Useful Software

Sorry for the lack of posting… I’ve been busy on a new and fun project! (I won’t abandon you, I promise)

I’ve been saying for months that I’m going to turn the NEKLS Technology website (http://tech.nekls.org) into a Wiki.

Well blast it all I finally got it started and it’s really looking and working great! The Wiki makes an outstanding platform for knowledge base type applications, and so far I’m really happy with it.

We’re using Mediawiki, by the way. (http://www.mediawiki.org)

Any suggestions?

Hm. Wonder if this could be a solution to backup for our very small library automation systems?

Better than a zip disk…

Mozy Remote Backup: Free. Automatic. Secure.

Are you thinking of starting an IM reference service? Do you want to be on more than one IM service at once? The Trillian IM client might be for you, but how the heck do you use it? Here we have a “Trillian Training Guide” for your perusal.

Trillian training materials

One of my most delightful recent discoveries has been Google Earth, a wonderful free program that allows you to fly from outer space to the rooftop of your house. Using satellite pictures and sophisticated digital technology, Google Earth puts a planet’s worth of imagery and other geographic information right on your desktop. If you’ve always dreamed of flying, Google Earth is about as close as it come to the real thing.

Download it here: http://earth.google.com/

Genius. Pure genius.

“There are lots of great ways to find out if your library has a book you want, but what do you do when your library doesn’t a have a book? In the case of popular books that have been recently released, you know your library will get them soon, but you also know there will be a long waiting list. You probably want to put a hold on the item as soon as possible. Your library might even provide a webpage listing the newest items. But by the time you get around to checking, the list of holds will likely be very long. Some libraries will email you when a book comes in, and a few even have RSS feeds of new items. But even that isn’t perfect because for large libraries, the list of new items can be big.

What you want is an RSS feed that lists items that your library does not have yet. You want that RSS feed to be empty until the item is available. As soon as the item is in the catalogue it will show up in your feed and you can put a hold on it. ”

Read how he did it!
The Paranoid Agnostic » Using RSS and Z39.50 to Find Books Your Library Doesn’t Have… Yet.

ConnectViaBooks is a social network site that connects people according to the books they read. Any use in libraries that anyone out there can think of?

:: ConnectViaBooks.com ::

I keep both Firefox and IE on my computer, but use Firefox 99% of the time. Michael Sauers has compiled ten reasons why your library should use Firefox.

Ooh! Now this is interesting. A web browser based method of connecting to IM services such as MSN, Yahoo!, or AOL IM.

Now there is no excuse to not allow patrons access to IM in the library, as we don’t even have to install the software!

eMessenger

Library Journal article - IM me
“Maybe your library isn’t using instant messaging (IM), but you can be certain that a good number of your users are.” Your friendly NEKLS tech staff members are also available using IM.