Thing 14: Liberry Thang

It appears that WordPress doesn’t allow JavaScript in their sidebar displays, so for now, I’m going to have to provide a link to my LibraryThing profile here. How old-fashioned! Sheesh!

The free account only allows you to enter 200 books. When I created an account on LibraryThing two years ago I spent a lot of time entering books from my book journal, and reached my limit waaaay to quickly. It wasn’t the right tool for me to remember what I had read over the last few years. I deleted that account a long time ago, but was happy to create a new account to reintroduce myself to LibraryThing.

And there are features that I really enjoy! They have made it significantly easier to add books, tags and reviews. They have collaborated with about 6 neighborhood bookshops to share reviews, Powell’s being one of them. It is very easy to add books to your library because they use Amazon’s huge database, and the records include cataloging data that I recognize from the library world. (I think it is hilarious that you can search by LC Card Number, though!). And, with any online book sharing tool, the covers are right there, which is incredibly important. OPACs need to be making covers available, and they are.

How would I use this at work? I could add my profile to my business card, maybe. HCL has many tools, including BookSpace, that I use to share book recommendations with patrons. There are a few patrons that I have who want to know my specific book recommendations, and I would feel comfortable sharing my profile with them in addition to the many online tools available through the library’s website. I use The VisualBookshelf in Facebook — but I don’t know how many people look at my reading habits there.

My only question about LibraryThing is this: why are they still in beta after so many years? And, why is this considered an online productivity tool? Maybe it is more productive to keep track of my books online, than in my paper-bound book journal. The thing is … I have kept that updated consistently. I haven’t kept up with any online attempts to record my books.

Thing 13: Productivity tools at work and home

Last week I was at the University bookstore and wanted to copy some of the titles from the staff recommended list. Of course I didn’t have a pen and paper – and my friend who was with me said “you should just Jott them!” I don’t have an account with Jott - yet – so she dug the pen and paper out of her purse and waited patiently as I wrote the titles down. Jott is a service that allows you to convert your voicemail into an email, text message, to-list, or more. And it’s awesome.

1. Customized home pages. Example: iGoogle.
What struck me most about Google’s homepage is how truly web-based the widgets and applications are. Favorite gadget: unit converter. Although, I still think they are more useful on my dashboard, because I don’t have to open a new tab to access it.
The idea that I would like to take with me from this is actually the tab feature from this homepage. I like that it allows you to compartmentalize – which is something that would be helpful for work. Although, I’m not quite sure how that’s different from having links to different pages as we do now on our staff homepage.

2. Calendars. Example: 30 Boxes
I really don’t need another calendar! I have my iCal, my wall calendar, and my planner. But! An online calendar like this could be a useful tool for sharing upcoming library events with your patrons. It is a nice display, and a nice way to browse for upcoming events.

3. Lists. Example: Gubb
I was amazed to discover how many online list makers there are! What I like about Gubb is that you can break down your to-do items into categories. And you can track what you’ve done — which really is the best part about keeping a list! The only thing I wish it did do was let me add hyperlinks to the descriptions of my tasks.

4. Widgets, calendars and lists rolled into one. Example: Backpack
“The intranet is back.” Um, where did it go? This would be a cool feature if you didn’t want to or couldn’t store your internal business information on an internal server. I think it would be fun to use something like this with my teen volunteers over the summer. I’m imagining that they would be able to sign up for various tasks or shifts online, and schedule themselves that way. Plus, it would help for me to have a list of what needs to be done for a certain day — rather than a list of who is coming in for a volunteer shift that day. Hmmm…. I’m going to have to give this some further thought.  Although, I would probably use Zoho.

Thing 12: You digg?

I’m not able to share my BBC News Story via Digg, Reddit, or Stumbleupon without accounts with them, but I did bookmark it in del.icio.us account, and posted it to my facebook account directly from the site. That saves time! And, I realize that I am willing to sacrifice privacy for access. (I assume, but cannot tell for certain, that the pop-up windows for sharing are secure sites.)

I have to say that I prefer social tagging (del.icio.us) to ranking (digg), but they both serve their purpose. If I were looking for sites to add to the homework help resources for the library site, I would use del.icio.us. If I were trying to catch up with what’s going on in the world, I would use the “Top Diggs in 7 Days” category.

