My academic library subscribes to a collection of Zinio eJournals/eMagazines. I'm also able to access additional eMagazines through Zinio with my Hennepin County Library card.
My academic library's access to Zinio requires a two-part log in process, which sometimes causes confusion to the students when they first try to access Zinio. First they must access the Zinio database through our library's website and create an account there. Once they've created an account they can check out magazines. Once they checkout the magazine they then have to reenter that information into the Zinio app to be able to access their reading materials. It can be a bit of a process for our less tech savvy students.
What's great about Zinio is that once you've checked out a magazine you can download it to your Zinio app and be able to read it offline. This does take space on your iPad, so you'll want to delete issues that you're no longer reading.
Zinio also offers the option to explore and read selected articles from various magazines for free. The options available are updated regularly.
I think as more and more journals become available as eJournals that academic usership of apps like Zinio will increase and students will have access to an increasingly wide variety of journals.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Thing 10: Sharing Photos
The apps listed for Thing 10 are Instagram and Snapchat. I already use both of these apps, although not as frequently as others. I don't take a lot of pictures, although I do enjoy seeing what other people are sharing. Does that make me a lurker?
In my experience, Instagram is great for following photos by celebs. I think that I just might be more of the Facebook generation, because all of the people I know personally see tend to post photos there more than on Instagram. Instagram for the iPad has a sloppy interface; the app is built for smart phones, which becomes obvious when you use it on your iPad. I'm also not a big fan of the how hashtags appear in Instagram. If Instagram built a smoother iPad app I think I'd use it more than I use their current app.
I also use Snapchat on occasion. Again, I think this just might be a generational gap thing. I only have one friend who uses Snapchat on a regular basis. I kind of find Snaps more intruding than text messages. There's more steps to viewing them than to viewing a message that comes through by text. The feature that might be the most useful is the ability to limit the amount of time viewers can see your Snaps. Unless they're savvy enough to get a screen shot, you don't have to worry much about photos getting saved without your permission. And Snapchat lets you know if someone does take a screenshot.
After revisiting each of these apps I don't think that I will increase my use of either of them, unless Instagram comes up with a better iPad app.
In my experience, Instagram is great for following photos by celebs. I think that I just might be more of the Facebook generation, because all of the people I know personally see tend to post photos there more than on Instagram. Instagram for the iPad has a sloppy interface; the app is built for smart phones, which becomes obvious when you use it on your iPad. I'm also not a big fan of the how hashtags appear in Instagram. If Instagram built a smoother iPad app I think I'd use it more than I use their current app.
I also use Snapchat on occasion. Again, I think this just might be a generational gap thing. I only have one friend who uses Snapchat on a regular basis. I kind of find Snaps more intruding than text messages. There's more steps to viewing them than to viewing a message that comes through by text. The feature that might be the most useful is the ability to limit the amount of time viewers can see your Snaps. Unless they're savvy enough to get a screen shot, you don't have to worry much about photos getting saved without your permission. And Snapchat lets you know if someone does take a screenshot.
After revisiting each of these apps I don't think that I will increase my use of either of them, unless Instagram comes up with a better iPad app.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Thing 9: Taking and Editing Photos
I don't usually do a lot of photo editing, except maybe to fix red eye or crop to fit. For this Thing I checked out LINE Camera and Color Splurge.
I found it frustrating that both of these apps only worked in portrait mode and would not switch to landscape on my iPad. Landscape mode is easier for me to navigate.
LINECamera had great options for photo collages, which I use a lot in library marketing. It included a lot of different formats - something that is hard to find in other photo collage apps. Some of the Beauty editing features were a bit comical, as they seemed to give the photo subjects an anime look. I also don't know what I would do with the stamps feature - I think that stuff is kind of cheesy. Younger kids would probably think this app is fun. If I use this app it would be for the collage features only.
Color Splurge was a fun app, but includes a lot of adds that caused the app to crash over and over. I think that adding a pop of color to black and white photos is a fun concept. However, this app's tendency to crash made it hard to get anything accomplished - I probably won't use this one again.
I found it frustrating that both of these apps only worked in portrait mode and would not switch to landscape on my iPad. Landscape mode is easier for me to navigate.
LINECamera had great options for photo collages, which I use a lot in library marketing. It included a lot of different formats - something that is hard to find in other photo collage apps. Some of the Beauty editing features were a bit comical, as they seemed to give the photo subjects an anime look. I also don't know what I would do with the stamps feature - I think that stuff is kind of cheesy. Younger kids would probably think this app is fun. If I use this app it would be for the collage features only.
Color Splurge was a fun app, but includes a lot of adds that caused the app to crash over and over. I think that adding a pop of color to black and white photos is a fun concept. However, this app's tendency to crash made it hard to get anything accomplished - I probably won't use this one again.
