Week 8, Thing #19 Library Thing

Library Thing (http://www.librarything.com/) is a fantastic tool for book lovers and for libraries. I especially loved the virtual library where you can list your books and even their covers. This is a great tool for small school libraries. Using Library Thing, the students can access their school library's holdings while at home. I also like where I can bring up my own catalog on my cell phone. This could really be a big help at a book store. I was surprised at how social this website is. I am a person who likes lists so that was the first application I thought of but apparently everyone else was quick to pick up on all the social advantages, such as book clubs, groups, and community events. This site is so easy to use.

Week 8, Thing #18 Online Productivity Tools

I chose to use Zoho Writer. I had never heard of it before and I'm really impressed. It was easy to use. What immediately came to mind was the potential to make group projects much easier. The worst thing about group projects is getting everyone in one place to put all the pieces of the project together. Using Zoho Writer, everyone can be in different locations and still actively work as one. I can really see this as a tool in high school or college.

Week 7, #16 Wikis

I find wikis a great idea. There are so many people out in cyberland who can contribute. It is a shame not to listen to what they have to say. Wikis are the perfect way to learn from other people's experiences. I really found the convention information wiki interesting. It allowed users to add maps of the area, restaurant recommendations, etc. Basically everything was included that a visitor would need to know by those who had been there before.

I was very impressed by the use of wiki pathfinders on library sites. Having constructed pathfinders before, I am well aware of the amount of effort and time that goes into making one. Allowing patrons to add to and construct pathfinders not only frees up the librarian for other duties, but will probably result in a more thorough pathfinder. The same can be said for community resource wikis. All in all, wikis are a great idea in the library.

Week 6, #15 Web 2.0/Future of Libraries

After reading Rick Anderson's "Away from the Icebergs", I was a little concerned about his nonchalance regarding user education. Coming from a college library, I see so many of our patrons who are struggling to conduct the library research they need to do well in their classes. There is not a day that goes by when I am not helping a panicky student, especially with electronic databases. There is simply no way most colleges can provide all the journals their students will need and the electronic databases are the best way to meet this void. But these databases are not always user friendly. Using these databases can cause anxiety to beginning students. I disagree with Anderson that we need to quit spending so much time educating our patrons. In order for high school or college students to be efficient researchers, they need to know how to find the information they need and the web alone simply will not fit all their needs.

Library 2.0 means to me that we must always stay on top of new technology and web applications. It seems like we are fighting an uphill battle, especially with our younger patrons. There will always be a young person out there who knows a million times more about computers and the web than we do and there is simply not enough time or money to match that knowledge. But as long as we are doing our best and constantly striving to keep up, we are doing a good job. Gone are the days when the web was a solitary experience and we need to embrace this change or we are going to fall behind. If we are convinced that a library is only a depository of books than we are going to become antiquated.

Photos

These are pictures from where I live.

Week 6, Thing #14 Technorati

I am really learning a lot about blogging. I used to think a blog was just like an online diary. But they have evolved to be so much more. Sometimes it is hard to tell them apart from an ordinary web page. When I first looked at Technorati I didn't have high hopes because their layout is unappealing. But when I started to really explore the site, I found that I could find blogs on practically anything and everything. The way you search seems to make a big difference. Searching for keywords in blogs brings up many more hits than searching by tags. I think the users of Flickr seem to be tagging more than other sites, like Del.icio.us and Technorati. Tagging is a great idea because Library of Congress subject headings are often confusing and limiting for most library patrons. However, the tags are only as good as the contributors and if no thought is put into a tag, then it will be useless. So I guess I feel that there are definite pros and cons regarding tagging.

Question About Commenting

How do we post comments on other people's blogs? I keep trying but I must be doing it wrong.