LibWorm

LibWorm seems to be a good place for librarians to search for profession-related information. Doing basic searches under “cataloging,” “technical services,” and “acquistions” will not only bring up articles on these subjects, but job postings for positions in these areas, as well. I was surprised to also see some hits in French, too—but it’s a big library world out there, after all. Many users may prefer using the subjects feature instead of the tags “cloud” that is shown, but that is to be expected somewhat, and it’s impressive to see so many tags that have been entered.

Entering the name of my library in the “exact phrase” search yielded 3 results; the first being a statement of praise from a keynote speaker at a recent event, the second seemingly unrelated and pertaining to a different library altogether, and the third reporting on a new young adults program we began a while back. That’s not bad, though, I suppose.

Duggout

My wife looks at Digg from time to time, but I never really have much until this "thing." Nevertheless, I understand its social usefulness, and can see how that libraries could make use of this news site. The more librarians post items related to their own libraries or to libraries in general, and the more they "digg" such posts, the more popular and relevant libraries might seem to the Digg community. For Digg is not only appealing to those lovers of "miscellaneous" news items (which items abound on the site), but there are many informative posts regarding technology and so forth. Libraries could definitely have an advertising arena on Digg to show the tech-savvy users of today that their institutions are keeping up with the times, and engaging in many or all the Web 2.0 "things" we are discussing in this program. Specifically, if one couples Digg with Facebook, a library's "face time" on the internet could be greatly increased, and hopefully made more valuable to its community of patrons. Imagine going to the library to use the internet and seeing that same library actively using Digg and Facebook...It might make an impressive impact.

Tagalicious

I am a cataloger, and I of course recognize the importance of controlled vocabulary, headings, and what not being used in a library's catalog and in between all libraries in general. However, I also understand the usefulness of more "natural language" tagging that is much used by the masses online at present. Many users appreciate this ability to tag whatever they want in a way helpful to them (often to others) that exists in manifold applications and settings. So it's not going away, and that's fine.

In a library, I think the power of patron tagging could be harnessed and enhance the access an institution provides to its information entities (a little MLS program lingo there for ya!). Given, the library's "regular" catalog would be maintained the same in this situation, but if patrons had the ability to have their own catalog as well (a "wiki" catalog, so to speak), they might find that helpful at times, as well. If patrons could group books and media together using whatever "informal" headings they choose, they may succeed in providing access in a way that the traditional "library way" is unable to.

Being able to have a "worst films ever" tag or "if you like this book/film you might also like these other titles" tag, under which headings patrons could add works of their choice, might prove to be very popular among a library's patronage. Of course, librarians could also formulate such lists themselves for local display, but allowing patrons to do so might give them more a feeling of inclusion and keep them more actively involved with their library than they otherwise might have been. But then again, with the limited resources/personnel of most library systems today, this may just belong to a potential public tag of "pipe dream ideas."

Instant Messaging

I've used instant messaging before (been a few years), and while I can definitely understand its usefulness at home when communicating with friends and whoever else, I'm not sure how "useful" it could be in a library setting. Perhaps librarians could schedule virtual book discussions, during which all participate via instant messaging. I wonder if this type of thing has been done already, or how it would go if tried...In any case, I've used Yahoo! instant messaging before, but this time, since I use gmail now, I downloaded the google talk application (jdk0030), but they all are pretty much the same, I'm sure. It does seem, however, with Facebook, Twitter, and other social phenomena (such as cell phone texting) which have arisen since instant messaging became so popular years ago, that fewer and fewer people would be as actively engaged in instant messaging as in these newer web 2.0 marvels...I haven't seen any numbers to support that theory, but who knows?

Tweeting

Twitter reminds me a lot about the "What's on your mind" feature in Facebook where people post random thoughts or short reports on their current activities--not an original observation, to be sure, but true nonetheless. For those who are keen on the musings of their favorite people, or those who are quite socially inclined (such as many a librarian, no doubt), this can be rather entertaining, and perhaps even useful and informative. Patrons might be willing to follow their local library's tweets or the tweets of a book club, etc. Again, this is clearly another web 2.0 tool librarians and libraries will be taking advantage of more and more...

