Wednesday, June 4, 2014

23 Mobile Things. Thing 23. Evaluate 23 Mobile Things

I really appreciate all of the hard work that went into making this program possible. The structure and content of this program has helped me to become more familiar with my mobile devices and the various apps that are available. I liked the flexibility of this program and how the Things could be explored on either a professional or personal level. I also appreciate how my employer was sensitive to the different comfort levels of their participants. Those who were comfortable with blogging were encouraged to share their blogs with others in our system and those who were new to this form of communication could quietly work on their own. I would definitely participate in another program like this due to the flexible philosophy. It would be difficult for me to narrow down a "favorite" being that I had so much to learn and the variety of Things helped to broaden my horizons.

23 Mobile Things. Thing 22. Discovering Apps

I like the option of being able to search for apps using a search engine so I tried using Quixey. I tried using the site's suggestion "identify songs" and thought the results list was helpful and contained an interesting variety of apps. I downloaded Name that song onto my iPhone and tried searching for lyrics with mixed results. Next I downloaded Shazam and played a song that is not played on mainstream radio stations. The app asked for permission to access my microphone and then all I had to do was tap on the icon so it could record the music. Almost instantly the cover art for Ghost Beach's Miracle appeared on my iPhone screen. As I scrolled to the lower part of the screen there were icons for Bio, Discography, Next concert, and Preview or buy. Next I searched for Nassa by Anders P. Bongo who sings traditional Sami Joiks and once again the match results were almost immediate. I am so impressed with this app and will continue to use Quixey to hopefully find others as good as this one.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

23 Mobile Things. Thing 21. Free-for-all

I chose the IHT 125 years app. It contains 125 years of front page news from the International Herald Tribune. It began as the Paris Herald in 1887, then as The New York Herald Tribune in 1935, and became the International Herald Tribune in 1967. In 2013 the paper became the International New York Times. I find this app interesting since it provides a time line of historical events and the articles reflect the nuances of the times. It can be searched casually by swiping through the pages or by looking for information by date in the index. It takes awhile for this app to download but it is worth the wait. Selected articles can be read by enlarging the page and there is a little lag time before the new size comes into focus.

23 Mobile Things. Thing 20. Games

For this Thing I resisted all temptation to start playing Candy Crush again. I stopped playing a few months ago when I completed Level 35. At this point the user needs to buy more lives to continue. Each level becomes more complicated and I know people that spend an entire month trying to get to the next level. I do not want to willingly invite this type of frustration, failure, and stress into my life! :-) Instead I have chosen Farm Heroes and BubbleCat. Unlike Candy Crush, playing these games is a relaxing experience for me!

23 Mobile Things. Thing 19. Hobbies

RoadNinja looked like a must have app so I downloaded it onto my iPhone. I think I would use the Gas category the most. However it is nice to know that this app could also be used to locate dining, lodging, shopping, and pharmacies. The reviews seemed to be outdated since they were posted  between a year to three years ago. I would be inclined to reference Trip advisor and Yelp for current reviews. Next I downloaded the Sibley eGuide to birds of North America free. I really like this app and enjoy searching for birds and their songs using the taxonomic index.

23 Mobile Things. Thing 18. Education

The first app I downloaded onto my iPhone was iTranslate free since it will be helpful to me on a professional level and personally while traveling internationally. I tested out the accuracy by typing in text from a multilingual book in French, German and English and the translation results were very accurate. The translations are provided in both text and audio. However, when trying to speak a phrase in German to be translated into English, I received a prompt to buy iTranslate premium for $4.99. At this time I do not need this verbal translation feature however I would purchase it before traveling internationally since it would be very helpful when trying to communicate with taxi drivers, dealing with emergency situations, etc. I then downloaded Duolingo : learn languages for free and Advanced English Dictionary and Thesaurus which will also be very useful. 

23 Mobile Things. Thing 17. Connecting to community

I selected Going out from Star Tribune to download onto my iPhone. Started with Movies and liked how the information was organized and included the option to buy tickets online. I found the Restaurant category helpful after figuring out how to limit by cuisine using the Filter. The Guthrie Theater category included dates, times, ticket prices, reviews and the option to Add to my Calendar. My favorite category was Music & clubs. Best bets included Peter Asher, Lindsey Stirling (the faerie queen of millennial New Age music), the Webb Sisters and more. Music by Lindsey Stirling and the Webb Sisters is also available on SoundCloud. I also downloaded the app Minnesota 511 onto my iPhone and wonder how it will compare to Google Maps. Love the MPR Radio app and plan on listening to it frequently on my iPhone.

Monday, June 2, 2014

23 Mobile Things. Thing 16. Audio

SoundCloud seemed like a really interesting app for staying current with new music, comedy & audio so I downloaded it onto my iPad. I signed up for an account, selected various categories including electronic, classical, and folk & world music. I received the message, "We are working on filling your stream, should be ready soon." After receiving the stream I went exploring and listened to "Near light" by an artist I was not familiar with, Olafur Arnalds, an Icelandic multi instrumentalist and producer. I searched for a re-mix artist and producer I was familiar with, Gigamesh, and was impressed that 42 of his songs were available through this app. I was surprised to hear a field sparrow bird song and realized that it had originated from a Smithsonian Folkways recording. I really like this app and plan on listening to it while working on my other "Things."

