LibraryThing is wonderful!

I discovered LibraryThing at the 2007 SDLA conference One of the presenters was raving about it, and (I have to admit, my ears pricked up at the mention of free books!) I went straight back to my room that night and checked it out.

It didn't take me long, to run through the 200 book entries that a guest membership gets you. I splurged on the lifetime membership - all of $25 (three new paperbacks, or 10 cups of coffee bar java, more or less: not such a huge sacrifice). And oh, the authors I have discovered!!!

I'm fascinated by Janny Wurts way of putting words together, and I never would have discovered P.C. Hodgell on my own, but a recommendation by a fellow LibraryThinger in Britain got me hooked. I could go on with newly discovered authors (and the increase in our ILL stats), but....

In the library, I've used LT as a reader's advisory tool on multiple occasions, as well as passing the site along to a local author whose book was featured on the Early Reviewers list - he was thrilled. I add, rate, and review everything I read, and I've taken to blogging some of the topical title reviews on my personal blog. I've contemplated a YA blog in support of our children's collection, but haven't followed up on that yet. And of course, there are all those potentially free advance reading copies I might be eligible for as a member of the Early Reivewers group.

At present our library doesn't subscribe to LT as an institution. Since we can't fold the reviews and recommendations into our current OPAC, and I'm not sure we really want to link out to Amazon or Alibris rather than the catalog, I'm not sure we will pursue an institutional membership in the near future. But is was certainly interesting to see the use other locations are making of it.

If YOU haven't yet tried LT on for size, I HIGHLY recommend it!

Final thoughts? Not a chance!

This week wraps up the South Dakota Library 2.0 Challenge.

And I'd just like to say, THANKS, guys, for the opportunity to try out all of the nifty tools we explored in the last few weeks. They may not be one-size fits all, but trying them on for size has sure been a blast!

One minor miff, though - it's not very friendly to restrict comments on the Challenge site to team members only! How are we to comment, when we get bounced off?

But kudos & quibbles aside, I'm resolving to keep this up.

"This" being the exploration of new tools, widgets, and whatever other ideas I run across that might be of use. I've found that writing it out - especially for 'publication' as it were, gives me a chance to consider more aspects of what I'm looking into. Whether it be a website, and widget, or a tool, that's not a bad thing.

As those who know me quickly learn, I always have an opinion - just ask me, I'll tell you! *grin* Oh, wait, was that a rhetorical question? Never mind.

************************

In the interest of wrapping up - you might remember back in the Google Docs lesson (The Doctor is In - Lesson 6) I created a poll requesting folks rate their favorite lessons to that point. And I promised to post the poll results the following week - but I never did. That's because sadly, my poll had no takers :( Too bad, since I was looking forward to seeing how the results would display. But there will be other surveys, I'm sure.

Personally, I think my favorite lesson thus far was Flickr (Lesson 4a & 4B) and learning that it was possible to blog photos. And the most useful lesson was last week, learning what and how a Wiki operates (Lesson 9).

But I'm looking forward to the bonus lesson next week on LibraryThing - one of my favorite online spots. RA, personal interest, the occasional FREE book, and of course, lots and lots of book reviews. It's almost as good as chocolate!

Wiki=quick!

Alert reader nolajazz pointed out that "wiki" is actually Hawaiian for "quick!"

A wiki wiki trip to Dictionary.com confirmed it:

Main Entry:	wiki
Part of Speech:	n
Definition:	a collaborative Web site set up to allow user editing and adding of content
Etymology:	1995; wiki wiki quick
Usage:	sometimes cap.*

*"wiki." Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7). Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. 10 Dec. 2008. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wiki>.

I missed it when I skimmed through Using Wikis to Create Online Communities yesterday, but it turns out, the tropical origin of wiki is covered there, as well. Sigh. Must learn not to speed read when tired. Oh well....

ON TO THE ASSIGNMENT!!!

Paging through the various library-oriented wikis was interesting.

I can certainly see the potential benefit to creating a conference wiki. Depending upon the structure of your conference, speakers could edit their presentation descriptions, upload handouts, etc. And (if allowed) conference-goers could provide commentary on sessions.

