Basecamp: An easy trek though project management

Are you a project manager? You probably are, whether you realize it or not. As I said in my ACRL Virtual Conference presentation, "Libraries are full of projects. There are renovations, serials reviews, digitizations, system implementations, and new websites to name a few." Therefore, most librarians probably do some level of project management.

So, what if someone offered you a web-based project management (PM) solution where you can communicate with project team members, assign tasks and track completions, create a project calendar, store project related files, and have writeboards to work on documents and track changes? Would you jump at it? Two years ago I did and, a couple of months later, so did my Library.

The solution was and is Basecamp. Since I've worked with PM software/processes before, I know how cumbersome they can be. Basecamp isn't. It allows me to create a project at the level of detail that I need. I started out using it to manage the projects in my department (digitization) and it's now used throughout my library for projects of all kinds. (Note: My library currently subscribes to the Premium account for $99/month.)

You must be wondering how it works. First, invite an unlimited number of people to be users of your Basecamp account. Next, create a project by just naming it, then from your "people" list, select your project team. Now you're ready to create a To Do list, which basically lists the project's tasks. Each task can be assigned to one person and given a due date.

If you need to reorder the tasks in a project, just drag and drop 'em. Delete a task? Click on it's trash can. If someone is working on a task and wants to record information, there's a comment by task feature, which can also send emails to other team members. The project message board works in a similar way. And when the task is done, one click checks it off as completed.

Adding milestones and events to the project calendar is just as easy and file upload works just like most cloud storage uploads. Also, if you have projects and/or to do lists that are similar each time (like in digitization), you can create templates to be reused over and over again.

Once you've created To Do lists, added tasks, entered milestones, submitted comments, etc. the project dashboard give you a one page view of everything that's happened in the last week and due to happen in the next two weeks. There's also RSS and API functionality if you want/need it. Sweet!

Weaknesses? Well, the big ones for me are 1) you can only assign a task to one person, 2) there's no task dependency, and 3) tasks don't display in the calendar. However, Basecamp has a substantial user base who actively identify potential enhancements to the system and 37signals, the vendor, is pretty responsive to us. The three I mentioned are all on the radar with +1s.

As noted above, Basecamp isn't free, but it is reasonably priced and four different plans are available for small to enormous organizations.

There's lots of PM solutions out there, from sticky notes to big main-frame systems used by the government and military. Basecamp is just one option, but it is the one that works for me and my library. What are you using? (Leave us a comment!)

Google Reader: I Read the Blogs Today, Oh Boy!

I find that the print newsletters I receive in my mail tend to pile up in my work office or home office, unread.  I can't quickly search through them to find something of interest, and I have no easy way to forward interesting tidbits on to other people.  (Do people even tear out articles and give them to colleagues anymore?)

Instead, I keep up professionally by reading blogs.  Nearly all newsworthy librarian-related items will show up in at least 1 or more of the blogs I follow.  But I would never have time to visit each of those many blogs just to see if there is something new.  I need a feed aggregator (online service or app) to keep up with multiple blogs.  (Would you believe that I keep up with between 450 and 500 blogs?  It's doable.)

I have long used Google Reader.  As I already use Gmail every day, it's easy to switch over to Google Reader to see what is new in the blogs I'm subscribed to.  About 75 of those blogs are related to librarianship.  Another 50 or so are about education, and 100 are about technology.  (That constitutes about half of the total number of blogs I follow.  The remainder are related to hobbies.) 

Once you have a Google account, setting up Google Reader is a snap.  In fact, you normally wouldn't have to start with Google Reader itself.  Instead, when I come across a new blog of interest (new to me, anyhow), I click on its subscribe icon (whether it's a link or a rectangle marked "RSS" or the standard square orange RSS icon or some other subscription indicator).  I'm usually offered the option to use Google Reader for my subscription. 

Sooner or later you're going to end up with at least a few dozen subscriptions, and so you'll probably want to organize them into folders.  That makes it possible to read only work-related topics during work time and save the personal topics for other times.  You can put a particular blog into more than one folder at the same time (say, a blog about academic librarianship could go in both "libraries" and "education").

