Wow, I didn't realize how long it had been since I've poked around in and around this blog.
I know why it's been so long, I don't really know what to use it for, the project is over and by-and-large there's no particular reason to blog here, but at the same time I like the name and the space.
Maybe I need to think some more about what to do with the little space I have here.
For now though, I'm going to get back to searching.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Final Reflections:
In answer to what I think was the most important question of this exercise, yes, I would participate if there was another discovery of this type. (And hopefully I'd be a bit more timely about it).
In terms of technologies that were new to me, I think the ones that I'm likely to get the most use out of are the podcasts and web-based documents. I know that they'll both fit into my long-term goals and plans and I'm glad that I got the opportunity to explore them through this program.
I think this was an program where you got out of this program what you put into it. I've been feeling a bit bad here at the end of the line as I work through the bulk of the activities in under a week. It's not, after all, how the program was meant to be handled. In my defense, my work does take priority and there has been a lot to do heading back into the fall quarter. That and I'd already been exposed to many of these programs in the past--so I felt more confident about my ability to do the tasks in a shorter time frame.
Still, I took some time the other night to look through some other blogs and see how other people fared with Learning 2.0. The thing that I discovered is that I must be more verbose than most (but I suppose I already knew that). Even at this late date, I put a lot of effort into these exercises and activities and spent time really thinking them through. That made this experience, hectic as it was, still a useful learning experience for me.
For me, taking the time to actually use and explore the sites and see how they could be relevant in my life (and not just my professional life) made this experience rewarding. It also means that some of the activities that taught me new things are more likely to stick with me.
It seems to me that without putting that effort in, without thinking beyond "I hated this" or "this doesn't work for me" or even "this is stupid" that the whole point of the exercise was missed.
After all, we weren't here to find new ways to play with our old favorites, we were here to experience new things, things that might not be universally liked or useful, but that had their place and function. It was about broadening our horizons and thinking outside of the box. If you brought the box with you, then it was inevitable that you find little or nothing of use to you here.
I hope everyone that participated this time found something of value to them from this--even if it's only the knowledge that the internet and Web 2.0 are changing the way this world communicates and operates.
Thanks to the Learning 2.0 team for all of their efforts (and for stalking me).
In terms of technologies that were new to me, I think the ones that I'm likely to get the most use out of are the podcasts and web-based documents. I know that they'll both fit into my long-term goals and plans and I'm glad that I got the opportunity to explore them through this program.
I think this was an program where you got out of this program what you put into it. I've been feeling a bit bad here at the end of the line as I work through the bulk of the activities in under a week. It's not, after all, how the program was meant to be handled. In my defense, my work does take priority and there has been a lot to do heading back into the fall quarter. That and I'd already been exposed to many of these programs in the past--so I felt more confident about my ability to do the tasks in a shorter time frame.
Still, I took some time the other night to look through some other blogs and see how other people fared with Learning 2.0. The thing that I discovered is that I must be more verbose than most (but I suppose I already knew that). Even at this late date, I put a lot of effort into these exercises and activities and spent time really thinking them through. That made this experience, hectic as it was, still a useful learning experience for me.
For me, taking the time to actually use and explore the sites and see how they could be relevant in my life (and not just my professional life) made this experience rewarding. It also means that some of the activities that taught me new things are more likely to stick with me.
It seems to me that without putting that effort in, without thinking beyond "I hated this" or "this doesn't work for me" or even "this is stupid" that the whole point of the exercise was missed.
After all, we weren't here to find new ways to play with our old favorites, we were here to experience new things, things that might not be universally liked or useful, but that had their place and function. It was about broadening our horizons and thinking outside of the box. If you brought the box with you, then it was inevitable that you find little or nothing of use to you here.
I hope everyone that participated this time found something of value to them from this--even if it's only the knowledge that the internet and Web 2.0 are changing the way this world communicates and operates.
Thanks to the Learning 2.0 team for all of their efforts (and for stalking me).
Social Networking
Social networking sites are all the rage right now and learning 2.0 is no different.
