Thing #16 : Learn About Wikis

Overall I liked the wiki. I saved it in my del.icio.us becasue it is something I think I could use. I did find some useful information. Especially some links to websites and blogs. For example, I thought the Weeding Library Collections page had some good ideas and some useful sites of where to give books to instead of throwing them away or selling them. I thought there was a lot of useful content under "Libraries Circulating Games". It told you what library circulated video games, which games and/or consoles and the policy on it. Circulating video games seems to be a growing trend and if you were thinking of doing it at your library or writing a proposal that would cut down on a lot of research. I don't think I found anything I didn't like. However, there were some topics that didn't have a lot written on them yet. Such as the "Programs For Kids and Teens".
I like the ideas of wikis. I am on committes and workgroups where we have tossed around the idea of using wikis as a form of communication. In the past I used google docs with coworkers so we could add things and make changes. But i am now thinking a wiki would work much better.
I like that you can track changes so if someone takes something accurate away the info is stored and can be put back. I looked at several wikis and when I looked at all the people editing the page you realize how many cooks are in the kitchen and that makes me skeptical that all the info being posted is accurate. I think using wikis with the idea that you need to check the accuracy of info is great. I especially like when wikis link you up to websites and blogs. They help you find a wealth of information. The OCL wiki entry was really interesting!

Thing #15 - On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0...

I read the "Away From the Iceberg" by Rick Anderson. Just In Case collection- I know when weeding this idea comes to mind. You think about the Just in Case person who might read a certain novel or need a book for a report. When children and teens come to find our help for resources when writng papers and doing school reports they are often required to have print sources. Sometimes their topics are so obscure you wonder why teachers approved the topic. The just in case collection makes me think of these students who could use certain materials we no longer have. With that being said I try to turn every student on to the online databases. This is a concept that doesn't always seem to translate to the student who has a teacher requiring them to bring in 3 books even though the info on the database comes from a book or the book is an e-book.
In "To better bibliographic services" John Reimer discusses adopting Web features, such as the features of Google and Amazon as well as tagging and patrons submitting reviews. It would be great to have an online catalog that involved tagging. Tagging would be such a great readers advisory tool. Even to have a photo of the book on the catalog would be more engaging to the patron. When I shop online I don't buy something unless I see a picture. Working with teens for the past few years at the library I have found they love writing reviews of books. There hasn't been much of an outlet to highlight these reviews for the public. Having them on the opac would be great and another readers advisroy tool.
To me, Libray 2.0 means keeping up with the everchanging web 2.0 concepts. There are so many ways of easing the use of the library for custormer and demystifying it for those used to web 2.0. Library 2.0 also means that libraries are a place of change. Applying the concepts to our work and seeing how we can use them to better serve a community. Especially the community who uses web 2.0 such as children and teens.

Thing #14 - Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

While exploring this topic an interesting theme popped up several times. It is on how businesses are dealing with social computing. Are they providing staff with a policy? What is in that policy?
One interesting question I came across on eLearning Technology Blog http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/ is "If our organization doesn't have an existing policy, is that a fundamental roadblock to using certain kinds of Web 2.0 tools as part of our eLearning 2.0 solutions?" Also on this blog was a link to several corporations blogging policies, such as Yahoo's (which states "blog at your own risk") and IBM's. So not only are corporations trying to incorporate and use web 2.0 with their employees but they also have to protect themselves from it.

I found some new blogs to subscribe to. I browsed the Top 100. I like Mashable and 43 Folders. I can see why these blogs are in the top 100! I felt that if I checked out every blog in the top 100 I would subscribe to them all. I turn down very few. Maybe I have to be more selective. It is so easy to hit that RSS Feed button. Lets see how I am with continuing to read them!

Thing #13 - Tagging, folksonomies & social bookmarking in del.icio.us

I love using del.icio.us. I am a huge fan of it. I became a real fan of it after I got a new computer and I had to transfer all my stuff stored in favorites on my computer. Now I never use the favorites feature on my computer I just use delicious and with tagging it makes it so easy to find my links. Del.icio.us also comes in handy when I am at work or on another computer and need to access a website...I always have access ot del.icio.us so I never have to wait to use my home computer or work computer to find the site. I also love using delicous for organizing websites that are useful with assisting customers at work. A lot of times I come across sites that are great for answering refernce questions or a school assignment. With the right tags I can find them easily. Tagging is such a great way of organizing websites. I refer to a lot of websites to help me with craft projects for children's programs at work so I go to my craft tag and there are all the sites and it is easy to check all of them for what I need.

Thing #12 - NetLibrary and WorldCat

I have used NetLibrary before. This was a nice refresher. I came across cliff notes on there which I never knew where on there. Occasionally we get asked for them at the library so now I know where I can refer them to. NetLibrary is definitly user friendly. I think it is easy to navigate around the site, turn the pages of the books, and use the search features. Whenever I have shown customers how to use it they seem extremely happy with this. Once at an inservice for teachers I highlighted this database and the teachers were amazed with it. A few came over to the highschool that afternoon to sign up.

On WorldCat I played around with the list option. I have never looked at that before. People have created all sorts of lists, one was Armanian Children's Books. It was cool to read the list and then click on a book to see if we owned it. I think this could be a great readers advisory tool. I always forget about using worldcat for DVDs and CDs when filling out ILL forms. The details for the form are much more clear and no scrolling up and down like on B&N or Amazon. WorldCat is also helpful to see if anyone owns an item and it is neat to see where in the country has it.

Thing #11 - A thing about Library Thing

WOW...I love library thing. Can't beleive I haven't been using this. I keep a notebook of what I read, but am so bad at updating it and I only organize it by the date that I finished it on. This will be so much easier, plus having the Tag option will be so great. I have an ongoing list of what to read and am always clipping reviews from magazines and newspapers. Library Thing will be great for oragnizing my "to read" list. I was checking out some of the conversations going on about the books in my library. I find it really interesting when I come across a conversation where people don't like the book that I love.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/rocklobster76

Thing #10 - Technology Blogging

I was just reading an article that Netflex is going to sell a device to hook up to your TV that will instanly get you movies. It is only going to cost $99 plus the 8.99 a month fee. I get most of my movies from the library and I use the ondemand service through Comcast so I have access to free movies. However, the idea of having access to movies, including new releases any time I want is really appealing. Sometimes I am 300 on a list at the library and sometimes when I browse the movies available on comcast I have trouble finding one I want to watch. Sometimes Comcast doesn't work right and I have to call for it to reset and their system is slow. But then I was reading the article and it is going to be an interenet connection to get the movies which could mean freezing and other tech issues. So, maybe I am better off sticking to my current way of watching movies. I will definitly watch the progress on this and the reviews. I won't rush to invest in this. It is amazing to think back when my family got our first VCR. I was around 8 or 10 or somewhere in that range. There were no video stores nearby. My father worked an hour and a half away and would stop at Earl Videos in the Cherry Hill area. So I was at the mercy of what ever he picked out despite my requests. That didn't last too long eventually a small video
store opened nearby.