Thing #13: Presentation

Deck is an interesting application for quick and simple slideshows rather than a sophisticated presentation. I could especially see its creative and streamlined aspects applied to PechaKucha, the compact presentation style that limits one to six slides and six and a half minutes. The template themes are pretty wacky, and only a few are free, but the effects are nice. I'll have to think awhile to see applications to our special library setting.

Thing #12: Books, Books, & More Books

I had never heard of Free Books until this Thing. Of course, Project Gutenberg is well know to most librarians if one is looking for the classics. I've also found a fair number of such works free on Kindle. But this was a quick way to get access to the words of top authors and beloved stories.

I am not impressed by the formatting of the books themselves; in the test books I downloaded there are paragraph breaks and not much else. These are the TXT file versions of Western lit, not prettified or enhanced. They have skimmed the universe of out-of-copyright titles for the best known, even if most are of the dead white men vintage. Even the Gutenberg HTML version of The Velveteen Rabbit includes the original artwork, while Free Books does not.

As with all my other info apps, I am doubled or tripled up when it comes to book apps. I have Kindle, Nook, and Google Play Books on my tablet, along with the Overdrive reader. I prefer not to read books on my phone.

Thing #11: Library & Reference

While I am familiar with and thankful for the resources provided through ELM, I have not used it much through the elm4you.org web site. My usual point of access is Hennepin County Library's web site, where the full range of databases is available. Now I will remember that a lot of things are easily available to me on the go through their mobile page. I've created a shortcut to it on my tablet, reinforcing a learning from Thing #2.

I have use the HCL app on my phone and tablet as long as I have had the devices. Being able to see the status of my account (requests, books checked out) is great. I've loaded and looked at Overdrive too, but there are so many books and so little time...

Thing #10: Sharing Photos

Since Facebook is my primary social network, I have only shared photos there. And since FB keeps one's photos forever, I have posted very few. So I have also avoided using Flickr, Instagram, etc. up to now. I have friends on FB who use Instagram heavily though, so I loaded the app and started following them. I don't do selfies or many other phtos of myself but I do have many pix of my cats...

Thing #9: Taking & Editing Photos

I have wanted a simple app for working with images and Photo Editor does a nice job with the basics. One of my scrapbooking buddies uses a collage app to cluster photos for use on her scrapbook pages. Photo Editor doesn't offer that functionality so I searched Google Play and found Photo Grid - Collage Maker. It duplicates Photo Editor in many ways, but also offers lots of additional features. I look forward to experimenting with both apps with scrapping in mind.

Thing #8 Social Media Management Tools

While I am connected to several social media networks, the only one I use regularly is Facebook. Therefore most of these tools are not of much interest to me. I decided to install Hoot Suite to handle my underused Twitter account. It is certainly straightforward - more so than using the native app. Maybe it will stimulate me to tweet more.

Thing #7: Content Saving & Sharing

I signed up for Pinterest quite a while ago, but, like Twitter, I have not yet found a practical application for it in my daily life. I already save content in too many places - Google Drive, Evernote, Pocket, Dropbox, and now Springpad. Publicly broadcasting my likes and personal interests via pinning seems too open-ended. Although I am an info addict, I am not inclined to share everything I find with either friends or strangers.

I've also never used Bitly before, and for the most part haven't felt a need. Even in the professional sphere I prefer to keep full URLs where possible. Signing up for it seems like just another place to leave a trail.

Thing #6: Creating and Editing Docs

My tablet came loaded with Polaris Office, which similarly handles MS Office documents. I installed Quickoffice and liked the ease of interaction with Google Drive. Since I do not generate many Office documents outside of work, either tool would be serviceable. I would not enjoy using them on a phone, however.

Thing #5: Notetaking

I wasn't sure about loading up yet another notepad-type app. I already use Evernote, and store lots of info flotsam on both Google Drive and Dropbox. But Springpad is pretty terrific, both on the tablet and the Web. I liked the interface, the collaboration with other apps and especially the templates. Within minutes I had set up notebooks for quick thoughts, movies, books, recipes, tasks, and miscellany captured in my net rambles. Synching was immediate, and the potential of public/shared notebooks is intriguing. This is definitely a keeper.

Update: Springpad has added quite a few new templates, some branded by personalties in a particular field. I am going to try the family history template for my genealogy hobby.