Well, I am very intrigued with this weeks "thing." I knew about wikipedia and have used it now and then. I knew how it worked basically, but not much more. But I had no idea that wikis had so many applications. I can see many uses for this. Whether it be lists of books library patrons recommend, or lists of books recommended for a book discussion group, all are a way to have people share in an interactive and ever-evolving site on a given topic. I really enjoyed the Book Lovers Wiki and Nancy Pearl's Book Lust wiki. I can see myself tapping into those for ideas on books to order for our library.
I can see the downfalls of wikis when it comes to things such as wikipedia where topics are supposed to be factual. There is a potential for real misinformation. But for sites where the info is mostly opinion---such as good book ideas etc, I think it has great potential.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Thing 16- Web 2.0 and Library 2.0
This is a very interesting topic. It is one that is somewhat overwhelming and a bit scary for a small rural library. I read the first 7 articles from "Web 2.0- Where Will it Take Libraries" on down. All were clearly advocating us to get with the program so to speak when it comes to Web 2.0 or Library 2.0 trends. While I can see the need for it and can see that it has huge potential to offer amazing access to info for patrons, I see many problems and obstacles: lack of time, lack of funding, lack of technical skill on the part of the part-time librarians, lack of technical skill on the part of patrons etc.
Just on the topic of lack off skill with patrons: Already many of our patrons are having a hard time keeping up with the pace of change. Older patrons especially (and by this I mean anyone over about 40) seem to be overwhelmed with all the navigating on the web. I spend a lot of time helping people figure out even simple things like how to set up an account with Google, or how to navigate a website. I am seeing symptoms of what I would call future shock in my patrons already.
So how to find time and resources for all this? When I read "Advocacy: A Ripple Effect" I was both inspired and discouraged. I had to chuckle at at the thought that this school was rural and small. It seems quite large by the standards of our small rural town.
In sum, this gives me so much to think about and and certainly shows that we are in for some exciting and challenging times.
Just on the topic of lack off skill with patrons: Already many of our patrons are having a hard time keeping up with the pace of change. Older patrons especially (and by this I mean anyone over about 40) seem to be overwhelmed with all the navigating on the web. I spend a lot of time helping people figure out even simple things like how to set up an account with Google, or how to navigate a website. I am seeing symptoms of what I would call future shock in my patrons already.
So how to find time and resources for all this? When I read "Advocacy: A Ripple Effect" I was both inspired and discouraged. I had to chuckle at at the thought that this school was rural and small. It seems quite large by the standards of our small rural town.
In sum, this gives me so much to think about and and certainly shows that we are in for some exciting and challenging times.
Thing 15- Technorati
This was kind of interesting. I have to say that the capabilities to pull in news items was more interesting to me than the possibility of pulling in blogs on a topic. Perhaps that is because I don't like having to weed through someone's personal blog to see if there is any valid info in it. Though if it were a blog on sharing insights or interests on a topic, that would be a different thing.
I played with the search and advanced search options and found them useful. Anything that allows me to narrow down a search, and therefore narrow down the time it takes to find what I want, is good thing. This seems to be a recurrent theme on my blog and on my mind. There just is not enough time to take advantage of all these things. And when I do find them useful, I find they take a long time to use. Perhaps that is because our library is run on only 24 hours of paid time a week.----Simply not enough time to keep the library running and to take advantage of all these opportunities on the web.
However, I have already told one patron about Technorati because I could see it would be useful to them. So even if I, as a librarian, don't have the time to use all this, just knowing about it and being able to suggest it to patrons is a good thing.
I played with the search and advanced search options and found them useful. Anything that allows me to narrow down a search, and therefore narrow down the time it takes to find what I want, is good thing. This seems to be a recurrent theme on my blog and on my mind. There just is not enough time to take advantage of all these things. And when I do find them useful, I find they take a long time to use. Perhaps that is because our library is run on only 24 hours of paid time a week.----Simply not enough time to keep the library running and to take advantage of all these opportunities on the web.
However, I have already told one patron about Technorati because I could see it would be useful to them. So even if I, as a librarian, don't have the time to use all this, just knowing about it and being able to suggest it to patrons is a good thing.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Week 8- Thing 14- Delicious
I can see that this is another useful one. I searched for "children's literature" both through delicious and through Google. There was a lot of crossover, but they were not entirely the same. I played around with looking at tags and found some neat sites. I espcially like the fact that I can access this from any computer. I am on a variety of computers both at home and at work and am always thinking, "Oh darn, that is on my other computer. What IS that website?" So this will help with that problem.
I also think this is something that I can share with the many patrons who come in and use our computers because they do not have thier own computer or because their internet connections is too slow.
I also think this is something that I can share with the many patrons who come in and use our computers because they do not have thier own computer or because their internet connections is too slow.
Week 7- Thing 13- Library Thing
Here is the link for my Library Thing site. http://www.librarything.com/home/PLloggerC
I enjoyed this site and can think of many, many people whom I know, both librarians and non-librarians, who would enjoy this site. A great way to share books as well as to check out what others are reading.
I enjoyed this site and can think of many, many people whom I know, both librarians and non-librarians, who would enjoy this site. A great way to share books as well as to check out what others are reading.
Week 7- Thing 12
OK- I am still totally confused as to what generators are and what they are used for. I am stuck on this one and realized that I have stopped progressing in the course because of it. So I am going to jump over it and try to move on. Maybe I can come back to it when I see examples of what other people have done.
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