• Unfortunately, while the possibilities seem promising, the SDLA Conference wiki does not seem to have greatly benefited from a many-hands approach. The information on the wiki, and the structure itself, is fairly basic. Only a few page levels - no more than one might find a the usual conference site.
  

Speculating - I wonder if that's not because many of us SD librarians are a bit behind the curve when it comes to being brave and experimenting with things like wikis?

Perhaps the next conference wiki will show signs of more activity.

Wikis for libraries... better than a website, or just one more alternative? I don't know.

• The Bull Run Library wiki seems.... heavy on external links...? If this is the library's only web presence, that's okay, but if not... I found myself wondering, what's the point? If your wiki only announces events, or sends people away, then how is it really different from any other website? It doesn't really seem as if the folks at Bull Run are truly taking advantage of the tool's strengths.I think really in this case, the wiki just offers a different type of website, perhaps one more easily editable by multiple staff, and which doesn't require that the library have its own server.

In Which Wiki is Right for You? (SLJ, 5/1/07) Shonda Brisco states, "If you’ve never created a library Web page (and don’t intend to start learning HTML code anytime soon), but want your library to have a Web-presence, maybe it’s time to consider a library wiki."

That type of web-presence - for outward communication - seems to me like a stronger reason for a small library to start a wiki than enhancing staff communication - after all, if your staff numbers in the single digits and you can't manage to communicate in person, a wiki probably isn't going to help you much.

• On the other hand, many coming together to make a better whole - now that's a good reason for a wiki, especially if the community of contributors is active and interested. Pooling of information is what makes Library Success: a best practices wiki a worthwhile tag-it-in Delicious spot. I'm definitely finding some useful stuff in the IL-replated links, and there's a lot of detail I haven't had time to explore yet.

***************************

But ILL needs attention,
and this isn't supposed to be a book.
I'm going to sign off now and go ship some books.

Wiki-stuff

Lesson elements: Wikis in Plain English was easy to watch and understand.

The second lesson element, Using Wikis to Create Online Communities was not nearly so entertaining. Still stuffed with good information, though. (And not everything has to have clowns & hand-puppets, right?).

So now I have a better grasp of what a wiki is & does. Which is good, since it seems as if they're ever more prevalent in the library community. LexisNexis, for example, is wiki-fying their help pages.

To kick things off, they even offered prizes - Amazon gift certificates!! - to anyone who'd submit guides. And it's probably a mark of just how many of us are still uncomfortable with wikis that they had a hard time giving anything away!

And they're not alone. SDLN has started a wiki using PBwiki so that SD libraries can better share information and help one another. (And if you're an ILL librarian in SD, or know one, recommend they access & explore!) And of course, there's the (bane or blessing) massive Wikipedia that's threatening the existence of all of our lovely print encyclopedias and driving teachers everywhere to pull out their hair - LOL!

I've run out of day for my time today, so I'll have to get back to this later - I'm looking forward to exploring the recommended sites, and I'm already thinking of ways that a wiki could be useful. Of course, getting people to participate would be key....

(heads off muttering to self)

Wiki, wiki, wiki

Sounds like something you'd find on a tropical island, doesn't it? No, that's tiki, isn't it. Oh well....

Have to say, I've been looking forward to this lesson in particular. I'll be the first to confess, I'm not really sure exactly what a wiki is, exactly.

That said, I'm going to go view a couple of the videos in Lesson 9 and see if I can't figure out what it is I'm missing.

Lesson-free week & a pair of (almost) widgets

No assignment this week, but I thought I might mention a couple of interesting (almost) widgets that have come in handy here.

Widget #1: A nifty promo-item that all SD libraries should have access to - netLibrary's e-book of the month

Last month (November) it was a book on surviving the mortgage crisis. This month - timely as always - the featured title is Barack Obama : the new face of American politics. netLibrary's widget embedded in your website could look like this:

Clicking on it will take patrons directly to netLibrary, where they can access the featured e-book (note: they will need to log in if not in a library or IP-verified location). The banner's available in horizontal (above), vertical-large, and vertical-small formats.

