Sites and Soundbytes

I am honored to be on a panel tomorrow for the UW-Madiso SLIS Centennial, my alma mater. We will be talking about the opportunities and pitfalls of library blogging.

It seems that every time I head out to speak, I have a new blog to announce. This time, I have two. One is a Menasha Public Library staff blog called Menasha Mail that all staff have the ability to post to and comment on. Thrillingly, there are several posts from different staff members on it and it is less than a week old. My staff at Menasha is amazing! They are embracing technology quickly and with a real will to see how it can better the library and our patrons.

The second blog is the Winnefox 2.0 blog. This is a blog for the Winnefox Library System to start talking about Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 and how we can work together to understand and learn about these new technologies and how they impact our libraries and patrons. Unlike the staff blog, this one hasn't taken off yet, but I hope it will. I tend to be the only person posting on a regular basis, but I am very proud of the quality of the content. To go along with the blog, the library system created an Emerging Technology Committee (ETC) as well as an email list. We plan to discuss technologies, meet a couple times a year, and present ideas to the general Winnefox members.

It is a very exciting time to be a library blogger, from blogs at all staff levels to niche blogs on a variety of subjects and finally to library websites based on blogs. Very cool things are happening!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have already revealed myself to be a muppet fan here on this blog. Now there is a wiki just for my type: Muppet Wiki. It has all sorts of information on Jim Henson and the Muppets. Categories include characters, performers, episode guides, the many shows and mvoies, merchandise, and books. More than enough to keep a muppet fan like me happy for some time.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Quilting Assistant is a site that offers free quilt patterns, including block and borders, calculators for fabric usage, reviews of products, and information on techniques, equipment and quilt types. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Widgipedia is a site filled with widgets (little programs that do handy little jobs and live happily on your desktop).  Best of all, you can rate widgets, or see how others have rated them, assign tags, and view the most popular widgets. 

A warning for parents:  do not ever, ever reveal to your nine-year-old son that widgets exist.  Bad, bad things will result and your desktop will never be the same again. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Fanpop is a network site that allows fans to make "spots" for other fans. It is a social site with channels that are dedicated to specific subjects. You can browse the channels, search by keyword, find the newest additions, and best of all browse the most popular links across the entire network.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WikiHow is a wiki that serves as a how-to manual that anyone can edit.  There are a wide range of topics that you can post about, the site has keyword search, or you can browse the spotlight and featured articles.  

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sizeasy is a site that lets helps you in visualizing the size of things.  Just add your own items first with their dimensions.  You name each item and the site will keep them so that you can compare other items to them.   Then you can choose what the item will be compared to: a deck of cards, $100 bill, wine bottle, credit card, or various sizes of paper.  

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wikitravel is a wiki that is a travel guide for travel around the world. You can read travel news, featured articles, find travel advice, and discover new places to travel to.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Your Countries is a site that offers a brief overview of all of the countries in the world.  Just click on the region you are interested in and then on the specific country.  You will find a picture of their flag, information on their history, geography, politics, economy, demographics, culture and climate.  This is a handy place to come to for basic information for reports and papers.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Free Movies Fallen out of Copyright is a site that lists and links to hundreds of films, documentaries, TV shows, educational films, cartoons, and music performances that are in the public domain.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Global Warming Art is a wiki filled with information on global warming and lots of images following topics like temperature, carbon dioxide, sea level, glaciers, and future predictions of change. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ALA has a very slick list of librarian jobs.  You can enter as either a job seeker or an employer.  Job seekers can search by keywords and limit by state.  They can also register and have their resume available for employers to view.   The JobList is a service of American Libraries and C&RL News.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Interesting in the music that is on the hottest music blogs? Then use Today's Blog Music, a service that lists the top music being posted about by blogs. There are RSS feeds that offer podcast links to the music as well as lists of the most popular music blogs.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service have a website: JetStream to help educate the general population about weather. Information on forecasting, atmosphere, ocean, global weather, storms, and much more.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 3:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Want to know what all the fuss is about with viral videos online? Then check out Viral Video Chart which tracks YouTube, MySpace and Google Video to create a top 25 list of the top videos online. You can subscribe to their RSS feed or by email.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ClipMarks is a fascinating site using so much Web 2.0 technology at one time that it is remarkable!  You can clip websites you like  (not just bookmarking but actually clipping the section you are most interested in), then the community rates the clippings so the best are listed, you can tag items, and people can comment.  I like the interface, which is fast moving and clear.  I also enjoy that you can read clips by their newness, number of pops (which are like Diggs), or by general category.  Very cool! 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Craft is the online version of Craft Magazine that features magazine content as well as a craft blog with events, news, and ideas galore.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hott Notes is a downloadable piece of software that lets you put virtual post-it notes on your desktop.  Much more neat and clean plus more easily changed than normal post-its.  I have used this service for awhile now and really like it.  If you are a post-it person, or love to have plenty of reminders and notes, try it out.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intute is a site from the UK that indexes recommended sites for education and research.   Links are split into categories such as Science and Technology, Arts and Humanities, Social Services, and Health and Life Sciences.  Subject specialists select and write descriptions of each site.  The site has over 100,000 sites. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AirlinePortal.org is a directory of air travel sites, including airlines, airports, travel, shopping, and aviation weather.  The directories are sorted alphabetically as well as by region and code. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 2:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AmigoFish is a site that lets you find podcasts and videocasts that you will be interested in.  Sign up for a free account and rate some shows and you will start getting a customized list of podcasts that are recommended for you. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 2:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now this is clever! If you have ever done research, you know that when you return to articles you have found or other web links that they are often broken or changed even a week later. Enter WebCite where you can archive cited pages, allowing you to bookmark or refer in a paper to the archived copy. Sweet!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

similicio.us is an interesting online service that lets you enter a URL and find related sites. Pretty slick.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kayak is a travel site that searches across hundreds of travel sites to find you the best choices for airfare, hotels, and cars.  This is a much easier way to go than to individually search the large travel sites.  If you register with the site for free, you will get email alerts and custom search results based on the way you search. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lastminute.com is a site that offers information on last minute travel deals.  Search for packages, air fares, hotels, vacations, activities and more.  You can also subscribe to their email newsletter covering the best deals.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

800-CEO-Read is a site that recommends books that CEOs should read.  They have both a website and a blog as well as RSS feeds for bestseller lists.  This is a great place to find new, hot and interesting books to read for business insights.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)