Positives (It might increase productivity)

• If you are responsible for uploading content, it is great to not have to open a new tab or a new window to log into your (blog, del.icio.us, digg) account, and interrupt your train of thought.
• If you are scanning for news in the areas of technology, entertainment, science or business, these sites are a great first stop. (My DH reads reddit first thing in the morning, and he’s set for the day).

Negatives (It might slow down productivity)

• They have odd stuff right there. Who can resist that? These sites really encourage browsing in a way that I haven’t done since the late 90s. I could get lost linking from site to site.

We have Digg to thank.

Do NOT Turn Jesus On.

Originally uploaded by sepultura

I wouldn’t have found this photo had it not been for Digg. I don’t think this is what the assignment called for, but I had to share…now that I know how.

Seriously, I believe I have found the ultimate white elephant gift for my family exchange this year.

Thing 11: Del.icio.us

I was geeked about the Dublin Core metadata project in library school, which is basically a system for applying keywords to electronic data, so I have no idea why I have gone to great lengths to avoid social bookmarking sites. Now, after taking the time to explore del.icio.us, I realize that I have really been missing out.  And really, with a tag cloud like this…who could resist?

I especially enjoy that Kathleen Gilroy emphasizes the role of del.icio.us as a “model for other peer-driven information directories” in her tutorial. For example, the lib.rario.us project is a good example of how to tag items and share them with others. She also provided some clarity for me when she said that a “reading list” in 2.0 vernacular means a list that can be dynamically managed, and when she described “the magic middle.” Yes, there is a lot of stuff out there, but you can select which blogs you want to read. I do not have to feel overwhelmed!

One challenge to be managed is that when you are collaborating with these social networking and media tools is an expectation that if it is ‘out there,’ your colleagues have read it. We have a staff blog at work, and while the expectation that we are responsible for that knowledge is clear, I don’t always get to the blog *the instant* that the information is posted. And I have been caught. (The RSS feature in del.icio.us is especially handy for this type of situation!) Also, when I’m posting something, I don’t know *when* the other person or people have read it. It’s not a problem, just something to manage the expectations.

My delicious account: justkatherine

Thing 10: Wikis

Q: What did you find interesting about the wiki concept?
A: While I like the example of the friends using a wiki to plan their camping trip, it would be a long time before I could see myself using this as a way to plan a project.  It is way too out in the open for the drafting process for me.  Wikis are a tool to share information, not for drafting it together as the tools in Thing 9 are.  Plus, I have yet to find a wiki tool that I like the look of.  So far, I don’t like the way navigation tools and pages are displayed in wikis.

I like the concept of a wiki to collect and share information in a format other than  reverse chronological order (which is what the blog is).

Q: What types of applications within libraries and schools might work well with a wiki?
A: The libraries that are using wikis with their public have some interesting projects, like the Book Lovers Wiki, and I think something like Hennepin County Library’s Fugitive Fact File would work well as a wiki.  I’m currently lingering on how wikis (provided we used some decent-looking layouts and it resides on internal servers) can help with internal work flow and communication.  I like the idea of communicating everything one needs to know to plan (for example) summer reading programs via a wiki.

Q: Many teachers/faculy “ban” Wikipedia as a source for student research. What do you think of the practice of limiting information by format?
A: I’m fine with not accepting Wikipedia as a resource for student research.  However, I am saddened when teachers ban a format.  It is important to teach the difference between Wikipedia and The Encyclopedia Britannica database, but I see many parents and children coming in and saying that they cannot use Internet resources.  The way you access it does not affect the quality of the information.  It affects the way you search for and browse through the information, but not the quality of the information itself.

I do appreciate the idea of requiring books as a source for research.  I think people need to know how to find books and how to use an index.

Q: Which wiki did you edit?
A: I added the Library 2.0 ning group as a resource for the 23 Things wiki.