Once the script is embedded in your webpage, it automatically updates to each month's new feature - no maintenance required. That's great, but - bonus - netLibrary also provides lots of nifty promotional materials for your patrons. You can learn more about monthly ebooks, download the linking script, and find out how to get those free promotional items for your library in netLibrary's Tools for libraries section.

Which they don't exactly make easy to find, let me tell you!!!

But here's a great opportunity to use that delicious account you created last week and save the link for future reference :)

Widget #2 : Ever wondered about (or wanted your patrons to know) exactly how much the services your library provides are worth in today's economy? To find out, check the Value of Library Service Calculator

Originally created by the Massachusetts Library Association, and made freely available for any library's use, this is a nifty, customizable calculator that allows your patrons to see just how much their library use is worth in monetary terms. A quick Google search or the MLA website will produce a downloadable Excel file that you can edit to add your own values, or simply plug in to your library's website. Maine's State Library is using it to promote the value of libraries in their state, as is the Denver Public Library, and many, many others in communities across the country.

A few rough guesses as to my use of library materials and interlibrary loan - no databases or other services included - in the last year fixed an approximate valuation of my personal library use.
Here's an eyeopener: if I lived in Maine, I'd have to spend nearly $6,000 out of pocket to recoup my usual library activities. (And that's just books & serial use, not including online stuff!). In Denver the average value is calculated by monthly use. They've also added in an ROI (return on investment) calculation per dollar spent. There, I'd be spending about $491/month on books & periodical items, and my ROI for taxes would be $1=$118.08.

So there you have it. Two interesting tools you too can make use of on your library's site with only a bit of effort on your part.

Tag it just a little bit!

I love Delicious. At conference a couple of years ago a presenter used it during one of the sessions, and I was really impressed with how simple & portable it makes using bookmarks.

User Testimonial: I used to have scads of bookmarks saved, but when I really needed them they were inevitably on another computer or saved in another browser, or I couldn't remember what heading I'd saved them under.... Now I use Delicious, and all my bookmark headaches just faded away.

Seriously, though, I use Delicious daily to keep track of newly discovered links and favorite pages that I use on a regular basis. I imported all of my years' long list of bookmarks from Firefox, and now I can access any of those from wherever, too. (I've actually added a bunch of the tools we've looked at in the course of this project so that I can find them again when I want them.)

Actually, one of the best ideas I've heard about for using Delicious in a library is creating a library Delicious account and adding a shortcut link to the toolbar of the browsers on the library's staff & public workstations. Then, as the reference desk or other staff find worthwhile links, they can add them, and the links can be accessed by any of the other library staff or patrons from any computer in the library. I haven't actually done this, but I do think it's a great idea.

I like the ability to sort tags, and also to view how many others have the same items bookmarked. I like being able to add my own comments/notes about sites. I also like the fact that it's now possible to edit tags - that way, if I forget and add an "s" on the end of something, capitalize differently, or if I have a site saved under an old browser bookmark, I can consolidate similar items easily under one tag.

Previous editions of Firefox actually ran Delicious as a plug-in. Unfortunately, with the last two version upgrades, the plug-in hasn't been available, but using the toolbar isn't difficult at all.

While I currently use Delicious mainly for keeping track of my own sites, I'm intrigued by all of the searching options provided. Flexible, easy to use, available anywhere - It's a great tool.

Facebook & MySpace: Socializing virtually...

I already have a Facebook account, which I check sporadically and use mainly to keep up with friends I no longer manage to snail mail regularly. I'm considering MySpace, if only to keep track of what my teenager's up to.

I think though, that here's where I draw my line in the sand, at least for now. Social networking with sites like LibraryThing, using Flickr & podcasting to create buzz; those are tools that I can use.

But Facebook & MySpace aren't anonymous and aren't intended to be, really.

They're also configured in a way that's less than professional - do I really want to allow my professional self to be "bought" & "sold" by other users?

Setting up more than one account per person is, I'm guessing, frowned upon. Or at very least, creates a slightly confusing navigational challenge for friends, patrons & co-workers....