I've been on Facebook for at least two years and I can tell you how frequently I use it--about once every six months. I see the use and value of social networking sites, but I don't like the tendency people have to use them break down all walls to privacy. There are people who put their entire schedule, address, phone number and life on these sites. It's shocking to me. I prefer to have significantly more control over how information about me is disseminated.
Many libraries are using Facebook to try and connect to their users and I can see a value in this. Like messaging programs, some students spend every available moment on these sites. If they can easily access a librarian or library through this site--it can potentially increase their use of the librarian or library.
However, that presumes that a user will think to look for and use these sites as tools to connect to libraries. I don't actually see many users using these sites that way. In fact, I find more users are locking their profiles and restricting their access because they don't like that administrators and other personnel are using sites that were previously restricted to students. Given that bias, I'm not sure how many students will use these sites to connect to libraries and the question of a library presence on a social networking site becomes something of a moot point.
Now, as a way for librarians to connect, form bonds and work across state lines, institutional boundaries and cultural barriers--this could be an amazing tool. Imagine asking a Librarian at Oxford if they wouldn't mind checking a manuscript in their collection for a quote for a professor here in the states. Now that would be a powerful and amazing use of these technologies. I think the focus should be less on how to reach the students through this technology and more on how to reach ourselves, expand our boundaries and increase our usefulness (as in the Library 2.0 articles) if we are useful and helpful, the students will come to us and we'll be where they come looking.
I've been on Facebook for at least two years and I can tell you how frequently I use it--about once every six months. I see the use and value of social networking sites, but I don't like the tendency people have to use them break down all walls to privacy. There are people who put their entire schedule, address, phone number and life on these sites. It's shocking to me. I prefer to have significantly more control over how information about me is disseminated.
Many libraries are using Facebook to try and connect to their users and I can see a value in this. Like messaging programs, some students spend every available moment on these sites. If they can easily access a librarian or library through this site--it can potentially increase their use of the librarian or library.
However, that presumes that a user will think to look for and use these sites as tools to connect to libraries. I don't actually see many users using these sites that way. In fact, I find more users are locking their profiles and restricting their access because they don't like that administrators and other personnel are using sites that were previously restricted to students. Given that bias, I'm not sure how many students will use these sites to connect to libraries and the question of a library presence on a social networking site becomes something of a moot point.
Now, as a way for librarians to connect, form bonds and work across state lines, institutional boundaries and cultural barriers--this could be an amazing tool. Imagine asking a Librarian at Oxford if they wouldn't mind checking a manuscript in their collection for a quote for a professor here in the states. Now that would be a powerful and amazing use of these technologies. I think the focus should be less on how to reach the students through this technology and more on how to reach ourselves, expand our boundaries and increase our usefulness (as in the Library 2.0 articles) if we are useful and helpful, the students will come to us and we'll be where they come looking.
Podcasts...
I knew a bit about podcasts before, but I hadn't really worked with them.
I looked at both PodcastAlley and Yahoo Podcasts for podcasts. Because I'm a long-time fan of radio shows, specifically the Sherlock Holmes radio shows I searched both sites for Sherlock Holmes and came up with some interesting results.
Personally, this is very interesting and useful. I've been wanting to get more involved with podcasts and I think I'll use this regularly. I can download shows and listen to them at the gym--which should be fun.
It's fascinating to me that all this advanced technology is actually allowing us to hearken back to our roots. Wikis are bringing us back to a type of social history, podcasts are recreating the days of radio shows :D.
I looked at both PodcastAlley and Yahoo Podcasts for podcasts. Because I'm a long-time fan of radio shows, specifically the Sherlock Holmes radio shows I searched both sites for Sherlock Holmes and came up with some interesting results.
Personally, this is very interesting and useful. I've been wanting to get more involved with podcasts and I think I'll use this regularly. I can download shows and listen to them at the gym--which should be fun.
It's fascinating to me that all this advanced technology is actually allowing us to hearken back to our roots. Wikis are bringing us back to a type of social history, podcasts are recreating the days of radio shows :D.
You Tube...
