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.