The last Tasty Tech Treats brown bag lunch of the semester was held on Thursday 12/4 at noon in Lib 105. Topics included iGoogle, Google Reader and Twitter, Yammer, GoogleNews, and GoogleAlerts.
The winner of the iPod shuffle grand prize (generously donated by Amy Hoffman) was Terry Simpkins. Congratulations, Terry!
Many thanks to our presenters for the web 2.0 series – Mike R, Mike L. Adam F, Alex C, Joe A, Jeff R., Bryan C, and Mary B.
Total attendance for the series was 50 – many thanks to all who attended and participated.
And last but not least, a big thank you to the group (formerly knows as LIS Administration) for their support of the idea and for funding the prizes.
Please let Bryan and Elin know if you think it would be worthwhile to continue the series in some shape or form in the Spring.

Last week we held the 3rd in a series of Brown Bag Web 2.0 sessions.
If you missed it – be sure to put the next one on your calendar!
(Let us know if you want to share a tool you are using)

Many thanks to our presenters!
Here is summary of fun – and productive – tools LIS staff are currently using:
Jeff uses iGoogle to keep multiple resources in one easy to access place
Adam F uses Twitter to log his daily activity – and extracts a list when its time to write his PFDP
Mike uses FeedDemon for PC to easily track sites he is following
Adam F uses NetNewsWire – the Mac version – as his reader
Elin uses CommonCraft as a site for easy explanations of web 2.0 tools
Mary uses GoodReads to build her personal reading list and to see and share what others are reading

Mike uses ChaCha to settle bar bets
Mike uses RememberTheMilk to track everything he has to do
Mike uses Jott as a reminder service
Adam D uses GrandCentral to personalize and control his phone
Bryan uses Delicious to share and store his bookmarks
Joe A uses Facebook to remember birthdays and to connect with family

So…not only do you get to have fun, you can also win a prize!
The following people have won coffee mugs (with coffee card included):Steve Bertolino, Pij Slater, and Mike Lynch
Others have won silly toy prizes – for non-web fun: Rachel Manning, Mary Backus, Jean Simmons, Judy Watts, Mack Roark, Alex Chapin, Adam Franco and Carrie Macfarlane.

Do you have a fun web tool that you are using for work or play? Have you discovered a new tool still in beta?
Interested in sharing it with others in LIS?
Want to present? Presentations are casual and short – no lengthy preparation required.
Just want to share an idea that we can present for you?
If so, please contact Elin or Bryan.

Save the date and time!
The next Tasty Web Tidbits mealtime session is scheduled for Tuesday 11/25 at 6 pm in Lib 105. The idea is to get together, have some fun and share the web tools we are using. Presentations are about 10 minutes long max. Each session has 3 – 4 presenters with time for spur of the moment sharing. There is a prize drawing at each session. Attendance at all sessions increases the chance to win the grand prize in December.
Please bring your own bag meal – and enjoy a fun meal-time hour with co-workers.
Hope you can join us!

Do you have a fun web tool that you are using for work or play?
Interested in sharing it with others in LIS?
Want to present? Presentations are casual and short – no lengthy preparation required.
Just want to share an idea that we can present for you?
If so, contact Elin or Bryan.

Previous topics have included:
Jott
ChaCha
RTM – Remember The Milk
GrandCentral
Facebook – birthdays
GoodReads
Del.icio.us

Future topics:
Twitter
FeedDemon
CommonCraft
GoogleReader
iGoogle

Save the date and time!
The next Tasty Web Tidbits lunchtime session is scheduled for Thursday 11/6 at 12 noon in Lib 105. The idea is to get together, have some fun and share the web tools we are using. Presentations are about 10 minutes long max. Each session has 3 – 4 presenters with time for spur of the moment sharing. There is a prize drawing at each session. Attendance at all sessions increases the chance to win the grand prize in December.
Bring you own bag lunch.
Come – it will be fun!

Information Technology at Tufts University has created an integrated suite of Web 2.0 technologies, communication tools for “for teaching, learning, research, and co-curricular activities.” This is a great example of access, support and marketing all in on space.

http://spark.uit.tufts.edu

The site gives the user a gateway to each technology. It also includes help documentation, examples and links to suggested uses. For instance, on the wiki page-

Wikis – Suggested Uses

A wiki is simply a web page or site that is fully editable from a browser using a very simple “mark-up” language. Its strength is that it allows small groups to add, revise, and edit web content, so it is a natural tool for most collaborative writing activities. Like a web site, it allows for non-linear linking of individual wiki pages. Whenever a wiki page is edited, a new version of the page is created with the old version being archived for the site editors’ reference.

• Demonstrate the evolution of thought processes through the different versions of a wiki page.
• Create a collaborative knowledge base that can be added to over time and across courses.
• Helps small groups of students develop a project, collect ideas, papers, timelines, documents, datasets, and study results into a collective digital space.
• Assists with small group problem-solving and brainstorming.

 What would Middlebury’s version of this service look like?