The author, Randall Farrar, talks about the use web conferencing tools to offer quick, live, web based training sessions, on very specific topics.

While he suggests that webettes should be hour-long, I'd suggest that in most cases you'd want to keep them even shorter, perhaps 15 minutes or less.

SharedView isn't the only free tool out there. Yakkle offers instant messaging, voice and desktop sharing. You start by initiating an instant messaging session. Once you've connected, you can opt to share your desktop.

I haven't tried either of these out yet...if anyone else has, let us know what you think.

So I'm very interested in this ILTA webinar called "Getting Attorneys into the Classroom - Why Would You Want Them There?" and I thought I'd let you know about it as well. There's a lot to be learned on this topic from the technology folks, since they experience the same problems we do, but on an even larger scale!

You'll have to pay a bit more to register if your firm isn't an ILTA member, but it's probably worth it. Maybe I'll "see" you there.

P.S. Attending and speaking at TRIPLL was a great experience. I learned a lot, enjoyed exchanging ideas with the group, and ate way more than I should have. If you're involved with training, and ever get the opportunity to go, take it! Thanks very much to the group at Lexis Nexis for continuing to offer such quality programs.

Hey, it's actually easy to be green! (Sorry, Kermit!)

You can review the poll results at any time by clicking on the view results link.

Here's number one.

Why aren't they calling it a wiki? Google Sites can be the basis for an intranet, a personal web space or an external web site. Wikis can be all of these things, too, but people decidedly lack imagination, and might pigeon-hole
a wiki app as a Wikipedia-type knowledgebase. While wikis are essentially an easy way to create a web site, for some, the label could be limiting. Google is aiming this at the general public, and by the way, not everyone knows what a wiki is! Anyway, that's just my guess as to the motivation, and I think it makes sense.

What I'm really liking is idea of 10 gigabytes of file storage. I've been on the lookout for a central location to store files of all kinds, including spreadsheets and pdfs, relating to our dog club. I've thought of using a wiki, but there's a limitation to the amount of space that is offered for free. Google has never been one to be stingy with storage space. So I plan to experiment with it sometime soon. And I'll bet our members won't mind at all that it's not called a wiki. :-)

Besides, apparently Google's eye is also on the enterprise market, with Sharepoint as the competition. So while Google Sites may resemble a wiki now, they obviously want it to become much more.

For more information see:

Let the Battle Begin: Google Apps Versus Microsoft SharePoint

Google Sites but not a Wiki

The nasty four-letter word that must be banished from the web

Rosen chose PBWiki as his platform of choice to replace a much more sophisticated and expensive Lotus Notes platform. All kinds of information is being collected on the wiki including phone lists and case files.

For more information see: Boosting Teamwork with Wikis (Fortune, Feb. 12, 2008)

But I can't stop. This is great stuff. Today's feature, "How to Stop Checking Email on the Evenings and Weekends" makes a very interesting point. If you want to stop getting so much email, you need to stop sending it! Of course, why didn't I think of that. The more we try to get done, the more inundated we become. Here's another piece of advice I particularly like. "Don't scan email if you can't immediately fix problems encountered." It's true, I've been guilty of taking a quick look on a vacation day, but I'm trying to break that habit for this very reason. Nothing ruins a good vacation day than reading an email with a problem you can't fix until you get back to the office.

So, you see my problem. My RSS reader says I have 414 LifeHacker entries to catch up on. How can I truly be efficient if I can't keep up with blog entries on how to be efficient?

Here's my LifeHacker-like solution. Instead of reading the entries on a regular basis, I've been searching LifeHacker when I have a question. For example, when I needed to know how to create a slideshow of my Flickr photos, off I went to LifeHacker to run a search on "Flickr" and "slideshow". I'm researching web conferencing tools, so I run a search and find an interesting entry on a free service call Yugma. Hmm, I'm definitely giving this one a try.

Browsing LifeHacker by category is another way to go, and yields some interesting stories. I couldn't resist clicking on "Pets", which is how I found a great article on a pet travel web site, Plan a Pet Friendly Route with PetsWelcome.com. This is perfect for my "other" web site, CarGoDogs. And if you're particularly interested in a specific category, you can opt for the RSS feed for future articles on that topic.

Now, where was I? Ah yes, I was researching web conferencing tools when I was distracted by LifeHacker. I've obviously digressed. So many LifeHacker tips....so little time.

