Thing 19: Evaluation

I've had a love/hate relationship with this dear 19 Mobile Things project. It was tough sometimes to find the off-desk time to get it done, but I know it was also good for me to learn about different apps. Even if I don't continue to use them, having some familiarity with them is a good thing. And let's be honest, any excuse to bring Kpop into the mix is worth my time, right? Other than spreading the love of Kpop, the biggest take-away is that I found a new game, Bubble Mania, for Thing 16. I'm currently on Level 186 and going strong!

My favorite Things, besides raindrops on noses and whiskers on kittens, were the ones in which I found useful apps that I will continue to use even after this program ends. Just this morning, I was using Wunderlist (Thing 5) at the grocery store for my shopping list. Many of the other apps I find useful are ones that I was already using, like Messenger and Hoopla. Most of the apps I downloaded for this program have already been deleted from my phone because there isn't enough space to hold all of them! I'm just keeping the ones I feel will continue to be useful to me.

If this were to be done again, I think I'd recommend extending the amount of time available for each Thing. When I got behind on them due to other responsibilities in my job, I felt very overwhelmed.

My general response when I didn't get my Thing done.

Additionally, I know many felt a lot of pressure to complete each and every assignment to the fullest. Some of the assignments took quite a bit of time, especially the ones that required us to create content. I think just requiring participants to explore the apps and write their opinions on it would be less time-consuming. I understand the assignments were done to make it entertaining (like writing a story, having a conversation all in questions), but I think not everyone had the necessary time to complete them.
 

How I look on the outside about completing 19 Mobile Things

How I feel on the inside

And how I feel about life in general

If I had to describe this experience in one sentence, I think it'd be "It's tough and challenging, but that's how it is when you push yourself to learn something new."

Thing 18: Find, Discover, & Share

I downloaded BAM for this Thing. It nicely lays out apps sorted into different categories so you can search based on their purpose/subject. You can look at Top Apps, New Apps, Tools, Productivity, Shopping, Health & Fitness, and many other categories. You can also receive recommendations based on what you already have installed and what's popular out there.

My one problem with this app is that the Google Play Store app does essentially the same thing and it's already installed on my Android. I can look at Top Apps, Games, and Family apps, as well as others listed under a gazillion other categories, many of which are similar to those in BAM. Users may prefer the layout in BAM, but as far as I'm concerned, the Google Play Store does a good enough job for me. Space on my phone is at a premium (gotta fit all those Kpop songs on there) and I don't really need a duplicate app.

Chanyeol wonders why I would need two apps that do the same thing

Thing 17: Hobbies

As you know, most of my hobbies are Korean-related. Sometimes I'll use a Korean-English dictionary app to look up words I've heard in songs or in TV shows. The app I'm trying out now, English-Korean Dictionary seems to work pretty well. It has pronunciations you can listen to, definitions, images, etc. I know anyone can just go to Google Translate, but specific language dictionaries tend to have more information regarding words and translations.

Learning new Korean words is more exciting than you think!

Thing 16: Games

Although I'm quite a fan of Temple Run 2, I decided to download Bubble Mania. The description had me at saving kittens! I've played a game just like this, but this one is infinitely better because kittens are involved. I feel like I've done a world of good today, what with helping so many kittens.

Just doin' my civic duty and saving the kittens

The game is easy enough to learn. I'm sure the levels increase in difficulty as you go, but when the lives of kittens are at stake, I will go the distance to help them!

Kpop idols like kittens, too!

Thing 15: Education

I downloaded Khan Academy for my education app. I had heard of Khan Academy, particularly in connection with SAT preparation, but hadn't checked it out. After I downloaded the app, I specifically focused on the test prep portion. Each test has instructional videos covering the different subjects, as well as tips and planning information. The topics are broken up into smaller, more specific points, and users can add individual videos to a favorites list, which they can then download and access offline. The videos also have transcripts so users (especially hearing-impaired) can read the instructions, too.