Ninging

I'm sure Ning has its admirers, but I found it only a "so-so" social networking platform; I, like many others, no doubt, prefer the likes of Facebook and Linkedin to Ning. However, one can find a goodly amount of interesting networks to peruse and join, and it is quite simple to create your own network from scratch...Doing the basic "library" search will yield a group called "Library 2.0," interestingly enough. A few examples of networks of the odder sort include "Dr. Pepperless," which is included in a listing of wellness networks and which seeks to study the effect going without drinking Dr. Pepper has on Dr. Pepper lovers; and "Nerdfighters," which comes up when one searches "trombone."

Defacing Facebook

It's actually quite simple to find people you know on Facebook...Most of the time, Facebook will find them for you and suggest that you make them your "friend." I actually hadn't posted anything on my before this Thing, nor had I become a fan or anything or joined anything, etc. There are plenty of school organizations to join, though, some of which offer those alumni looking for a job a little extra support, something nice in these dire economic times.

Facing Facebook

I was inspired to create a Facebook account some months back after attending an Amigos Conference and sitting through a session on emerging technologies and libraries. It's amazing how quickly you can get in touch with old friends and classmates in no time at all. However, I don't think there's necessarily a privacy issue, since you can restrict access to your account quite a bit and can really limit what you wish to show " in public."

RSSing

Common Craft did another good job with their explanation, especially in comparing the "old" and "new" ways of getting blog posts and news with Netflix and video stores. The suggested blogs to subscribe to were helpful, as well.

It seems that patrons might be interested in using these tools to keep up with their local librarians' blogs, in particular if those blogs offer critiques of popular (and not so popular) books, films, etc. Another chance for libraries to remain on the cutting edge...

Blog reading

This seems to be quite a useful tool, indeed. After one has subscribed to all blogs one is interested in, one merely "goes down the line" to get new posts instead of having to pull up each blog separately and on a regular basis. The Internet is getting easier all the time! In a general sense, this is similar to the Firefox feature called "Morning Coffee" that my wife uses, which automatically loads all her favorite sites she visits regularly immediately each time she accesses the Internet.

LOLWKS

Lolcats is quite popular, of course, and it only makes sense that it would be available on a site such as Big Huge Labs. I found out about Lolcats first through my wife, who peruses the site often, but who appreciates the "FAIL" postings even more. Again, another easy-to-use tool that is perfect for making a humorous and succinct point displayed along with an image. And you can manipulate it to be in the Lolcats, FAIL, or whatever other "vein" you choose...

Flickrier

Flickr does have some quite amusing and impressive tools available to users who desire to alter or enhance their images. One finds many possibilities under "Big Huge Labs," where I found the "Captioner" and "FX" features particularly interesting. The second image below is a charcoal drawing of the third, and actually appears to be in the style of drawings found on the walls of ancient ruins. Tools such as these would be very valuable to any patron of the library needing to manipulate images for school or work, and it would be great for librarians to suggest such ideas to users of library computers...If nothing else, bored youth could spend lots of time engaged in this type of activity!

Flickry

Flickr has been quite the popular site for posting one's photos for a long while, but I've never used it until now. I do wish I had posted my wedding photos on Flickr, however, instead of that Kodak site I used. I'll get around to it someday, I suppose, since Flickr is used by most everyone that's web savvy. And no doubt, what with being incredibly easy to use and having such a catchy name and all. I did add a few more recent photos, deciding that I'm not a "morning flickrer," either...

Thing 2(.0)

Obviously, it is clear that as "information specialists," we all should be familiar to an extent with current technologies and trends in that realm. After all, there many of the people we serve will themselves be "fluent" in these areas, or will wish to know more about them and be seeking answers from us. This means that we should be taking the time to really experience and play with cutting edge technology, as Mr. Abram talked about.

Web 2.0 is certainly something librarians today should be immersing themselves in, if they are not already. No doubt most are familiar enough with the Internet, but going a step further and being versed in things like the "23" which we are studying can only increase the public's confidence in us as a great resource for learning about new technology. The other video did well in showing how different the world is from just a decade ago, and how "more connected" the peoples of the world are now. Librarians will have to be at least with the masses, if not one step ahead, to serve them well in this regard.

To my fellow participants of the 23 Things

I greet you and convey my hopes of having a fine time as I play with all kinds of new Web 2.0 tools.