I frequently "prune" my subscriptions by unsubscribing to blogs that aren't being frequently maintained.  This makes it easier to manage and see what blogs you're really reading.  Google Reader provides a "Trends" menu choice that lets you then list which blogs are most inactive.

I also use Google Reader's recommendation feature on a regular basis to discover new blogs (or rediscover older blogs that have become active again). 

You can always use the built-in search facility to re-locate items you've previously seen, and I also use the email feature to send myself an item that I might want to save for later (or convert into a to-do), and this also makes it easier to share it with my colleagues. 

If you're not reading blogs about librarianship to keep up effectively with the profession, how else do you manage it?  (Leave us a comment!)

My Library: At My Fingertips

I don't know about the rest of you, but as I get older my memory goes into low gear sometimes and occasionally into park. Those are the times when I might buy a book that I already own. Very frustrating! Or at least it was until I got My Library by Josh Pressnell (Verietas Software). And it only costs $3.99. I saved more than that on the first duplicate book I didn't buy.

My Library is an iPhone/iPad app that lets you create a personal database of the books you own. So, when you're in a bookstore or perusing Amazon and you come across a book that looks interesting, you can open up My Library to see if you already have it. BTW, My Library also tracks your movies and music, but I'm going to focus on books today.

To add a new book to your database, simply use the device camera to scan the barcode (ISBN, UPC, or EAN). The software then searches several book databases for the code you scanned and populates your My Library database with the title, author, ISBN, series, format, and a list of GoodReads entries about the book. Or, if you're a seasoned citizen who owns books that were printed before bar codes and ISBNs were created, you can enter the title and/or author. The software will then display imprint options (different publishers, editions, printings) for you to choose from.

Once you have the book in your My Library, you can identify what you paid for it, whether you've read it, its location, and its status (Wanted, Owned, Lent Out, Borrowed, or Removed (shutter)). If you borrow or loan books, location and status are really helpful in keeping track of whose got your books and whose books you have. Although, this may only be a problem for those of us with memory lapses.

And there's more! The database has been stress tested with 8,000 records, although I know librarians who could beat that number with their personal library. You can add notes to a book record. You can search and sort by title or author. You can create collections and add books to them. You can backup your database to My Library's online backup server (free). You can create an CSV file of your database to create an Excel spreadsheet. You can share a book via Facebook, Twitter, or email. For books you add to your database and want, My Library provides a list of online retailers with prices and libraries that carry the book based on your current location.

To recap, it's reasonably priced and easy to use, can have a quick ROI, tracks your book loans, and is with you wherever you take your iPhone/iPad. What's not to love?

Note: If there's a similar app for Android or Windows phones, please share that with us in the comments.

TripIt: I'm Just a Travellin' Librarian

Having recently returned from a national conference (primarily for genealogists, not for librarians, but they do have a librarians' day at the beginning), I am reminded of another tech tool that I have become seriously dependent upon: TripIt.

TripIt is a free online service, combined with apps for iOS (separately customized ones for iPhone and iPad), Android, Blackberry, and Windows Phone.  You use it to track your trips, including air travel, hotel stays, meetings, and other travel-related events. 

One of my favorite features is that you can take those airline itineraries and hotel confirmations that you get in your email and forward a copy to a general email address (plans@tripit.com), and TripIt automatically creates a new trip (if you haven't already created one) or adds the information to your existing trip.  You can let TripIt know which email addresses you send from (probably your work address and your home address), so it knows when something is coming from you.

Another fantastic feature is that you can share your travel itinerary with specific individuals (say, colleagues or family members), so that they know where you are at any given point.  No more guessing on their part whether you're on the road or in a meeting, and they know where you're staying, etc. 

There is a Pro version (isn't there always?) for $49/year, which adds notifications to your phone about flight changes (delays, cancellations, gate changes), automatic sharing of your travel plans with selected individuals (in other words, you don't have to manually add your need-to-know library colleagues or family members...you define your "Inner Circle"), and automatic finding of alternative flights if yours develops a delay or problem.  It adds other features too that I haven't taken advantage of, yet.

TripIt has some synchronization features with calendars, and the Pro version can track your frequent flyer points for you.

