#15: Library 2.0

For this exercise, I chose to comment on Michael Stephens' "Into a New World of Librarianship." The two traits of Library 2.0 identified by Stephens that ring the truest to me are:

Librarian 2.0 controls technolust


Librarian 2.0 makes good, yet fast decisions

Technorati #14

We discovered Technorati in Exercise #9 and tagging in #13 so this exercise seems a bit redundant.

del.icio.us #13

Although I don't use it myself, I can see how del.icio.us might be a good thing for an individual who wants portable bookmarks. It's more difficult for me to see why a library would want to use the bookmarking tool. That's not to say that I haven't seen libraries apply this resource with success. Pasco County has an excellent del.icio.us site for e-government. But I still prefer the format of pathfinders and "Recommended Websites" on our library's website. The only benefit I can see for using del.icio.us a la Pasco County is that it can be quickly and easily updated by the content owner.

JaxCat Search Gadget

I added a JaxCat search gadget to my blog. It was super easy and only took a minute, thanks to the clear how-to instructions.

Library Thing

I created a Library Thing account in December 2006 because I read so many great books during 2006 and I wanted to keep track of the books I read in the upcoming year(s). I don't use the account too much these days, just to add books I've read when I remember. In the past, I've looked at Library Thing's recommmendations and browsed other people's libraries who are reading books similar to mine. Anyhow, here's a link to my woefully neglected personal Library Thing page: http://www.librarything.com/home/lauraminor

One practical application I've seen recently is library consultant Pat Wagner's Library Thing page. She uses Library Thing to network and to share bibliographies. You can view her page at http://www.librarything.com/profile/PatternResearch.

Image Generators

I really like the Sketch Generator. It might come in handy if you make a collage for a flyer and you're not allowed to distribute said flyer because of copyright issues. Instead of going through the trouble of making an alligator with a handlebar mustache to legitimize the flyer, you could just run the collage through the Sketch Generator to get an original work that doesn't violate any copyright laws. It could happen!

The Feed Hunt

I found Blogline's search tool easiest to use. Technorati is alright, too. I liked the "Local News" feature on Topix but I'm definitely going to avoid this site in the future because I can't resist the temptation to click on the "Comments" section. And that's always a huge mistake. It's like reading the "Rants & Raves" in the Times-Union. Infuriating at best, just plain depressing at worst. Syndic8 might be good but I didn't have the patience to try to figure it out because I didn't find the site aesthetically pleasing and I'm shallow that way.

The library-related feed I subscribed to was Library Link of the Day. It appealed to me because there is only one link per day. I can keep up with something like this. More importantly, these are not (for the most part) links to librarian blogs and news sources. They are links to items about the real world that have library applications.