librarykerri

This activity was very fun for me, as I chose a topic that will be helpful to me as an Adult Services Reference Assistant at my public library. I absolutely love when the assignments connect well to real life and can be applied. For this assignment, I decided to curate a list of websites that would be helpful resources for the senior community that I serve daily. I chose ten of the most useful websites to use for this purpose.

I chose to use Padlet, Wakelet, Livebinder, and Scoop.It! to create my collections. The reason why I chose these three is simple, I have never created anything using these three programs and I love to try new things. In the past, I have added to other people’s Padlets, but have never created with it.

The reason why there are four programs is I struggled using Livebinder. When I would type in a link, it would say that the link refused to connect. After trying several different links and having the same message come up, I abandoned trying to use the website. This could have been user error, but I felt like there were so many other options, so I felt comfortable moving on.

To start with, I used Wakelet and I had a good experience with it. I was able to create my list Resources for Seniors in St. Charles, IL Wakelet fairly easily. All I had to do was paste the URL into the bar and I was able to customize my image and description. The list was populated and I was able to shift the links however I wanted. Visually, it looks like a list of links and it is easy to browse and click through. I was not able to change the text on the links, which makes them look more appealing. There were some options for changing the design, but I actually like the list view best. I also felt that being minimal with the images was better for this particular audience

After Wakelet, I used Padlet to create my list Resources for Seniors in St. Charles, IL Padlet. I really liked how easy it was to insert the links and many of them populated a picture and description, which I could easily change. I could also change the color of my posts and choose the layout. For this, I chose the grid, which I felt was visually appealing and easy to use.

After trying and failing to use Livebinders, I switched it up and used Scoop.It! to create Resources for Seniors. This was my least favorite of the three because it seems to want me to pay for people to be able to view my collection. People who are already on Scoop.It! can view it, but other people with the link cannot. It was easy to insert links and it took me a little longer to figure out how to edit the picture. I’m still not sure how to change the picture at the top of the page.

I could see myself using these types of curation sites exactly the way I have used them here…to compile information for my patrons and give them access to the information. It would also be useful for programming if there are additional resources that can be shared. I think with more time to explore the different options, I could become very efficient at using these types of sites.