23 Mobile Things. Thing 15. Infographics

Read through What's a Meme including the information on the ingredients of a viral hit. I selected Infographics Hub to download onto my iPad and chose the category Food & drink. World's weirdest foods. The food was organized by geographical location, followed by risks of exotic foods, and concluded with precautions when you're far from home. There was also a tab that provided the option to share the information through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, email, etc. This app provided a nice introduction to what infographics look like and how the information can be structured and communicated. I'm not sure that I would create infographics for myself, however I do think they have a place in library services.

23 Mobile Things. Thing 14. Videos

I had so much fun using the Magisto app on my iPhone. Thought this would be a nice opportunity for Hello Kitty and Troll to star together in their first ever movie. After completing the video clip it was time to select one of several pre-made editing themes and decided on a romantic theme with hearts. I chose the song "I do" by Mika Cole, added a title, then selected the Make My Movie button. After a short time my submission was ready and I had a chance to view the final movie. It turned out really cute and I was very happy with the results. I'm looking forward to using this app in the future to send Happy birthday greetings, Thank you acknowlegments for gifts and Congratulations for various events.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

23 Mobile Things. Thing 13. Presentations

After reading through the descriptions of the four presentation apps I chose Haiku Deck to download onto my iPad. The YALSAblog App of the week: Haiku Deck on YouTube was very helpful. This app was easy to use and I had a lot of fun creating a presentation. While typing content into pre-made slides the font size automatically adjusts depending on the number of words that are used and there are five free themes to select from. Another invaluable aspect of this app is that it searches for Creative Commons images based on selected words and tapping on the CC of the image will provide licensing information.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

23 Mobile Things. Thing 12. Books, Books, & More Books

I chose iStoryBooks for my iPad and downloaded the app. I then downloaded a Gambian folk tale and followed the story with narration. There were also some interesting nonfiction titles including a book on Sea animals. It is nice to know about this app as a source for free ebooks in addition to the ebooks I can download from my library using 3M and Overdrive apps.

Monday, May 19, 2014

23 Mobile Things. Thing 11. Library & Reference

I first tried my library's app on my iPhone and liked it so much I downloaded it onto my iPad. I like to use the BookLook feature on my iPhone to search for materials by ISBN when I am out and about to see if my library has an available copy. This can be quickly done by using the scanner and centering the red line on the ISBN/UPC barcode. If you have difficulty with this you can always type in the ISBN number in the search box. I am looking forward to using the eBook & Audiobooks feature to download an Audiobook onto my iPhone using either the Overdrive or OneClickdigital app.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

23 Mobile Things. Thing 10. Sharing Photos

I chose Instagram to download onto my iPad since it is so popular and I would like to learn how it works. After signing up for an account and spending some time using this app I really don't see myself using it to share photos at this time. I tried searching by user for Minnesota Zoo and Minnesota State Fair and found some interesting photos. A search by #goldenretriever contained 1,498,445 posts! 

23 Mobile Things. Thing 9. Taking & Editing Photos

I enjoy taking photos with my iPhone, so was intrigued by Color Splurge and how it could be used to enhance photos. I decided to pay homage to Beauty and the Beast by taking photos of my Hello Kitty ornament from Japan and Troll figurine from Norway. I found the tutorial helpful and kept the original color scheme for Hello Kitty and eventually decided on a color scheme for Troll. When I looked at the time it became evident that Color Splurge, Hello Kitty and Troll needed to go into "Time out." I am looking forward to being able to return to this app so I can have some more fun playing with my photos' colors!  

23 Mobile Things. Thing 8. Social Media Management Tools

For this thing I have selected Facebook to download onto my iPad. Thought I would use this as an opportunity to see how my library system's site interfaces with Facebook. It was nice to see that under Recent Posts a local author was excited to see that her book was on order and that upcoming programs and events were being promoted. I searched for items in the catalog even though my personal preference is to go directly to our library site to search the catalog and manage my account. However I do think it is important to use Facebook from time to time to monitor how well it is working. Navigating my catalog searches with more than one page in Facebook resulted in the error message "There was a problem communicating with the library server. Please try again." I will follow up on this with co-workers to see if it was a temporary issue or if it is an ongoing issue.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

23 Mobile Things. Thing 7. Content saving & Sharing

I have heard many positive comments about Pinterest so it was nice to be able to sign up for an account and learn how to store content in the cloud using this app on my iPad. I am impressed with how easy it is to find information on various subjects since users with similar interests have already researched and pinned some very useful and sometimes entertaining information. While searching for library related content I came across a board "Library spaces : library shelving and storage ideas" which  included a pin that lead to "The 15 best places to be if you love books." Would love to visit all of the places on this list starting with Shakespeare and Company in Paris and the International Library of Children's Literature in Japan. A general search on Best fiction resulted in an interesting mix of books, best fictional libraries and a 100 Best ever teen novels list pinned from NPR.org. 

