#15 On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0

I chose to look at “Into a new world of librarianship”, “To more powerful ways to cooperate” and “To better bibliographic services” to get different perspectives on Library 2.0. Michael Stephens in his “Into a new world of librarianship” talks about how librarians need to use Librarian 2.0 to plan for their users by finding new technologies or new materials their users need. They need to embrace Web 2.0 tools to reach their users wherever they are and they need to understand that the future of libraries will be guided by how users access, consume and create content. I think he sums it up best when he says, “Librarian 2.0 also listens to staff and users when planning, tells the stories of successes and failures, learns from both, celebrates those successes, allows staff time to play and learn, and never stops dreaming about the best library services.”

In “To more powerful ways to cooperate” Chip Nilges, Vice President of OCLC, states that Web 2.0 really confirms OCLC’s mission and vision of cataloging cooperative, resource sharing network, and virtual reference cooperative. By providing services such as tagging, list creation and sharing, citation management and personal cataloging libraries can collaborate in new and powerful ways.

John J. Riemer (UCLA Library Cataloging & Metadata Center) in his article, “To better bibliographic services,” discusses a number of ways library services can and should change. By using various web tools, libraries can broaden relevance ranking, adopt Web features by using Amazon and Google features, expand delivery by incorporating User-initiated services like renewal, recalls, and interlibrary loan requests, and streamline metadata creation by collaborating on cataloging. These tools give libraries a competitive advantage and will support the bibliographic services of the future.

It’s an exciting time for libraries, but I think we need to be cautious in using these new tools by doing our homework. We need to take into consideration the stability, dependability and reputation of these new resources as with any website.

#14 Explore Technorati

Okay, I have to say there’s a lot of information on Technorati. I’m not sure I totally understand it all, but I gave it a whirl. I tried searching for Learning 2.0 by keyword in all blogs and had 6,742 results—a bit daunting! When I search for it by tags, I got 664 posts. In searching in the blog directory, I got 772 blogs that talked about Learning 2.0. Whew! There are some interesting blogs out there. I did watch the video from Charlotte Mecklenberg County announcing their grand prize winner. I don’t know that I want to look through all that much all the time, but at least I know it’s available and can do some minimal searching. I wonder about searching for book reviews—depending on the source, it could be quite helpful. There is so much out there to learn—I guess we can’t expect to grasp it all on the first go ‘round.

#13 Tagging and discover a Del.icio.us

The concept of tagging is easy for me to understand because it shares many similarities with cataloging in the library world. The idea of creating “tags” or “subject headings” where anyone can find information has been around for a long time. When carrying this “cataloging” tool over into the computer world, the idea of compiling multiple websites in one place where you or anyone else can search them is like putting as many subject headings in a card catalog or file without taking up a lot of space. The Del.icio.us site is easy to use and I really liked the video clip and tutorial.

#12 Roll Your Own Search Engine

Very interesting concept. I want to spend a little more time looking for out of print/hard-to-find books, but of course, I couldn't come up with a single title while I was doing this. I think I will start a list when I'm looking for specific titles and try again. I had fun creating my own searchroll for knitting patterns. But so far, I have only gotten one site put in because I got so engrossed in looking at the first site I found, I had to stop so I could finish my assignment. I plan to go back and add more. For all those knitters out there, I found a neat website--check it out at www.knittingpatterncentral.com.

I tried to add the searchroll to my blog, but I must have done something wrong. Guess I got in too much of a hurry. I think I'll go back later and try again. It sounds like a cool idea. What a wealth of information all in one place!

#11 A Thing About LibraryThing

Wow! I can't believe I actually did this one and it worked. I really like this site. There is so much to do. I am part of a book discussion group at our church and this is a great way to post our new list. This was an easy site to use--especially after going through the short (and easy) tutorial. This could be used with all our many book discussion groups through the library since you can rate books and write reviews. I think this would be a great thing to try on our website--kind of a "staff pick" or "patron pick". I want to do some more exploring--let's see, who said it would only take an average of 30 minutes for these sessions?!?! I hope that I will have the discipline and opportunities to go back an implement some of the many ideas that I've had as I have learned some of these new technological "toys".

#10 Image Generators

It just doesn't seem right to have so much fun while you're working! I reallly enjoyed "playing" with all the different possibilities that I found. I found some great sites where I can create the library calendar that I want to use for the annual report. There are so many things I want to tray---and so little time! I really had fun creating a M&M librarian at http://www.becomeanmm.com/.

After a good 30 minutes, I still hadn't gotten half way through the comic sign makers! I did create a couple. Don't you just love all this creative technology! I have to start working on them a little earlier in the evening. Check this out at www.ComicStripGenerator.com.

#9 Finding Feeds

Well, my first try was not successful since Feedster is temporarily down. Topix.net was interesting since you can narrow your searching to local news quite easily. I was able to look up several recent local events that I wanted more information on. Although, since I get the Murfreesboro Post online each day by email, I’m not sure how often I would use it. I didn’t have as much luck in locating book reviews, but maybe I was just too tired to look in the right place! Syndic8.com was not my favorite—it seemed to be more confusing than the others, but I plan to go back and give it another shot. I found a little more on Technorati. I was able to find some great knitting patterns that I want to try out. I tried to use the Technorati tutorial but it kept going to a blog that was all in German (I think it was German—it certainly wasn’t English!).

I think I really need to go back over most of this whole concept because I feel like I’m missing a piece to the puzzle. I understand the idea of having updated information all in one place—I understood Bloglines (I think) and have several different things constantly coming through, but these other sites were not as easy to maneuver. I have seen the RSS feed logo on several sites that I visit regularly, so I think I just have to keep playing around with this particular area of the “24 things”.

I have to say this has been a really interesting project to work through. I have definitely expanded my horizons in the technology field. I think it will be something that I have to constantly continue to explore and will probably never fully grasp.

#8 RSS Feeds

Thank goodness for tutorials! I really liked the one from Nashville Public and would like to find out how they use RSS feeds for overdues, holds and new books. I would love to be able to have patrons contact to Linebaugh for new items.
The other tutorial had more detail and I really liked the way they went step by step plus gave you some additional options. I will probably go back through it another time.

I was able to create account easily with Bloglines and I subscribed to several interesting feeds on new books, movies ... even knitting! I even get daily quotes!

"The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed." C. S. Lewis