Booktrailers

So by far booktrailers has been my favorite "thing" of all 23 things.  I had so much fun making my trailer, from picking my book, to deciding what text to use, to picking the pictures and music to putting it all together.  I found it surprisingly easy as well.  It was a little time consuming but that was just because I got a little bit picky. The text had to be the right font and color and size.  The music had to swell at a certain picture.  You get the idea.

So I leave you with my finished book trailer of The Fault in our Stars by John Green.  Enjoy!

Podcasting

I do not have much experience listening or viewing podcasts but I am familiar with them.  I'm just a visual person that I would be more likely to watch a video podcast than listen to an audio podcast.

I do know of some libraries who have created podcasts. The Greenwood Public Library for example lets teens record podcasts on whatever topic they are interested.  They have a page titled "Speak Your Mind" and teens can submit stories and poems but they can also email a librarian to set up a recording time for podcasts.  I remember a couple of years ago they actually had a "talk show" of sorts with teens from their Teen Advisory Board talk about and review books.

I googled: Young Adult books podcasts and found this site: http://yalitlovers.oklibshare.org
It is a blog that posts podcasts periodically.  It seems pretty up to date since the last entry was from May 11, 2012.  It was fun to listen to because it was just a bunch of librarians sitting around talking about books. I ended up adding this blog to my google reader so I can listen to new entries.

Webjunction

I have used Webjunction before.  I have taken a couple of classes on there.  I knew that I had a username and password but since I signed up about 4 years ago I had trouble remembering what they were.  Webjunction as also not very forgiving of how many times you can try and log in.  After trying two times it made me sign up for an account but when I tried to sign for an account it said that an account with my email address already existed! Sheesh!

I did end up signing up for a new account with my gmail address.

Update: May 30
I finally got logged in to the course access.  You have to have TWO accounts. One for webjunction and then a separate one for course access.  Webjunction has changed so much than when I took courses 4 years ago. 

I browsed through the catalog and found a few classes I would be interested in taking.
Readers' Advisory Services (LibraryU) 

Weeding the Library Collection (LibraryU) 

Social Networking for Users 

There wasn't much offered that really interested me but the three that I chose from the offerings would benefit me the most in my current job. 

Screencasting

We have actually discussed using screen-casting to create tutorials in the Youth Department.  These would be great for creating TIPCAT or database tutorials to send to schools. 

I watched the video for How to Make a Jeopardy Powerpoint.  This was helpful as I could use Jeopardy games in my teen programs.

I searched the internet for a screencasts of a game I like to play on my iPod touch called "Where's My Water?" There was a level I just could not complete.  After watching the screencast I was able to figure it out!  

Skype

The only knowledge I have of skype comes from work.  I have done two teen programs where we have skyped with an author and both were a success.  The first year we skyped with author Carrie Ryan as part of a zombie program.  The second year we skyped with author Lindsey Leavitt as part of a teen writing workshop.

Because I have skyped with these two ladies, I already have a Skype account and added them (plus 2 people from Automation) to my contacts.  Before I skyped with my authors I did test calls with automation. 

I hope to continue skyping with authors as it is a great way for teens to meet and talk with their favorite authors without having to travel and spend a lot of money to meet them.

Instant Messaging

I have a lot of experience with instant messaging.  That was all I did throughout college.  I would have my AIM up all the time and would chat with friends even if they were across the hall from me.  Sometimes my roommate and I would have the most deep conversations with each other while we were sitting right next to each other.  I don't use AIM anymore but I still sometimes chat with people through facebook.  I can chat also through my phone instead of texting people. 

I remember in middle school, before IM became popular, I would go to this one chat room that was designed for teens. We would trade codes with each other so we could type in pretty colors and emoticons. We also emailed a lot back then.

I worked at another library that used instant messaging in the reference department. I had to observe the reference department for a library school class I was taking and helped answer a few questions they received through IM. Sometimes they would just get IMs from patrons using the computers requesting more internet time but they received a fair amount of real reference questions as well.

Wikis

Might as well continue on.  I have had some experience editing wikis in the past.  Most of my experience with wikis is reading them.  Obviously I'm familiar with Wikipedia but I'm also familiar with wikiHow. I find a lot of craft ideas and step by step DIY type projects on there. I have also used YALSA's wiki but have found it very confusing and unwieldy to use. For collaborating and sharing information with co-workers I'd much rather use a blog or google docs.  

I added a line to the story for the discovery exercise and created a page about Shih Tzus.