Make Motivational Posters with Automotivator

It has been some time since I've posted and on this grey and gloomy day, I decided to take a few minutes to play with "AutoMotivator," a Web 20 application. This is online poster program that allows users to create motivational posters and share them with other Web 2.0 applications such as Flicker, Facebook and blogs or web sites. Others may alrelady be aware of the program, but it was new to me and I have enjoyed playing with it.

I can see libraries, teachers and/or students creating posters for class or library blogs, websites, Flicker, Facebook or other creative activities.

Although I found it quite intuitive to use, after I'd made a poster or two, I came across a how-to-video from LearnItin5 that did a nice job of showing how to use AutoMotivator and also provided a concise review.

Here are two of the posters I created.

Tagxedo

I enjoyed having an opportunity to play with Tagxedo  again. I have used it before, albeit not often. 

For this activity I opted  to use one of the images available in Tagxedo, as I wasn't as successful in adapting an an image I use elsewhere so that it was evident as to what the shape was.  Plus, the key fit the word choices I made.

In the last century (!) when I was a law librarian, the library's collection consisted primarily of sets from the West Reporter system.  One of the features of the West system is its "key number system" a classification system in which the law has  been organized into major topics with hundreds of  subcategories. To save space in printing, these were given a number called a key number. The key number is identified in the books with a key number and a key symbol graphic.  In the electronic age, one can also "key cite."

For my word choices I used the titles of reporters and other services or publishers that I had in the collection, specifically those germane to Nebraska and Iowa.

I enjoyed using Tagxedo.  I've also used Wordle and did a similar word cloud to compare the two.  I find that I've been using Tagxedo the most.

One way I use it is as a brain-storming tool. When I'm stuck in a writing or research project, I'll stop for a few minutes and create some Tagxedo's of key words or ideas in my writing piece (although I may not save them).  I'm not sure if it's because I stop and do something other than write for a bit,  or because  am being creative in a different way, but this often helps me get "unstuck."

I'm also considering using Tagxedo images as illustrations in some of the pieces I write.

Thing 59 - Tech Savvy Basics

I read the article Top 10 Simple Things Every Computer User Should Know,” and most of the articles found in the embedded links.  I have always found Lifehacker articles informative and readable for someone who is not an IT professional.   

As Lori noted in her post, many of the ideas in the article and in those of the additional articles, do apply to personal computers. I also concur with her list of 5 suggestions. 

My suggestions are not exclusive to using a computer but are things I do think are basic skills that we should have.

1. Printers/Copiers:     Knowing how to remove paper jams, change toner/ink (and when to call the service technician!)
2. IF the library still has microfilm/fiche readers:  How to change the light bulb, thread the reels/rewind and remove microfilm or load/unload fiche sheets.
3. Printing:   How to check print preview before printing a job and how to   set print ranges if only a portion of web material or document content is needed.
4. If the library checks out eBook readers:  How to turn on/off, download books, and basic terms and conditions of use of the check-out – in case the patron has questions.
5. OPAC:  How to do basic searching in the library’s OPAC system and any periodical databases the library may subscribe to.  

I debated about including the last item on my list but decided to include it.