PowerPoint vs. Prezi

It’s been a long week as I’ve struggled to do my very first PowerPoint presentation, “breaking in” my new Office 2010 version.  There was a lot to learn…much of it by accident.  I was excited to do this assignment, as I love anything having to do with design.

Compared to Prezi, PowerPoint seems to have all the bells and whistles.  Although it would have been a lot easier using a template, the opportunity to format custom slides was a challenge I was happy to take.  There’s nothing like design to bring out the perfectionist in me.  Unfortunately, there were a few things that I just couldn’t make work…such as the animated “fly in”.  How frustrating when only some items fly in and the rest don’t.  And those that DO fly in seemed to change each time I’d try.  I stubbornly spent hours on that, being that it was on the list of things to include.  However, in the end, PowerPoint won.  There went many hours that I could have spent on my Prezi…a program I had never even heard of!

I must say that Prezi is quite “different” than PowerPoint.  Whereas PowerPoint seems more of a formal presentation, Prezi is very organic…flowing…fun.  It’s also very quick to use when using a template.  The problem I had with it, though, is that I felt it was a bit out of my control when it moved from box to box along the “path”.  Time was short, and I wasn’t able to explore this program as much as I would have liked.  It appears to be much more limiting than PowerPoint based on the lack of the many tool bars PowerPoint has.  The final thing I had a problem with was knowing what to do with it when I was finished.  No saving it to a file like I’m used to doing.

Until I get more experience with using Prezi, I have to say that I prefer PowerPoint.  It’s so much easier to figure out.

Sarasota County Libraries

Sarasota County Libraries – www.sclibs.net – named “2012 Library of the Year” by the Florida Library Association

I am on this web site almost every day checking due dates or reserving items.  However, I have never thoroughly looked at all it has to offer.  Writing about Web 2.0 technology as I am today, I saw that they have “Storycasts”.  These are Web 2.0 Podcasts of children’s stories, Vodcasts of puppet shows and other storytellers, YouTube presentations of best- selling authors reading their stories, and children’s arts and craft presentations, as well as, teen book reviews.  

The one thing I have always liked about this web site is its clarity and simplicity.  Linking to the Storycasts is just as easy.  And finding a story category, as well as archives, is clear.

Uses of Web 2.0 Technology in Libraries

Researching the use of web 2.0 technology in libraries, the concept often referred to as “Library 2.0” (Jenda & Kesselman, 2008), was very enlightening.  By learning what technologies are often used, I actually learned what they are. For a web 2.0 novice like me, this caused me several “ah ha” moments, the first being what was meant by web 2.0.

The most prevalent Web 2.0 technology in libraries, according to Jenda and Kesselman (2008), is the chat service, specifically “Ask-a Librarian”.  However, the most written about Web 2.0 technology in my articles researched, appeared to be blogging, often through Facebook. This is a popular technology because it’s already a commonly used source of communication and networking, and it gets students to interact, especially those who normally would not participate. (Harland, 2009)

My main impression of blogging was that it only related to discussions.  However, the many uses I found blogging to be used for by libraries surprised me.  These included:  promoting, and inviting people to, events, programs, and services, giving information about books, book displays, video/photo library tours, marketing, staff training (Jenda & Kesselman, 2008, Kidwell, 2010)  The list goes on.

Plymouth High School, in Plymouth, NH, seems well adept at integrating Web 2.0 technologies in their school.  According to Pam Harland (2009), library media specialist at the school, the library has set up Wiki links pages for frequently asked questions, as well as, research projects which are shared with students.  The Wiki passwords were also given to the faculty, and then the students, who are also able to edit the Wiki pages.

The school also uses classroom blogs as an alternative to conventional methods of teaching a unit.  By including links to resources, it saves paper, time, and money, with the elimination of fees for copyright and printing.

RSS feeds for blogs, Wikis, and photo-sharing are noted often as used.  LibraryThing (www.librarything.com) is a website noted in two my researched articles, as well as, “Delicious”, a social bookmarking application.  Jenda and Kesselman (2008), describe LibraryThing as “social cataloging software for cataloging and sharing information on library and personal book collections”. 

Much can be written about Web 2.0 technologies used in libraries.  However, I found these technologies to be used most often in a sampling of libraries:  a high school library, a music library, and agricultural libraries.  The technology is there.  A creative use just needs to be found.

References

Harland, P. (2009). Library 2.0 in Plymouth, New Hampshire:  How One Library Uses Web 2.0 Tools to Enhance Services to Students & Staff. Library Media Connection, 27(5), 57-58.

Jenda, C., & Kesselman, M. (2008). Innovative Library 2.0 Information Technology Applications in Agriculture Libraries. Agricultural Information Worldwide, 1(2), 52-60.

Kidwell, C. (2010). Integrating Web 2.0 into a Higher Education Library Service: A Case Study of Trinity College of Music’s Library Facebook Page. Fontes Artis Musicae, 57(1), 76-85.