Thing #23 in Library 2.0

Is this the end? Wait, two more weeks, right? Encores, right? Sigh.

I'll miss doing such talented things as posting completely empty blogs, complete with perfectly good titles. Going nuts over trying to move something, then realizing the next day, after carefully looking at the example, I was trying to move it from the wrong page. Thank goodness posting things to the blog, etc. finally got easier for me. And I finally started looking at the examples a little harder.

I did really enjoy the chance to learn new things, even, and especially since I had to work for everything I learned. It gives me a little more patience and confidence in approaching new applications. And trying to make old ones do new things. I really like Flickr, Meebo, and LibraryThing. I might even have to use Rollyo. I may have gained a little understanding of the structure of the computer...ummm, maybe not. Oh, well, almost.

I'd do another discovery program like this in a New York minute.

Can we do mashups next?

"Is this the end? of Library 2.0

IM

Ooooooh! Far too much fun! I think I really like IM! I can see why it's so useful for Refence and help on OPACs and other library sites. Anywhere a customer might get stuck could really use help, could really use one of those widgets, linked to the right person to give that help. I asked for some etiquette pages, since I had no idea. I just blurted my question right out, without a "knock first" motion of any kind. I'm too used to writing being writing, and not being instantly read--sort of a synthesis of reading and speaking. Our chat got a little "garbled", but I think thats the fault of me not keeping it short. I'm far too much of a writer, and not enough of a talker.


And as you can see, I added a Meebo widget to the blog. In technocolor, of course.

Oh, before I forget, here are the sites,Inc Magazine: http://www.inc.com/articles/2002/06/24304.html

PC Magazine: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,99405-page,1/article.html


The PC Magazine article also links to articles on "Internet Lingo and Emoticons. "

Podcasts

I really enjoyed the Booktalk podcast, as well as the one from NPR on books. No surprise there, I suppose. And the directories were easy enough to use, once you got the hang of it. I did like the ease of adding the Book review podcast from NPR to my RSS feed, I couldn't believe I'd added it with the first try! All in all, useful, easy to use, if you can stand sitting and listening, and doing nothing. For some reason, it got on my nerves.

You Tube

There's a lot of fascinating and funny stuff on You Tube. A lot of it is just over the top amateur, but I have seen enough that is helpful, like demos for book and page repair that were found on You Tube. And the following video on open access,



There were even educational spots for libraries, as well as "meet the new staff" spots, as well as ninja librarians, and librarians line dancing.

book marks, book marks.....

So, how many book mark apps does there need to be? There were three that won awards, and one honorable mention, and none were del..cio.us. Against advice, I looked at two--inadvertently, actually. Both Ma.gnolia (#1) and Furl (#2) are social bookmarking spaces, and they both allow private lists, bookmarklets, sharing, and searching, but for some reason I really like Furl. So I read more of the documentation. Not only did it seem a little more likely that I could set up a private list, I could move in "favorites" from Internet Explorer, Firefox, and more. Their "tags" are "not as intrusive" and are called keywords. I'm not sure what that means. And you can use a bookmarklet to add new URLs to your account. I does have popular items of the day and recomended links, other members who saved this and "Furlmates"--other Furl members who have similar patterns.



Now how something like Furl could be used in a library. Well, there's the search/research angle that's been touched on before. Furlmates could lead to reading groups at the library. "Pathfinders" of online databases and sites could be created and made public, and linked to the library wiki, or web site--whichever is more "branded", I suppose. Furl can save an "archived copy (with refresh)"--which means if the page is down, or is changed, a copy is saved just as you read it--a boon to research paper writers.

I don't doubt that Ma.gnolia and Del.icio.us have a lot of the same features, but Furl laid them out so that I could find (and I admit, print them out) easily, and so write about them. It certainly makes me want to use it. Now it means I'll have to check out the other two and see why they're so popular! Ack.

dazzed

Highlight, copy, and paste, and I know it's not that simple. And then I look for export...or something else from another application. At least a lot of the things here in Zoho act like a regular word processing program, Although a few more fonts would have been nice, or more variety. The color is really a nice touch, though. I haven't given up on trying to move a picture, but copying and pasting would certainly be easier.

