wikis (wk 7, ex 16)

I think wikis are among the more potentially useful things we've explored. I found a couple of particularly interesting wikis out there:

• LISWiki - A wiki of all things library and information science, it has everything from encyclopedia-type articles to information on how various libraries handle common issues (cell phones in libraries for example). The wiki fairly new, and so many of the articles are somewhat basic, but it's interesting nonetheless..

• ShareILL - This one is great! Intended for anyone working with interlibrary loan, this wiki covers a variety of topics. Tips on finding those hard-to-find items a library user wants, information on ILL software and codes, and ILL-related conferences are all covered here.

It seems like there are a number of ways wikis could be useful in the library/ITS:

• A wiki for staff to share information or ideas, for example a reference wiki which would include noteworthy reference questions, sources of information, etc. Or an ITS wiki where useful information could be posted (for example, "how to change a Blackboard password").

• Subject guide wikis where librarians could provide some starting points, and library users could add sources they found useful, or add notes to existing links.

• Some libraries have ventured toward enabling library users to annotate or tag their OPAC. This is a really fascinating concept, although this is a point where the lack of control involved makes me shudder. But I could also see it creating a much more useful OPAC, if it was done well...

I think I might actually work on creating a wiki one of these days.

thoughts on Library 2.0 (wk 6, ex. 15)

I read Away from the "icebergs" (by Rick Anderson in OCLC Newsletter's Web 2.0: Where will it take libraries?), and thought it made a lot of sense...

1. We put a lot of effort into teaching library users to navigate poorly-designed, clumsy systems. Perhaps some of that effort should instead be used to recreate the systems so that they are more intuitive and more precise.
   
   
2. Library services and resources should be available to users where they are, and should ideally integrate with the rest of their world. Not only would users be able to access our databases from home, but using the library shouldn't be an entirely separate process... Integrating the library into Blackboard is a good example of this. Developing a presence for the library and catalog somewhere like Facebook is another idea...

Into a new world of librarianship and To more powerful ways to cooperate (Michael Stephens' and Chip Nilges' sections of the same article, respectively) touches on the importance of the user-centered (and even user-based) nature of Library 2.0. Incorporating 2.0 tools is a great way to break down barriers (real and perceived) between the library and its users. Interactive tools, if used effectively, should give library users more ability to tailor their library experience to their own needs and to collaborate with others to make improvements. This can in turn create a sense among users that the library is a responsive, evolving entity with much more to offer than they might have realized.

technorati (wk 6, ex 14)

I claimed this blog, and added a button (on the left) so that my readers can mark this as a Technorati fave... (Please do, it will make my week!)

Technorati is helpful, and not just in locating entire blogs or individual blog posts on particular topics. The authority ranking gives a sense of how widely read and interactive a blog is. And it's interesting to see the different blogs a single user has created.

Surprise: a couple of Technorati's top blogs (by number of links to them) are ones I'd never heard of, and they sound interesting...

I'm going to edit a few of my previous posts to include Technorati tags.

ITSummer2.0

social bookmarking (wk 6, ex 13)

I actually used to use del.icio.us and really liked it. My two favorite aspects:

1) Tagging. I never liked the ways browser bookmarks could be organized. Important links were always getting lost, and I couldn't categorize a site in multiple ways. Tagging fixes all that.

2) Being able to share nicely. While it's often really helpful to follow strangers (with similar interests) around, being able to deliberately share discoveries with people I know is even better.

I later discovered (and honestly prefer) diigo, which has most of the same capabilities and a lot of additional ones. It calls itself "social annotation" (as opposed to del.icio.us' "social bookmarking"), and is particularly useful in a research context. You can tag and bookmark an interesting page, but you can also highlight and use sticky note comments all over that page. Yes, the dream of every student who hates wasting printer paper (or paying for printing). And you can choose to share (or not share) your contributions with other diigo users visiting that page.

One downside: I found that diigo was even trickier to use than del.icio.us if you migrate among several computers. This drawback is the biggest reason I no longer use either tool on a regular basis...

bookmarking
research
ITSummer2.0

rollyo (wk5, ex12)

I think Rollyo has a lot of potential. This is something I will need to play around with some more. The idea of setting up a customized "Reference" search of sites I use regularly... that could be great!

When I order a book (or books) for myself, I prefer to support smaller/more independent online bookstores (it's just nice to give something other than Amazon a chance!). And then there are stores offering used or discount books. But I often end up using Amazon, because it's just too much trouble to visit several sites. So I created Find a Book Search, which searches a group of alternate online bookstores. One fell swoop, and I know if I can order my book from one of those stores...

books
search

image generator: READ poster!

I used AutoMotivator to make my very own READ poster:

LibraryThing (wk 5, ex 11)

I've used LibraryThing (and a couple of other tools) in the past to keep track of what I've read and get ideas for what to read next. This time, I created an account and cataloged my actual bookshelf at home.

I hate to admit it, but I love being able to sort my books by LCC or Dewey.

My bookshelf

image generator: perception laboratory

This was probably the most interesting image generator I tried:

Perception Laboratory's Face Transformer

You upload a picture of your face, and then you can transform it into another age group, race, or gender, or to match an artistic style (Manga on the left, Modigliani on the right).

image generator: mr. picassohead

Mr. Picassohead:

This one lets you draw a Picasso-type head. The heads are saved in a public gallery.

Click here to see mine.

image generators (wk 5, ex 10)

This was fun. I found a few great image generators:

Cappuccino Coffee Generator

Bookend Generator

More to come...