This is what I chose to share from You Tube. First, it's funny. Second, I like squirrels and they're really prevalent on this campus.
You Tube is somewhat cluttered (specifically the "director's videos" along the sides) but overall I like it. It's certainly changing the way people interact.
Check out these brothers for example. They've committed to communicating exclusively through vlogs (or video blogs) for an entire year. It's fascinating to watch their conversations and how they take place. It's also fascinating to see how an entire community has built up around them and their experiment.
Their vlogs are interesting and some of them aren't all that informative, but watching as they progress is very interesting.
That is the first one, the one that outlined the experiment.
In terms of how this relates to libraries, I think it's obvious that this relates to libraries because libraries can video collections, tutorials for frequently asked questions, staff events etc. Essentially, all the things that this library is already attempting to do.
I do think that embedding you tube tutorials (instead of screencaps or merely textual explanations) for frequently asked questions would be a wonderful way to improve our website and assist our students and consumers. Not to mention, because you tube can tell you how many times any given video has been viewed--you can still get a sense of how much traffic you're having.
Being Original
For my Web 2.0 awards play I looked at threadless. For people today, obsessed with being unique and original, this is perfect. The clothes, mostly t-shirts, are actually made based on slogans and logos created by the user. For example, look at this girl. All these shirts were created by her and she can then wear them.
Think about that.
You can create your own, esoteric shirt and they'll manufacture and sell it (for you I think).
The one pitfall here is that there is no clear understanding of what precisely is happening--whether you're submitting and making your own t-shirts or whether your submitting your designs and then the best designs are being made into t-shirts.
Still for people wanting an opportunity to be truly individual this is an ideal website. In this Web 2.0 world where individuals can literally create and choose the content and data that surrounds them, why should their t-shirts be any different?
There aren't many uses for this in a library setting, but it would be cool to design and buy neat t-shirts for your library or libraries in general using this site.
Think about that.
You can create your own, esoteric shirt and they'll manufacture and sell it (for you I think).
The one pitfall here is that there is no clear understanding of what precisely is happening--whether you're submitting and making your own t-shirts or whether your submitting your designs and then the best designs are being made into t-shirts.
Still for people wanting an opportunity to be truly individual this is an ideal website. In this Web 2.0 world where individuals can literally create and choose the content and data that surrounds them, why should their t-shirts be any different?
There aren't many uses for this in a library setting, but it would be cool to design and buy neat t-shirts for your library or libraries in general using this site.
Google...
is taking over the world. And, right now, I can't say that I'm complaining.
I played with the Google Docs and created this document. This was a two-part experiment for me. First I took a document that I had previously made in Excel, copied it and then pasted it into Google (which worked nearly perfectly) and then I played with a bit and published it.
The document itself is a way to track my progress and the gym.
This is a fantastic tool for me. Like del.icio.us it helps me keep my favorites with me wherever I go, this lets me access my documents any where I am. If I traveled and then decided to go to the gym, a quick trip to my google would tell me exactly what my reps and resistances were prior to my trip to an unfamiliar gym.
It's an amazing tool and one I look forward to using. I also like that you can republish the link as you change the data, but that the url itself does not change. If I had a coach or a trainer, they could also keep up to date on my stats and, even as I added new information, I wouldn't have to send out new links.
It's a truly useful tool. For our students who have large documents but no way to email or save them--this could be a godsend. Since they can effectively cut and paste the information--they can suddenly house their data online instead of carrying it with them.
It makes the whole internet your hard-drive and you can get there from any where in the world. How much more exciting does it get??
I played with the Google Docs and created this document. This was a two-part experiment for me. First I took a document that I had previously made in Excel, copied it and then pasted it into Google (which worked nearly perfectly) and then I played with a bit and published it.
The document itself is a way to track my progress and the gym.
This is a fantastic tool for me. Like del.icio.us it helps me keep my favorites with me wherever I go, this lets me access my documents any where I am. If I traveled and then decided to go to the gym, a quick trip to my google would tell me exactly what my reps and resistances were prior to my trip to an unfamiliar gym.
