Week 6 Thing 15: Straddling the Line between Caution and Enthusiasm

Reading through the essays on the concept of Library 2.0, a few common themes become clear. First, the presumption is that libraries need to change in order to serve the populations to which they are responsible. Secondly, it seems to be assumed that we are in an either/or situation; either traditional service or technologically-enhanced service can be offered, not both. I find that I actually agree with both of these in certain contexts, but overall disagree. While some of the notions of a 2.0 Librarian seem reasonable and useful to me, I think there is a disconnect between our projections of future possibilities and actual patron needs in the present moment.
The idea of enabling techno-savvy patrons to maximize their information access is wonderful, and I’m tremendously excited to see it emerging and taking on steam. As an enhancement of previous services, I believe it has potential to make libraries invaluable as a resource for self-motivated early adopters of innovation. As a replacement for traditional services, at least in the present day, I think it is extremely problematic.
As huge changes rock our country, our economy, our climate, and our levels of technological innovation, Americans are bombarded by the swift and sometimes terrifying alteration of their expectations at a rate that many will find difficult to integrate. Meanwhile, our demographic is skewing, not to the young and technologically-skilled, but to the retirement age. Libraries are in a unique position to offer the comfort of consistency and assistance in a maelstrom of information overload.
I myself love technological innovation, and I tend to find it thrilling and see possibilities in change. But the patrons with whom I speak routinely seem to be a varied population, with strong resistance to change in a quite large proportion of them. It is true that over time, new models will become more commonly accepted and the young users, aging, will have different expectations than our current ones do. We aren’t there yet, however, and it will take some time (thank goodness).
Given such a current situation, I tend to think we will do better offering variation and possibility, learning to conform to changes while maintaining a solid, reliable core of predictable services and options. None of us want to force change on a reluctant population if it’s not necessary, or deny patrons the services they currently pay taxes for us to provide for them. We do, however, need to recognize transformation of culture and advancements, and make services based on them available to those users prepared to take advantage of them.
I am eager to add to the range of services we offer to patrons of all ages and needs, and can’t wait to see things like truly comprehensive databanks of published works emerge and become publically available. Enabling the users to be interactive with the information is one of the best things to happen in the last decade, with its potential for inclusiveness. Traditional, physical libraries and printed collections have not reached the end of their usefulness, however, and I would like to get rid of the bathwater and still have the baby, new toys included. If every library looks to its population, not just for the majority but also the minority groups within it, I think we will find there are a multiplicity of needs we are uniquely placed to serve.
Library 2.0, to me, means adding to choices, enhancing possibilities, and using all the possible means we can find to make these options available to the populations we serve in a respectful and supportive manner.

Week 6 Thing 14: Joining the Technorati

Technorati is an intriguing site. I haven’t used it before starting this program, and it took me a little while to feel at ease there, but it was definitely worth the effort. Searching blog entries, tags, and directories is something I’ve done before in bits and pieces, but it was convenient to do it all from Technorati’s advanced search page. I also liked being able to specify authority level.

The blog directory search for “Library 2.0” turned up some useful blogs about the subject, the posts search gave me some great entries to read, and the tag search was more specific to the exact subject. I’ve gone ahead and made sure my blog is public and enabled blog listings so that it will ping Technorati with my tags. Hopefully this means I’m adding to the site in a small way.

I feel that Technorati will be most useful as a way to familiarize myself with a subject, or when I have the time and the inclination to pursue a study of a popular topic, rather than as a quick reference tool or something I do on a daily basis. It’s a fantastic method of exploration, and enables one to quickly get a fairly broad grasp of something, but it isn’t a precision tool. The separate sections for images and vids please me, though, and I think they will be worth spending time to explore.

I loved following the popular items page, because it was full of topics I’m personally intrigued by. In fact, I discovered that my favorite tech feed (Gizmodo) is still apparently everyone’s favorite! I also picked up some new, related feeds that look very useful for web development and tweaking.

One of the searches I made was on the topic of a favorite musical group, The Decemberists. In the interests of maintaining my blogger-fu, here is a picture Technorati found for me of the band in concert. It was originally posted on Flickr by lucylarou.

Week 6 Thing 13: Isn't It del.icio.us?

I’ve been using del.icio.us for some time, following links from friends’ blogs and from email. It is a great resource for story recommendations if you belong to loose associations of amateur writers, as I do. Never had I bothered to make my own account, however, and with this exercise I have finally remedied this oversight.

Now that I have an account and have begun using it, I am wondering how I ever took so long to get around to it. It is so much easier to tool around del.icio.us than it is to use bookmarks, and the tag-based sorting system is simpler to use than the more cumbersome file/folder system. Also, multiply tagging each link simultaneously is simply fantastic. Unlike the file/folder system, it can be filed in many categories at once, making it far easier to find links. Plus, the shared links mean that dead entries will probably be discovered more quickly, and the whole account will remain more up to date.

It becomes obvious that this sort of bookmarking can be useful to any researcher, and I assume that telephone reference librarians are already using it. What pleases me about the site in regards to the circulation desk is that I can link and tag all of the sites I regularly use to answer basic questions and use it from any computer. Yahoo maps for directions, Santa Cruz City information sites, the most popular local businesses, etc. will be at my fingertips when I’m asked for help by patrons or travellers. It should be very helpful. And if other library workers (maybe here!) do the same, I can easily use their links as well.
I’ve already found great learning resources through the PLCMCL del.icio.us account, such as David Lee King’s Library Videoblogs, and the online reference “Library Succes: A Best Practices Wiki.” I have also started an account, attached a widget to my blog (it’s on the right of the screen), and begun linking knitting and crochet resource, online books, and of course, the Wikipedia.

