Cool Tools

From AmbientLibrarian

Books and cataloging

• LibraryThing

Catalog your books online. Yes, really, all your books. And the books on your to-read list. Then, tag them. And share that bibliographic detail!

• What's Next?

Have you ever found yourself trying to figure out what is the next book in a series? Now you can do this with ease. Use the Author, Series title, or Book title to figure out what's next.

• Worldcat

WorldCat is a database of library holdings worldwide that is constantly updated by information professionals. An excellent source of validated information.

General Web Sites

• del.icio.us - Web 2.0 in action. Combine bookmarks, tags, and a simple interface, and you get the expert's top links for any subject, and a great way to organize your own bookmarks. Check out:
  • http://del.icio.us/DublinCityPublicLibraries/ - Dublin City Public Libraries' bookmarks
  • http://del.icio.us/popular/library
  • http://del.icio.us/popular/library2.0

• Librarians' Internet Index

Web site offering high-quality websites carefully selected, described, and organized by librarians. Topics include current events and issues, holidays and seasons, helpful tools for information users, human interest, and more.

• Lifehacker

Users recommend websites, software, and methods for being productive online. Tip #1: Add the Ad-supported or Ad-free (but partial) feeds to your RSS reader, and get tips all through the day.

• Jon Udell's Library Lookup Bookmarklet

Ever wish you could easily find out if you have a book you're reviewing on Amazon? It can be a simple click away.

• Wikipedia

Yes, there are no authorities to monitor the content. But if you want to know what the people who are most interested in a subject are saying about it, or just want to know what the heck it is, Wikipedia is the place to start. To argue about Wikipedia, go to the Wikipedia page.

Software

• ArtRage from Ambient Design

A free painting program to experiment with.

• Firefox

The free, open source browser. If it's not on your library computers yet, Why not?

• Software for Starving Students

Software for Starving Students is a free collection of programs organized for students using Windows or OS X that includes a fully-featured office suite, a cutting-edge web browser, multi-media packages, academic tools, utilities and more.

• Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a free, Linux-based operating system that can be installed on a computer, like a traditional operating system, or can run entirely from a cd. It contains "a web browser, presentation, document and spreadsheet software, instant messaging and much more."

• Zoho

Zoho offers free online office tools, such as word processing, spreadsheets, etc. I particularly like Zoho Creator for making simple databases. An interesting feature is that the template for the database can be embedded in a blog post so others can contribute to your database. File can be private or public. You can invite others to share.