Thing 19: Catch up week on integrating 'things'

So far, so good....

Blogs - as well as updating my own for 23Things I have been busy reading other peoples' blogs using the Google Reader widget on iGoogle. I need to be brave and start blogging about non-23Things stuff.

Twitter - still using this to keep up to date with library news. Have been following some of the #savelibraries stuff. Had one tweet retweeted to about 800 people! I remain selective about who I follow as I use this for professional and some personal stuff (although the personal friends are also librarians).

iGoogle - using this at work to read personal email (don't tell anyone!) and use iGoogle to read library-related blogs. Has made keeping up to date with new blog posts much easier and is starting to become a useful daily habit.

Evernote - really like this. Have access at home and work but use it mainly for 'notes to self'' so that I can transfer them between the two locations. Beats using flimsy post-it notes. Proving very useful in terms of compiling a Xmas list! Introduced my Dad to Evernote who is using it as a diary with pictures and voice notes - puts my use of Evernote to shame.

Screen capture tools - I continue to experiment with these. I've been using Screenr for a while but I'm trying out Jing to see how it compares.

Prezi - ouch! Still working on this one but it hurts my head. I think I'm too linear in my outlook and I'm finding it difficult to design or follow the freestyle route that Prezi allows. I need more time and thought to get to grips with this one. Looks like a great tool and exciting alternative to PowerPoint but I haven't quite got it yet.

Thing 18: Jing, screen capture and podcasts.

I've previously used Screenr to do screen capture at work and so far it's worked well particularly as it was easily accessible at home and work - no need to download anything. However I was interested to see what Jing had to offer. The act of making a screen capture video via Jing was much the same as with Screenr - 5 mins recording time, adjust the recording area to cover the bit of the screen you want, pause/stop etc buttons. Alas when recording a video, Jing seemed to make the screen a bit shaky and slow.

Jing offered the option to take an image (screenshot) and add a caption. I particularly liked this feature because it's a good way to capture 'quirks' on the online library system. I captured one of those troublesome Athens log in pages that plague some of the online databases ... bonus points for Jing. Of course you can do print screen and add a text box in Word etc but it seemed so much easier in Jing, at least it did until I wanted to link to it. To link to the image capture I had to use yet another website so instead I've just downloaded my image capture and I can send it to people on email.  I can see the plus points of Jing but it had a few too many annoying habits that make me reluctant to desert Screenr.

Now for podcasting. I had a go at recording a short podcast using the Audacity software. I simply read out a couple of paragraphs from a book and then was well and truly stumped when it came to editing the file. Suffice to say I simply have a little audio file of me reading aloud - which makes me cringe! I think I need to do some reading up about podcast creation before I have another go.  Previously I have listened to some library induction podcasts and the odd thing from tutors at work. I can see podcasts being a useful addition to audio PowerPoints, screencasts etc to help distance learners become familiar with library services - possibly as a way to do a questions and answers session - students pose the question and I give the answer via a podcast.

Using Screenr

I've been using Screenr this week to make screencasts of key databases for a group of students in Malaysia. I'd seen someone use it at LILAC 2011 for their presentation and thought it might be an alternative to Adobe Captivate. I don't like airplanes so there's no way I'm going to meet these students in person but I can still do some user education with them using this tool. It was easy to set up and fairly intuitive - thankfully I didn't need to download any software and could log in using my Twitter account. I had to think carefully about what aspects of the database I wanted to show as Screenr only gives you 5 minutes in which to do your screencast - I think this is good because it concentrates the mind and stops you waffling on and on. I also wrote myself a mini script for the audio to make sure I used plain language that they could all understand. The course tutor is going to let me know how they are received by the students and I've made sure that the students can add comments to the Screenr page.

It was excruciating listening to myself talk over the slides - I understand why actors don't like to watch their own films - but I'm now comfortable with it and wouldn't hestitate to use it again.  I've got some plans to use it with other courses - not necessarily distance learning courses - in order to back up some of the search hints and tips I talk about in my library lectures (I should say 'talks' really but the academics advertise them as lectures and it makes me sound more important!).