TechBits

Good Calculators, Google Forms, and more

WVLS has shared some short (3-15 min) "Digital Bytes" training videos recently that may be of interest to you or your library patrons:

Good Calculators
Time: 5:01
Jamie talks about an educational and fun tool that can help library patrons of all ages.
Watch

Google Forms
Time: 15:11
Anne talks about creating a Google Form and how to share it.  Watch

Social Media Message Optimizer
Time: 5:26
Jamie talks about using CoSchedule’s Social Media Message Optimizer to see if you’re getting the most out of your library’s social media posts, based on several factors. Watch

JCW Resume Builder
Time: 10:29
Anne talks about using the Job Center of Wisconsin online resume builder. Watch

Using Bluejeans
Time: 10:46
Jamie demonstrates how to use Bluejeans as a moderator.  Watch

Scanning Documents On Your iPhone
Time: 3:24
Don’t have access to a scanner? Jamie talks about using your iPhone to scan documents as a PDF file.  Watch

You can find more of these "Digital Bytes" here on the WVLS website: https://wvls.org/digital-bytes/

Canva

Wisconsin Valley Library Service (WVLS) recently provided a very helpful training video on Canva, an online drag-and-drop design tool that lets you create visual content with ease. In the 50-min video, Anne walks you through some of the many features of Canva including including tools for font combination suggestions, color pallette generator, and the design size guide for tailoring your designs to specific social media platforms. She also points out tools within Canva for learning more about how to use Canva and runs through one of the tutorials to demonstrate some basic tasks.

 

Canva is free for basic use, and Pro accounts are pretty affordable. Non-profit organizations with a 501c3 designation can get access to a Pro account for free.

 

 

If you haven't already discovered Canva and are looking for an easy way to generate flyers, posters, and images for use on your websites and social media posts, check out Canva and the WVLS video tour of Canva.

 

Trivia & Streaming

Over the last few months, I've been hosting Zoom meetings for Adult Services/Programming Librarians and I've learned a lot! I wanted to share a couple of the tools that have come up in our discussions recently.

First up is Crowdpurr. From the cool name, you may think it's a crowd of purring kittens. In reality, this is an "Audience Engagement Platform that helps you create amazing interactive mobile-driven experiences for your live or virtual events." The E.D. Locke Public library used Crowdpurr to host trivia game recently. You can use this with Zoom, your YouTube channel, or your Twitch livestream (see previous TechBits post).

Speaking of livestreaming, have you heard of StreamYard? Sun Prairie is using this to stream their weekly Book Buzz interviews with Sun Prairie staff. Check out this recent episode featuring librarians Erin and Emily. Streamyard can stream to multiple platforms at the same time - Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, Periscope, and more. One of the cool things that you can do is add a caption during the broadcast. Erin and Emily add the titles of the books they're discussing to the screen.

What tools are you using to connect and engage with your patrons and community?

 

 

Image by Kiều Trường from Pixabay

My distractions from Life

This post deviates a little bit from the normal tech topics you find here, but since the world has deviated a little bit from normal I thought, "Why not share with you my top 5 favorite YouTube channels I subscribe to that help distract me from life." I find these channels relaxing, entertaining, and educational...sometimes at the same time!

Cruising the Cut: This is currently my go-to channel on YouTube if I need to unwind. I don’t know what I searched to have the YouTube algorithm recommend one of his videos but I’m glad it did. I’ve been subscribed for a couple of months and I’m going through the back catalog of videos. This channel is hosted by a guy named David who quit his job, bought a narrowboat and cruises the canals of the United Kingdom. You get a glimpse of what life is like living on a narrowboat along with charming commentary.

Stinnett Sticks: This is my second favorite channel for relaxing. Michael Stinnett creates amazing walking sticks on this channel. He has a calming voice and a cute dog named Pearl that sits on his lap while he carves his walking sticks. Mike takes you through the process of making a walking stick from start to finish. Some of his videos are of him and Pearl walking along the mountainsides of central Oregon looking for sticks to carve. Most of his walking sticks are realistic reptile representations, FYI.

Pecos Hank: I was hooked on Hank Schyma’s videos after the first one I watched. Hank is so talented---he has a gift for music, photography, making videos, and in my opinion, comedy. He’s also a storm chaser and amateur meteorologist, which is this channel's main focus. He has a love for any critter crossing the road; this forces him to stop and help them across. See if you can find the video where the floor of the passenger seat is full of turtles he picked up to help.

Crime Pays but Botany Doesn’t: This is by far the most educational channel I subscribe to. If you want to learn more about plants and minerals, this channel is a great resource. If you want to hear cursing, this channel is a great resource. I can’t put in words how much joy I get from watching vlogger Joey Santore's commentary on human nature along with Mother Nature---this is something to be admired, in my opinion anyway. This is the first sentence of the about page for his channel: “A Low-Brow, Crass Approach to Plant Ecology as muttered by a Misanthropic Chicago Italian.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. Really, I couldn't, because I don't know what misanthropic means.

