Free online tools that you or your patrons can use to get things done in the digital world.
Remember, like books, these online tools each require a different amount of digital literacy and comfort on the computer. Take into consideration the digital literacy of your patron when recommending an online tool.
Audio Tools
Pandora
http://www.pandora.com/
Find & stream music by picking a song or artist and hearing songs and artists that are similar
Jamendo
http://jamendo.com/
Music uploaded by artists who artists allow anyone to download and share their music.
Freeplay Music
http://freeplaymusic.com/
Freeplay music and sound effects
Soundzabound
http://www.soundzabound.com/
Royalty free music library which meets all the licensing and technology requirements needed for education. Downloadable MP3 files for ANY Apple™, PC/Windows™ based software such as Garageband™, iMovie™, iLife™, iWeb™, Movie Maker™, Photo Story™ and all others.
Musopen
https://musopen.org/
Public domain music and sheet music
Audacity
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Multi-track audio editor and recorder
AudioBoo
https://audioboom.com/
Digital podcasting platform enabling the creation, broadcast and consumption of audio across multiple global media outlets.
Blip.fm
http://blip.fm/
You get to be a DJ with a message – search for a song that you want to hear, then add a short message, then submit it. Create a combination of a song and a short message that accompanies it.
Soundation
http://soundation.com/
Create music online with a sound studio
Vocaroo
http://vocaroo.com/
Make an audio “voice mail” that can be emailed, embedded or made into a QR code.
UJam
http://www.ujam.com/
Sing a tune or follow a simple step-by-step process to produce a professional-sounding , impressive piece of music. Share your tune with friends and fans. Create your own ringtones, add soundtracks to your videos and trailers to your vlogs.
Music Theory
http://www.musictheory.net/
Learn music theory. Select a lesson, trainer, or utility from the lists
Book recommendations
Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/
Tell us what titles or genres you’ve enjoyed in the past, and we’ll give you surprisingly insightful recommendations.
What Should I Read Next?
http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/
Enter a book you like and the site will analyze our huge database of real readers’ favorite books to provide book recommendations and suggestions for what to read next.
WhichBook
http://www.openingthebook.com/whichbook/
Enables millions of combinations of factors and then suggests books which most closely match your needs.
Coding
Code Academy
https://www.codecademy.com
Learn to code in different languages with net native education. Takes cues from Facebook and Zynga in creating an engaging educational experience.
W3 Schools
http://www.w3schools.com/
W3Schools is a web developers site, with tutorials and references on web development languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, and JQuery, covering most aspects of web programming.
Hour of Code tutorials
https://code.org/learn
Launched in 2013, Code.org® is a non-profit dedicated to expanding access to computer science, and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color.
Mozilla Learning Network
https://teach.mozilla.org/
Start teaching others how to read, write and participate on the web with these free activities created by teachers, educators and technologists like you. Each featured activity includes step-by-step instructions and has been tested in schools, afterschool programs, libraries and community centers around the globe. Whether learning how to code, understanding why privacy matters, or creating openly licensed web content, we believe teaching the web should be fun and engaging!
Alice
https://www.alice.org/index.php
Provides tools and materials for teaching and learning computational thinking, problem-solving, and computer programming across a spectrum of ages and grade levels.
PlayCanvas
https://playcanvas.com/
Cloud-hosted game development platform. free video game development without major downloads
Scratch
http://scratch.mit.edu
program your own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations online
Collaboration & Project Management
Google Apps suite
https://apps.google.com/
Gmail, Hangouts, Calendar, Google+, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Forms, Slides, Sites all under your own domain
Dropbox
https://www.dropbox.com
Store files in the cloud. Good for sharing.
Trello
https://trello.com/
Visual organizer project management with drag and drop cards.
Asana
http://asana.com/
Project management for teams.
Diigo
https://www.diigo.com/
Another social bookmarking site, because you should have options!
Pinterest
https://www.pinterest.com/
The popular personal curation tool is great for work and school, too.
File conversion and saving
Zamzar
zamzar.com
Converts file types
Audio Online Converter
http://audio.online-convert.com/
Converts many types of files including ebook, audio and image filetypes
Save From
http://savefrom.net
Download videos or save the audio from videos. Plus add some code to your website and your videos can be downloaded easily.
Handbrake
https://handbrake.fr/
It is an application to install, but it is awesome for transcoding video (change the file type).
Free support
Tech Support Guy
https://techguy.org/
Computer help is provided by volunteers and the site is paid for by sponsors and donations. There is no cost to you.
Job Hunting
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/
A social media site for professionals. It’s a good place to start building your portfolio. LinkedIn lets you export your information into a professional-looking resume in PDF form.
DoYouBuzz
http://www.doyoubuzz.com/us/
10+ elegant and professional resume templates. In the click of a button, try on the design that best accentuates your personality. Your resume will automatically adapt to the theme. Enrich your resume with videos, images, presentations and documents.
Live Career
https://www.livecareer.com/
Resume builder, cover letter builder, interview tips, career assessment test, and resume & cover letter samples – everything you need.
My Perfect Resume
https://www.myperfectresume.com/
Resume generator with prewritten parts you can add by clicking.
Resume
http://www.resume.com/
Store your resume online here and redirect anyone to it just by giving them your URL, which looks something like resume.com/username.
