Thursday, November 29, 2007

Thing 17

Here a tag, there a tag, everywhere a tag, tag. Old McDonald had a tag...

Seriously, I'm not sure if I agree, disagree, or feel a bit of both about this folksonomy article from the NY Times, but tagging would make searching library catalogues much easier, especially for patrons, so that's a major reason to support it even though it's a bit controversial at the moment. Oh, and I'm sorry for disturbing your slumber, Mr Dewey.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Thing 21

Having never used an online word processing site before, I decided to try Thinkfree. I thought it was cumbersome at first, but then again, I was trying to figure it out (editing, saving, sharing, etc.) during some "down time" -- hah! -- in between helping patrons on a Saturday at Highland. Not surprisingly, it took me quite a while, on and off, to compose my Alchemist review, which I then submitted to Booked in St. Paul. At least all's well that ends well, eh?

Friday, November 23, 2007

Thing 22

I've used Pandora for a while, but I might switch to something new now: Whilst browsing the list of Web 2.0 award winners, I came across Last.fm, a website where users "scrobble" tracks which collectively help to build a vast social music platform. Cool. I also created a playlist and added the widget to this blog. Check it out...

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Kiernan & Lovecraft


One of my favourite writers, Caitlin R. Kiernan, discussing connections she sees between H.P. Lovecraft and King Kong. Can't wait to see the whole documentary!

Monday, November 12, 2007

Thing 19

Assorted library wiki sites:

Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki
Wikis and Libraries: Resources, Articles and Links
Using Wikis To Create Online Communities

Info galore.

Thing 18

After reading a few perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0, and the future of libraries, I think Paul Miller, writing in Ariadne Issue 45, has a great take on this. He states:

"Libraries were once the guardians of knowledge, and the point at which those seeking knowledge would engage with it. With the rise of Google, Amazon, Wikipedia and more, there is an oft-stated fear that many users, much of the time, will bypass processes and institutions that they perceive to be slow, unresponsive, unappealing and irrelevant in favour of a more direct approach to services offered by others that just might be 'good enough' for what they need to do."

This being the case, libraries need to challenge these perceptions and reach out to these users in ways that will engage them. According to Miller, libraries should "push their genuinely valuable content, services and expertise out to places where people might stand to benefit from them; places where a user would rarely consider drawing upon a library for support."

I couldn't agree more: As library workers -- the Bastions of Knowledge -- we have to take the leap of learning and incorporating Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 into our repertoire or suffer the consequences. In short, evolve or die.