Thursday, September 25, 2008

Learn & Play Wiki

It was only a matter of time- Learn & Play @CML has its own Wiki.

OK, you've seen Wikipedia, now its time to actually post on a wiki. It's surprisingly easy- three cheers for WSYSIWYG editors! I added this blog link, a favorite quote, and a favorite website there. It was easy to go back and edit what I added- very useful.

I'll admit I was already familiar with PBwiki, since the IM committee I'm on has a wiki there. I've found it quite handy for such work.

I forsee more wikis in our future at the library!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Wikis at Libraries.

Wikis are cool ways to collaborate with lots of users to bring useful information to any subject, and libraries are natural organizations to take this approach. Subject guides are the most obvious example- posting links to aid staff in readers advisory efforts, or even posting reviews of books that you think would be interesting to readers, as in this example.

I'm currently working on a committee to incorporate instant messaging services to my library system. We have a wiki that we use to communicate and share ideas, and create collaborative documents. This is a great way to stay in touch without having everybody meet on a frequent basis (which makes it easier on everybody's schedule).

Wikis draw on everyone's contributions to incorporate the particular insight and wisdom of all participants. What a wealth of knowledge to make available to others in a quick manner!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Library 2.0, or: the long tail comes to the stacks

Library 2.0 is a hot topic these days. Fitting right in with Web 2.0, this means greater customer service through technology. In reading about Library 2.0, I'm impressed how much The Long Tail keeps coming to mind. In essence, the new online social technology revolution plays right into customizing an optimal customer service experience for each customer, no matter how obscure or mainstream their interests are. Think of the huge number of choices in RSS feeds, Flickr or Twitter communities; and then think of the myriad number of interests that library users have, not only in a vastly different number of reading tastes, but in audiovisual and computer technology as well.

Amazon pioneered individual book recommendations for customers; Google uses targeted ads in a similar fashion. Libraries are just beginning to approach this level of individual attention for their customers. Technology has made it all possible.

Delicious Tagging!

Del.icio.us is a very handy way to have bookmarks on hand away from home, sort of a Web 2.0 reference tool. Learn&Play@CML has its own bookmarks there, of course. It is interesting to see how a consensus of users develop tags- much more collaborative than the old cataloger's method. Bookmarking this page will make learning and playing at work much simpler :)

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Twitter Time.

Blogging is one thing, but tweeting is another. Using Twitter is a step into the world between blogs and instant messaging. It's quite interesting to see how technology provides users with more tools to refine their communication skills. Tweeting definitely encourages you to be concise and to the point.

People tweet about all sorts of subjects. Often they are just reporting their moods or their whereabouts to friends. Sometimes they tweet about bigger subjects to start a conversation with users they may not personally know.

I can see tweeting being a useful tool for libraries- for instance, I am on a committee that is investigating how to add instant messaging to our library system. Instead of email or IM sessions, tweeting back and forth could have its advantages during the day when working on assignments.

My Twitter account has been started- I'll try to tweet more soon.

Librarything!

LibraryThing is a very handy way to share your reading interests with others online. It makes cataloging your books a snap. Adding books is as easy as searching the Amazon engine through LibraryThing and clicking on the book you want to place in your collection.

You can take a peek at my LibraryThing catalog - as you can see, I have an interest in history and economics. I could put scores of titles there!

Image Generator Entertainment.




The ALA Mini READ Poster Generator allows you to create your own Read posters. Tons of possibilities with this one :-)

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Finding Feeds.

I prefer going to sites that I like and clicking on the RSS feed button to add them to my Bloglines account.

However, the Web is huge- and to find new feeds, I prefer browsing category searches available at sites like Technorati.

Technorati took me right to the categories I am interested in, and let me find things of interest that way. I prefer a direct and to-the-point search, as opposed to clicking here and there.

The real trick to RSS feeds:

Don't get too many.


An analogy- if you have thousands of bookmarks, how is that helping you?

I prefer to keep it concise and focused, myself. Your techniques may vary.

RSSing with Bloglines.

Don't want to surf all over the Web to find your favorite sites? Has an interesting blog been updated recently?

Subscribe!

I've got 18 feeds on my Bloglines account. With Bloglines, interesting surfing comes to me. In one place. Very handy, no list of bookmarks required!