It's an amazing tool and one I look forward to using. I also like that you can republish the link as you change the data, but that the url itself does not change. If I had a coach or a trainer, they could also keep up to date on my stats and, even as I added new information, I wouldn't have to send out new links.
It's a truly useful tool. For our students who have large documents but no way to email or save them--this could be a godsend. Since they can effectively cut and paste the information--they can suddenly house their data online instead of carrying it with them.
It makes the whole internet your hard-drive and you can get there from any where in the world. How much more exciting does it get??
Wiki Play...
Well, I went to the library wiki and played around a bit. I didn't do anything other than what the exercise requested, but I did look at other things. As a social tool (which is essentially what this wiki is) I find that it's okay, but there are other types of social networking which are probably easier (forums come to mind).
Still, it's relatively simple to add and change a wiki and I'm sure they'll become more useful over time. I do know of some alternative groups and web societies that are using wikis to keep living histories of themselves. It's a fascinating experiment in social history and an interesting throwback to our less "civilized" times. :)
Still, it's relatively simple to add and change a wiki and I'm sure they'll become more useful over time. I do know of some alternative groups and web societies that are using wikis to keep living histories of themselves. It's a fascinating experiment in social history and an interesting throwback to our less "civilized" times. :)
What's this Wiki?
Like most of the world, I'm familiar with wikis through what I would argue is the most famous wiki of all time--Wikipedia. That's not to say that I think Wikipedia is the best or most useful wiki, but it is the most famous.
Wikipedia is a wonderful tool for keeping an instantaneous archive of accessible information. It's not always the best, most current or most correct information, and it's easily manipulated, but it is a good jumping-off point and many of our students use it that way.
Wiki's for libraries are more problematic. I think most library questions, functional, factual questions are more easily answered through a webpage or FAQ. Still, I can see one way that a wiki would truly benefit our students and their university experience. It's no secret that the OU webpage is not only a monster, it's monstrously difficult to search and return *any* relevant hits. If there was a wiki that functioned as an OU FAQ--something that could easily tell students when and where to retake their Math Placement test, how to remove a hold from their account or how to access their oak storage--I think that would be fabulously useful.
Most of the questions I field here at the library are actually questions about the university, asked by students who are frustrated at the layout and inflexibility of the OU website and their inability to find the information they need. Even as someone trained to answer their questions, I have to www.google.com/ohiou to get most of their answer--because you cannot easily find them at the website without the help of a more effective and advanced searching mechanism.
Most of the library wiki is about doing things like this--making information that library staff need but don't always access available to them in a fast, easy way. It makes sense to offer that same accessibility to our students for information they need to handle their university obligations and experience.
Wikipedia is a wonderful tool for keeping an instantaneous archive of accessible information. It's not always the best, most current or most correct information, and it's easily manipulated, but it is a good jumping-off point and many of our students use it that way.
Wiki's for libraries are more problematic. I think most library questions, functional, factual questions are more easily answered through a webpage or FAQ. Still, I can see one way that a wiki would truly benefit our students and their university experience. It's no secret that the OU webpage is not only a monster, it's monstrously difficult to search and return *any* relevant hits. If there was a wiki that functioned as an OU FAQ--something that could easily tell students when and where to retake their Math Placement test, how to remove a hold from their account or how to access their oak storage--I think that would be fabulously useful.
Most of the questions I field here at the library are actually questions about the university, asked by students who are frustrated at the layout and inflexibility of the OU website and their inability to find the information they need. Even as someone trained to answer their questions, I have to www.google.com/ohiou to get most of their answer--because you cannot easily find them at the website without the help of a more effective and advanced searching mechanism.
Most of the library wiki is about doing things like this--making information that library staff need but don't always access available to them in a fast, easy way. It makes sense to offer that same accessibility to our students for information they need to handle their university obligations and experience.
Monday, September 17, 2007
The Future is Coming...
I was absolutely fascinated by the Library 2.0 reading. Not only by the thoughts and opinions expressed, but also the visions that the different writers expressed.