The app is very user-friendly and it's free! My one comment is that, while it covers quite a breadth of subjects and classes, I'm surprised by some that have been omitted. For example, the test preparation section has information on the SAT, MCAT, NCLEX-RN, GMAT, CAHSEE, IIT JEE, and AP Art History. I would have expected the ACT to be included as well and am curious as to why the only AP test covered is Art History. Maybe they have plans to add others as well. However, as a free resource, what they do offer is great.

 

Even Kpop idols get confused while studying and need help

Thing 14: Books

I decided to check out the YALSA Book Finder app. I downloaded it over a year ago and often forget it's there!

It's a simple app that can be of great use to a teen (or a librarian trying to help a teen!). Its main purpose is to help teens find titles to read. One of its features is Hot Picks, which makes three title recommendations every day. Users can also browse and search by title, author, genre, year, award, and book list. They can add any of these titles to their favorites.

Oh, look! One of my favorite books!

This is a great way for teens to find book recommendations. However, I have a few concerns. First, not all of the book covers show up. Many of them have the YALSA logo as the book cover. I'm sure this is a fluke (there were some books that did have their covers), but covers can be very good at grabbing the attention of readers (and sometimes deter readers, too...).

Additionally, when a book is selected, there's a button that says, "Find It," which implies it'll show where the book is, whether at a library or bookstore. However, when I click on it, the screen says "Libraries for book not found," but I don't see any options in the app to add a library (and I'm sure the app isn't built to work with just any library catalog). It pulls up Google Maps and shows my location, but doesn't have any information on the book.

Users also have the option of sharing the book on Facebook or Twitter. This is neat, but one comment I have is that many teens don't use Facebook. And while they may use Twitter, Instagram is much more popular. It would be great if they could share a photo of the book on Instagram.

How I feel after a successful RA interaction

Thing 13: Library Reference

Working in Adult Services, I help a lot of people download eMedia on a lot of different devices. I also often download eAudiobooks for personal use.

Overdrive:
I typically show patrons how to use Overdrive if they want eBooks or eAudiobooks because it's easier to learn than Axis360. And for my own eAudiobooks, I prefer it because it runs more smoothly than Axis360 and offers features like changing the speed of the narration. One complaint I have about it is that sometimes patrons, who are unsure of exactly what they're doing, choose a format that isn't compatible with their device and once the wrong format is chosen, there's no going back. And, depending on the situation, sometimes you don't even have the choice to return it because it requires you to download it since a format has already been selected, but you can't download it because it's the wrong format (this just happened to a patron I worked with earlier this week).

Axis360:
For me, the best thing about Axis360 is the variety of titles available. There are more YA eAudiobook titles, many of which are recent publications. However, I quite dislike the performance of the app. On my Android, the app will often stop working and say it's offline and won't play my audiobook, even though I've downloaded it to the device and, therefore, don't need to be online (but I am online and it doesn't realize that!). I can really only get it to work again by shutting down the entire app through my settings. What a pain! Other times, it'll start playing in a completely different part of the book. There have been times I'm on Chapter 13 and when I press play it goes to Chapter 6. I've gotten pretty used to bookmarking where I am every single time I take a break.

Hoopla:
I think Hoopla is the most user-friendly app of our eMedia resources. In addition to eBooks and eAudiobooks, it also offers movies and music, which we don't provide digitally elsewhere. There's more of a limit on the content (for eBooks and eAudiobooks, compared to the other apps) because we're not buying it, but the app works well, the process is streamlined, and it's pretty intuitive. And another great thing about it is that there can be concurrent users!

Zinio:
Digital magazines are a great service we provide, but the one issue I have with Zinio is the process of checking out magazines (which is in the process of being improved). The app is for reading the magazines, but all issues must be checked out through the website, which you need to access through the library website. This can be very inconvenient on a mobile device that doesn't display our site well, plus, it's a whole extra step in the process. I'll be glad when Zinio's process is more streamlined.

Even the group EXO reads eBooks!