Technology Classes
We regularly offer technology classes online through Adobe Connect (no special software needed). Learn about RSS feeds, iGoogle, micro-blogging, podcasting, and blogs and wikis. Watch the PSR-News list for announcements of dates and times for the sessions. If you can't attend the "live" sessions, you can watch a recording.
RSS Feeds: The "New" Current Awareness Service" (1 hour session)
- We'll answer the question "What are RSS feeds?" as well as covering various types of news readers, sources for discovering feeds, ideas for promoting RSS as a current awareness service to patrons, and using PubMed customized feeds. We'll also take a brief look at what an RSS feed file looks like behind the scenes and simple ways to add RSS feeds to your library web site. No experience with RSS is necessary to attend, but if you have some favorite feeds you like to read regularly or have promoted an RSS service in your library, please plan to share your experiences with the group.
- Watch the recording of a session held September 10, 2007
Personalized Google (iGoogle) (1 hour session)
- Participants will learn: how to set up a personalized home page using iGoogle; how to search for and add Google Gadgets and news feeds (including custom PubMed searches) to a personalized iGoogle home page; how to add Google Gadgets to a regular web page or blog; the basics of creating a custom Google Gadget, with or without the help of a programmer.
- Watch the recording of a session held April 14, 2008
"Microblogging" Using Twitter and FriendFeed (1 hour session)
- Participants will: learn how to send and receive "Tweets" using Twitter clients; learn how to set up a FriendFeed page to push out information from a variety of services; view and discuss examples of how library and other organizations are using microblogging.
- Watch the recording of a session held September 18, 2008; or down load the slides.
Can You Hear Me Now: How to Make a Podcast (2 hour MLA CE)
- Thinking about how to promote your services and reach out to more people? Want to learn how podcasts can help and how to make your own? This hands-on class is designed to provide a fun yet informative introduction to podcasting and how you can utilize this technology in your library services, to enable your users to access the information whenever they want, wherever they want and however they want it. Basic steps and suggestions on how to make a podcast will be covered and students will be able to enjoy hands-on practice on popular audio recording and editing software and make their first personal podcast!
- This class will be offered online in early 2009... watch for an announcement!
"Introduction to Blogs and Wikis" (4 hour MLA CE class)
- Online collaborative technologies such as blogs and wikis are useful for delivering information about specific topics, promoting discussion with users and colleagues, and providing a collaborative workspace for teams. Numerous free, user-friendly online services make it easier than ever to create a blog or wiki for your patrons or colleagues.
- By the end of the class participants will be well equipped to create a blog for communicating with patrons and to use a wiki in a collaborative setting. Participants will learn basic blog and wiki terminology, the important differences and appropriate usages for blogs and wikis, and potential uses within a health sciences library setting. Participants will gain hands-on experience creating and editing a blog and wiki using free online services. The class will include lecture / demonstration, group discussion and brainstorming, and hands-on computer exercises.
Geeks Bearing Gifts: Unwrapping New Technologies (4 hour MLA CE)
- This class is intended to provide a fun, fast-paced, and informative introduction to and update on today's hottest technology trends. Program participants will be able to identify technology trends and they will understand how these trends will impact or can be integrated into traditional library services. Content will be presented in with a "can-do" focus intended to encourage participants to investigate at least one technology for implementation in their institution. Course structure will include brief vignettes and demonstrations of a wide variety of technologies. Some of the topics to be covered include instant messaging, podcasting, open source software, spyware and other malware, developments in mobile computing, blogs and wikis, radio-frequency identification, and more. The hands-on class is 4 MLA CE hours.
Contact
Please contact Sharon Dennis, PSR Technology Coordinator, at sdennis@library.ucla.edu or 310-825-9170.
