1. Free Technology and Web 2.0
Tools for Your Library
Teresa S. Welsh, Ph.D.
teresa.welsh@usm.edu
Stacy Creel, Ph.D.
stacy.creel@usm.edu

2. Solomon, L. (2011). Doing social media so it matters. Chicago: ALA.
BEFORE GETTING
STARTED…
Mississippi Library Association Conference,
10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 2

3. Some tips:
 “Social Media will change. Concept will not. Be
flexible.”
 “Interact with people in social media, or risk becoming
irrelevant.”
 “Giving up control is hard, but worst case scenario
rarely happens. Even if it does, it is far outweighed by
potential reach a library can have via social media.”
 “Figuring out your library’s social media goals doesn’t
have to be terribly complex, but it does have to be the
first step.”
Mississippi Library Association Conference,
10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 3

4. More tips:
 “If your library can be in only one place online,
Facebook should be it. Ideally, however, your library
should maintain an active presence at least on
Facebook and Twitter. They are very different social
instruments with different strengths.”
 ‘Find the best fit for your library based on the
demographics you are trying to reach and your library
goals.”
Mississippi Library Association Conference,
10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 4

5. More tips:
 “Every time your library directly engages with someone
online in a positive way, especially one that benefits the
other person, it gains social capital. Social capital takes
time to earn and trust to build.”
 “As Library staff, we know that people do judge books
by their covers. Your library’s social media profiles are
“covers” that people will use to judge the library. Put
effort into making them interesting, authentic, and
inviting.”
Mississippi Library Association Conference,
10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 5

6. More tips:
 “No Matter what social network your library chooses to
participate in, always remember that people appreciate
the value of content. Don’t waste people’s time with
posts or status updates that are just worthless fillers.”
 “ Social Media, in many cases, is happening in close to
real time. Failure to respond promptly to a
conversation, either positive or negative, can result in a
great deal of harm to your library’s reputation.”
 Create a social media policy for staff.
Mississippi Library Association Conference,
10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 6

7. Create Web Pages, Multimedia
 Yola Web site builder www.yola.com/
 Weebly.com Web site, blog builder www.weebly.com/
 Create audio greeting with audacity.sourceforge.net
 Find, revise, create color palettes with colorhunter.com/
 Filter images, post to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr with
instagram.com/
 YouTube Downloader to grab, edit videos
youtubedownload.altervista.org/
Mississippi Library Association Conference,
10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 7

8. Create Tutorials or Presentations
 Animoto http://animoto.com/
 Turn photos, video clips, music into video
 PhotoPeach photopeach.com/
 Create slideshows with captions, create quizzes
 Vuvox http://www.vuvox.com/
 Create collages, slideshows like videos
 PowerPoint 10 Try PPT 10 free or use Open Office
 Edit images, videos office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint-help/
 Tildee.com www.tildee.com/
 Use embedded maps, images, video to create unique URL to
share on Facebook, Twitter, Google
Mississippi Library Association Conference,
10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 8

9. Homework Help
 Khan Academy www.khanacademy.org/
 ReadingBear.org teaches phonics
 Free Online Learning videos for reading, math
www.gcflearnfree.org/
 WatchKnowLearn.org free educational videos
 CitationMachine.net, EasyBib.com bibliography
creator
 PRIMO (Peer-Reviewed Instructional Materials Online)
www.ala.org/cfapps/primo/public/search.cfm
Mississippi Library Association Conference,
10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 9

10. Fun Tools for Youth Workshops
 Create a Bio Poem cuip.uchicago.edu
/~adarice/cwsite/poems/biopoemform.htm
 Create Cartoons www.toondoo.com/
 Create Comix www.makebeliefscomix.com/
 Create a Glog www.glogster.com/
 Create Map www.google.com/mapmaker
 Create a Word Cloud at www.wordle.net/
Mississippi Library Association Conference,
10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 10

11. Useful Tools for Adult Workshops
 ESL Tutorial www.englishpage.com/
 GED Tutorials
 www.testpreppractice.net/GED/Free-Online-Tutorials.aspx
 www.bestfreetraining.net/
 GRE Tutorial www.mygretutor.com/
 Resume Tutorials
 www.gcflearnfree.org/resumewriting
 owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/719/01/
Mississippi Library Association Conference,
10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 11

12. Tools for Marketing Libraries
 Foursquare via mobile app, Facebook facebook.com
 LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/
 Blog www.blogger.com/ or wordpress.com/
 Delicious bookmarks delicious.com/
 Create Your Own Newspaper paper.li/
 Pinterest online pinboard pinterest.com/
 YouTube channel, iTunes channel, StumbleUpon
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10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 12

13. Free Virtual Cloud Apps
Access files from any computer, phone
Share, work on files with selected users
Install Dropbox to any computer; files saved auto-sync
Dropbox www.dropbox.com/
 Upload photos, docs, various file types
Microsoft SkyDrive office.microsoft.com/en-us/web-apps
 7 GB space, apps for Word, Excel, PowerPoint
Mississippi Library Association Conference,
10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 13

14. Apps:
 Cloud Connect for MS Office
google.com/apps/intl/en/business/officeconnect.html
 Form Creator www.google.com/google-d-s/forms/
 Google Translate translate.google.com/
 i-Google personal page www.google.com/ig
 Google Mobile www.google.com/mobile/
 Googlio e-Portfolio
sites.google.com/site/googlioproject/
Mississippi Library Association Conference,
10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 14

15. And many tools all in one place…
10/30/12 http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com/ 15

16. More Free, Useful Web 2.0 Apps
 Comodo Free Internet Security
www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/free-internet-sec
 Best Free Online Applications and Services
http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/best-free-
online-applications-and-services.htm
Let’s look at some library Web page examples…
Mississippi Library Association Conference,
10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 16

17. http://www.houstonlibrary.org/social-media

18. http://www.hcpl.net/

19. http://www.nypl.org/voices/connect-nypl

20. http://digitalbookmobile.com/

22. Thank you for your attention…..
What are your favorite, free
Web 2.0 tools?
Teresa S. Welsh, Ph.D.
teresa.welsh@usm.edu
Stacy Creel, Ph.D.
stacy.creel@usm.edu
Mississippi Library Association Conference,
10/30/12 Natchez, Miss. 22