My thoughts on Library 2.0

I'll confess, when I first learned about the whole 2.0 thing, it really gave me a headache. I felt like I was back in library school, focusing on my least favorite part...the sections of theory that felt the most detatched from the actual experiences of users and the workings of libraries. The thing that has actually finally given me a greater feeling of competence with 2.0, is having to explain it to others over and over again. While I'm no master, I can at least articulate where it is reaching for. And I think that is the important thing, is to understand that this is an atmostphere of reaching, growing, and shaking of rigid approaches of the past, to strive for a fluidity of learning and communication unimaginable just a few short years ago. I love the user-centered attitude of it all, though I do hope the needs of staff are not overlooked in the race to aquire the most tech possible. While I'm very excited about the user-focus of 2.0, I have to admit, reading about 3.0 and 4.0 just brought my headache back.

Exploring custom search engines

So, I'm trying out the custom search engines (Rollo and Google Custom Search Engine), and so far I can't see how this is terribly adventageous over a well worded google search. Between the two, I prefer Google's for it simplicity and speed. Rollo just feels too clunky, and has too many intrusive ads for me.

At GCSE I put together a search for Things to Do In Seattle. Useless for general things like "music" but more interesting results for something like "root beer". I'll have to play with this more to see how it goes.

But my impression right now is a well worded search in a broad engine will ge one further...

silly fun

This week's assignment was basically to have some fun and get caught up. Using this South Park Generator, I made this:

Wiki exploration

It is interesting to me to look at wiki's in this point in time. They very much feel like basic websites did when I was in library school...brimming with potential, but still a bit clunky.

I explored the Book Lovers Wiki at the Princeton Public Library. The best part of this wasn't so much the execution of it, but the fact that they are having an adult summer reading program...with prizes! Hooray for that :)

I've used the ALA conference wikis before, and think they too are off to a good start...but since everything is done by volunteers and not actually assigned to people (so far) there can be pretty big gaps in content. Still, it is way more helpful than the magazine version, since you can pop out to links to attractions, restaurants, etc...so easily.

The Library Instruction Wiki seems really useful, for those of us who teach classes in libraries. I think most people don't see a need to re-invent the wheel everytime, so being able to access these resources could be a real godsend.

I think a booktalk wiki would be really helpful for teen librarians. Maybe we can change over our clunky database on the Intranet to this new format?

homeless in libraries

There is an excellent commentary in the Los Angeles Times from yesterday about homeless folks in libraries.

This reminds me of a woman who came up to me at the reference desk last month and told me there was a homeless person in their car in the parking lot. "Are they doing anything wrong?" I asked. "No" she said. And I told her to let me know if they were, and I would be happy to deal with it. I hope I made my point nicely enough. She mumbled something about them all coming over from Seattle (as if Bellevue would never create the circumstances that put people on the streets) and got on a computer.

Cities that have tracked chronically homeless people estimate that a typical transient can cost taxpayers $20,000 to $150,000 a year.

I wish more people could understand that if we take care of each other better to begin with, it will save the communities (both dollars and heart) in the long run.

LibraryThing exploration

I've been resisting trying this out, as I was afraid I would lose hours and hours of time to it. Will have to see how the weekend plays out ;)

It certainly is really easy to use, and I could see it being a great book recommendation tool, since you see what other people who have your books like, too.

But at the same time, I've been trying to limit my possessions, and cutting down on books is a big part of this. I really feel that I don't need books I can easily get from the library...especially when there are always at least 300 books on my list of things I'm interested in reading! In a way, LibraryThing could be helpful here...because it could make me question if I want to be recognized as the sort of person who owns particular books ;)

I'll have to play with this one more at home, for sure.

Oh...I forgot to post my mini-catalog

Del.icio.us exploration

I'm excited about del.icio.us, but a bit nervous to dip my toes in, too. But I do like the idea of using this with groups of kids for specific purposes...the most immediate one to my life would be in posting a booklist of everything discussed by my bookgroup, so the teens could refer to them quickly. I could even do this during the meeting!

I like the idea of using it to organize recipes, but I will resist using it for this purpose in my own life, as I have WAY too many recipes floating around already.

Some of the articles were very helpful for imagining new uses too. I'll definitely have to play with this more.