Sunday, May 11, 2014

23 Mobile Things. Thing 6. Creating and editing documents.

For this thing I chose SignNow and decided to use my iPhone. As I reviewed SignNow's site I noticed that this app had received a 4+ rating and Deron Williams had used it to sign his $98 million NBA contract! I found the tutorials helpful and it was a very quick process to sign up for an account.

After logging into my account I tapped + to add my document. I opened the email with the document that needed signing and pressed down on the document icon until the Open in SignNow icon appeared which I selected. I tapped the option screen and selected "Signature." I selected the pen and ink color, tapped the screen, signed the document, selected the check mark in the upper right screen and Saved as which showed that it was uploading a PDF file which was saved to an email. The new email displayed with the subject: Here is my signed document and included the option to fill in the email address for the recipient. This email also included the message: I signed the attached document. Thanks! Signed with SignNow. I was able to log out of this app by going to Account settings.

I really liked this mobile signing app and think it would be helpful for expediting the sales contract process since it eliminates the need for scanning in documents and the user can set up needed signatures in a particular order.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

23 Mobile Things. Thing 5. Notetaking.


 I was interested in Dragon dictation since it would provide the option of notetaking without needing to use the keyboard on my iPhone. The tutorial was helpful and after a quick download I tapped the Record button and began testing out this speech to text app. I practiced with a grocery list and used the command 'Next line" as the "Return" key. When I had finished I selected "Done." I wanted to save this list to my Apple notes so I selected the Arrow icon in the lower right screen and chose "Copy." I returned to the main screen and selected "Notes", followed by "New" where I tapped the screen and selected "Paste" which automatically saved my list. This process also worked well with emails and text messages. At this point I decided to download this app onto my iPad. It offers an "i" icon in the lower right screen that provides useful information including commonly used commands. I decided to use Dragon dictation to record this blog and was able to save it to Blogger.  

Sunday, March 9, 2014

23 Mobile Things. Thing 4. Keeping up.

I added Zite to my iPad being that I use it as my main device for reading. I haven't used an app like this before, but after downloading it and adding four categories to create my top stories, I am hooked. Now instead of having to go out to various websites to read the news, Zite brings the news to my app based on my categories. Using the Quicklist icon in the upper right screen allowed me to add more categories. To the left of this icon is the Search icon that I used to find professional reading suggestions. I typed in the term libraries and was able to add American Libraries Magazine to my categories. I really like how layered and interconnected these news articles are. I came across an iPhone article and was able to immediately add iPhone apps as a category. For me apps like Zite are an efficient and enjoyable way for keeping up with the news and with professional reading. I am looking forward to adding this app to my lunchtime reading material.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

23 Mobile Things. Thing 3. Utilities.

Using my iPhone I compared QR Reader with RedLaser. I will keep both apps for comparative shopping but prefer the way RedLaser organizes and displays results. Happily I was able to use Red Laser to locate a favorite Red Ginger Chili sauce that I am almost out of and have not been able to find. Also searched for a specific brand of cereal ... Target listed their price as $3.04 and Walmart listed their price as $3.28. RedLaser's history and recently viewed features are helpful for reviewing past searches. Both apps worked well when scanning the QR code on my city newsletter.  

23 Mobile Things. Thing 2. Mobile Device tips.

My mobile device of choice for this "Thing" was my iPhone and I found the ICOPILOT tutorials and various articles very helpful. The concept of sliding screens from right to left has been useful for determining the time of my texts and for accessing the trash option when managing my emails. Spent some time experimenting with the various camera filters including the black and white mono, tonal and noir options. While using the Control Center I turned off Air Drop to save on battery life ... other features allowed me to brighten the screen, turn on the flashlight and set the alarm clock sound to Night Owl. Enjoyed customizing the Weather app by adding more locations from around the world and it was nice being able to check for sunrise/sunset times. Made adjustments to the text size and was happy with the results. Used the Compass to access the Spirit level and placed it on my kitchen counter top which verified that it was level by displaying zero degrees with a green screen. Was not aware that the gender of Siri's voice could be changed so tried this out as well.  

Saturday, February 15, 2014

23 Mobile Things. Thing 1. Blogging & Registering

I am looking forward to becoming more familiar with my mobile devices and the various apps that are available. I am already finding the tutorials very helpful and the Blogger App tutorial helped me get started with my Blogging journey. While reading through the 23 Things information page on Blogger I came across the Libraries & blogging examples. I really enjoyed the CMLE blog and their link to "A quick guide to library cats" from around the world. It contains a wonderful collection of photos, YouTube videos and a Library cat job description! Hopefully my attempts to create, post, and register my first blog are successful....