I was very familiar with almost every aspect of 11.5 COSAs, so I have to say that I learned very little. I can understand how it was needed to get all staff up to speed on technology (for example, reference staff that might have been hired many years ago and has not stayed abreast of the latest technologies) but in the future, I don't really see it's value. I would assume that if it was continued, it would be for new-hires, and in my opinion if a person wasn't familiar with the items in 11.5 COSAs, we should not have hired them to be on the reference staff.
The only thing that I hadn't done much of is blogging. I have been wanting to start a blog for my own personal use about the Play and Learn programs that I do. I am now inspired to do it.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Lesson 10 Challenge
I use the Bexar County Elections Department site frequently. We are an election site (both early and election day) and we have many people who come to us on election day and realize that they are in the wrong polling place. I like the feature where you can look up your polling site by address, but it is hard to find from the main elections page. I learned early on to bookmark the address look-up page on any computer I use to avoid confusion. When tax season rolls around, I use the IRS site CONSTANTLY. I've been impressed at the changes made to the site in the last few years to make it simpler to find certain forms, etc. It has a much cleaner look than either the COSA Web site (which I feel is terrible) or the Bexar County Elections site, which seems to just cram too much information onto the Home page.
Mobile apps for government are a good thing. We know that more people have access to mobile devices now than to home computers, so making it easier for these people to contact their government officials and find information in a more mobile-friendly format can only help. For this reason, I feel that government apps will make us a more democratic society, because the more ways to access government, the better.
Mobile apps for government are a good thing. We know that more people have access to mobile devices now than to home computers, so making it easier for these people to contact their government officials and find information in a more mobile-friendly format can only help. For this reason, I feel that government apps will make us a more democratic society, because the more ways to access government, the better.
Lesson 9 Part 2- OverDrive Magazines
The three titles that interest me the most are: Cooks Illustrated, Eating Well, and Food Network Magazine.
The things that you will need to get started are:
The things that you will need to get started are:
- A SAPL Library Card (in good standing)
- Access to OverDrive either by:
- A Nook OR The Nook App
- NOOK HD
- NOOK HD+
- NOOK Tablet
- NOOK Color
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK
- Nook App for iOS
- Nook App for Android
- Nook App for Windows 8
- A Barnes & Noble Nook account (free)
Lesson 9 Part 1 OneClickdigital
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Eggs by Jerry Spinelli
Apps for both ebooks and eaudio are available for Android, Kindle Fire, and iphone, ipad, and ipod touch.
If Kindle Fire users are having trouble with the app, they should contact Amazon, through the "help" in the app store.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Eggs by Jerry Spinelli
Apps for both ebooks and eaudio are available for Android, Kindle Fire, and iphone, ipad, and ipod touch.
If Kindle Fire users are having trouble with the app, they should contact Amazon, through the "help" in the app store.
Lesson 8 Part 2 Challenge
Overdrive: Chile Death by Susan Wittig Albert
OneClick: Bleeding Hearts by Susan Wittig Albert
Although I find Overdrive's advanced search easier to read and it seems more intuitive, they are both fairly simple. I do like that the link for the advanced search is more prominent in Overdrive, whereas in OneClick you have to find it in a drop-down menu. However, one search feature that I like more in OneClick is the ability to limit to audience. I sometimes get frustrated with Overdrive when I am looking for an eaudio to listen to and I get a lot of children's titles that I am not interested in.
OneClick: Bleeding Hearts by Susan Wittig Albert
Although I find Overdrive's advanced search easier to read and it seems more intuitive, they are both fairly simple. I do like that the link for the advanced search is more prominent in Overdrive, whereas in OneClick you have to find it in a drop-down menu. However, one search feature that I like more in OneClick is the ability to limit to audience. I sometimes get frustrated with Overdrive when I am looking for an eaudio to listen to and I get a lot of children's titles that I am not interested in.
Lesson 8 Part 1 Challenge
Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts
- Formats the book is available in:
- Kindle Book
- OverDrive Read
- Adobe EPUB eBook
- Adobe PDF eBook
- How many copies the library owns:17
- How many copies are available: 13
Divergent by Veronica Roth
- Formats the book is available in:
- Kindle Book
- OverDrive Read
- Adobe EPUB eBook
- How many copies the library owns: 67
- How many copies are available: 34
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