Karen's Thing 14

I am a great fan of Skype. It is easy to use with very simple and clear instructions. I use Skype every night connecting to family. It is so refreshing to have a tool that doesn't cost a thing and I can virtually cancel my home phone (but not my mobile yet!!). I love the fact that it is the easiest way to keep in contact with relatives overseas and the cheapest. It has a great support system too, with lots of FAQ's.

I had a look at Cacoo, an online collaborative tool that allows you to create diagrams in real time. How fantastic would this be for meetings and you can even chat with collaborators while you are editing the diagrams. It makes you feel that you are all in one room together.I had a look at the pricing and it is free for the first 25 sheets and 1 shared folder. Up to 15 people can use the diagram for free and they have a reasonable price plan structure that allows for up to 100 users. All in all, I think this would be a great tools for library meetings!!!

Karen' Thing 13

I am not a fan of Facebook and I don't let my kids have a facebook account. I am concerned about the security and I must say the kids have never asked for one. It is a case of what they haven't had, they don't miss. A few colleagues have it to keep in touch with their friends and family and to share photos, but otherwise they say they wouldn't have one.
I have had a quick look at the privacy settings and  found that if you make a mistake picking which contact you would like to send to, then this could be a problem. The onus is on the user to get it right. For the uninitiated, one mistake could send the wrong thing to the wrong person.
I am sure the techno savvy students use it all the time, but I am not aware of it which makes me think that Facebook is just a part of their everyday life and is no big deal to them!!!!