Sunday, March 30, 2008

Wiki's

I think there are many uses for Wiki's in the library. They are great for creating pathfinders of local interest, agencies and groups. Princeton Public Library's book review wiki is a home grown reader's advisory tool. Within the library wikis could be a used to bring teen advisory boards and book discussion groups from different branches together. One more way to keep people in touch and involved.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

2.0

I enjoyed reading all the perspective on the library and web 2.0. They same message came through each of them - we need evolve our service and harness 2.0. If we don't, we will become irrelevant as our communities continue to embrace new technologies that make everyone players in the information game. Chip Nilges To more powerful ways to cooperate was particularly compelling. OCLC allowing "user added value" from outside of Libraryland would have been unimaginable a few years ago. They see a future and it includes everyone. The democratization of information has happened and they know it. Their adding of new content like e-journals and seeking outside partnerships for collaboration is a lead all libraries should follow.

Technorati

There are so many blogs, so many topics.....I searched for dairy farms and was shocked to find there were results! The rising post and stories from the front pages can often deliver important news before the mainstream media. This is what makes the democratization of information exciting. "Authority" is cool because it ranks how many folks link to a blog. The more people read what you're saying the higher your Technorati rank.
This is a valuable site to find blogs about whatever interests you.

del.icio.us rocks

I love del.icio.us! It is great to have your favorite sites with you wherever you go. Tagging pages helps put order to what was once just a long list of links. Being able create tag descriptions further enables you to streamline your organization. I can't wait to start making a wishlist....
Oops....I for got the address to my LibraryThing catalog:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php

Cruising through MySpace

I have avoided social networking for a long time mostly because of time. There is so much time interfacing with a computer all day it's the last thing I want to do at home. From a time perspective I would rather spend my free time with tangible friends. Looking around MySpace, I discovered some cool sites for library employees to stay connected within their own systems, Salt Lake City and Palm Springs come to mind. Much like a blog it would be a great way to stay connected and disseminate information throughout the system. Finding time to devote this type of undertaking would be the hardest part.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Library Thing

This looks like a fun tool to catalog your personal library. I found it fascinating to see the number of folks who shared the same titles. It will become more valuable as you add titles and encounter others with the same likes in literature. I like the ability to edit book information, add tags and be part of forums. This could be used in the library as a 2.0 Reader's Advisory tool.