Thing #13

This is a category of app I previously had no use for. As someone who learns most easily by seeing something written down or by taking notes, I've wanted to like Power Point, but I think PP presentations are overused, mostly boring, and have become an unfortunate default way to present information in a professional context.

I downloaded Deck Slideshow Presentations for this Thing. It's a simple and easy way to create and spruce up presentations. I decided to create a presentation of the Instagram photos I'm collecting for the #100happydays project I'm working on. I chose a line of opening text, added seven images, and followed with another line of text. After saving the deck, I clicked on the theme icon. There are eight options for free themes. I tried two of them, Bicycle and Paper Plane, and found them both to be an elegant and interesting way to augment my slide show.

In a previous job, I developed and presented monthly teen programs for my library. We held a quarterly Trivia Night. The questions were presented to teams on a Power Point presentation. I think creating the presentation in deck would make it more interesting for the kids. I could also imagine encouraging teens to create their own decks which could then be compiled into a teen-generated Trivia Night.

Thing #12

Books, books, and more books. I downloaded iStoryBooks, YALSA Teen Book Finder, and AudioBooks. I was especially interested in iStoryBooks. My granddaughter Kiera enjoys having me read eBooks to her on my Mac. Personally, I'd much rather read to her from a regular book, but an ebook mixes it up now and again. She owns an iPod and can also probably download this app to her device and use the app herself. I was less than thrilled with the quality of the content of this app, however. The candy colored illustrations and attention-seeking font are too cartoony for my taste. There's a cheapness to the quality of the stories. I think this app could be a useful temporary babysitter for a child on a long drive or waiting in the doctor's office if there are no books around.

I enjoyed looking though the YALSA Teen Book Finder. I work at Teen Central at the downtown Minneapolis Library and get a fair number of reader's advisory questions from parents and teens. I would definitely recommend this app to them. Since it's from the ALA, it has credibility and authority. The app offers several ways to search titles and you can quickly find a local public library that carries a title in its collection. My only complaint is that I think a more thorough description of each title is warranted. It would give readers a better idea of what each book is about.

I had previously downloaded AudioBooks to my iPhone, but had deleted it due to lack of use. I was happy to reevaluate it for this project. I spent some time scrolling through the collection, noting the variety of titles. AudioBooks can be searched in several ways--genre, recently added, professional books, popular books, free books, plus books (which are purchased), authors, durations, and even narrators, which was a surprising and welcome search function. For avid audiobook listeners, who often have favorite narrators, this category for search is an unexpected bonus.

Thing #11

The public library system I use as a patron and work for is Hennepin County. They have an app that gives access to the catalog, location and hours, Ask Us, events and classes, new titles, eBooks and eAudiobooks, BookLook, and each patron's personal account. I find the app to be incredibly useful as a user and as an employee. If I need to return a book, but I'm in another part of the city than my usual library, I can quickly look at the app to learn the hours of the closest branch. I can listen to MPR while driving, hear about a book or artist that interests me, and at my next stop, search for and request the title right on my phone. The app also links to Facebook, Twitter, Metrowide Libraries, and a Metrowide Calendar. While the hclib app is already easy to use, an update is on its way. The Library is in the process of updating its catalog and the mobile app as well. I'm eager to see what type of improvements have been made when its rolled out in the coming weeks.

HCL presents a variety of mobile apps front and center on the home page of its website. They're just one click in and include OverDrive, Freegal, OneClickDigital, Zinio, Ebscohost, Novelist, Reference USA, and others. Their uses are obvious. These apps enable patrons to search for articles, download eBooks, look up an address for a national business, get free songs each week, and access multiple libraries.

Thing #10

Being able to share photos with others is one of the most pleasurable things about this brave new world of social media and technology. I already had an Instagram account, but I hadn't looked at it for a very long time. I know it's hugely popular. Several family members are on Instagram, including my elementary school age nieces and nephews. Keeping in touch with others through photographs is a lovely way to be present in other people's lives. Being able to edit and craft and curate a collection of photos in such an easy and accommodating manner has opened up a new form of communication for so many people.

In an earlier post, I mentioned a blog I follow called A Beautiful Mess. On the blog today, Elsie Larson wrote about 100happydays, a challenge to post a picture of what makes you happy for 100 days in a row. I've decided to take that challenge and to do my posting on Instagram. Read more about the challenge at 100happydays.com.