I was enchanted by Wendy Schultz's article. Her description of Library 4.0, a world where libraries function "as mind gyms; libraries as idea labs; libraries as art salons" was particularly compelling. I've always loved libraries, I've always been at home in libraries, but I would *love* to see these libraries.
I must confess that I also found her vision of Library 3.0 funny and refreshing as well: "People will collect librarians rather than books—the ability not just to organise, but also to annotate and compare books and other information sources, from a variety of useful perspectives." I have definitely run across librarians in my time who were more likely to hush me and wave vaguely toward a stack of books than they were to ask me if I needed help. A world where the experience of the librarian and the user's experience with that librarian had a visible and determinable effect would be fascinating.
I know that opinion will not be shared by all, but there is something to be said for judging the ability of a librarian by their effectiveness to and with the user instead of measuring their static knowledge of their field. After all, the point is to transmit or at least share the knowledge with the user. If that isn't happening then librarians are merely custodians of knowledge, doling it out to the worthy, not distributors, bringing knowledge to people and people to the knowledge--showing them how to manipulate it.
I think Library 2.0 is honestly about this dynamic. Are librarians the custodians or are they benevolent teachers? In a perfect Library 2.0 scenario librarians become the distributors of knowledge, freely giving and sending it to whomever requests it.
What a fascinating and exciting time to be part of librarianship!
I was enchanted by Wendy Schultz's article. Her description of Library 4.0, a world where libraries function "as mind gyms; libraries as idea labs; libraries as art salons" was particularly compelling. I've always loved libraries, I've always been at home in libraries, but I would *love* to see these libraries.
I must confess that I also found her vision of Library 3.0 funny and refreshing as well: "People will collect librarians rather than books—the ability not just to organise, but also to annotate and compare books and other information sources, from a variety of useful perspectives." I have definitely run across librarians in my time who were more likely to hush me and wave vaguely toward a stack of books than they were to ask me if I needed help. A world where the experience of the librarian and the user's experience with that librarian had a visible and determinable effect would be fascinating.
I know that opinion will not be shared by all, but there is something to be said for judging the ability of a librarian by their effectiveness to and with the user instead of measuring their static knowledge of their field. After all, the point is to transmit or at least share the knowledge with the user. If that isn't happening then librarians are merely custodians of knowledge, doling it out to the worthy, not distributors, bringing knowledge to people and people to the knowledge--showing them how to manipulate it.
I think Library 2.0 is honestly about this dynamic. Are librarians the custodians or are they benevolent teachers? In a perfect Library 2.0 scenario librarians become the distributors of knowledge, freely giving and sending it to whomever requests it.
What a fascinating and exciting time to be part of librarianship!
Technorati..
I've been exposed to Technorati in the past, and I still don't see where I'd use it in my every day life very much.
There are several things that are good about Technorati, if you're a power blogger--you can see how much you're quoted and tracked and keep an eye on your overall ratings. If you're wanting to track the dissemination of a story or some other meme across the blogosphere, you can do that fairly easily. You can also track trends using Technorati.
However, I'm not a power blogger, and it's unlikely that I ever will be, so that's not something I pay very much attention to. Also, I find that technorati is very difficult to navigate and use and their FAQ's are nearly impossible to locate. It's geared towards people who are already "in the know" and it's not very forgiving of those who are not.
Still, if you're looking to somewhere to go to find new information or see what's hot right now--technorati is a good tool for that. Especially their listing of what's popular right now .
There are several things that are good about Technorati, if you're a power blogger--you can see how much you're quoted and tracked and keep an eye on your overall ratings. If you're wanting to track the dissemination of a story or some other meme across the blogosphere, you can do that fairly easily. You can also track trends using Technorati.
However, I'm not a power blogger, and it's unlikely that I ever will be, so that's not something I pay very much attention to. Also, I find that technorati is very difficult to navigate and use and their FAQ's are nearly impossible to locate. It's geared towards people who are already "in the know" and it's not very forgiving of those who are not.
Still, if you're looking to somewhere to go to find new information or see what's hot right now--technorati is a good tool for that. Especially their listing of what's popular right now .