That was exciting. Harder than cutting and pasting, but not as bad as I thought. Time for a new color, in the water lily's honor. The drop down box to import the picture didn't yesterday, and I lost my entire entry, even though I thought I'd saved it, or thought I did, I hit save serveral times. I'm sure there ought to be a way to wrap the text around the picture, but after importing it, I might just leave it at that. I lost most of my settings, as you can see. And for my next experiment, I'll try sending it to my blog.Hahaha...

Wickis

I hadn't really thought of wickis as organizational tools, I'd just been used to Wickipedia--and while it organizes information, I thought of it as a reference tool/database. I think of Wickipedia entirely differently than a community of book reviews, like Book Lovers Wicki from Princeton Public Library, or a way to organize a make accessible an array of successful library programs, like Library Successes, a Best Practices Wicki. Some of these wickis actually leave the wicki completely and take you to the author's web page, in the Book Lovers Wicki's case, or to the contributing library, in the case of the Best practices wicki. They don't all look as impressive as Wickipedia, but they do a very different range of functions than the other web 2.0 apps we've used. Wickis could definitely be used to bring podcasting, blogging, flicker, and the catalog together for online patrons--this could be especially helpful for small libraries that have irregular hours. It might open up use for them. Customers could see what other people are reading, see what's been added, add comments, leave requests, and the librarian could keep a better feeling for what the public really want/need from their library.

Ya don't know where ya are until ya get there...

And then someone moves it...

Libraries have to grow, acclimate, and adjust to their population (yes, that dreaded word, change...) And Library 2.0 is just the latest wave of that. It's exciting in a new way, in that the customers (not patrons anymore...) are actually wanting to participate in, not tell us, what changes they want and need. A coffee shop? Comfortable chairs (some of us did think of those...)? But special areas for teens? Letting the customers tag the catalog? Letting the public write reviews that go in the catalog? Yes, it's time consuming, but it's also what will keep us relevant, and will keep us attached to our public. Blogs on library websites with comments from the public certainly keep a dialog going. Certainly some of the Web 2.0 apps will be left behind, anything that isn't used all the time, or doesn't continue to grow and change. But new ways to interact and use the Web will not go away. Amazon.com is still here, and finally making a profit. Wikipedia keeps growing, despite being dissed by everyone--and even I have to admit, it's useful when you can't get to a full service/research library. And sometimes you can't, in the middle of rural Nebraska! But one of the things librarians have to remember, is, that our libraries must change. They have changed, they are changing, and to continue existing, they must continue to change. And keeping abreast of technology, and the change in the way the Web is used, is one of those changes. This change is very relevant, and actually, very library useful. So many of the Learning 2.0 can be adapted for use for the library, large or small.

I haven't been comfortable with everything I've done so far for our Learning 2.0 project...too rushed, I suppose...I'm behind. But I feel I'm getting the hang of more of it. And some of it I might not use again. Some of it , I'd like to use more often, like Flikr, and Technorati. I don't know about the blog, though. I'm still a little uncomfortable with that. But I think that' part of the learning process. I'll get to see how far it's moved this time, when I get there. b

Technorati

Technorati is interesting from a searching viewpoint--you'll get different results in different areas. I wasn't even certain where I was, from time to time, when I was searching, but it was interesting. When I was looking at the most popular searches I was both surprised and disapointed to see that Britney Spears was still a hot topic. But the list of topics changed the same day, between a half hour differnce. That was interesting in itself. Britney didn't fall off, though. But I was surprised at how it was a way to keep up with current events, re Tibet, Obama and Clinton, etc.

Del.icio.us

I was instantly interested in it when I heard that it was a bookmarking site--I'd used Buble, (I think that was it's name), before it disappeared, and loved being able to have access to bookmarks at home or at Mom's computer. Occasionally it came in handy, especially since at the time she had a printer and I didn't.

But Del.icio.us is much more than that. I don't know if I have time to set an account up anytime soon, but just searching it is fun. I clicked on one of the tags on the side, books, and found two other electronic book shelves like LibraryThing, except they also alow for listing of books you are only reading, but don't own. A neat feature. And LibraryVox, audiobook shelf...and project Gutenberg...It was interesting to read the extended tags, they really gave a good feel for the site.