Library support
Colorado Book Club Resource
http://www.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/resource-sharing/co-book-clubs/
Over 130 titles to choose from. YA titles available.
SWIFT – Statewide Interlibrary Loan Fast Track
http://www.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/resource-sharing/swift/
SWIFT is a web-based interlibrary loan requesting and tracking system provided free of charge to all libraries within Colorado
Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection
coloradohistoricnewspapers.org
The CHNC database includes digitized newspapers in Colorado from 1859 to 1923.
Colorado Online Libraries
colibraries.org
Create an intuitive and dynamic web presence for your library.
CVL Sites
cvlsites.org
For library-related organizations that need a quick website or a library event that requires an online space
CVL Lists
http://www.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/resource-sharing/listservs/
Email lists for librarians
Colorado Libraries Collaborate (CLC)
http://www.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/resource-sharing/clc/
Provide free access to more resources than any one library can provide.
FindIT Colorado
co.boopsie.com
Free to patrons. Search and reserve items online from nearest participating library.
Library Job Line
https://www.libraryjobline.org
Great site for library jobs. Post your jobs or look for jobs.
Odd Objects - Miscellaneous
Padlet
https://padlet.com/
Kind of like the web version of a community bulletin board that you can customize and put post-it like notes on – with video, or links or images.
Whois
https://www.whois.com/whois
Credibility. Check out who is behind the info you get from a website.
Mint
https://www.mint.com/
financial management tool
Wave
http://wave.webaim.org/
Evaluates the accessibility of websites
Online Learning
Coursera
https://www.coursera.org/
Earn certificates.
EdX
https://www.edx.org/
Earn university credit and certificates.
Khan Academy
https://www.khanacademy.org/
Fundamentals and beyond. Focused on K -12. Plus test prep!
Duolingo
https://en.duolingo.com/
Learn a language for free.
MIT Open Courseware
http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
The materials used in the teaching of MIT’s subjects are available on the Web.
Photos, Images and Flyers
Cluster
https://cluster.co/
Makes it possible to create private group spaces where you share photos and memories.
Pixlr
www.pixlr.com
Online photo editing
Smilebox
smilebox.com
Downloaded software to create slideshows, yearbooks, scrapbooks.
Pic Monkey
www.picmonkey.com
Free online picture editor and collage maker
Big Huge Labs
bighugelabs.com
Special effects with digital photos.
PhotoPeach
photopeach.com
Make a slideshow
Lucid Press
https://www.lucidpress.com/
Free for a single user. Up to 3 pages per document, 25 MB storage
Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/
All images and videos on Pixabay are released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty-free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required.
Creative Commons
https://creativecommons.org/
Creative Commons licenses provide a flexible range of protections and freedoms for authors, artists, and educators.
Google reverse image search
https://images.google.com/
Search by dragging an image to the search bar
Canva
https://www.canva.com/
This online graphic design tool helps you create professional looking images for the web and print.
Presentations
Vcasmo
http://vcasmo.com/
A multimedia presentation solution for a photo-video slide show. Synchronize a video and a slideshow side by side. Embed into any webpage.
Zentation
http://zentation.com/index.php
YouTube and PowerPoint mixed together.
Google Slides
https://www.google.com/slides/about/
Like PowerPoint, but in a web browser. Easy to create and share presentations.
Google Sites
https://www.google.com/sites/overview.html
Make a website quickly and easily.
Productivity
Doodle poll
http://doodle.com/
great for scheduling meetings for groups
Hello Sign
https://www.hellosign.com/
Ditch your fax machine. Fill out & sign PDFs online. Legally binding e-signatures. 3 free a month
Tiny Scanner (App Store)
PDF scanner a picture becomes a scan of a document, receipt & fax. Use your cell phone to take a picture of a document and fax it.
IFTTT
https://ifttt.com
Automate your processes.
Feedly
https://feedly.com
RSS reader to keep up on all your favorite sites
Evernote
https://evernote.com/
Create text, picture, and voice notes. Access them from any device.
White noise tools (for productivity in distracting places)
Simply Noise
https://simplynoise.com/
a web-based white/pink/brown noise generator
Rainy Mood
http://www.rainymood.com/
another white noise generator (but it sounds like…rain…)
Story telling
Inanimate Alice/Snappy
http://www.inanimatealice.edu.au/index.html
Digital storytelling. Mashup of digital audio, video and art. Inanimate Alice is a story, Snappy is the free tool to make the story.
My StoryMaker
http://www.clpgh.org/kids/storymaker/embed.cfm
Leads you through plot character and settings to create a story.
Storybird
storybird.com/create
allows folks to create their own story with animation. Fun, educational, produces something personal, free
Video
Screencast-o-matic
http://screencast-o-matic.com/
Web based. Make a movie of what appears on your computer screen. Has basic editing capability.
Jing
http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html
Download. Capture basic video, animation, and still images, on your computer screen and share them on the web.
ScreenSnapr
http://screensnapr.findmysoft.com/
Download. Take snapshots of a specific area of the screen.
WeVideo
wevideo.com
Online video editing (pretty good)
Animoto
animoto.com
Online story telling/video creator – AWESOME….especially with kids
iMovie
free app on iOS devices (Apple). Best movie editor out there for the money
YouTube
youtube.com/editor
Pretty good.