See also: Report on Librarians’ Feelings About Automation Is More ‘Validating’ Than ‘Surprising’, a Newsbreak by Kathy Dempsey

The respondents don't even have to sign in, which is quite an advantage if you're collecting data from people who aren't GoogleDocs users...or, heavens, don't even know about GoogleDocs.

This has definite possibilities...okay, I don't have an application for this yet, but I will...and I suspect you will, too.

For more information, see:

Stop sharing spreadsheets, start collecting information (Google Docs Blog)

Not familiar with Google Docs? See Google Marks Microsoft's Territory - Google Docs and More.

In her blog, Information Wants To Be Free, Meredith Farkas describes how she used MediaWiki to resurrect, and re-tool the library's subject guides.

Meredith point out the value of the subject guide's task-based emphasis:

Probably my favorite part of the subject guides is the focus on how-to’s. More general subject guides are great, but usually students are trying to accomplish something more specific. They’re not doing “architecture research” — they’re looking for information on a specific building or architect or design style. They’re not doing “English research” — they’re looking for literary criticisms, book reviews, etc. That’s why I think a task-based orientation works so much better than a subject-oriented one. The majority of the questions we get at the desk are from students trying to do the same few things and now we have guides that address those specific things that students are trying to accomplish.

If you're doing hard copy pathfinders and research guides, consider a wiki as an alternate format. People always know where to find them, you kill fewer trees, they're more interactive, and they're easy to update and maintain. You might also want to create short bibliographies or "handouts" as a way to support your training sessions and provide information on a as-needed basis. How about using wikis to house and organize FAQ's? Or to collect information when you're collaborating with others on a research project?

MediaWiki, best known as the platform for Wikipedia, is Meredith's tool of choice. I've used MediaWiki, and wasn't wild about it because the lack of WYSIWYG editing made it cumbersome to use, and cumbersome is the exact the opposite of what you're going for in a wiki. Rumor has it that WYSIWYG is under development.

If you can't install wiki software locally, you can use one of many hosted wiki services, such as PBWiki. Just make sure not to store confidential information there. They can be password protected, but I still doubt your tech people would consider that adequate. See the WikiMatrix for help in choosing the right tool for your environment.

[Spotted on TVC Alert]

So, how heavy could a few magazines be? You'd be surprised. What's the possibility of me actually reading all these items in my 35 minute (one-way) train ride? Zilch. It's impossible. Yet I am compelled to carry them all with me. Who knows, the train could be delayed. It's happened.

The new Amazon e-book, Kindle, is made for people like me. The ability to store hundreds of books, newspapers and magazines in a small, paperback-sized package is perfect for compulsive readers with bad backs. But what distinguishes it from its predecessors is that fact that it doesn't require a computer to download a book. It works off of a cellular phone network, which allows it to send reading material including newspapers and complete books to your Kindle in under a minute. You can also email documents to your Kindle account in Word or PDF format, where they will be loaded to your Kindle for a small fee.

This is a ground-breaking development. I could never seen myself hooking up a device to my computer every morning to download the daily paper, and it would also allow me to get delivery of my subscriptions wherever I happen to be, making it a great convenience when traveling.

That's the promise, if not the reality as yet, at least not for me. Though there are 92,000 titles available for the Kindle, my local newspapers and Newsweek, are not on the subscription list. But I have hope for the future.

There's been some talk about why the Kindle can't do more. It has limited web browsing capability (mainly Wikipedia), and won't' replace your MP3 player or cell phone. But I'm okay with that. I've yet to see a camera/phone/pda/etc combination that does each function well and is easy to use. While the Kindle won't replace my Blackberry, it has the potential to displace my magazines and books, and that's a big advantage for me.

I'm not really an early adopter. But once a gadget becomes practical tool rather then just a toy, I get very interested. I just might add Kindle to my Christmas list for 2008 if and when:

• content is available in color,
• Newsweek and the L.A. Times are offered,
• the price comes down to $300, and
• I actually have the chance to see and play with one!

I'd like to see it have a more open platform, with the ability to buy from other vendors, but I'm not sure that's in the cards.

Will Kindle ever be an option for legal content? Will our users load up cases, statutues and treatises on a Kindle-like device? Never say never. The book may not die, but the format may eventually fade away, given the right tools.

For more information see:

Amazon's Kindle Page

The Future of Reading (Newsweek, Nov. 26, 2007)

Getting a Read on Amazon's New Kindle (KnowledgeWharton)

Web4Lib Discussion