Archive for the ‘Guides’ Category

The Association of Virtual Worlds has published The Blue Book: A Consumer Guide to Virtual Worlds. This free, downloadable book provides a guide, with links, to over 250 virtual worlds along with a glossary. Included are virtual environments for every age group ranging from Disney Fairies Pixie Hollow, Creebies, and Frenzoo, to one of my faves - Neopets, Planet Cazmo, and Scions of Fate. Coming soon: The Green Book: A Business Guide to Virtual Worlds.

The nearly 3,000 members of the Library 2.0 community on Ning will be familiar with the online service which allows users to create their own social networks without technical know-how. Educause has created another of its 7 Things guides which provides a quick overview of the Ning technology by addressing the following questions:

1. What is it?
2. Who’s doing it?
3. How does it work?
4. Why is it significant?
5. What are the downsides?
6. Where is it going?
7. What are the implications for teaching and learning?

If you need to describe the popular social network to someone who hasn’t used it before, you may want to check out this Computerworld article which covers the basics of Facebook including:

• About Facebook
• Joining Facebook
• Find friends
• Creative business solutions
• Problems
• Security/Privacy

via Social Media

If you’re at all interested in social media such as social networks, blogs, wikis, podcasts, microblogs, etc., you’ll want to check Mashable’s latest article linking to 15 Free Social Media White Papers and Ebooks. Here are some of the titles:

What is Social Media?

Social Networking, the “Third Place”, and the Evolution of Communications

We Media: How audiences are shaping the future of news and information

12 Essential tips for Success in Social Media

Social Networking: Brave New World or Revolution from Hell? A look at the phenomenon of Social Networking and the implications for Businesses

Read/Write Web aggregates the four most recent posts from ten websites you may never have come across and presents them in an annotated guide to finding fantastic things. Here are their ten sites, click through to the original article to view the posts from each:

1. BoingBoing
2. Waxy Links
3. Neatorama
4. Laughing Squid
5. JoshSpear.com
6. Fresh Creation
7. PicoCool
8. Swiss Miss
9. NotCot
10. We Make Money Not Art

As an aside, it’s interesting to note their use of the AideRSS tool to link to the most recent popular posts for each blog.

Are you a visual learner who prefers to have sets of data presented graphically rather than in text lists? There are many websites and desktop applications out there which let you do just that, and Read/Write Web has compiled a list of nearly 100 of them in their Best Tools for Visualization article. If you’re a fan of tools such as grokker, Twittervision, and KartOO, enjoy heat maps and visual search engines, you’ll want to check out this post which divides these tools into the following categories:

• Visualize Social Networks
• Visualize Music
• Visualize the Internet
• Amazon
• Flickr
• Miscellaneous
• Sites Dedicated to Visualization
• Search
• News and RSS
• Data

If you need help with time management or just want a few friendly tips for increasing your productivity, check out this article by CollegeDegree.com which promises to curb your cyberslacking ways. These are their top ten suggestions:

1. Install an online time tracker.
2. Turn off IM programs.
3. Remind yourself of the consequences.
4. Disable email notifications.
5. Change your attitude.
6. Turn on music.
7. Create a separate user on your computer just for work.
8. Set up a news aggregator.
9. Set your clock ahead.
10. Create quotas.

CollegeDegree.com has created a mega-list of The Top 100 Productivity and Lifehack Blogs for those of us who need some motivation. A few of my favorites made the list including Web Worker Daily and Lifehacker, along with 98 others divided into categories; Most Popular, Life Organizers, Productivity in the Workplace, Expert Advice, Personal Growth, Prioritizing/GTD, Personal Finance Hacks, Miscellaneous. Here are the top ten:

1. 43 Folders
2. Lifehack.org
3. Productivity501
4. Zen Habits
5. David Seah
6. GTD Wannabe
7. Ririan Project
8. Matt’s Idea Blog
9. The Lazy Way to Success
10. Slacker Manager

The Guardian’s Observer has an annotated list of the most popular and influential blogs from around the world. I noticed a few of my favorites on the list including TechCrunch, Icanhascheezburger, and Gawker, as well as a few new ones to check out. Here’s their top ten:

1. The Huffington Post
2. Boing Boing
3. Techcrunch
4. Kottke
5. Dooce
6. Perezhilton
7. Talking points memo
8. Icanhascheezburger
9. Beppe Grillo
10. Gawker

Bloggers using the WordPress platform will want to check out this fantastic resource compiling 63 Essential Wordpress Hacks, Tutorials, Help Files and Cheats. Each item on this comprehensive list leads to a detailed tutorial or walk-through informing bloggers how to accomplish tasks such as:

• How to use Google Reader to Create a Mobile-Friendly Version of your Blog
• How to Format Images for Feed Readers
• How to Create a Hover Menu
• How to Widgetize Your Theme
• How to Upgrade Wordpress
• How to Embed YouTube Videos in Wordpress
• How-to Use WordPress/PodPress to Podcast to iTunes

And for those of you who use Blogger, be sure to check out 10 Blogger Hacks.

I’ve come across several articles, presentations, and papers lately which offer some very useful tips and insight into how libraries can use some of today’s new Web tools. Here are a few to check out:

• 10 Ways Libraries can Use RSS
• iGoogle Gadgets @ Your Library: How to create a simple iGoogle gadget for your library’s online catalog
• Better Practices From the Field. Micro-Blogging for Science & Technology Libraries
• Screencast - Creating a Library Database Page with Drupal

Mashable presents a guide to 12 Screencasting Tools For Creating Video Tutorials. If you’ve ever wondered about how to create video tutorials which record your screen actions, you’ll want to check out this list of programs, many which are free, including CamStudio, an open-source video and audio capture software application.

MakeUseof.com has created a guide to some of the lesser-known ways to utilize RSS feeds including SendMeRSS which will forward any RSS feed to your email inbox, TwitterFeed which will forward several RSS feeds to a Twitter account, and Wigitize which will let you add RSS feeds to your website in a customizable widget. Check out the full article for more.

Educause has created another of its 7 Things guides, this time on the photo-sharing website Flickr. If you’re looking for a nice overview of the popular website, be sure and check out this document which covers the following points:

1. What is it?
2. Who’s doing it?
3. How does it work?
4. Why is it significant?
5. What are the downsides?
6. Where is it going?
7. What are the implications for teaching and learning?

The OEDb has created a massive list of 100 educational podcasts, walking tours, and reference resources available to load onto your iPod. They have divided this list of educational tools into the following categories:

• Study Guides
• Podcasts and More
• Tutorials
• Applications
• More Downloads
• Classroom Help
• iPod Learning Support
• Tools and Sites
• iTunes U
• Miscellaneous