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Browsercandy

Utilities, add-ons, extensions, and Web 2.0 stuff, some of which I have had time to play with, and some of which I eye with interest for the future.

But First, Core Competencies

20 Technology Skills Every Librarian Should Have
By Jenny Levine.
Basic Competencies of a 2.0 Librarian, Take 2
A revised list from David Lee King.
Librarians and Technology: Minimum Competencies
Learning 2.0
Designed to encourage library staff to explore Web 2.0 tools and technologies - 23 learning 2.0 things.
Library 2.0 in 15 Minutes a Day
From the Library Instruction Wiki - a guided tour through some essential stuff.
Technology Competencies and Training for Librarians
A 2007 Library Technology Reports issue, 43(2), by Sarah Houghton-Jan. LTR is available in full text in Academic OneFile, a Simmons e-resource. While this is more about how to implement a training program than it is about specific competencies, the Appendix is a great collection of citations to exisiting comptency lists and educational resources.

Directories

APIs and Mashup for the Rest of Us
From Digital Web Magazine.
Back to School with the Class of Web 2.0: Part 1, Tools and Part 2, Office Apps
A guide to helpful applications for teachers by Brian Benzinger.
The Best Free Software
PC Magazine's list of 157 apps includes some Web 2.0'ish stuff.
I Want To: Web 2.0 Resources
A directory organized by broad categories
RSS4LIB: Directory of Exprimental Library Tools
Links to the sandboxes where libraries try nifty new things out.
Screen Sharing Tools
Blogged by LibrarianInBlack.
Web Browser Extensions
A directory from Library Success, a best practices wiki

The apps

I have pimped my Firefox with del.icio.us tagger, Facebook Toolbar and Sidebar, MultiSidebar, Google Broswer Sync, Sidebar on Right, Tweetbar, Snapper, and Zotero.

Book Burro
Sniffs out a book on a page and offers you its prices at bookstores and whether it's available at your library.
Cite Bite
Lets you create a link that will not only point to but also highlight (on the fly) text on a Web page.
Clipmarks
Keep clips of pieces of Web pages.
Dapper
Create your own content (e.g., a feed) from any Web pages (the more well structured the data, the better).
Drupal, Joomla and Moodle
Drupal and Joomla are open source content management, widely used as learning platforms. Moodle was developed ab initio for learning support.
Google Browser Sync
Syncs your bookmarks, persistent cookies, and saved passwords, so you can move between your various machines easily. One of the first Firefox extensions I installed.
Google Notebook
You clip and organize it, Google stores it for access anywhere.
LibX Browser Plugin for Libraries
For users' browsers - recognizes books and articles on a Web page and attaches a library symbol on those available to users, also offers library-specific pulldowns and right-mouse options.
Microformats
Not exactly browsercandy, microformats are "simple conventions for embedding semantics in HTML to enable decentralized development".
Google Docs, Open Office, Zoho
The office tools you need, Webified.
Pipes and Popfly
Data aggregators and manipulators for making mashups.
PortableApps.com
Put everything you need on a flash dive (Firefox with all your personal settings, e-mail, office suite, calendar, etc.). Free. With no ads. How do they do this?
Slideshare
Flickr for PowerPoint presentations - with voiceover.
Snapper
Easy to use Firefox screen capture (in PNG).
Zotero
Manages Web references - captures citation data, exports to style formats, and lets you store text, images, PDFs, and so on. Will be even better when server-based (goodbye RefWorks).

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