Week 8, Thing 19: Web 2.0 Award Sites

And this site was sweet, too.

Goodness, all the great sites. So hard to choose. The award site could be additive. I finally had to cut myself off. I said, "Bryan, enough! Get back to your blog and post your findings."

And yes, that's what I'm doing. But when I'm done I may have to go back and check out a few more sites.

Let's see...two worth mentioning?

Under Fun Stuff, the winner was Cocktail Builder. Wicked cool. It's pretty self-descriptive. You can type in an ingredient, and it'll give you suggestions. You can type in a drink, and it'll give you the ingredients. Again I say, "sweet." (And remember, kids - drink responsibly.)

Odeo was cool, too. Crazy amounts of pod casts. And they were a bunch on comics. Right up my alley!

And the site itself was so easy to use. Easy descriptions, quick links. Great.

And yeah, I could see it being used in a library setting. A customer comes in a wants to know about publishing a book? Show them Lulu. If they're sceptical, use the Wec 2.0 Award as a reference. Or, a customer wants to check on stocks, but doesn't like Morningstar? Show them InstantBull, also a Web 2.0 winner. I think it would be a great resource for both librarians and customers.

Week 8, Thing 18: Online Publication Tools

O.k. I have to say, this was pretty cool. That little diatribe below about the Flash vs. Superman? I did that on Zoho Writer. And then, lickety split, I posted it to my blog from Zoho writer. So easy!

I am impressed.

And not just that. The Zoho spreadsheet, the presentation tool, the notebook, the to-do list - all great. And, the fact that this can be added to a computer's tool bar is so convenient. I admit it - this is a great application. Will it replace MS Office. On a person note, I hope so. (Those MS thugs are so smug.) Honestly, I don't think so. At least not right now. I think 98% of the population has no idea of these on-line tools and just how convenient they really are. But, I could see them getting more popular. And when they do, big groups like MS will have to scramble to keep up.

Flash vs. Superman

Who would win a race: the Flash or Superman? Tough question. Being a Kryptonian powered by the Earth's yellow sun, Superman can, as they say, "fly faster than a speeding bullet." And of course, there's the scene at the end of Superman: The Movie illustrating his super speed - Superman flies around the world so fast that he causes time to reverse. So clearly, he's got some skills.

But the thing is, the Flash is pure speed. Literally. He's connected to the speed force, an energy source from which all speed is based. The Flash can run faster than a bullet. In fact, he can break the sound barrier and (I believe) surpass the speed of light. And he's been known to use his speed to travel back in time. So, given that the Flash is tapped into the force that is intrinsically connected with the notion of "speed," I'd have to say that he is the faster of the two.

Thoughts?

(Yes, I am a big dork.)

Week 7, Thing 17: Wiki Sandbox

This was a pretty neat page. I like wiki's a lot, and this one was very easy to maneuver through. It really is fun to be able to reach in and play around with a page. "Add an image here, some text there. Oh, wait. Let's italicize the text because it's a title."

I have to say, I'm a fan of all things wiki. I'm a frequent contributer to Wikipedia, mostly in their articles about comic books and comic book characters. Sure, it can get frustrating sometime. You could spend a good hour cleverly crafting an ingenious biography of Batman during the 1980, only to have some tool come along and delete it because he or she thinks it doesn't fit in the article. But, there is mediation. Granted, those can become heated cyber-arguements. Although wikipedia is pretty good with the ground rules (no name calling, civil discussions, please, no mass-deletions out of spite), I've seen some arguements get downright nasty. So much so that an administrator has to lock the page for awhile to let people cool off. But, that just goes to show how passionate some people can be about their wiki contributions.

Week 7, Thing 16: Learn about Wikis

+O.k., so I just looked at the BookLover's Wiki for Princeton Public Library. What a good idea - for their summer reading program, they have those who register contribute book reviews for their wiki. Brilliant! Just the shear notion of getting to write their own review and post it on a wiki would get a lot of people pumped about reading. Plus, it's a way for the customers to feel that they are a visible part of their library. Great idea!

+And I just checked out the ALA 2006 New Orleans wiki. Again, great idea. If you're promoting an event, why not use a wiki. It's accessable to anyone and it's easily up-dated for accuracy. Plus, after the event is over, people can post their experiences on the wiki as well. Wow, great way to get out there with a new tool and reach a large number of people at once.

Week 6, Thing 15: Web 2.0 and Library 2.0

I read "Away from Icebergs." Nice article. The author makes the important point that as we've moved away from print-only resources, libraries need to do a better job of adapting the way they serve customers. The notiont of the "just in case" collection going the way of the dodo is readily apparent. Speaking from the experience of sitting on the Adult Print committee, we often ask ourselves if we need to purchase an item, or whether the information that item provides is already available on line.
I agree with his point that we need to increase our ability to educate the public in using these resources. Of course, we need to educate ourselves first, I believe.
And finally, his notion of the "come to us" policy of the library is useful. Customers "come to us" for a variety of reasons, many of which didn't factor into a library setting just ten years ago. So it's important that we know why a customer would want to still "come to us."

I also read "Into a New World of Librarianship." All in all, I agree with the author's basic theme that libraries need to step into the quickly flowing stream of technology in order to better serve patrons. Simply buying more computers isn't enough. Librarians need to know how to use the tools available to them so that they can in turn better serve the customer, and if that includes Instant Messaging, Mash-ups, blogs, etc., so be it.

Week 6, Thing 14: Explore Technorati

This site was pretty interesting - it's amazing how so many things can be connected in cyber-space. But honestly, I wasn't so into Technorati. Maybe it'll take some more time exploring, but I just don't have that much interesting in viewing other blogs. Of course, it seems like its an impressive way to search through tags and key words. But still, I just don't think I'd use this on any sort of regular basis.

Week 6, Thing 13: Discover Del.icio.us

Alright, this is pretty neat. Looking around Del.icio.us, I can see how this can be a useful reference and resource tool. I particularly like the option of viewing the tags in different styles (e.g., as lists, as clouds, etc.). I found the "cloud view" to be particularly user friendly. It was easy to find a subject and simply navigate through with a series of mouse clicks. This can be a useful tool for librarians to both collect information for public use, or as an internal learning tool within a system. Pretty neat.

Week 5, Thing 12: Rollyo

This is a link to my Rollyo. I call it Trusty News. It contains a few of my favorite and most trusted news sites.

And this one I use to search for comic book information. I call it My Super Heroes.

I think Rollyo can be really useful as a streamlined search engine. As an info. person, I could create a Rollyo for a particular theme that's commonly brought up at the information desk (e.g., a Rollyo that searches addresses or phone numbers, trusted medical information, etc.)

Week 5, Thing 11: List some of my Favorite Books

This is a pretty cool site. I am quite the bibliophile. For me, this would be a nice way to keep track of my books, my thoughts after reading them, etc.

Here's a link to my page:
http://

And, I actually figured out how to get a rotating list of my favorite books on the edge of my blog. Check'em out!

I like LibraryThing a great deal. I think it can be invaluable for keeping track of what I've read, and can therefore be useful when I'm asked by customers for recommendations. It can also be a neat way for bookclubs to connect and communicate.

Week 5, Thing 10: Play Around with an Image Generator

This is my little Bryan-Avatar.
Like me, he's trying to reach enlightenment. Unlike me, he seems to have succeeded.



I did this at http://www.meez.com/home.dm
and it was quite fun.