I skimmed some articles and really concentrated on "A Bigger Bang" on the Guardian Unlimited web site out of the UK. Fascinating overview of the changing face of technology. "Technology is stuff that doesn't work yet." The idea is that it is only when people stop thinking of something as a piece of technology that the thing starts to have its biggest impact. Think of the wheel -- at one time that was the latest in technology. Email was once of great practical use -- people under the age of 25 have never known a time that email wasn't broken by spam and they prefer to instant messaging or texting.
MySpace members make up the equivalent of the 10th largest country, just below Mexico. "Scrapbooking" is an analogy used to desribe the makeup of MySpace. YouTube is 98% unimaginably boring, but there is a lot of stuff in the remaining 2%.
Katrinalist.net collated the information on 50,000 survivors -- something no other medium or government agency would have been able to do as effectively.
The bottom line is that this site collects in an authoritative manner many reviewed and award winning articles.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
# 18 online productivity tools
A good way to produce and share documents, spreadsheets, etc. I investigated Google docs and set up a test document. I like the fact you can choose how readers of your material can respond -- as collaborators or viewers.
# 17 Sandbox 2
My blog has been added to Sandbox and added to the HCPL list on sandbox. I even added a comment to a fellow librarian's blog, accessing her blog through Sandbox. I like the Sandbox link to Favorite Blogs --master list of all Maryland blogs.
# 16 Wikis
Some interesting ideas for libraries... I liked the library subject guides page, kind of a one-stop shopping page with pictures of a few highlighted books. I know patrons like that aspect of our catalog -- actually seeing what the cover of a book looks like. Expanding the catalog to allow patron access has some interesting aspects that I like. Allowing patrons to add subject headings would ensure that those guides really respresent the way patrons think. Adding patron reviews, similar to Amazon, could be an added component to reader's advisory. Discussion about a community wiki reminded me of the Information & Referral database we set up years ago -- information gathered through paper and phone about local businesses, services, etc. was added to the computer. Setting up a wiki that the entire community could access to add their own information and/or comments is intriguing. Reining in email is another good use for a wiki -- post things that can be accessed by interested parties.
# 15 Web 2.0 etc
Web 2.0 is a mindset as well as technology. Tracing from 1.0 (libraries as a commodity that warehoused books) through 2.0 -- and looking beyond to 3.0 and 4.0 -- requires an open mind. Web 3.0 mentioned superstar librarian avatars, but can we move too far into the virtual world? Web 4.0 looks at libraries as a knowledge spa, an immersion in a luxury of ideas and thoughts -- this concept seems far beyond my understanding at this time. What is important is to control technolust -- having technology for the sake of technology. At the same time, we need to be trend spotters -- knowing what is important to focus on.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Library Thing # 11
I looked around Library Thing and created an account. It makes it easy to catalog your own personal books -- with several different features. I like that it pulls from Amazon and libraries (including Library of Congress) to help with cataloging, less chance for mistakes and more consistency. The reader's advisory feature is nice -- recommending books you might be interested in based on what is in your private collection and "unsuggestive" -- humorous suggestions on what you might not want. Online book clubs are also possible.
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