites you wish, rather than searching the entire world wide web. Users have the option of sharing these saved search with others, so you can discover helpful search strategies that have already been created.

Unfortunately, Rollyo puts a lot of extra adds at the top and smack dab in the middle of search results. This makes for a busy and hard to read page.

I created a Rollyo for searching my favorite Disney Vacation Planning Sites.

Library Thing and Delicious Library (Apple computers only)

While Library Thing is a wonderful way to get book suggestions based on my current library, I cannot imagine using it without Delicious Library! (Important note: Apple computers only).

The amazing Delicious Library software allows you to scan the bar code on your books using your Mac's built in isight camera! No typing required! After scanning your entire collection, you can then export the list and even share it on the Library Thing web site. At $40, this is a no-brainer for any one with a sizeable book collection.

Unfortunately, Library Thing charges a $10 annual fee ($25 lifetime) for libraries greater than 200 books. That's why my library stops at 200 titles.

Here is my library on Library Thing.

Fun with Online Image Generators

There are a varitey of fun online image editors out there. Simply enter a few key phrases and an image will appear like magic. The image can be downloaded, printed, or emailed to others. The results can be a lot of fun. Here is my current favorite: Make your own "Dummies" book cover

Library 2.0

Reading about Library 2.0 on wikipedia seemed only appropriate as this web site embodies many of the characteristics of this concept. The article makes a good point that many people enjoy debating about the "newness" of Library 2.0. Some love to argue that these concepts are nothing new. I beg to differ. While involving customers in libraries may have been around since the 19th centutry, the emphasis on this and the web technologies to do so are certainly new.

Libraries must invite customer participation in order to survive and stay relevant. When selecting a book, how many of us have used the online user reviews on Amazon and then gone to our library's web site to procure the book? (My hand is currently raised high). Let's tear down the brick walls around our library web sites and let customers post their opinions of movies, books, etc. This would be a great first step in maintaining a place of relevancey in the online world.