I also downloaded Snapchat. I've been curious about this app. Again, I have nieces who use this to talk back and forth to each other. I got my first snap from a friend from high school who is making kombucha. I sent a few snaps of my own and five hours later the status is still pending! I read the articles on the value of Snapchat. The fleeting nature of a snap protects privacy. I'm more inclined to communicate through language, but I can see the value in talking by exchanging pictures.

Thing #9

I've been looking forward to this Thing since we started this little project. When I first purchased my phone, I downloaded several photography apps, far too many in fact. I couldn't keep track of the various abilities of all of the apps so I narrowed my usage down to a few favorites and in reality don't actually use them all that much at the moment. My new favorite app is put out by two young women from Springfield, Missouri, Elsie and Emma who produce the blog A Beautiful Mess. Their app is like their blog-quirky, fun, distinct. There aren't tons of options, but the ones they offer have a definite point of view. Their app is very much like their brand. LoMob and ClassicInsta are also interesting apps. Both apps have narrow, specific uses.

I downloaded all the suggested apps. CamMe is pretty cool. I don't do selfies very often, but I can see how this would be very useful. I used to be a teen librarian and I can imagine using this app to give teens a way to photograph their participation in library programs. It's so accessible, really easy to use, and the sharing options are plentiful.

I didn't care for Color Splurge. I'd downloaded it in the past, but found it kind of clunky. It forced me to watch a few seconds of ads and a little icon at the top kept pulsing to persuade me to buy it! It's an interesting concept though, similar to ColorSplash.

Line camera and Aviary are similar. They're both quite powerful with lots of options for filters and detailing photos. I haven't yet decided which one I prefer. I'll make sure to blog about my preference by the end of the 23 Things.

Other apps that take and edit photos are LensLight, PhotoMgrPro, CP Pro, Big Lens, Fast Camera, various panoramic apps, and Camera!

Thing #8

I wanted to get excited about this Thing, but it didn't happen. I downloaded and played around with Cloze, Buffer, and HootSuite. I'm sure they're all perfectly good apps for the right user, but for me they're completely unnecessary. I do use social media, but the only thing I use with regularity is Facebook and I don't do much posting. I'm more interested in seeing what others are doing rather than updating about myself. I have a Twitter account, but have only posted a couple of times and rarely check it. I'm on Linked In, but I don't consider it "social media" since it's work related. I can't imagine sharing across all three platforms. The main thing is that I simply don't use social media enough to need any kind of management tool. If I want to interface with Twitter, I'll go directly to Twitter. The same for Facebook. These tools seem like they would be a great benefit to bloggers, especially those individuals for whom their blogs are their jobs.

Thing #7

I signed up for Pinterest a couple of years ago and, like many others, have spent countless pleasant hours creating boards, pinning, and liking other people's pins. I find Pinterest to be a wonderful method for storing visual information. I much prefer it to clipping pictures and articles out of magazines or the newspaper. As a kid, I constructed a monthly bulletin board in my bedroom so Pinterest was made for me. I personally have 42 boards, 1,197 pins, and 1,809 likes. Those numbers actually surprise me. I would probably have said I have a dozen boards. My boards run the gamut from art to holiday ideas to a board collecting tiny house pictures.

One of the main complaints about pinning as an activity is that it's simply too easy to lose time. You start scrolling and suddenly an hour or two has passed. This isn't a criticism of the app, of course. It's actually a remark on how powerful an activity it is. The other criticism I hear is that Pinterest creates envy and depression. All those pretty pictures make people feel bad about what they don't have and don't do. I think this is a component, of course, but carefully choosing what you view and why you view it helps alleviate those feelings. It's interesting to me that "pinning" has all these emotional repercussions.

I mostly use Pinterest on my laptop, but I like having the option of the app on my phone. It functions as a backup if I have a few minutes to spend looking.

Thing #6

Hmmm, creating and editing documents on my iPhone is not something that particularly interests me. As others have commented, the screen real estate is pretty small. I downloaded CloudOn for this Thing. I like the recognizable, familiar features. I created a Word document on my iPhone, sent it to my email, edited it on my laptop, and sent it back to my iPhone. The entire process went smoothly. This isn't something I would use regularly, but I can see that it would be helpful in an emergency.