YouTube

I like YouTube, if I have something specific I'm looking for (such as the latest Glee performance or some crazy animal video). I would never just dive into YouTube and do general searches. It's too massive, like the www itself.

Benefits of YouTube for the library would be that we could post instructional videos for our patrons and post the links to the relvelant pages on our website. We could post how to download digital titles, maybe post links to a computer class. I'm not sure what the legal aspects are of any of these, so that would have to be looked into.

A short version of a Glee favorite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2FMdOLyRcA

Pandora

I've used Pandora for a few years now. I really like it. I like its ability to find other artists based on your choices. I like that you can create different "play lists" too. I've told many family and friends about Pandora. This is an easy one that any person can get into.

Google Docs

Google docs has many possibilities, some good some bad. It all depends on what you need, what you want to be able to do with it and what kind of access you have. I think Amy gave a good breakdown of pros and cons of Google docs.

Google Maps

I love Google maps. I like dragging the little person to the street view. I like turning my view 360 degrees. These maps, for directions, also tend to print off better than mapquest. I also like the random comments and lists people post, depending on what you're mapping. I looked up directions to the Williamsburg Regional Libray in Williamsburg, VA.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=6101+Frisco+Square+Boulevard,+Frisco,+TX&daddr=515+Scotland+Street,+Williamsburg,+VA&hl=en&geocode=FczW-QEdh2s6-ilNiLfuBzxMhjG6FoyE77LsiA%3BFcbBOAIdJoZt-ylzSqCEDImwiTGZnaSKwf8i6g&mra=ls&sll=34.741612,-86.791992&sspn=25.485143,39.331055&ie=UTF8&ll=35.603719,-86.748047&spn=25.224861,39.331055&z=5

I had wanted to show directions for riding a bike to WRL, but couldn't get that link to post.

You Send It

I see the benefits of You Sent It. Being able to send larger videos through emails and not having to edit them down is nice. I was going to send myself one of my Flip Videos, because those are huge and I can never get those to go through on an email, but apparently I lost them somewhere in the vast void of my computer. Instead, I sent a generic video already available from Microsoft.

Tiny URL

This is a pretty cool website. The benefit of this site is quite obvious. It is much easier to send and url to someone with 26 characters rather than 92... or more. I copied the link to a new book by Patricia Briggs via Barnes & Noble, http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Silver-Borne/Patricia-Briggs/e/9780441018192/?cds2Pid=18016 , and Tiny URL turned it into, http://tinyurl.com/ydtc67p, but then I decided to customize it and turned it into this, http://tinyurl.com/newpbriggs. Very nice and more memorable.

Facebook

Like most I, too, have a FB account. I've found many friends that live out of state and that I hadn't talked to since graduations (high school, college) or from my own move out of state (I'm Okie originally, Boomer Sooner!).

I'm a "Fan" a few different groups, but must say, I never visit those sites. I mostly use it to chat with friends. While having a FB page for the library might be useful, I think our website is still the best way to advertise ourselves and our programs.