For me, I like the fact that I've got all my travel info in one place: all my confirmation numbers, all my dates/times of flights, all my dates/times/locations of meetings.  I just glance down at my phone and I know what's up.  I get those text messages on my phone when there's a change in my flight time or when they've assigned the baggage claim carousel number. 

minutes.io - Meeting Minutes in Minutes

You're sitting in a meeting and, since you have your laptop or tablet, you have been given the always sought after honor of taking notes. Happens to me all the time because I'm compulsive about having my iPad with me and everyone knows that I take notes whether I'm the recorder or not. If I didn't, I'd forget half of what was said to me.

So, you start taking notes. Maybe using Word, Google Docs, Evernote, Penultimate, etc. You record everything, perhaps clean-up/organize the notes later, and at some point mail them off to all the attendees. Well, I have another options for you - minutes.io, a free Web 2.0 tool that really simplifies note-taking.

The great thing about minutes.io is that it provides an easy to use template into which you can enter information about your meeting: attendees, location, description, project, and several different types of note (INFO, TODO, IDEA, and OKAY). You can also assign owners and due date (via a calendar pop-up) to each type of note. Easy as pie! And when you're done, click on the email icon and the minutes go to everyone that you've provided an email address for.

Another bright spot - you don't need an account so there's no time wasted logging in, trying to remember yet another password. Minutes.io stores your information locally. You know what else that means, don't' you? You don't need to be connected to the Internet to take the notes, just to send them. I don't know about your facility, but there are a few places in my building where the wireless is weak or nonexistent, so this is a great feature to me.

The developers are also working on some new functionality that I'm looking forward to, like grouping to do items by person, branding with your logo, and the ability to push to dos and notes to project management software. It just keeps getting better.

If you haven't figured out already, I'm a big fan of minutes.io. Try it out, you may become one, too.

More Dropbox: From Sharing to Undoing Mistakes to Backups

In my previous posting, I extolled the virtues of Dropbox as a way of having my everyday files automatically available to me on every computing device I control (my desktop computer at work, my desktop computer at home, my iPad, and my smartphone).   This means that I can start working on a document at home, save it (in a normal way), and then continue at work where I left off, without having to deal with wondering if I am working from the most current copy or with carrying around USB flash drives (which I've been known to lose for over a year in the back seat of my car).

But Dropbox gives me more than that.  First, it gives me the ability to create a shared folder, so that I provide access to one or more other Dropbox users.  This means that we can more easily work on projects together (collaborating on documents, PowerPoint presentations, and spreadsheets), or more easily share a document to read for reference purposes.

Second, Dropbox provides a Public folder, where I can put copies of files that I want to provide links to.  Nobody else can merely browse the folder, but once a file is in the Public folder, I can right-click on it to create a shareable link that I can email to anyone I want or that I can include as a link on a website.  Earlier this year, while flying from Tampa to Columbus via Charlotte in order to speak at a conference, I was faced with the fact that weather was going to delay the first leg of my flight so that I would miss my connection, meaning that I would arrive in Columbus too late to give my first presentation.  The flight from Tampa to Charlotte had Wi-Fi, and I was able to make contact with a colleague already safely in Columbus who was willing and able to give my first talk.  But how to get him my PowerPoint slides?  By putting them into the Public folder and sending him the link.   In no time at all, he assured me that he had a copy of my presentation and was prepared to give it.  Dropbox saved the day.

Third, we're only human, and prone to make mistakes, such as accidentally deleting an important file or making an unintended change to it.  Dropbox can help you there, too.  It provides access to copies of previous versions of your files, and also to recently deleted files (in both cases, going back 30 days, although you can upgrade to the unlimited Pack-Rat feature for an additional $39/year).

Fourth, by its very nature, Dropbox serves as a kind of automatic backup service.  Whatever I put in Dropbox is going to be automatically copied into the online-available server, and then copied back down to all of my other computers.  No more worries about dead hard drives or stolen or lost mobile devices.

Did I leave out anything important?  If you're already a Dropbox user, you tell me. 

Amazon Cloud Drive: How It Stacks Up

Note: This post discusses the file storage aspects of the Cloud Drive, not the music features of the Cloud Player.

I couldn't agree more with the previous post about the convenience and value of cloud storage services like Dropbox. I am notoriously bad about backing up my hard drive and have lost or destroyed more flash drives than I can count. So what about options besides Dropbox?

