Thing 16 - Audio

This thing has been kind of fun.  Again, I didn't have as many choices for programs as was suggested.  I couldn't get either Audioboo or ipadio for my device, so I went with SoundCloud.  It had the same feature as the other app, allowing me to record and share as well as follow and listen to other people's sounds.  Soundcloud has mainly music, so my little radio-type announcement of a poetry contest may not be the typical sound cloud.  I just recorded a few lines of poetry about spring (T.S. Elliot, Robert Frost and William Carlos Williams) and then announced the contest.  I took a picture of some melting snow near my house and posted that as the image.  As with other things I did, I had trouble posting.  I tried to post to Tublr and my blog, but it sort of froze up my device.  I even tried turning it off and back on again, but I still get a "working on it" circle when I try to open my blog from my device.  I am posting this from my laptop, which I find much more efficient for typing.  I will keep trying to post the stuff I'm doing, but I guess you'll just have to take my word for it for now.  I'm not sure if it is slow wi-fi or what, but posting has been the most challenging task for me on these apps.

Thing 15 - Infographics

I downloaded Infographics Hub which seemed the only app that was compatible with my device.  Although it had many fun graphics to looks at, I'm not sure how I would use these.  I looked at one on Antibiotics and how their overuse is causing super resistant bugs.  The bugs looked like a cross between superman and an alien.  The poster was laid out well with different sections such as History, The First Signs, MRSA, and Trust Your Immune System.  I also looked at another one comparing health in 1950 vs. today.  Two sides, Then and Now with lifespan, dying, health costs etc. compared.  I can "share" the app on Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook.  I kind of hate to clutter up my personal Facebook account just trying out an app, so I just posted one of them on Twitter.  From Twitter it was a link, so the nice graphic has to be clicked on to be revealed.  Maybe I will try one on facebook to see if the graphic shows up on the page.  I thought maybe there would be some instruction on how to make an infographic--that might be useful for library education.

Thing 14 - Videos

I downloaded viddy and have found it to be very easy to use.  I took a very boring video of my daughter's dog--sleeping, but I was able to add music and spruce up the color to make it look more interesting.  I found a video on my machine that I had taken a month or so ago and I was able to make a "viddy" with it.  I find it to be fun.  I hope that I can make a short video that can be shown to classrooms about the summer reading program.  I tried to do one earlier this week, but the sound was not very good.  I think I need to have it be more visual--maybe I will do a puppet show.  Anyway, videos are like photos that can be posted on the website.  I like the idea of doing training videos to show people how to place holds or order ebooks.  I will try to attach the viddy that I made.  Well--I couldn't get it done--the most I managed was to post it to my Twitter Account (Katherine Morrow@ islelibrary).  I will try to post a thumbnail of the video from my tablet.

April Display

We are having a poetry writing contest at Mille Lacs Community Library this month.

Thing 13 Presentations

Thing 13 involves presentations.  I downloaded the deck app and was able to make a presentation regarding summer reading.  I found it a little frustrating to figure out how to get my titles typed in, so I was kind of surprised when it actually worked.  I was able to view my slide show in two different styles.  Both I found very appealing.  The only trouble was that it can't be easily exported to another application.  I would have liked to add it to my blog, but I didn't see a way to do it.  I can show someone my slideshow, but I can't email it to anyone unless they have the deck application to open it.  I am typing this information on my work computer, but I will try to save a copy of the image of the first slide and then copy it on to my blog from my device.

Thing 13 Presentation

Thing 12 Books Books, & More Books

Book apps are a natural for libraries.  I downloaded the istorybook app.  It had several children's stories.  The first two that I read were both about planting things.  One talked about the process of how the seed becomes a plant.  The other was about the different parts of the flower.  These books might be fun for children to look at--actually the stories were a little dull--but I couldn't really use the device for storytime.  The story of Helen Keller was very nice, but when I wanted to read Chicken Little, it said, "premium content" which means I would have to pay for that book.  I'm guessing that colorful, clever children's books may cost more than the dull didactic ones.
I also downloaded the Kindle app because I couldn't find "Free Books" at Google Play Store.  I found "This side of Paradise" on my device already--guess I must have downloaded it through amazon at one point.  When I shopped in the Kindle store to find another book, I saw many books that were similar to what I have bought from amazon and borrowed from Overdrive over the past year or so.  It is a little eerie when your device knows who you are right away and can recommend books that you would like.  I did search for classics for free from Kindle and I found a book called "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl." by Linda Brent. The ability to get classics immediately on a device might be a real game changer for libraries.  People will be able to obtain these books easily on their devices so the physical copy may not be used as often.  For many people, buying best sellers from amazon or barnes and noble is easier than going to the library.  Libraries may end up being for those of less means who are willing to wait for the best seller or for those who don't have these costly devices to obtain books upon.