Del.icio.us and tagging.
I've been using del.icio.us for about a year now and tagging for something on the range of two or three years. I love them both.
I'll start with del.icio.us. It's very useful for a number of reasons, first, I get all sorts of links sent to me via email, or shared with me at work or on messenger. Frequently I either don't have the time to explore them fully, or I know that they'll be useful to me in the future. If I bookmark the site, then I can only access it from the computer I was at at the moment I looked at it. I have two computers myself and there are six in my home. If I want to share the link with anyone else, I either have to bring them to my computer or I have to remember the site. With del.icio.us, I simply click and tag the site and move on.
Del.icio.us is also much easier to categorize, sort, and clean out than bookmarks are. I can spend hours trying to clean out my bookmarks because I have to click on nearly every site to see what it is and why I saved it. In del.icio.us, I tag (or index) it with keywords that make sense to me. Then, when I want to clean it up I already know what type of site I'm looking at and that can save me all sorts of time.
Del.icio.us is very useful in research. I know that when I'm researching something I may come across all sorts of websites full of related information. Later, sometimes months later, I may realize that information is now relevant but I won't remember which site it was on, where I found it or how to find it again (a major problem for some of our graduate students).
With del.icio.us, I can quickly and efficiently save and tag all the sites I visit when I'm beginning my research. Even if I'm not sure I'll need them, I can tag with the topic, i.e. two-spirit, and then later when I realize something that I read months ago is now important to the altered focus of my research, I can simply go through everything I tagged "two-spirit" in my del.icio.us. In fact, I could take all those sites I'd tagged, drop them into a rollyo search roll and then search them all for the information that I'm looking for. It's way more useful and time-effective to do that than it is to go back to google and start trying to find all the sites that deal with the topic of being two-spirit and weed through those that are useful or academically acceptable all over again.
Tags are a wonderful personal indexing tool and something that I rely on every day. For example, suppose I frequently post links to interesting sites in my blog for my friends to explore. Now say it's several months later and I need to revisit one of those sites and I don't remember which one it is. If I'm continually tagging all link-related blog entries with the word "links," I can quickly click that tag and my blog will pull up everything that I've tagged with that word. In just a couple of moments I can find the link and be back on my way. Tagging is literally creating a personal index. It's a marvelous tool and it can be as complicated or simple as you'd like it to be. The one caveat with tagging is that, like in the library, you need to be consistent with the way you tag things or it's not going to be useful to you. :D
I'll start with del.icio.us. It's very useful for a number of reasons, first, I get all sorts of links sent to me via email, or shared with me at work or on messenger. Frequently I either don't have the time to explore them fully, or I know that they'll be useful to me in the future. If I bookmark the site, then I can only access it from the computer I was at at the moment I looked at it. I have two computers myself and there are six in my home. If I want to share the link with anyone else, I either have to bring them to my computer or I have to remember the site. With del.icio.us, I simply click and tag the site and move on.
Del.icio.us is also much easier to categorize, sort, and clean out than bookmarks are. I can spend hours trying to clean out my bookmarks because I have to click on nearly every site to see what it is and why I saved it. In del.icio.us, I tag (or index) it with keywords that make sense to me. Then, when I want to clean it up I already know what type of site I'm looking at and that can save me all sorts of time.
Del.icio.us is very useful in research. I know that when I'm researching something I may come across all sorts of websites full of related information. Later, sometimes months later, I may realize that information is now relevant but I won't remember which site it was on, where I found it or how to find it again (a major problem for some of our graduate students).
With del.icio.us, I can quickly and efficiently save and tag all the sites I visit when I'm beginning my research. Even if I'm not sure I'll need them, I can tag with the topic, i.e. two-spirit, and then later when I realize something that I read months ago is now important to the altered focus of my research, I can simply go through everything I tagged "two-spirit" in my del.icio.us. In fact, I could take all those sites I'd tagged, drop them into a rollyo search roll and then search them all for the information that I'm looking for. It's way more useful and time-effective to do that than it is to go back to google and start trying to find all the sites that deal with the topic of being two-spirit and weed through those that are useful or academically acceptable all over again.
