*note 2: I need to figure out a better way to do screen-shots, but for now, you can click on the images to see them full-size.
As I mentioned last week, I've been wanting to start a series of posts about Web 2.0 tools, and how they might be used by bloggers/librarians/teens. Today, for the first in the series, I'm going to tell you a bit about Google Notebook, one of my new favorites.
My mother (who I don't think reads this blog), is the most organized person I know. She cuts out pictures from magazines and glues them into blank books... organized by color.* I, in an effort to do something similar, would tear out pages from magazines them in folders, meaning to organize them someday (and that someday, of course, hasn't come). Which is why, for me, Google Notebook is a wonderful tool.
Google Notebook is, as the name describes, an online notebook where you can save pictures and bits of text, and organize them into multiple notebooks. To use it, you do have to install, either a Firefox extension or a small tool for Internet Explorer. I'm running Firefox (from a flash drive, more on that in a future post), so things may look slightly different in IE.
So, for example, I'm reading through my RSS feeds on Google Reader and see a review of a book that I think I might like to read, I right-click, and select "Note This"
The note automatically goes to my notebook, which opens in the right hand corner of the screen, and the note is saved to which ever notebook I had open last (in this case, "Crafts").
I then click on the down arrow in the corner of the note, select Move, and then choose a new location for the note.
Personally, I now have notebooks full of books I want to read, crafts I want to make someday, recipes I want to try, and decorating ideas for my dream house.
I used Google Notebook to collect information before my last trip to New York, which I was able to access from my cell phone while I was there (there's a mobile version of Notebook too). I also shared this notebook with Matt, so he could see which museums (and libraries) I was planning to drag him to.
I have a notebook for collecting ideas for storytimes and library programs. (We're working on a Twilight Party at the moment)
I also create notebooks for my classes each semester, where I have the syllabus and assignment instructions (without having to log into the dreaded Blackboard), and where I can collect research for any papers I'm working on.
As you can see, the possibilities are almost limitless, and Google Notebook can be used for hobbies, study, or simply bookmarking sites to return to later.
Well, that's it for our first Tech Thursday. Feel free to leave any questions, suggestions, ideas, etc, in the comments.
*though I still haven't quite forgiven her for the time she put all of my books in rainbow order, and I couldn't find any of them!
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