Week 8 Thing 19: Out Here on the Perimeter There Are No Stars

Thing #19 being next on my list, I spent some very enjoyable time this evening exploring a number of different sites on SEOmoz’s Web 2.0 Award Winners short list.
Lulu was entertaining. The site is eclectic in the extreme, and therefore unsurprisingly piques my interest. The eccentric-sounding titles for sale in the book section were immensely fun for me to explore, and the music section had some intriguing items in it as well. One particular item in the Comics & Graphic Novels section caught my attention… Okay, I didn't read the blurb, but. Great title. *g*
Also, the very democratic method of publishing through Lulu pleases me, though it does demand a very high degree of evaluation of any potential purchase. I’m certainly not likely to buy a download from a writer with grammar errors in the blurb! I like the option to purchase downloads instead of paperbacks, so I expect I’ll be a customer there at some point, once I’ve established some rudimentary rules for quality checking.
Next on my list to explore was Biblio, which I found easy to navigate and full of treasures. I did, in fact, find a copy of the book I raved about in another post selling for one dollar! (The book in question was The Hot Jazz Trio by William Kotzwinkle). Simple searches there seem easy enough to run, and more complex searching is quite convenient and nets useful results. I think I’ll be using it consistently.
The third site I spent a little time exploring was Netvibes. I like the idea of a customizable start page a lot. Somehow, though, the site seemed so cluttered, that it strikes me as more of a distraction than a useful addition to my browser. How many of those widgets do I really need? Also, the themes, wallpapers, and focus of the site didn’t quite appeal to me much. I think I’m going to try to set up my own blog or livejournal, possibly wiki, as a starter page instead. I should be able to find the widgets I need, and Firefox extensions provide a lot of the same functions in my browser frame.
Thing #19 was a lot of fun. I’m glad I did it from home, though, because I could never have completed it at work within our limited time budget for the Things. It would have taken me weeks at one hour per week.
Any of these three sites could be useful for library work, given the many possibilities of patron needs. Biblio and Lulu are both media vendors and could help us provide rare or specialty materials that our patrons need. It is also conceivable that the library system could publish collaborative works through Lulu. Netvibes, used at the circulation desk, could be customized to allow for quick reference responses. I know the weather widget alone would cover the questions of whether rain is imminent. *g* I do feel we should take advantage of some of these things while they are being developed, because library workers are great beta testers, and our presence on these sites may mean we can collectively influence the direction of their development in a good way.

Week 8 Thing 18: Zoho and Friends

Thing #18 requires us to sign up with Zoho Writer and make a few test documents. I made a grocery list, a list of phone numbers, and wrote a few paragraphs of a short story idea. Since I don't plan on sharing my grocery list with the world (I know: it's a great loss), I'm going to use Zoho to post to my blog as my method of demonstrating that I've been playing there. 
I will insert a picture too. See? Isn't he cute?

He is a dwarf hamster and this photo was taken from Flickr. It was uploaded on Dec 2, 2007 by romap. I have been told I am not to bring one of these home, as it will upset the cat. But I am deeply tempted. I wonder if one day, young people's sections within a library will have virtual tanks, with animated images of small animals like this one. It could happen.

Zoho seems to offer a lot of possibilities, and I think it's going to take me a bit of time to decide whether it is more helpful or distracting. Combination with a wiki may make my life more convenient, or merely messy. Only long-term play-testing will show. I think I'm going to try using Zoho as a creation tool for my wiki's pages, and if this works well enough, possibly a method of posting to my blog. It's use as a work tool for me seems limited, since I'm getting what I need from Microsoft at the moment. Obviously that may change, if I become involved in a collaborative project.

Week 7 Thing 17: Playing in the Sandbox

I went to the PLCMC Sandbox wiki and added my blog to the list. It was a little confusing, since there were a number of headers, but none for SCPL. I just added mine to the "General" list, and I hope that was correct.
Adding favorites is always enjoyable. I added the following entry to the favorite books page:
There are so many books I love, I've learned to think "favorite of the moment" instead of permanent favorites. Right at this moment, I'm remembering a book which will always have a special place in my heart; The Hot Jazz Trio by William Kotzwinkle. There are a number of lovely, surrealist tales in the book, but the best of them all is "Django Reinhardt Plays the Blues". It is a stunning display of his skill at creating unique images full of mystery and beauty, and along with "Blues on the Nile" is one of my very favorite stories ever written. Unfortunately, it's a bit hard to find.

If I had a lot more time to spend on this exercise, I think I would like to read through everyone else's favorite entries from SCPL. It's a great way to get local recommendations. As it is probably the most I'll get out of it is a little practice at a group wiki (which I'm already getting at the SCPL 2.0 wiki and my family wiki) and the opportunity to see how huge the group learning 23 Things has grown. Oh, and being reminded of one of my all-time favorite books, of course.

Week 7 Thing 16: Wikis

Browsing through the world of library wikis, it immediately becomes apparent that wikis can and will change how catalogues are made available to the public. Most of the wikis we were asked to look at as a part of Thing #16 functioned primarily as pathfinders, user-friendly guides which, like a library catalogue leads to physical information resources, guide the user to sites or catalogue entries carrying more detailed information. As long as a significant portion of information on the internet remains free to access, and/or libraries are willing to pay to access charging sites, it seems obvious that this is the way to best assist patrons in using both our catalogues and the informational resources of others. The patron won’t have to understand any form of complex cataloguing to find an item, but at the same time more complex informational taxonomy can be sustained.
What really makes the wiki is, of course, participation by many well-informed users. As more and more librarians and library workers come to participate in the creation of content, I think the patrons will be more and more easily able to find and access the materials that they need in a timely fashion. I have great hope that local libraries will be able to keep extremely current listings of local services and events once we find ways to allow members of the public to join in the effort as well. Comprehensiveness is impossible if significant enough numbers don’t assist in content creation, however.
I found the guide to books only minimally useful, with so few entries in the genres I was in the mood to read. All of the entries were books I’m already familiar with, and I was disappointed in my hopes to find suggestions on good books to read. If enough people joined the wiki, though, it could become a valuable resource for me.
I have no idea what percentage of the population wants access to content creation in information services, but if it is high enough, the possibilities for information sharing are phenomenal, and staggering. I definitely want to be a part of that, and I am grateful that this program has gotten me motivated enough to get involved in wiki development. My husband and I have created a wiki for our family, and are already using it to share lists and work on joint writing projects. (Not to mention the silly picture war we have going on the front page. Hee.)