Library 2.0: The Library is a growing organism

In reading all the perspectives on Library 2.0, I was initially reminded of library guru, Ranganathan, and his law, "The library is a growing organism." Libraries should grow and adapt with the times, culture and technology that it finds itself in. Library 2.0, the goal to make the library more interactive and collaborative with its community, is fulfilling this law of Ranganathan.

I propose that most libraries have been doing "Library 2.0" all along. We have always listened to our community and tried to offer what they demand. The library I work at has computers for anyone to use (not just library card holders), brand new DVDs, multiple copies of best sellers, etc.

The virtual library exists at the library I work at as well. I assisted a gentleman on the phone who had signed up for an online library card. He was only planning to use that online library card to gain access to the Value Line database. He was never planning to enter the physical library itself. This is certainly an active example of Library 2.0 where we provide the customer with a new way to provide service instead of the customer coming to us.

We can not predict where libraries will be in 5 or 10 years, but if we apply the open ideas of Library 2.0 and remember that the library is a growing organism, we will be prepared for the future.

That's Technorati!!!

So, once again, I am exploring a world of endless blog-abilities: aka Technorati. It is truly amazing how much "free time" some of these bloggers have. Any conceivable subject they are off and blogging about it. Some can be highly entertaining.

I explored search tools for "Learning 2.0" and found some blogs that occurred regardless of the tag search, blog post search, etc. However, each type of search also found ones that were different as well.

I tried searching for topics I was interested in and realized my flaw of entering Montana as a search term. I am thinking the state where I lived for 8 1/2 years, not "Hannah Montana." (Oh the popularity of that gal! Yikes!) I did stumble upon some other legitimate blogs dealing with the state of Montana and was able to click on a tag of Bozeman (it was 50 miles from my home in Emigrant). I was eerily reminded when I saw the video links and the inside of the Burger King there. Also someone had road video of driving I-90 from Missoula to Bozeman. Dare I say, it brings me back.

I did experiment and go as far as claiming my blog on Technorati. I will see if any comments increase on my blog as a result. Perhaps, I am not Comment-worthy. . . Only time will tell.

Delectably Del.icio.us!

So, in this exercise, I was introduced to the social bookmarking site, Del.icio.us. I liked the concept of the font size of the tags determining the popularity of such tags. I browsed comics, reference, research and photos. I was impressed with the ways you could either go directly to a website which was bookmarked/tagged but also be able to read what other Del.icio.us users had to say about a site as well.

At first, I didn't understand why anyone would want a bookmarking site when you can establish one on your personal computer internet browser. Then as I read about "social bookmarking" I realized for those people who can never remember a website address and may perhaps have to use a computer at a library and can't remember where they found some information, this type of "social bookmarking" website allows an individual to retrieve one's bookmarks from any computer anywhere.

I also read about the idea of a "shared account." This may be useful for a library information desk where many of us have to recreate the wheel if one is not familiar with useful reference-type websites online. If an information desk group added websites into a shared social bookmarking account such as Del.icio.us, it would be a good way to quickly access online reference tools.

It used to be "Penpals" and "Listservs"

So, I visited MySpace and Facebook today. These are definitely the ultimate in social networking where you can link to other people easily and reveal as much or as little as you want to about yourself. I was very amazed at how some people so freely provide intimate details about their lives!

To me, MySpace and Facebook are replacing things like penpals and listservs. Back in the good ole days, you could write to a penpal and you would eagerly await your penpal's reply. You would probably get a neat stamp out of the deal if your penpal was out of the country. Now with these social networking online sites, a reply could be instantaneous!

If you are a fan of a band, singer, actor, etc., you used to just go to a website or fansite and perhaps subscribe to a listserv to get updates on the artist's activities and possibly even network with other fans. Now with MySpace it seems to be all in one place. I went to former American Idol finalist Vonzell Solomon's MySpace site and was amazed at all the things she has up on her site! Wow!

I also stumbled into the American Library Association's MySpace site and was intrigued with the various things on that site. YouTube's of special guest appearances at ALA meetings and ways to network with other libraries and librarians were neat features.

Our library could benefit from a MySpace by providing links to activities going on at the library and providing a forum for customers to write reviews on books, DVDs and other programs.

Post that Library Thing!

Wow! The wonderful world of social networking for booklovers!

There were many neat features on Library Thing that made it very easy to add a book to one's list--like an amazon.com or Library of Congress search. You also get pictures of covers, etc. I liked reading the reviews of books on my list from other members. I also liked how statistics would come up quickly on how many members listed one of your books in their lists.

The social data tab was nice so you could quickly read reviews. I also figured out how to write a review of my own!

The link to the authors in your list was amazing! With a double-click of the mouse, you could view lots of information on your favorite authors.

Let's just say this was a fun exercise:

My list: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/scuddahoo

The Warholizer

Okay, so I was born in 1968, and I was not hanging around with Andy Warhol, Lou Reed, Nico, etc., in the Village and doing artsy things. But now I have the chance through an image generator I explored called the Warholizer to take any picture and add a little of Warhol's genius to my snapshots. Miss Amber is perhaps just a budding starlet and in no way a Marilyn, but it is sure darn cute!

Try your own snapshot with Warholizer at http://www.shadowfire.de/warholizer

Finding more feeds?

I tried exploring topix.net, Syndic8.com, and technorati.com to see how they worked. I saw how it was relatively easy to type in a search term and find recent news feeds or in some cases, blogs on a topic. However, none of them made it very obvious to me if you could locate an exact RSS feed. I came closest during a search on Syndic8.com for an XML for the Arizona Diamondbacks, but I wasn't successful in adding it to my blog on bloglines. For that, I will try again later.

I do find it easiest to go directly to a website on a topic or person (musician, celebrity, etc.) and see if they provide an RSS feed. I did that successfully with weather.com and the Sheryl Crow website and proceeded to add those feeds to my bloglines account. I also see the advantage of such a thing as bloglines where you can check for updates on all of your blogs or websites of interest all in one spot.

RSS and Newsreaders

I have just explored the world of RSS and newsreaders on bloglines.com. It is very intriguing that with a few copy and pastes of URLs, you can be signed up for real time news information and also people's blogs.

Library Land can benefit from the use of RSS feeds by alerting people of new books in the collection or basic account information. People can also subscribe to news and weather feeds through the library website and stay informed of the world at large.

My feeds can be accessed at http://www.bloglines.com/public/scuddahoo