Blogging Section of SLA-IT

Grade your Press Release

This is an interesting sounding tool:

HubSpot's Press Release Grader evaluates your press release and provides a marketing effectiveness score. This score is based upon basic factors from public relations experts including the language and content of the release, plus advanced factors from Internet marketing experts such as links and search engine optimization characteristics.

If you need some help with your press release writing, this tool might be worth checking out.

Combined SLA Feed

This via an email I got today - make sure you subscribe to keep up with SLA happenings across the world & across divisions.

I've put together a combined feed of all the active (in 2008) SLA blogs I could find. This gives you the chance to see and subscribe to all these blogs in one fell swoop.

More info is on a blog (of course!) — in particular, the NJSLA blog, at http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/njsla/2008/05/sla-blogs-meg-1.html

— Eric Schwarz, NJSLA president-elect

Technoriti tags: SLA2008

Twitter at SLA Annual

Going to SLA Annual? Well, in addition to attending the Bloggers Happy Hour, you should pay attention to the SLA Twitter Feed.

As part of SLA's Innovation Lab, and for the first time at conference, SLA will be using Twitter to make the conference experience more collaborative via use of a backchannel.  SLA2008 has been created on the Twitter website for conference attendees and non-attendees alike to follow.  More on using Twitter at conference is forthcoming.

Learn more from Yankee in Canada.

Technoriti tags: SLA2008

SLA Blogging Section Get Together at Annual

Wow! Time flies!  It's nearly time for SLA Annual in Seattle and that means tons of get togethers and social events. Make sure you don't miss the Blogging Section Happy Hour:

Tuesday, June 17, 2008 5:30PM - 7:30PM
Location: Wild Ginger,  1401 3rd Avenue (http://www.wildginger.net/)

I got a great recommendation for this place and they inform me that the bar is usually slow on Tuesday night so we can probably spread out a bit. 

This is a dutch treat event, each person can get their own check.  In order to get a room for our group we'd have to promise to spend $250 each hour and put it all on one check - so I opted out of that option.

I'm looking forward to meeting you all!!  Let me know (nengard (at) gmail (dot) com) if you're planning on attending, RSVP is not required, but if we have too many people planning on attending I may have to change the location - or get the private room.

See you all soon!!!!

Technoriti tags: SLA2008

Survey reports that hiring managers are turning to online social sites

An article in the May 16, 2008 Central New York Business Journal reports that many hiring managers are turning to online social networkings in order to find new employees.  The survey, done by ICR, an independent market research firm, reported that:

...62 percent would turn to professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, and 35 percent would refer to social networking sites, like Facebook or MySpace.

Colleen Accetta, branch manager for Robert Half Finance & Accounting, said:

It can't replace the personal touch, obviously.  It can't replace the traditional hiring process but it certainly opens the field for you to include employee referrals, working with specialized recruiting firms, just casting a wider net, I believe.

---

This was also posted in eNetworking 101: The Blog.

 

Google Sites for your library/organization

Back in February I bookmarked Google Sites, but didn’t write about it because it was only available via Google Apps (which I get to use at work).  Today I read that Google Sites is now available to all!

A few months ago, Google launched Google Sites, a hosted wiki product built on JotSpot technology. But until this week, Google Sites was only available to Google Apps users, which basically meant you needed to have your own domain name to set up a wiki. Now Google is opening Google Sites up to everyone.

You can sign up by logging into Google Sites using your Google ID, or by registering for a new free account. Your page will be created at sites.google.com/sitename. If you want a custom domain, you can still sign up for the service through Google Apps.

I’m using Google Sites for several work sites and it’s a pretty darn handy tool.  That said it seems to have a couple of downsides:

1. When logged into my sites it logs me out of my docs
2. There is a few missing levels of permissions, I want to be able to let people comment, but not edit pages
3. It allows you to embed Google Docs (very cool) but then they’re not full text searchable.

I’m sure Google is working on upgrading this tool, so it’s well worth taking a look at for your organization’s shared site.

Technorati Tags: google, google sites

Login to Zoho w/ Google ID

I teach an Online Office Tools class for local organizations, and I always show Google Docs because most people already have Google accounts.  At the end I always tell people that they should try Zoho when they go home because it has many more tools.  Today I found out that you can login to Zoho with your Google (or Yahoo) ID.  What a great idea!!

These online office tools are great for libraries because they're free to use and accessible from any computer with access to the Internet.  I highly recommend teaching patrons about these tools to eliminate the cost of licenses for public PCs - it's also very handy for those working in virtual offices.

University of Michigan Libraries' new technology blog

The Library Information Technology Division at the University of Michigan Libraries has created a new blog.  Entitled BLT, the Blog for Library Technology will serve as a way to publicize the technological innovations occurring at the library.  If you don't have a UM uniqname and want to comment, make sure to sign up for a free friend account in order to participate.

Facebook and Blackboard

Inside Higher Ed published yesterday an article about a new Facebook application to link the social network with Blackboard, the course management software used in multiple academic institution. The application is called Blackboard Sync and will bring course information and updates to a student's Facebook account:

"Some of Sync’s other features include integration with Blackboard’s message boards, access to grades and a page with announcements and recent course updates — viewable only to the student who’s both logged on to Facebook and enrolled in the given courses"

There is already a Facebook group on the general topic of CMS, Course Management Systems in Facebook, created by librarian Gerry McKiernan.

To note, I looked for the application in Facebook but haven't found it yet. Forthcoming?

Meme: Passion Quilt

We have been tagged in the Passion Quilt Meme.  I chose the picture above for my bit of the quilt because:

The thing I'd like kids to know is that you can teach an old dog new tricks.  If you have a love of learning, you can experience the comfort that comes with lifelong learning. If you go forward in life believing that you're going to reach an age where you can't learn anymore then you're going to find yourself in uncomfortable situations.  Instead, go forward in life with the goal of always learning something new!

3 Simple Meme Rules:

 

• Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
• Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry. (Known origin of the meme is here)
• Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.

Tag! You Are It: I know that the SLA IT Division Bloggers have been tagged already, but there are many of us - and I'd love to hear from other members so you're all first on my list:

• SLA IT Division bloggers
• NJSLA Blog Members
• Christine Schwartz
• Tom Ipri
• John Blyberg