Tags are a wonderful personal indexing tool and something that I rely on every day. For example, suppose I frequently post links to interesting sites in my blog for my friends to explore. Now say it's several months later and I need to revisit one of those sites and I don't remember which one it is. If I'm continually tagging all link-related blog entries with the word "links," I can quickly click that tag and my blog will pull up everything that I've tagged with that word. In just a couple of moments I can find the link and be back on my way. Tagging is literally creating a personal index. It's a marvelous tool and it can be as complicated or simple as you'd like it to be. The one caveat with tagging is that, like in the library, you need to be consistent with the way you tag things or it's not going to be useful to you. :D
Rollyo
At first, I admit, I had a hard time seeing how this site could be very useful to me. However, as I was looking at all they types of search rolls that had been created, I started to see where it could be useful.
More than once I've had a graduate student come to me and say that they were having trouble locating a source that they knew they'd accessed. I can see where creating your own search roll of sites related to your research would be helpful in a case like this. After all, google is phenomenonal but for esoteric sites and information, you have to go through several pages of results. If you've created your own search roll of sites that will likely be of use to you, you can simply start searching those and not have to worry about paging through several sets of hits.
More than once I've had a graduate student come to me and say that they were having trouble locating a source that they knew they'd accessed. I can see where creating your own search roll of sites related to your research would be helpful in a case like this. After all, google is phenomenonal but for esoteric sites and information, you have to go through several pages of results. If you've created your own search roll of sites that will likely be of use to you, you can simply start searching those and not have to worry about paging through several sets of hits.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Books, books, everywhere books...
In honor of Madeline L'Engle, a young adult author and one of my favorites during my adolescence, I choose only books by her to put on my Library Thing shelf.
I was, and remain, a huge fan of her work and she'll be sorely missed.
Another reason that I chose to put her books on my shelf is that when I was younger, every summer my summer project was to create a catalog of all the books we owned. I did it by hand and never got more than a third of the way through the thousands of books in our house, so I'd resume the task the next year.
If Library Thing had been around at that time, I think I would have been able to actually have a working catalog of the books we owned, rather than a dozen half-finished ones.
Another use for this site is for smaller libraries to catalog their collections. For example, the LGBT Center here at OU has used Library Thing to catalog their collection of LBGT-related books. For a smaller organization like this, Library Thing is the perfect, easily accessible solution.
I was, and remain, a huge fan of her work and she'll be sorely missed.
Another reason that I chose to put her books on my shelf is that when I was younger, every summer my summer project was to create a catalog of all the books we owned. I did it by hand and never got more than a third of the way through the thousands of books in our house, so I'd resume the task the next year.
If Library Thing had been around at that time, I think I would have been able to actually have a working catalog of the books we owned, rather than a dozen half-finished ones.
Another use for this site is for smaller libraries to catalog their collections. For example, the LGBT Center here at OU has used Library Thing to catalog their collection of LBGT-related books. For a smaller organization like this, Library Thing is the perfect, easily accessible solution.
Finding a Feed....
The way that I found most of the feeds I chose to subscribe to was word-of-mouth.
I know several librarians in other systems and states with blogs and I looked at what feeds they were subscribing to. Once I found a few blogs that I enjoyed, I read through and looked at who they were quoting and linking to and then added those sites to my RSS feeds. It was a simple process, and I was able to find things that suited my interests fairly easily.
One other thing that I did was google "librarian blogs" and I found this site, which has a nice index of blogs about libraries, related to libraries or by librarians. Once I found that, I had plenty of relevant blogs to choose from.
I know several librarians in other systems and states with blogs and I looked at what feeds they were subscribing to. Once I found a few blogs that I enjoyed, I read through and looked at who they were quoting and linking to and then added those sites to my RSS feeds. It was a simple process, and I was able to find things that suited my interests fairly easily.
One other thing that I did was google "librarian blogs" and I found this site, which has a nice index of blogs about libraries, related to libraries or by librarians. Once I found that, I had plenty of relevant blogs to choose from.
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