From the Mind of Christine McConnell: This is a relatively new channel to YouTube, but prior to that Christine had a short-lived Netflix show. Christine, whose style can be described as “vintage goth,” currently lives in California with her cats. She has an ease about her that makes her videos enjoyable to watch. Christine’s videos are primarily DIY projects she does to decorate her house with sewing and baking too. If you’re into sewing and crafts you might like this channel.

What are some of your favorite YouTube channels that you enjoy watching? Comment below and if you enjoyed this post don’t forget to smash that Like button and subscribe!

Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference - Tech Track

Since 2012, January means the Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference. I have the honor of being a part of the team that brings this conference to life. It also means two full days hosting or co-hosting webinars on lots of topics. This year's conference, held on January 22 and 23, featured topics in four tracks: Adult Services, Tech Trends, Library Management, and Small & Mighty. 

For this post, I want to tell you about the Tech Trends webinars. First up was Leah Gentry from the Menomonee Falls Public Library talking about how to Help Your Patrons Cut the Cable Cord. This is the third time I've seen Leah present this topic and I learn something new every time. If you're at all interested in learning more about Rokus, Netflix, Hulu, SlingTV, and more, check out this webinar. (Slides, Recording)

Next up was Laura Solomon from the Ohio Public Library Information Network presenting an "Introduction to Website Accessibility." If Laura's name sounds familiar, you're right. Laura has presented for Wild Wisconsin in past years and also at Tech Days a couple of years ago. She really knows her material and is an enthusiastic presenter. I learned a lot about why accessibility is important in the online world - something I hadn't thought much about before. (Slides, Recording)

And, the final session in the Tech Trends track was Kimberly Crowder teaching us how to "Level Up on Your Social Media Trends 2020." While I learned a lot in this session, I don't think I'll be signing up for Tiktok anytime soon! I believe there will be some future TechBits posts from ideas in this session, too. (Slides, Recording)

Have topics you'd like to see at Wild Wisconsin 2021? Let me know - we're always looking for new topics and ideas.

 

 

Digital Bytes: MailChimp, scheduling Facebook posts

Ever wonder about using MailChimp for newsletters?  This recent Digital Byte video from Wisconsin Valley Library Service is all about MailChimp and how your library can use it for marketing efforts.

 

Jamie also posted a quick video about how to schedule posts for your library's Facebook page from your mobile device:

You can find all the WVLS Digital Bytes here: https://wvls.org/digital-bytes/

Instagram Shopping Collection Feature…just in time for the holidays!

You’ve probably noticed a lot more advertisements appearing on your Instagram feed as the holiday season is rapidly approaching.  In November, Instagram released some new features for users to interact with these posts.  The most notable of these features is the ability to “save” products to a personal “Shopping Collection.”

When users click on a product tag in stories or on their feed, they will now see an option to save the product to a separate list.  Users can now create a wishlist on Instagram that takes them right to a product when they are ready to purchase it. 

You can add an item to your Shopping Collection by clicking on the icon:




You can access your Shopping Collection by going to your profile and selecting it from the Saved Collections on your profile.

Unfortunately, there is currently no way to share your Shopping Collection with another IG User or export the information.  After doing some research, it seems users are asking for this ability already.  Hopefully, IG will work on making this feature even better!   

Happy Holidays and Happy Shopping!

What are you talking about?

Being one of two millennials working in this office, I find myself in conversations frequently about differences between the generations.  Someone will make a reference about licking a postage stamp and I reply with "That's cray".  This has led a co-worker to show me The Mindset List.  Created at Beloit College in 1998 as a way for college professors to understand the "mindset" of incoming students, it has been eye-opening for myself. 

A list has been created each year since 2002 and features 50+ items that young adults entering college that year know or don't know.  The lists can be used with adults today to better understand the differences in generations.  I think they would especially be helpful for libraries to not only understand their patrons but also potential job candidates.  The authors have also written two
books (both of which are available in LINKcat) and frequently present the information as well.  

The most recent list has some new slang, and I'll be honest that even I don't know what most of it means.  Take a look at the lists and I think you will find them interesting as well.

Using the Places Tab Search in Instagram

The Places tab is an often underutilized part of Instagram’s Search and Explore page. When you search for places, Instagram will feature the nine highest ranking posts in that location, followed by the most recent posts in chronological order.  This is a great way to engage with what’s happening in your local area. I found this very useful when we had local flooding recently.  It helped us find out what resources were available in our community to help with cleanup and local volunteer opportunities.

How to search Places:

• Go to the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of your profile.
• Search for the Places Tab (to the right).
• Select your desired location from the list.

From a posting perspective, remember to use the Places tag feature on your posts.  You may find you engage your local audience more and potentially gain new followers.

 

Wikipedia and Libraries

I love Wikipedia and probably use it daily to find answers to questions like "How many seasons of the show the Librarians are there?" Yet, as a librarian I feel like I can't fully trust it. Well, guess what? OCLC developed a training program that helps librarians learn to use Wikipedia more effectively and, better yet, trains them to edit Wikipedia entries. The materials were originally developed for a nine-week WebJunction course, and now they are available for all libraries to use.

https://www.webjunction.org/explore-topics/wikipedia-libraries/training-curriculum.html

Wikipedia + Librarians, because librarians ROCK!