So if you're going to maintain the accounts as YOU in your public persona as a librarian, that's fine - but better warn your family, because comments from your best friend or your mother might get a bit awkward....

• My Facebook account was created (not on work time 0r machine) for me to keep in touch with my friends and family.

• I don't plan to use it for work, as that sort of defeats the "social" purpose of the account.
  

Of course, Facebook seems a bit more relaxed about allowing "institutional" accounts than it used to be - and many libraries have a presence there all along.... But I think this is one of those semi-gray areas that I'm not going to pursue for my institution. My personal account is going to stay personal.

I can, however, see the potential benefits of using a network familiar to students/patrons to announce new resources, lectures, events, etc. There are certainly plenty of libraries out there - the ALA has a profile (I'm a friend!!) - that do exactly that. I'm just not sure I'm personally ready to take that plunge. Maybe when DWU gets around to setting up an account....

Out of curiosity, I decided to go looking for accounts documenting academic libraries experiences with Facebook or MySpace. It's a fairly mixed bag...

• Five Weeks to a Social Library (no longer updated, unfortunately) relates the trials & tribulations of social networking discusses a few pitfalls of a somewhat unsuccessful attempt to go where the students are.

• Meg Kribble at the All-Purpose BiblioBlawg discussed her take on social networking sites about a year ago. She goes farther to briefly describe a few other social sites such as Ning and Twitter, finding that all of them have their uses, but not all are equally useful.

There were others, and I'm sure by this point there's plenty of professional literature on the subject, too. For now though, I think I'll stick with Facebook being for me, not my library, and see what happens down the road.

Wonderful Widgets!

Most, if not all South Dakota libraries should have access to Gale's Virtual Reference Library.

Gale Virtual Reference Library
(licensed by SD State Library)

Did you know you can add a widget to your library's home page that will allow your patrons to type their terms right in and search? I didn't. The full story is available in Gale's November Re:Sources newsletter. If you don't currently subscribe, there's a link to click to do that little thing, as well.

Gale's widgets are easy to add & sort of cute.

Happy searching!

The Doctor is in!

Google Docs, that is.

Sick of the limitations to your productivity software? Tired of endlessly emailing documents to colleagues far and wide? Well, my dears, Google Docs may have a solution....

I haven't actually tried Google Docs before, so this was an interesting lesson. Primarily in-house we use Microsoft Office, and since we're large enough to have our own server environment, documents that need shared editing are constructed, edited & commented upon using Word in Office in a shared environment on the server.

I was feeling a bit rebellious today, so after reading through the lesson, rather than review the tour or view Google Docs in Plain English, I just hit the link provided to Google Docs and commenced learning by trial and error.

Why, you ask? Actually I had a practical reason for initally ignoring the tutorials - while many of our patrons use Microsoft Office, a number of them don't. I'm also on several library-related, non-DWU committees. Having an alternative option to emailing documents back and forth sounds to me like a very practical idea.

BUT, too many time software applications require odd things to be downloaded, or are overly confusing for novice users. So I used the same tack here that I often take with database trials: namely, I experiment with real tasks that I need to accomplish , and tackle them in the new database/product. That way, I have actual goals and when I finish, I have results I can compare against those produced using a product with which I'm already familiar.

I figured, if I can use it cold, without lots of instruction, it may be easy enough for a novice to catch on to - of course, for a real test I'd want to grab a patron, but....

In this case, I created a few signs for the instruction lab, a short presentation for faculty on how (and when) to reserve the lab, what type of equipment they'll have available, etc., and a quick & dirty spreadsheet for some withdrawal statistics.

The results? Google Docs provides an acceptable, if somewhat generic, alternative to a few of Microsoft's productivity apps.

Overall, the presentations software is a bit bland: it certainly doesn't seem to offer the same bells & whistles that are available in PowerPoint, for example. The same could be said of the spreadsheet & text document options.

But all three - document, spreadsheet & presentation - proved easy to open, manipulate, save, reopen, edit, etc. I even tested sharing & embedding with no difficulties.

The one option I didn't/couldn't immediately wrap my head around is forms. After a bit of experimentation, however, I managed to create one.

