Thing 17: Connecting to Community

Thing 17 was fun to explore…I was excited to see apps dedicated just to MN and although these are probably more useful in my personal life, there could maybe be times when I could connect it professionally as well (perhaps suggesting the Beer App to patrons I know attend brewing events at the library).

I was super excited to see hiking apps as well as a Minneapolis Skyway app and Going Out. Unfortunately, the Minneapolis Skyway app is Apple only and Going Out isn’t compatible with my device. In light of this, I wanted to try the MN Museums app, but it was so large (28M) that it wouldn't fit on my phone so I decided to skip it and try the Think Hopkins! app instead. 

Think Hopkins! was fun to play with. I've been to Hopkins several times so am vaguley aware of the area and what there is to do, but am by no means an expert. I thought it was nice that there were lots of nice pictures of the city, parks, etc. when the app first opened. Upon opening there were several choices to choose from  --quizzes, activities, arts, dining, shopping, history, cinema, more.  

I deiced to start with the quizzes. I was given the choice of 4 different quiz types to choose from --picture, Hopkins history, life in Hopkins, and shopping and dining. I tried each of the quizzes and all were well done with great pictures, a good assortment of questions and interesting trivia.

Next I tried the activities section and was given a list of sample activities one can do in Hopkins such as "Go snow sledding, Ice skate or play hockey, Take the kids to a playground, etc." and as I clicked into each activity a map popped up with options for where one could do each of the activities. The map was excellent because it utilizes Google maps. If the location of interest was a place --such as the Hopkins Pavilion-- a map as well as information about the destination was available and appeared to link directly to the locations website.  

I explored each of the other tabs (arts, dining, shopping, history and cinema) and all had similar features in regards to ability to quickly and easily gain information, good maps and pictures. The more tab gave the ability to turn the apps gps feature on or off, send to a friend or contact the app creator by email.

Overall, I must say I am very impressed with this app, especially considering that it has a very low download rate and is for a smaller suburb of Minneapolis. I think this would make an excellent resource for anybody moving into town or anyone who wants information about the area. I don't work at the Hopkins library often, but I would imagine that this might be a useful recommendation that staff there would appreciate!

Now if only there was one for my town!