Exercise 15: Library 2.0 post Yes, I watch Keith Oberman!

Library 2.0 is about collaborations and conversations coming from libraries to library users, from library users to libraries, and among library users. They are invited to participate interactively with the libraries via blogs, wikis, and social book marking tools. In the 80’s libraries made a major push to develop online public access catalogs. Since then libraries have done well in building electronic collections. Conversely, librarians did not insist that providers comply with the users’ needs for easy to use and robust database interfaces. With the exception of FirstSearch, we have few intuitive interfaces for access to the wealth of our electronic databases. We have dozens of database providers who have simply run amuck, hence the need for yet another product – the federated search tools.

How do libraries regain the interest and trust of the potential library users? Certainly we must use all means available – blogs, wikis, and a Web presence that are responsive to the user wants and needs such as instruction or infotainment via pod, vod, and screen casting; presence in the Second Life; and any other means that becomes available tomorrow to meet, find, and regain library users interest and participation.

Libraries and librarians need to embrace the future instead of running a treadmill of indecision and inaction. Google's mission is to provide access to all of the world's information and make it universally useful and accessible. We need to embrace Google, especially the pertinent off-spring of Google such as Google Scholar, Google Print, and Google Books. They have the same mission: “Information for the people”. We also need to work with OCLC initiatives since their mantra is “harnessing collective intelligence”. We need to pay OCLC for services rendered and keep our libraries holdings up to date. We can now avail ourselves of the “Library local” feature that can be linked through a Google search and provide further access to our library users. We need to ride the coattails of the winners. Take ownership of the decisions to cooperate and thereby give more to our library users. We need, at a minimum, to keep up with the trends and we had better anticipate useful technological innovations. We must decide to cooperate with Google and not dangle our metaphorical toes above the water for a year or a year and a half before taking the plunge. If we are to survive we must embrace the future instead of running a treadmill of indecision and inaction.

Exercise 14: Technorati

Technorati is not exactly the most useable and easy to navigate product. It does have some virtue if you are truly determined.

As usual I was searching for the “adult beginner piano” player or student. The first search netted me quite a few in Japanese. I studied Japanese for only two semesters so this was not going to work. I was already in the advanced search and it was only after my search result had been returned that I could filter for English. (Since the developers of this product know that it is used worldwide there should have been an option to choose more than one language. Most Europeans read multiple languages and many Asians read at least a smattering of English.)

Ultimately I found a good piano site. I’m certain another product (I’m not sure which would have let me arrive with less annoyance.)

In the Google (beta blog search), with the search phrase "adult beginner piano student" I was rewarded with 2,454 sites. However Google blog search did not recognize the words as a phrase and no site listed on the first couple of pages were relevant. When I went in for the "adult beginner piano” search the only relevant blog listed was mine. The Google spiders had already picked me up.

Exercise 13: Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us would be a great tool for people to use at a public service desk. It seems that the student could wile away their “spare work time” in helping to build the reference resource. It could have well-organized, annotated links to frequently recommended sites. Even brand-new student assistants could perform like pros.

Del.icio.us could serve an even more challenging role of keeping me in some kind of good order. As a former cataloger I can relate to cloud tags. I especially like the idea of personally assigned (off the wall associated) tags. If tools such as these had existed decades ago how much further ahead could I have been in this game of life.

I’m not so certain about the social aspect of Del.icio.us. There were no good links for “adult beginner piano.” Maybe I’m the one who needs to create the list.

Exercise 12: Rollyo, a somewhat good thing.

I've mellowed on this site since I wrote my title last week. It was just those ads that are so seemingly innocently place in the middle of the list of entries. Granted they are the lovely mint green that should give the attentive reader a clue that something new is being introduced and not a continuation of the list. It is the insidious and persistent pursuit of that "dollar" that makes me skeptical.

The Rollyo idea is sound and I will probably return to it with a more self serving list of adult beginner piano players sites. Certainly someone else is encountering the same victories and hurdles. I would like to have somebody else’s take on this issue. Rollyo will help me to keep tabs on this very tiny niche market of adult beginner piano players.

All in all there is a huge untapped world that has been opened to me with our 23 things and I’m not even half way through.

Select Search Engine...Lesson PlanningSearch The Web

Powered by Rollyo

Exercise 11: Library Thing, a good thing.

LibraryThing is well-organized multipurpose tool that appeals both to librarians and a general audience of readers. As I was using LibraryThing I left my “librarian thought” and instead went into the mode of “book group member.” I tried to see the product through the eyes of Mary Ann, an Internet savvy member of my book group. The function of association “people who read x also liked y and z” would appeal to Mary Ann because she tries to come to the meetings prepared with a recommendation for the next month’s book selection. Granted we could find a similar function at Amazon but somehow when no one is going to profit from the item cross referenced items, I feel more positive about the item suggested. In the fall when my group starts again I will introduce the LibraryThing Web site to my sister readers. I predict that the group members will like the fact that we can have the group’s history of books read, a list of books by a particular author at a mouse click, reviews of readers, and ultimately more informed choices for future book nominations.

Exercise 10: Generators

Here is the nouveau etch-a-sketch called Sketch Generator called Dumpr at

The generatorsare fun. They can spread alot of joy for the striking of a few key strokes. These apps a getting to be very easy to navigate. Earlier in our exploration it was a chore to get through the text on the site, that is, to zero in on the operative next step. Now I'm just zipping along.

However I am somewhat baffled by the fact that the gnibear's sketch is not instantly visible but needs an additional click.





I found the Cappuccino at ImageChef.

Exercise 9: Newsfeeds

Topix, Liszen, Syndic8. Technorati will be covered in a future post.

LISZEN some day will be a useful site for librarians. Currently it boasts to cover 700 library blogs. It needs some help to increase its coverage before it is seen as a first stop search spot.

Of the three newsfeeds visited for this exercise I especially liked Topix. The indexing seemed to give useful results, instead of a “come on” to more advertisements for commercial enterprises. The paid ads were discreetly off to the side and clearly labeled. Furthermore, Topix seemed to view “phrase” (quotation marks enclosing your search terms) as a phrase search and therefore, I did not get miscellaneous irrelevant hits. I liked the “interactive graph of "x topic" in the news.” A very nice feature if one is trying to zero in on a particular time period.

Syndic8 is an extremely well conceived site. The intake information for the sites is very complete (it almost rivals the MARC format). The chart and statistical breakdown on the site are interesting to view and will no doubt serve as a motivating feature for the hardworking Syndic8 staff. I’m very favorably impressed.