Want to help me test my success? Fill in your answers, and I'll follow up with the results at the start of next week :)

Well, that's all for now, folks. I'm off to play with a few other applications mentioned in this week's lesson links.

I-Pod people?

Creating my own podcast is one of those things that doesn't much appeal to me. But, I dutifully watched Podcasting in Plain English and was quite impressed with how clear and easy to accomplish it makes podcasting seem. (But the work that went in to making the lesson seem clear, succinct, & easy to accomplish? Betcha it wasn't quite as simple as those little paper cut-outs make it look!)

I can certainly see the merits of using podcasting for instruction - quick bits & bites about a database or upcoming event would be (seemingly) a great way to get things out to patrons and potential patrons in a highly visual, attractive, and relatively inexpensive manner. The vodcast link was fascinating - there's talent out the somewhere... right?

Scanning over the images of the "Popular Today" vodcasts on Monday before the Presidential election, the vods seemed about evenly split between scantily clad beauties & politician/pundits' headshots.

I'm more than sure that somewhere out there there's a grad student madly researching the vodcast phenomena - and speculating on the juxtaposition of all the casts featuring either religion or sex. It's somewhat mind-boggling.

But today, sexy wins out - only one talking head's image remains, with the rest of the vods showing scantily clad ladies (and one pink, grinning cartoon character).

I moved on to YouTube

A location I try not to spend too much time :) But it's surprising how frequently it does come in handy for answering odd questions. I've located commercials, tracked down speakers, and forwarded on this handy little video series on the Periodic Table.

It's also a good tool for how to (or how not to) do library-related tasks. Case in point, this video from UTlibraryinstruction demonstrates quite clearly how to turn almost anyone OFF getting research assistance in the library.

What I learned this week

I'm still not a podcasting fan, and I can happily avoid YouTube without the loss bothering me too much. I have lots of other time-wasting habits that are probably damaging enough to my to-be-accomplished list. BUT.... the medium is popular (obviously) and growing. And with the major networks adding all sorts of bells & whistles like holograms (watch it on YouTube) the future is making history as we speak.

Keeping up, learning to use today's - and tomorrow's - tools right now is the best way to keep our profession up to date & relevant.

Flickr Apps - Statr for Flickr

Now this looks promising!

Statr for Flickr is described as a tool for collecting Flickr use statistics. It graphs page visits using the Flickr API. Statr graphs are updated daily, and it seems to be fairly simple to set up.

Unlike Kaleidoscopr, which searched & grabbed mainly other peoples pictures, Statr works directly with YOUR Flickr account. In order to use it, it requires you to grant permission for read access.

Haven't activated any apps yet and aren't sure where the permissions are located? Go to your account and click the Extending Flickr tab.

Once you've granted permission, you can copy and paste the Statr widget into your profile information on Flickr. The "Describe yourself" section seems to be a good spot to stick it.

Here's what McGovernLibrary's Statr info looks like moments after creation:

**note: it does take one day to start the counter,
although you'll get a rough count of visits immediately.

What are Statr's advantages?

• Well, for one thing, it's free.

Flickr doesn't offer statistical information unless you pay for an account.

So if your library's on a budget like ours is, you just might find Statr helpful.

• Any other advantages you can think of? Well, library boards love numbers....
  

Happy Counting!!

Flickr Apps - Kaleidoscopr

Last week I talked about using Flickr's build-a-badge tool to display Flickr images on one our website. This week, it's more fun with Flickr!

After reading through this week's lesson and visiting some of the sites suggested, I went exploring. Flickr doesn't really point out too many APIs, although they do provide the base code should anyone want to make their own applications.

A Google search for "flickr mashups" produced a bunch of nifty hits, however. There's a great list of 275 different possibilities at Programmable Web.

Kaleidoscopr allows you to search flickr images by tag, Flickr ID, date, or keyword and create a kaleidoscopic image. I went with "pumpkins"....

Kaleidoscopr'd pumpkins!

I love the face that appeared in the middle of the photo!