Earlier this year, Amazon began offering cloud storage via their Cloud Drive, which provides 5GB of storage space for free compared to Dropbox's 2GB. One check in Amazon's favor. And storage of any MP3s purchased from Amazon don't count against your free storage quota. Cloud Drive also wins when you look at their paid plans, which come in at less than half the annual cost of Dropbox. In addition, Amazon offers up to 1TB of paid storage and music files (any format) that you upload to the Cloud Drive don't take up any of your paid space.

Hands down, Amazon Cloud Drive beats Dropbox in pricing. Unfortunately, it doesn't do so well in functionality.

Currently, Cloud Drive files (excluding music) cannot be sync'd to your desktop, laptop, or mobile devices and are only available via a browser. That's fine when you have Internet access, but what about when you travel. I know that, as librarians, we make the big bucks, but Internet access on planes and in hotels can be costly. Personally, I like having my files (articles, reports, etc.) available anytime, anywhere and the Cloud Drive doesn't make that possible.

Another shortcoming of the Cloud Drive is the inability to effortlessly upload folders. With Dropbox, you can drag and drop entire file structures (folders in folders in folders) in one easy step. Using Amazon, you must create a folder on the Cloud Drive, then upload your files into that folder. If you want a subfolder, you must create it and repeat the file upload process. In other words, moving existing file structures into the Cloud Drive to back them up and make them accessible online is inefficient and time-consuming.

Finally, if you're concerned about the privacy of your files, you should read the Amazon Cloud Drive's Terms of Use, Section 5.2. For more information, check out Steven Vaughan-Nichols article at ZDNet.

The long and the short of it is that, although Amazon Cloud Drive may be cost-effective, for file storage and backup, it doesn't stack up against online services and apps like Dropbox.

Dropbox: What Was Life Like Before I Had It?

When I look at all of the apps and online services I use (not counting search engines like Google or email services like Gmail), the one I can least imagine living without is Dropbox.  The issue here has to do with moving computer files from one computer to another.  I seem to recall that I used to use things like USB flash drives.  Yes, I have a pile of those gathering dust in my home office drawer, and I carry one around every day in my computer bag "just in case".  Before that, I think there were things like floppy disks, but I'm getting less sure as the years go by.

Yes, I could move files from one computer to another using email, but that requires some extra effort, and then I'd have to wait while things uploaded and then downloaded.  Not very efficient, eh?

So along comes Dropbox.  If you already use it, you probably can skip this posting, because you're already convinced that it's an amazing thing.  If you're not yet using it, keep reading.

OK, so I have a desktop computer at work (it happens to be a Macintosh, but this would all work just as well if it were a Windows machine, or even one running Linux).  And I have a desktop computer at home (it also happens to be a Macintosh, but again, not important in regards to Dropbox).  And I have an iPad, and I have an iPhone (but this would all work just as well if my mobile devices were running Android or the BlackBerry OS).

On the mobile devices, Dropbox installs like any typical app, while on your Windows or Mac OS X or Linux devices, Dropbox installs a folder on your system (called "Dropbox" on my Macs).  Yes, for some of you, installing software at work might be tricky, depending on your administrator privileges or how accommodating your IT staff are.

The point is, this all works much more easily if you can have Dropbox installed on your work computer.  If you can't, you can still use some features of Dropbox, because Dropbox is also an online service, and you can always login to your Dropbox account on their website and upload and download your files from it.  But personally I only need to use this feature when I'm on somebody else's computer (or on a public computer), when I need access to one of my files or when I want to save something into one of my directories.

Once you've created a free Dropbox account and installed Dropbox on the various devices you own (or that you exclusively use, such as the one at work), you'll be able to put into it any files that you want available on all of your devices.  In other words, Dropbox automatically synchronizes between your current device and your online account, and when you move to another of your devices, Dropbox checks to see if it needs to update the files on that device to keep it in sync.  This also means that you've got a form of automatic backup going on for the files you're regularly using.

Again, free.  For up to 2 gigabytes worth of stuff.  There's more to say about Dropbox, but I'll save that for my next posting, and besides, I've already said enough that you should be convinced that this is one very useful tech service.