Thing 8: Social Media Management Tools
I run a Facebook page for our library and usually use Facebook's Pages app to schedule and manage posts. This app works well for the things I'm posting. I typically schedule most of my posts for the week ahead of time and then let Pages post for me as the week progresses. I can add photos, locations, and choose the exact time that I want future posts to be made.
I explored HootSuite for this Thing as well. I connected my library's Facebook page with HootSuite and it works very similarly to Pages, with the addition of translation and shrinking links. The translation option is awesome, but I don't have any reason to translate most of my posts. Shrinking links is also a great idea, although Pages basically does the same thing automatically with a thumbnail that you can click on instead of the link. You can also direct message contacts, although when I post I'm normally posting for my entire following audience.
Because I'm already comfortable and don't need another social media management system I'll stick with Facebook Pages for now.
I explored HootSuite for this Thing as well. I connected my library's Facebook page with HootSuite and it works very similarly to Pages, with the addition of translation and shrinking links. The translation option is awesome, but I don't have any reason to translate most of my posts. Shrinking links is also a great idea, although Pages basically does the same thing automatically with a thumbnail that you can click on instead of the link. You can also direct message contacts, although when I post I'm normally posting for my entire following audience.
Because I'm already comfortable and don't need another social media management system I'll stick with Facebook Pages for now.
Thing 7: Content Sharing and Saving
I am a Pinterest addict. It's useful and entertaining. I find ideas for library programming, recipes, home decor, gifts, and more using Pinterest. If I'm looking for a recipe I'll start with a Pinterest search, rather than a Google search. I love that I can add my own content to Pinterest as well as view content added by others.
One pin described Pinterest as a form of digital hoarding, which is a pretty accurate description. If you like a pin, you'd better pin it or you might not find it again. With over 3.5K pins, my boards have become a little unwieldy and need to be reorganized. I wish that you could create sub-boards for your existing boards. But hey, that's a librarian for you.
One thing I love is the ability to follow only certain content from your Pinterest friends. I can follow my sister's recipe board, but I don't have to follow her knitting board (Pinterest is a gold mine for crafters, which I am not).
It's easy to share content with your friends and followers. You can even view related pins to the one you're looking at, which I've found helpful on numerous occasions. Pinterest has quickly become my favorite social media site.
One pin described Pinterest as a form of digital hoarding, which is a pretty accurate description. If you like a pin, you'd better pin it or you might not find it again. With over 3.5K pins, my boards have become a little unwieldy and need to be reorganized. I wish that you could create sub-boards for your existing boards. But hey, that's a librarian for you.
One thing I love is the ability to follow only certain content from your Pinterest friends. I can follow my sister's recipe board, but I don't have to follow her knitting board (Pinterest is a gold mine for crafters, which I am not).
It's easy to share content with your friends and followers. You can even view related pins to the one you're looking at, which I've found helpful on numerous occasions. Pinterest has quickly become my favorite social media site.
Thing 6: Creating and Editing Docs
Oh man, this has been an ongoing debate on our campus. When students received their tablets they immediately wanted to use it like a laptop and use it to type their research papers. However, their tablets were not meant to replace computers, only to supplement.
We explored several apps for creating and editing docs, including CloudOn, QuickOffice, Pages, GoogleDrive, and more. These apps were great options for quick documents, but not for the editing features that students needed to polish assignments. CloudOn didn't have all the editing tools students wanted, QuickOffice wasn't free, Pages looked different than Word, GoogleDrive required a Google Account.
But now, students are happily plugging along using Office365 and Microsoft Word for their tablet. They have free accounts connected to their student email, which has made creating and editing documents on their tablets a much easier process and one that is much closer to the one with which they were familiar.
We explored several apps for creating and editing docs, including CloudOn, QuickOffice, Pages, GoogleDrive, and more. These apps were great options for quick documents, but not for the editing features that students needed to polish assignments. CloudOn didn't have all the editing tools students wanted, QuickOffice wasn't free, Pages looked different than Word, GoogleDrive required a Google Account.
But now, students are happily plugging along using Office365 and Microsoft Word for their tablet. They have free accounts connected to their student email, which has made creating and editing documents on their tablets a much easier process and one that is much closer to the one with which they were familiar.
Thing 5: Notetaking
Previous to this post the only note taking app I used was the Apple Notes app. It's easy to use and syncs between my iPhone and iPad, which is really helpful when I'm adding to my grocery list from my nearest device.
I have played around with Evernote, but haven't found a great use for it. I don't find it very easy to jump between Evernote and whatever other app I'm using. I don't do a lot of recording or voice commands, unless I'm using Siri to text, so taking notes with audio feels uncomfortable to me. I do see that it could be useful for students, though.
I have played around with Evernote, but haven't found a great use for it. I don't find it very easy to jump between Evernote and whatever other app I'm using. I don't do a lot of recording or voice commands, unless I'm using Siri to text, so taking notes with audio feels uncomfortable to me. I do see that it could be useful for students, though.
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