NDSU Agriculture and University Extension

Ag Communication Web Services show-notes | Podcasts | Thursday February 09, 2012 | By Bob Bertsch

Had a great conversation with University of Minnesota Extension forester Eli Sagor ( @esagor on Twitter). Eli is a "tree guy" and a social media guy. He's the creator and manager of the online resource My Minnesota Woods . You can find...

Ag Communication Web Services signature email outlook icons social-media | Social Media | Thursday February 02, 2012 | By Bob Bertsch

One of the things I do to promote my activity in social media, is to include icons and links to some my social media pages in my email signature.  Here's what my email signature looks like with the icons: If someone only connects with me one or two...

Ag Communication Web Services pinterest social-media | Social Media | Monday January 30, 2012 | By Bob Bertsch

I've received quite a few questions lately about the social media site Pinterest. Interest in and use of the social "pin board" is growing quickly. In December 2011, Pinterest received 11 million visits in a week – a 400% growth in just six...

Ag Communication Web Services facebook administrator social-media social media | Social Media | Tuesday January 24, 2012 | By Bob Bertsch

If you have a Facebook Page for your office, department or project, you probably know that you can log on to Facebook as yourself, go to your page and create a post that appears to come from your page instead of from you personally. You may not have known that...

Ag Communication Web Services interaction chat communicator office networks microsoft | Software | Monday January 23, 2012 | By Bob Bertsch

Do you thrive on interaction? I do. I will often interrupt my suite-mate Roger with no pressing work-related task, but with an open-ended question that I hope will lead to an exchange of ideas. Expressing my thoughts and getting someone's feedback on my ideas...

Ag Communication Web Services networks network learning twitter blogs personal pln feeds | Social Media | Friday January 20, 2012 | By Bob Bertsch

One of the NDSU Ag Communication - Web Services goals I outlined in my last post, Sharing Our Goals , was to increase the use of online personal learning networks for workplace learning by 25%. I think that goal is an important part in changing the way we...

Ag Communication Web Services web learning online services goals plan | Updates | Tuesday January 10, 2012 | By Bob Bertsch

There are a number of principles and processes that will guide Web Services in 2012. One of the most critical is our commitment to working openly. The Info Anarchy wiki defines working openly as "A method of doing work in ways that let all people see...

Ag Communication Web Services networks learning differently work media social online workplace training working | Social Media | Friday January 06, 2012 | By Bob Bertsch

In my last post , I mentioned changing our approach to " working differently ." Working differently is the term we use to describe the individual and organizational change necessary for NDSU Agricultural Experiment Station and Extension Service...

Ag Communication Web Services social network workplace social-media learning | Social Media | Tuesday January 03, 2012 | By Bob Bertsch

As we start the new year, NDSU Agriculture Communication Web Services is undergoing a number of changes. Our personnel is changing. Our Ag Content Management System (Ag CMS) template is changing. We will be upgrading our Ag CMS software, and changing our...

Ag Communication Web Services blogs socialmedia podcast twitter social | Social Media | Wednesday December 21, 2011 | By Julie

The new year is fast approaching and its time again for the ritual of resolutions. It’s the perfect time to incorporate some new habits in your work processes. Here’s a few to consider to start working differently in the new year: Open/revisit a...

Ag Communication Web Services collaboration podcast socialmedia online | Social Media | Wednesday December 14, 2011 | By Julie

Where do you go with questions about grammar, spelling, and punctuation? Do you look to a tattered dictionary? Perhaps the Associated Press Style Guide? Ever heard of Grammar Girl ? For many people comfortable with the online and social media...

ND Discovery Farms General | Friday November 25, 2011 | By Ron

After working through several designs and with input from multiple sources, we have finally gotten signage installed at 2 of the three Discovery Farms.  Signs have been mounted on the gaging station buildings at the Johannes and Bartholomay farms....

Ag Communication Web Services software tips word | Software | Thursday November 17, 2011 | By Julie

I consider this an oldie, but a goodie, but I also know that many of you have never tried the Mail Merge feature in Microsoft Word. It’s a real time saver and can be used in so many ways. Mail Merge is when you take data (most often contact...

Ag Communication Web Services apps ipad tablet | Gadgets | Wednesday November 09, 2011 | By Julie

There’s been a lot of interest in tablet devices recently and the market for them is getting interesting. Both the Nook and the Kindle, which were once only e-book readers, have evolved and become more tablet-like. However, the dominant player in the market is...

Ag Communication Web Services log record list task idonethis | Software | Monday November 07, 2011 | By Bob Bertsch

I've been recording my daily accomplishments for a week on iDoneThis , and I really like the tool. iDoneThis is not a complicated tool, but its simplicity is what makes it so useful. How It Works iDoneThis sends you an email each day (or week) at the...

Ag Communication Web Services Social Media | Wednesday October 26, 2011 | By Julie

Curation is a bit of a buzzword in the online world at the moment. Wikipedia defines it as: "the selection, preservation, maintenance, collection, and archiving of digital assets." It also lists four aspects to digital curation: "1)...

Ag Communication Web Services agcms | Updates | Wednesday October 19, 2011 | By Julie

When working with your Ag CMS website you can choose how you want information displayed. A couple of recent changes to the "Blog View" and the addition of the "Ag CMS Summary View" have altered how text and images can be displayed in...

Ag Communication Web Services internet socialmedia process | Social Media | Wednesday October 12, 2011 | By Julie

Last week, in my post on Instapaper, I wrote about how the app is great, but it depends on it being worked into your work flow. Got to thinking that could be said of most technology and social media. Anyone old enough to remember typewriters? At that...

Ag Communication Web Services reading internet websites email | Software | Wednesday October 05, 2011 | By Julie

How many times do you run across something interesting on the Internet, but just not have the time to read the whole thing? You probably have a way to handle this situation. It could be you stop everything and read every word. Or perhaps you save it as...

Ag Communication Web Services network podcast literacy twitter | Podcasts | Friday September 09, 2011 | By Bob Bertsch

On this podcast we talks a lot about the Network Literacy CoP. You can learn more about the CoP at http://www.extension.org/people/communities/325 or by liking the Network Literacy CoP Facebook page. You can also contribute to the Network...

Ag Communication Web Services blogs twitter facebook socialmedia | Gadgets | Wednesday September 07, 2011 | By Julie

You may have heard us Web Services folks talking about “Working Differently in Extension.” As part of that discussion we’ve mentioned that there are several ways to move forward in the social media arena. And the first of these is listening. In unfamiliar...

Ag Communication Web Services online security backup privacy | Gadgets | Wednesday August 31, 2011 | By Julie

There’s plenty of talk these days of doing business “in the cloud.” But what does that mean? To do business “in the cloud” means storing your information and files and with an online service rather than on your computer’s hard drive. There are many...

Ag Communication Web Services mike marc immigrants substance prensky natives digital males casa use social youthfacts.org media | Podcasts | Friday August 26, 2011 | By Bob Bertsch

In this podcast, we focused on digital myths and exaggerations using two examples: a study sponsored by by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) that suggested 12-to 17-year-olds showed a higher likelihood of...

Ag Communication Web Services cms agcms websites online | Software | Wednesday August 24, 2011 | By Julie

With the big push on to get websites moved into Ag CMS, I was asked a simple question the other day: why a CMS? Darn good question. A Content Management System (CMS) is web-based system that allows you to create and maintain web pages and entire web...