I am not super impressed with Mediaconvert. My first attempts to open the site met with repeated failure to even open the site. This morning in attempting to load a Word document for conversion to PDF the first attempt failed with a message to retry in a few seconds. The second attempt did not meet with success either. The circling swirl
highlighted in the screen shot was there for 10 minutes.
In addition the page is quite busy with advertising and while the instructions are workable it lacks the elegant simplicity of the Google search page.
Third attempt error message Target Server Not Responding ! Retry in a few seconds.
Not to put too fine a point on this but this sort of failure really is not an option when I am demonstrating a site like this to my staff. They won't use something like this if it fails more than once upon the first usage. I am not sure if the failure is on our end or on the website's end. It the long run it doesn't matter to the teachers I serve.
Fourth attempt also failed.
Not to be stifled I attempted to use Zamzar to convert a Word document to PDF. The upload was apparently successful but the email did not show up with the converted document. I am sensing a pattern here.
Success! Zamzar came through. Wait time approximately 25 minutes. Not exactly immediate gratification but good enough for teachers who have the foresight to plan ahead. For my needs the speed issue makes it hard to use and demonstrate to teaching staff. I might use it for myself, though.
GOOGLE calendar
I first used Google Calendar in 2008. I created a RHS Library facility sign out calendar. I have since let that calendar go dormant. As a district we adopted Outlook as our email program. At the request of administration all calendars were switched over to the Outlook program. I have found sharing calendars to be useful in keeping staff informed on the who what where and when of library usage. The library staff shares scheduling duties on the common calendar for both floors of the library. The communication is constant and it often leads to very effective idea sharing and lesson planning. Having the library paraprofessionals share in the duty of maintaining the calendar maintains good internal communication and limits surprises like classes showing up unannounced. Google was a great training ground for us and the transition to Outlook was not difficult. As of the fall of 2010 for the first time in my library career I do not keep a paper calendar - even as a backup. The time this frees up is useful and the discipline of maintaining an online calendar is no more difficult than maintaining a paper calendar.
Google Library Calendar Circa spring 2009
Outlook Calendar
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