One of the great things about doing hands on workshops is that there is always someone there to push you learn something you didn’t know! Or someone there to tell you something you didn’t know. Now, some instructors may not like that - but I’m all for it!
On Tuesday, Tim Siftar of [...]

As I mentioned earlier, I gave a Tech Topics session last night for the Philadelphia SLA Chapter. Well, a few hours before I left work for Philadelphia, I got an email informing me that Google had added presentations to their office suite.
I have tried to use some other collaborative presentation suites and always ended [...]

Google Books now has a My Library function where you can search Google Books and put items in your own library. You can also share your library link (here’s mine)
Your library has a public URL you can share with other people and even a feed. You can also write reviews, rate the books or [...]

Last night I gave a talk on the value of the content management system (CMS) at the Princeton Public Library. Most of it was live demos of Drupal, Joomla and the Jenkins Law Library intranet (a homegrown CMS), but I also had a few intro slides that are now on my Publications & Presentations [...]

I just read about this beta site via Sites & Soundbytes. The tagline for CampusExplorer is “School Search Made Smart” and I totally agree. I have been trying to help my husband find a master’s program near our new home for special ed. Most sites just let you search by state - but [...]

I saw this new tab earlier but just ignored it (who needs another “my” tool?), but then I read what it was all about on Lifehacker and had to share.
To add multiple layers of data points to your maps - like information about real estate prices, weather, earthquakes and movie showtimes - from the “My [...]

Awesome! Alice posts about WorldCat Lists.
Lists are a way for you to group library-owned items you have found while using WorldCat. Lists let you keep track of items of interest and refer back to them whenever you want to. You can share your lists with friends and colleagues, too.

Here are some existing lists. I [...]

How did I miss this? I got an email today from Carol Connell Cannon, director of the Lee Memorial Library in NJ and fellow Juniata College Alum. She points me to the fact that you can cite titles you find in WorldCat in (what I assume is) every format. Very handy!!
I usually use [...]

I was listening to the most recent Library Geeks Podcast yesterday and wanted to share one thing that I learned (I learned a lot - but I want you to go and listen to what Gary Price has to say).

I learned about Ask City, a map search by Ask.com. This is not just another map [...]

Via VentureBeat:
Did you know our primitive brains weren't wired very well to read this paragraph?
Scientific research conducted by Walker Reading Technologies, a small Minnesota startup that has been studying our ability to read for the last ten years, has concluded that the natural field of focus for our eyes is circular, so our eyes view [...]

If you haven’t already figured it out (based on other posts) - I love StumbleUpon! Today I read that eBay wants to buy this awesome tool - but why??
Stan Schroeder at franticindustries reports:
What is eBay going to do with it, it's hard to say; it's not exactly the most logical acquisition ever, [...]

A little over a month ago I posted that I saw no purpose to Twitter … I was wrong. I don’t really have a day to day need to post what I’m doing, but while at Computers in Libraries I signed up because everyone around me was communicating and I felt left out.
David Lee [...]

Via The Stingy Scholar:
Zamzar is a free online file conversion tool that allows you to convert Document, Image, Music and Video Formats without having to download any software.
Sounds handy - so I went and looked at what types of files I could convert - it’s long list! Check it out - and bookmark this [...]

I just read about IMified over at SolutionWatch.
From IMified:
Imified is an instant messenger buddy that works accross all major IM networks and offers access to a growing number of web applications, as well as productivity tools like notes, reminders, and todo’s. Imified helps you get things done faster.
From SolutionWatch:
Looking for an easy way to [...]

Today I sent myself a word document via email only to see a new option in Gmail. You can now open *.doc files as Google documents.

Pretty neat.

I was stumbling this morning and came across Plaxo. The site says:
Plaxo Basic is Plaxo's core service and is free to everyone who joins. You update your info, your friends update theirs, and everyone stays in touch! Download any of the toolbars below to access a single up-to-date address book across all of the [...]

Judith points us to a very handy portal just for librarians. The Internet Library for Librarians provides a:
list of library-related electronic lists and newsgroups devoted to cataloging. There is a list of products for privacy protection and online security. The Librarian's Toolbox links to things like Label Maker, ShelveIt!, Link Checker, Internet Library for [...]

I have used a few of the real estate estimate sites (Zillow and Reply) and found that they gave very high estimates for my house. I usually base my house’s value on what others in the neighborhood are sellilng for (and then add a bit since I have a newly finished basement and custom [...]

I just read about PCNames on Sites & Soundbytes.
This is exactly what domain searching should have been all along! PCNames lets you start typing in the domain name you are interested in and will immediately tell you whether it is available or taken. If you click on More Tools, you can also take [...]

This is a “just for the fun of it” site. Once again a tool I found on Lifehacker - PhoneSpell!
Enter a 6 to 10 digit phone number and we’ll show you what words and phrases your phone number spells
My phone number is pretty useless as words - the best combo it came up with [...]

Just in time for me (I start classes on Monday) - Lifehacker has a list of Back to School essentials:

Teach yourself speed-reading with Spreeder
Reduce stress and excel at school
Essential Mac software for college
Essential, open source Windows software for college
6 ways to find reusable media
Find cheap textbooks
Money tips for college students
Avoid the Freshman 15
Best music for [...]

Another great tip from Lifehacker - subscribe to Mozilla’s Add-ons RSS feeds to be the first to learn about new extensions for Firefox, Thunderbird and Mozilla.

Stephen Abram has a list of Book Recommendation Engines and he’s looking for any more you might know about. His list has 19 sites - most of which I’ve tried at one time or another - but there are a few I’m off to give a whirl.

I just don’t get it! Why would I want to download movies to my computer when my TV is bigger and my couch is more comfy than my desk chair?
Earlier this month Dan Giancaterino at Jenkins wrote (in a post that made me giggle) about Amazon’s Video download service. He quotes:
Amazon [...]

Sometimes I find myself taking a screenshot and cropping the image just to find out how much space I have to work with - this is just silly! Download Squad has just pointed me to a new resource - Pixel Ruler.
Know the exact size and position of any element with this screen ruler. Pixel [...]