Week 5 Thing 12: Rollyo Search Engines

Yesterday morning I woke ready to work on the 23 Things projects, and the next up was Rollyo. I hadn't actually heard of this site previously, so it was a bit exciting to explore something this new to me. I spent a little time looking the site over and trying out searches on other people’s engines, with varying degrees of success. The litmus test was definitely going to be setting up and running my own, I knew.

I’m a big fan of free online knitting and crochet patterns, and I also enjoy looking at other folks’ versions of any project I’m considering, so that was something I knew I’d end up searching for this winter. Especially as there is a nip in the air that makes me crave colorful wool to play with.*g*

I rolled my own knit/crochet pattern search engine so I could seek free patterns for my latest project online. It needs some refinement, but I’ve tried it and it is kind of useful. Instead of going to each site individually, I can just type in the sort of pattern I’m looking to find. The main drawback is that there are obnoxiously placed sponsored links, which aren’t visually distinct from the desired links and make for too much visual noise on the page. The bottom line for me with Rollyo is going to be having all my search links for a given subject handy on the search engine page, I think, and that might be better served by a different kind of software.

Rollyo could be quite useful for reference work, though. It would allow a large number of sites to be searched simultaneously, while including only those that have been previously vetted for accuracy. This means that multiple users could easily continue to add to the store of sites on an engine, and expertise can be compiled. It would be interesting to try sharing an account amongst friends who have a joint hobby as well, I think. If only a way can be found to rid ourselves of the sponsored links, then the site would go from mildly to extremely helpful.

Week 5 Thing 11: Making My Own Thing

Setting up an account with Library Thing was ridiculously easy. I'm impressed with how user-friendly and intuitive they've made the site. It's also quite simple to find useful recommendations, once some books have been added.

I did have one quibble with the setup, however. Choosing only from particular editions makes it trickier for someone who merely wants to add a book by title and author, as I did. I can't remember all the specific editions, and it took much too much time to search. Of course, I'm adding books from memory. Also, it would be a truly daunting task to add all the books I own, so I'm adding only those I've most enjoyed, and only a few at a time. It's hard for me to even include examples from all the genres I like to read within the 200 book limit for free accounts.

The widget for my blog was also easy to add, taking less time than browsing suggestions! It seems fun to have a small sampling of my favorite books listed on my blog, and I think I'd like to do something similar with music and movies or television. Perhaps ebooks and audio books as well.

My Library Thing catalogue, such as it is so far, can be found here. I have great hopes that the site will make it easier to find things to read with much less margin for error than browsing covers. Who knows, it may turn out to be a social boon as well. Given enough time, I think I would really enjoy reviewing and engaging in discussion boards.

Week 5 Thing 10: Generations

romance_novel
Originally uploaded by carpelogos

I had a great time with this exercise. I tried out the suggested links, but enjoyed most the one I found by doing a couple of Google searches. Here we have the cover of a brilliant novel by an exciting new writer, and the central character reminds me strongly of someone I know!

I used the romance novel cover generator found here to produce this. A few candid photos from around the library, and there may be no end to the possible fun. Used with discretion, of course. And that glorious thing, permission.

(I tried to interview the couple photographed for this cover, but Miss Hunter's agent informed me that she is booked solid for the next two years.)

Week 4 Thing 9: RSS Search Engines

As with the previous exercise, I have already done the tasks on the list. I have enough links on my reader for the moment. I did play a bit with making my reading list public (I added my blogroll to the main page of my blog), and also with using the search engines suggested to see if there were any new sites that I really ought to be watching on my favorite topics.

So far, Feedster has been of little use to me. I disliked the way it skipped sites I already know of that do interest me in terms of my chosen topics, and selected sites that had little or nothing to do with my purposes. I decided to play with it a bit and find out if I could use it in some capacity, and make myself a widget to place on my blog as an experiment. But then I realized I'd have to make an account with Feedster, which seemed unappealing, so I scrapped that plan. It was nice that one could choose to search in various media, but then the search engine did not allow a combined search for more than one type. Overall, I'm not impressed with Feedster.

Topix is a little more interesting. It's helpful to be able to search for coverage on a topic, and in fact I did add the topic feed "Santa Cruz, CA" to my Bloglines. I regret that it doesn't cover blogs, but you can't have everything.

Now, Syndic8 appeals to me because of the user-submitted links. It is necessarily limited, however, for the same reason, and also tends to operate like many user-oriented sites do. It draws in users who find things there that appeal to them, and they add more links on the same or similar subjects, and eventually there are large, useful networks of links: on very particular topics only. The site maintainers do seem to be attempting to overcome this tendency, and I hope they are successful. The best thing about the site is that I find user-generated links seem to be of more reliable quality than random sets.

Being fond of blogs as information networks, I really like Technorati. The site design is easy to follow, the search engine allows for refinement, and their lists of currently popular search terms and subjects is good for both interest and a laugh. Blogs on a topic are great sources of related, non-commercial links. The only real drawback to this site, for me, is that many bloggers set their blogs to be "dark" to search engines, and won't be discovered here.

I was pleased to find that one of my favorite feeds, the Gizmodo feed, is on Technorati's Top Blogs list.
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(The above is an emoticon; read it as a person throwing their arms up in triumph or joy. I mean it here as something like, "Go Team Gizmo!")