I could see Del.icio.us as a researching tool, especially for the value of the comments from other taggers. A searcher would know quickly if the terms they'd used were finding the sites they needed. But I think you'd need a quick, powerful computer and connection. I've a feeling it might take a while on my laptop on DSL. On the other hand, I need to do a little owner maintenance--check the oil and air in the tires sort of thing...hmm. Still, a lot of fun, and a lot of information.

Rollyo

Not bad. A lot easier than I thought it would be. Copied and pasted the URLs from an email I sent from home. And just copy and paste, and there's the widget on the blog. I'll have to figure out how to widen my blog page, though, since it is running under the text.

LibraryThing

LibraryThing is far too much fun. Enter the ISBN and click enter and there's your title, another click, and there's more information. On your bookshelf is the part that's really cool. Almost too much information! If someone has already entered the title, and all of mine were--there is a synopsises or review, tags, and so much more. I was a little bummed when the covers didn't all show up--but when I saw that all of the the covers where displayed, too...and in different languages and fonts. Sigh. Bookphile heaven.

Far too excited about making my own catalog card and trying to get it on the page here to stop and think about what I was doing. Hope I can clean the page up a bit. I tried a few sites on "The Generator Blog"' last week, but very handily lost them by closing the pages--a new bad habit I've acquired since going to Vista--instead of hitting the "new window" tab, I close the window I'm in. Irritating. So, while I was scrolling down the larger, windowed sites, I finally notice the list of sites on the right, and voila! All none catalogers want to make their own cards...ahem. So I did. It's kinda fun. Here's the site: http://www.blyberg.net/card-generator/
Which I've also pasted everywhere on my blog page. Sigh.

blyberg.net » Catalog Card Generator

blyberg.net » Catalog Card Generator

RSS feed search tools (!?)

Ack!

I started searching with Technorati which I'd used before. And had a terrible time getting to the URLs! I must have been having a brain spasm of some sort. Even after joining, it wasn't very easy. It was certainly a different experience than I'd had earlier. I couldn't get the highlighted URLs to open up, or copy them to enter in Bloglines, until I'd joined. But then I could "favorite them"--a type of RSS reader? Still very frustrating.

But then I tried Syndic8.com and Topix.net, and I may never go back to Technorati. So easy to use, and search in, the frustration level was much lower. I think it was Syndic8.com that displays the URLs right in the screen, and Topix.net opens a second IE window. Still, very easy to use.

New obsession...

Widgets! I can page through widget pages forever, looking for the perfect one! They're so cool! It makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. And like that kid, I can't make a decision about which one to pick. There are just too many! Translations, radios, time, etc., but somehow, not quite the one that quite clicks. So the search goes on. Somehow that doesn't disappoint me. I look at other people's blogs and go, oh! that's a cool one! And then go one. Hmmm. Is it the search, or the widget?

New science book...

There's a new science book, online, called the Encyclopedia of Life (www.eol.org), that I've read about in the New York Times online edition in the Science section--really cool. more like a book of all species, really. It's planned to include every life form on the planet, from single cells, to plants, to mamals, you name it! And while the sceintific community is entering everything known to them about each species, and updating it, it will also be useful for the rest of us too! That's the part I really liked. If you're going on vacation to Thailand you could use the different wildlife parks as search terms and find out what animals you'd see, and more about them. Like when you're more likely to see them. (Like twilight, midnight, etc.)

The article did have reservations, since its a lofty goal, I mean, all species. And there is a shortage of the scientists that describe animals, I believe they are called taxonomists. And I was thinking, who is doing the work on the algorithims. Anyway, it does sound like a really cool new online tool.

Learning

I've always asked my own questions in addition to the usual classwork, and used the tools I was learning to use in school to answer those questions. That habit continued through the years, and through the different and more sophisticated tools, and when computers became commonplace, well, another tool! Actually, a lot more tools. The question is, which ones will I actually use, both in life and for work? I'm aware of several, but not always cerain how they'll help in the workplace. And I do have a talent for hitting the wrong keys and losing things (files, paragraphs, my entire first post...) But learning, falling down, sometimes spectacularly, and asking questions, are things I can do. And learning sometimes = life.