Thing 9: Web 2.0 collaboration tools

Google Docs is probably one of my favorite tools. I haven’t utilized it at work very often because we have access to a shared network drive to view and update documents, but when working with colleagues outside the library system, it can really be a wonderful tool. Another handy thing about it is that not all of our workstations have Microsoft Word, so Google Docs presents a really useful alternative for our patrons at times. Also, we only have CDs and Floppy Disks available for saving documents — so if someone forgets their flash drive, saving their work as a Google document is another excellent option for some people.

I played around with Zoho, and find their interface a little bit more intuitive. Zoho offers a more complete suite of tools (wikis, polls, databases) and (this is silly) I love how colorful it is. I’m really impressed with the options for creating, saving and sharing — and chatting and conferencing.

As far as choosing one over the other — that’s trickier. Since you can invite specific people to edit the documents in both, that alleviates concerns about requiring others to create an account they might not want to create. I would probably choose Google because I know it already, but I would really be open to working with either application in a project.

Thing 8: Sharing creations

I opted to explore some more photo sharing tools and database tools.

PictureTrail has some fun tools and ways to display photos, but is not the easiest to use when it comes to trying to get the photo to display in WordPress. It is good to remember / know that Flickr is not the only option. There are many different tools for the job.

A photoshoot of my cat

The Lazybase (database sharing) tool intrigues me.  The thing about sharing content is that you have to have content to share.  I’m not sure that a database is the best tool for me to record and share my book journal, but I played around with that.  Could this be a tool for an ongoing library bookclub?  Or a tool to use to teach the casual user about databases (since we might not all have access to MS Access, for example).  Databases are powerful tools, but only when you know what data to collect.

Cookie Recipes (a tool I created for my husband to collect and share his cookie recipes.  Maybe.  I think he enjoys searching for a new recipe each time he goes to make a cookie).

Thing 7: Communication tools

Email This is a Web 2.0 communication tool?  Really?  But, yes, my library system offers email classes, and I help patrons get started on creating an email account.  With so many tasks being accomplished online (like doing taxes, which I’m avoiding today), a valid email address (and, for that matter, a junk email address) is necessary.  The productivity tips are helpful — I don’t need my gmail alert, but I like it.

IM This promotional video for the University of Buffalo IM service is really cool — I love that it is from the point of view of the user, and I love the faces of the librarians at the end.  The only part that is misleading is the unrealistic short time that it takes the librarian to respond.   I provide IM service for my library system as well, and people have disconnected if it takes me more than 20 seconds to write back.  I quickly realized that I need to say something like “okay, it will take me a moment to find that for you” or give them something to do while I’m looking for the information they need.

SMS / Text Messaging I am not texter.  I sent a text message to Google when I was out and about and looking for dim sum; I receive text messages from my cell provider when my payment is due; and I have sent and received text messages when I’m in a loud bar.  Library-related use?? My system has an option for sending text messages to people when their items become due, and when they have signed up for a class and want a reminder sent to their cell phone.

Web Conferencing I haven’t been able to attend anything online before.  I have tried before. I registered for a SirsiDynix seminar a year ago when I was at work, but the link at home didn’t work and I couldn’t get in.  I tried to watch the live broadcasts of the ALA award nominations, but I signed on too late (two years in a row) and wasn’t able to get in.  Yet, I think this is a great option.  The budgets for traveling to conferences seems to decrease drastically every year, and I could see that attending something online (if you’re on a committee, especially) would be a great way to get the work done in a “face-to-face” setting.

Random Thought: tag clouds in the OPAC

I would love to see more use of tag clouds in OPACs.  The OCLC FictionFinder is an example of what I’d like to see more of.  I can’t quite imagine yet how something like this would work for all the subject headings we see in our catalogs, but using a segment of the collection, like fiction, is a great first start.

Also, I appreciate that their catalog is based on the Functional Requirements for a Bibliographic Record (FRBR).  Lots of 2.0 possibilities.  Basically, cataloging takes place at the level of the work, not the format.  For example, Pride and Prejudice has seen many different publishers for the book format, is in audio book format, download-able audio book, large print, etc.  FRBR would let you start with Pride and Prejudice, as opposed to the pages and pages of search results you usually get when you search for a title that has been published many times over.  Only then would you go in further and retrieve the format you want, or the edition you want.

Glad to see that OCLC is doing some work in this area.