Thing 5

This one was tricky to set up. Even though all staff computers have iTunes, I couldn't figure out how to get the audiobook into iTunes. (OverDrive says it can be done, but I'm not sure how.) So I had to ask Vince to download the OverDrive media console to all staff computers. If people have trouble, I hope they ask for help, because this one can be tricky.

The good news is, the Friends agreed to pay for the first year of an OverDrive subscription for our patrons! YAY!


Jeannie

Thing 4

I must admit, I am not a big fan of PBwiki, because when you really get into editing a document, it is tricky to make formatting changes. But for easy collaboration, it's the best wiki tool I've seen.

I'm glad so many people seem to like this. We can use it more for staff collaboration. People seem to have lots of great ideas!

Jeannie

Thing 3

For Online Applications, we are using Google Docs to track everyone's progress in TechPlay. Yes, I confess, we are actually reading your blogs! Each of the committee members is following the blogs of 5-6 staff members. Then we have a Google docs spreadsheet where we make note when each "Thing" is completed. It's working out pretty well. I'm even able to check it from home, where I'm working today.

Jeannie

Thing 2

Those of us on the TechPlay committee are each responsible for following the blogs of 5-6 staff members. So this week, I tried adding those blogs to my Google Reader.

I must admit, it wasn't as intuitive as I would have liked. Google Reader kept freezing up on me. I did eventually get it to work. I have used other blog readers, such as Bloglines, which I found a little easier to use.

Right now what I'm using is Netvibes. It's what's called a "Start Page." It works like an RSS reader, but also allows you to put other "widgets onto the page. The idea is that you would put everything you use all on one personal home page. My Yahoo is a similar idea, as is iGoogle. Netvibes is really fun to play with. On my start page, I've got some blogs, a Google search box, a Mapquest search box, a Weather Channel widget that shows the current local weather, and some Flickr photos. If anyone wants to see mine, let me know!

Thing 1

This is our first week of TechPlay, and I want to play along with everyone else. Even though I've already set up a blog (the TechPlay blog was my first!), it was interesting to see the other blogs that Noel & Debbie suggested.