Here's the original
Pumpkins by Hans Dekker

Now Kaleidoscopr has one slight draw back - it can be very difficult to locate the original image on Flickr. But here's a clue that can help - the Flickr photo titles will appear if you hover your mouse over the photo slide bar at the top of the screen. If the title is unique enough, you can search for it as a phrase in Flickr and locate it pretty easily.

Unfortunately, my photo of choice,
with its one word title,
was a bit more challenging....

If the title-search method doesn't work, try this: right click on the thumbnail image you've selected, copy the image location, and paste it into a new window - it should look something like this:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/31/47427090_e3728b2b64_s.jpg

The bit you'll need to locate your photo on Flickr is bold. That series of numbers is Pumpkins' unique photo ID. Copy the number for your photo, paste it into Google along with the word "flickr" and your photo should pop right up.

Quick news note (with a book/library tie-in)

The New York Times online is running a great story today: Acclaimed Colombian Institution Has 4,800 Books and 10 Legs by Simon Romero.

What the NYT says is , "a whimsical riff on the bookmobile" the "Biblioburro" is consists of one man and two donkeys.

This real life story reminded me of Margriet Ruurs' My Librarian is a Camel, a children's book (non-fiction) on the same topic... except with camels, of course. It also reminded me of Marsha Hamilton's novel The Camel Bookmobile(a book I keep meaning to read), which is fiction but based on true events.

From Flickr - Empty Library Shelves by Mike

Empty Library Shelves-Mike
Originally uploaded by malonefoto

Wow! I absolutely LOVE this image. And imagine my surprise to discover that this shot was taken in the stacks of our old library!

Layne Library, which we moved out of in 2006, had cantilever shelving built right into the structure of the building. When we moved out, we couldn't take it with us.

Now the shelving sits empty, and the open space is being used by the music department for band practice.

And by someone else for ART!!! Neat.

Fun with Flickr

This week I get to visit an old friend - Flickr!

My library started a Flickr account sometime last year. We use it for homepage decoration - seasonal shots add interest - and also to highlight what types of new stuff we've added to the collection.

If the home page is full, I just pull the widget off until there's space again.

This grinning guy is currently wishing site visitors a Happy Halloween.

Reading through this week's lesson, I realized I've never identified our photos using the tag "sdlibraries". That was my first task.

To add a tag to all images (or as many as I wanted) I used the Organize function in my account. It allows mass photo editing, mapping, adding to sets, groups, etc. Definitely nifty.

Then I set about exploring.

Things I discovered:

• The blog-it-from-Flickr feature: I absolutely LOVE this. Can't believe I never noticed that button there before.
• People like Carnegie Libraries - there are a ton of photos of them floating around. And I can see why. They just look library-esque.
• Searching tags with stucktogether words can be useful. Flickr has not always allowed tag phrases with spaces, so searching for "librarydisplays" brings up lots of results. And gave me lots of display ideas :)
• The tag "books" - people use it for some interesting items....
• I need to visit this bookstore!
  

Flickr Widgets - the lesson doesn't mention them (maybe it's in Lesson 4b?), but you can build a Flickr Badge for your library homepage (or wherever) really easily. Once the widget code is installed, it self-updates with your new Flickr content. So, if you don't have access to edit your pages yourself, just tell your web-designer where you'd like one stuck, and Flickr will take care of the code for them and updates for you.

Can't wait to see what's coming up next!

Blogging news

Dabble, dabble, dabble! (Which rhymes with babble!)

I've now dipped my toes into Bloglines - eehnh... not my favorite - Google Reader - better. And
added a bunch of RSS feeds to various things.

Personally? I use news feeds right now to follow my favorite magazines and pundit's latest items.

What I've discovered thus far:

• RSS feeds into my email just don't get read as much. I'm better off limiting those to journal subscriptions and search alerts. (Did you know you can set up RSS feed from any of the publications in EBSCO?)
• RSS feeds to my blog - those I like. (But I knew that already.)

For library use, adding & keeping many of these tools up-dated depends on having ready access to your library homepage. If you don't have ready access it's critical to carefully select your news sources for coverage relevant and appropriate for your online audience. Feeding ALOnline, for example, would be useful for a staff page, but I'm not sure all of our patrons would be thrilled.

