Week 6 : EnCompassCulture - the global bookclub

I love this site which is produced by the British Council Arts Group, to provide a worldwide reading group which has full details of over 10,000 books for all age ranges.
FIVE WAYS TO SEARCH AND BROWSE:
"You can make your own booklist, check out our bibliographies and ready-made booklists, browse in the author index, use the quick search box, or take recommendations from other readers and the Online Reader in Residence".
There is a really good selection of Author Interviews including one with Award-winning crime writer Val McDermid in which she responded to questions mailed in by EnCompass users.
I really like this title: 'Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs : She Thinks I'm a Piano-Player in a Whorehouse' by Paul Carter, which I found under the Humorous Travels sub-category. I like this way of searching. I will definitely use EnCompassCulture again & recommend it to patrons as it has many useful features. Check out the following:
Book of the Month
Author interviews
Newsletters

Week 5 : SlideShare - online presentations

I did a search for 'libraries' and viewed 3 associated presentations which appealed to me:
TopTen Reasons Libraries are still Important which I've embeded below.
Virtual Libraries, Real Librarians. What librarians are doing in Second Life and how Australian Libraries can join in. A presentation by Kathryn Greenhill at the State Library of Victoria. Mashups for Libraries.

Top Ten Reasons Libraries Are Still Important

View more presentations from bradspry.

Week 4 : Tastespotting - a community driven visual potluck

I chose this pic & recipe (believe me a very hard choice) of Dulche de Leche Triple Chocolate Brownies (adapted from Baking Illustrated) because:
It's very chocolaty!!
It looks moist & heavy as opposed to light & fluffy (which is not for me).
Even though I'm not sure what 3/4 cup dulce de leche is- I'm sure I can find out!!
It can't be that hard to make!!
It's from the following blog where you can find the recipe:
http://treats-sf.blogspot.com/2010/08/dulce-de-leche-triple-chocolate.html
It's easy to use- just narrow your search in search box or browse at random. Yes I think I will use it again. I really enjoyed this task- I like to have a wide range of knowledge of what's available out there. What did I, personally, get out of TasteSpotting? I got a lot of enjoyment out of it. Who doesn't like food! Especially CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!

Week 3 : FeedMyInbox - RSS made simple

Through FeedMyInbox: http://www.feedmyinbox.com/ I have subscribed to:
Auckland City Libraries Scooper on libraries Posts: http://bit.ly/a2UeW6
BBC News - Europe Daily Confirmed: http://bit.ly/c6fmOD
So now rather than checking blogs and news sites every day for updates, update alerts are sent straight to my email inbox on a daily basis & paid accounts can receive emails in real-time instead of a daily digest.
It is easy to use. The instructions are short & clear. We could use this in the learn.nets and in our workrooms especially in the context of keeping abreast of what other Libraries are doing. I would use this site again for favourite websites & promote it to customers.
Auckland City Libraries Scooper on libraries Posts

Week 2 : Picapp - the best images for your blog

I've added 2 pics to my Week 2 Picapp post:
the first is a cityscape of Bath in Somerset, UK which I've added because I really like it & the second because I think it is really fascinating. It's the chariot found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun which was displayed at Discovery Times Square Exposition on August 3, 2010 in New York. The chariot, which most likely had been used by the boy king for hunting, is being shown in the United States for the first time and is the first time it has ever left Egypt. Yes it is easy for staff/customers to use, although I could not find how to add videos- maybe you have to register to do this, so I'll try doing this later.
It's not hard to locate pics that are are newsworthy and relevant although I wasn't searching for anything that Manukau Libraries could benefit from. I will probably use this site again & promote it to customers.

Week 1 : Box.net - online file storage

I created an account with Box.net & uploaded the one & only Stieg Larsson interview. (Thank you Tosca & Danielle). You can view it at: http://www.box.net/shared/drt677rqfu
Some of the ways in which Box.net can be used:
Contact lists; shared folders which can be updated & changed when working on projects together; storage for meeting minutes which can be accessed by staff members; PowerPoint slides for presentations or basically any info that can be shared.
I thought it was a similar concept to a PBWiki & very easy to use. It worked for me & yes I would promote it.