A feed from the Chronicle of Higher Education, on the other hand... hmmm.....
Might just have to act on that thought!

If you have access rights and can edit your library's home page, changing out the RSS feeds that run in response to seasonal or current interest and events would be great. Right now, election news from NPR topics: politics or CNN's Political Ticker are timely. But why not follow Super Bowl coverage, MLB Playoffs, college basketball's Sweet Sixteen, Elite 8 & Final 4, especially if you know that sports materials are popular with your patrons. Even something as simple as finding a feed from your local news channel, or following regional weather is value added.

Or CREATE a blog that's relevant to your patrons' needs - what about homework help, or database searching tips & tricks geared specifically for parents and/or students who need to know what to search and how. In a school location? Work with teachers on resources appropriate to upcoming assignments. Add a feed option to your blog, and your patrons can subscribe. Add the feed directly to your library's site for easy discovery.

Less work? Select a few popular magazines or local newspapers, and if they offer feeds, profile them on your website with a "read more at your library" note.

As to locating sources? GoogleReader has an easy to use search interface, and also allows immediate "block" subscriptions to popular blogs & news sources grouped by topic. Bloglines offers similar options. Ot type your topic (e.g. music, sports, etc.) into any search engine along with the phrase "news feed" for pages of results.

Have a favorite print title, sportscaster, or news personality? Chances are there's an accompanying blog, and usually an RSS option.

Already breaking the rules!

So, this should technically be my second post - too bad it's my third. Oops.

Let's see, our assignment: write about what possible uses to which a blog might be put for our libraries. Lovely!

Well, I for one like the idea of book reviews. Also new database profiles, and instruction tips. I like the immediacy of getting information out.

We have a comment box in the library.
Patrons can comment, ask questions, give us h**l, etc.
But patrons aren't always IN the library.
They now live, work, and play, in a world that allows 24/7 connectivity.

So why shouldn't the library follow suit where possible!

Of course, I can see the potential for problems. As an academic institution with guidelines for everything, there will likely need to be guidelines for this, as well.

For me personally? I have my own blog, (which shall remain nameless) which has nothing to do with libraries. I have friends and acquaintances in corners of the country that I've never seen, but who share my interests and concerns.

But back to the library...

It's about providing relevant information in an informal way. A quick way. A way that allows readers to interact. We can create handouts and let people find their way to the library. Or we can present the information and attempt to create a dialog.

Of course, the pressure will be ON
Can we be interesting enough to retain readers?
Stay tuned to find out!

And now, having completed the assignment for today, I'm going to go see what sorts of interesting things I can do with my profile!

The BiG BloG challenge! - not so scary after all

Our first assignment - set up a blog.

Done!

I've done this before, so the blog part was fairly easy. It's some of the next steps that will be more difficult.

The second directive - watch the 7 and 1/2 lifelong learning habits - was interesting, but the fact that I was reading the text and clicking through to the next slide before the narrator had a chance to finish speaking? Probably indicative of where I'm apt to have the most probl... Er- sorry, challenges(!) acquiring the 7 1/2 habits. Can you say "patience"?

Easiest? Goals, I think. I'm already looking forward to learning about (or learning more about) the tools in the upcoming lessons. And playing :)

The opportunity to just fool around with this stuff is priceless!

Actually, the hardest for me will probably be seeing problems as challenges to be overcome. And not being negative about them. The whole positive outlook thing.

Second most difficult? That toolbox of learning resources we're supposed to build, consisting of contact information & resources we can use to learn more about what we're doing.

And how, you might wonder, is that an issue? Not the collecting of information, certainly - I'm a librarian, after all, and finding answers is my stock in trade!

But asking questions on my own behalf? Not so fun. Yes, I know that theoretically, there's no such thing as a stupid question. But who wants to be the example that proves the rule!

Before I worry too much about that, however, I might as well go see just what I'm to have the opportunity to learn!

Feel free to follow along :)

SD Libraries 2.0 Challenge - how exciting!

Not having attended conference this year, and a tad behind on getting to the messages that aren't work-critical this week, I just discovered the Challenge. But I don't think I'm too far behind just yet.

First lesson, coming up!