Thing 11: Social Media

Digg has variety ...science to politics. . I read an article about a cloned extinct mountain goat. First time I have ever heard of this! So I added a Digg widget so I can keep up with science and wow my husband with the stories.Then I tried out Mixx which had an article about the evolution of the human jaw and how it eventually affected the size of the human cranium and the size of the brain. More wow! I even e-mailed this one to my husband. Then, I found an aritlcle on Reddit revealing a new planet in the Hubble telescope data. Pretty interesting stuff. Maybe I need a widget for all three. I think I am an information junkie and I think even the truly useless information is great. You just never know who or what may pop up on the public reference desk and find this useful. I can see that new channels for information are necessary if you are in the information business. Let's go for it. Unfortunately, social media has edged out the RSS feeds in my list of favorite things.

Thing 10: Tagging and Delicious

I signed up for a Delicious account at least a month ago because one of my co-workers said it was really great. My favorite websites have traveled well, sticking like glue on my network account, always returning on Internet Explorer, as I moved from workstation to workstation so I really did not see the need for another way to keep them by my side. But, I signed up anyway since it is the thing to do in "23 Things". Then a problem: layers of Delicious address lines and subscreens were loading whenever I just wanted to answer a question at the Reference desk.I started going into "Tools" and "View" and removing address lines, but never actually going so far as to dump Delicious because I needed to work up a resounding and fascinating post about it. I even learned how to disable add-ons. So Delicious, if nothing else, you have taught me a few tricks on how to manage the myriad of new gadgets, widgets, add-ons and general paraphenalia that comes with this exercise. Reviewing Delicious, I ran through the five most popular sites and found one that put a group of gorgeous blogs together in one place. All these sites would really help a library programmer because they are so full of graphic detail that takes creativity to new heights. Tagging my favorite sites was fun and it is supposed to bring new friends and contacts, so we will see what happens with that endeavor. For the meantime, I've got my Delicious Badge.

Thing 9 : Sharing: slides, photos, databases

Searching around for something to put on Slideshare, I found an old PowerPoint presentation on the duties of a Library Page at my former branch. Dusting it off and updating it took a minute and then I finally was able to upload "Page Power" to Slideshare. I was not able to embed it because my workstation has an identity crisis. However here is my link:

http://www.slideshare.net/secret/aVMem4qSlApWEY

Looking through Slideshare, I saw a lot of good presentations...even on library topics, so there are lots of opportunities to review what others are doing to publicize their efforts. Letting the world know the role that libraries the new W.2 world is a big job and we need to use every tool we can to accomplish this.

Back to Flickr where I went to a gadget that allowed me to display my two lion photos vertically and horizontally ....but they look like so many more!

Thing Eight: Communication Web 2.0 Style

Instant messaging has always been very mysterious to me. I have even accidently helped library patrons get onto the Yahoo instant messaging software ages ago but never had the nerve to take this up as a hobby until now. First, I decided that I would experiment with Meebo because I did not have to sign up for another account. However, after I downloaded their widget I am not sure how to figure out when the NEFLIN folks are online.Oh well, deciding to go for it I realized that back on Flickr I had a Yahoo account. So, now I have Yahoo Instant Messenger as well. But, in editing my site I lost my Meebo! Horrors! This means that I have to keep working away at the 23Things and not let a day go by that I do not work on it. Why? Just because its like my exercise class...chipping away at the pounds and strengthening my body has a lot of the same discipline that I require to master the Internet environment and get comfortable with Library 2.0.
As for library applications, I wonder if this could be used between the two reference desks upstairs and the staff offices downstairs in the library where I work...another way to keep relay messages and keep in touch.
SMS or short messaging service would be ideal to let cell phone users receive messages about their library accounts. Australia and New Zealand, served by the information system company Civica, have adopted the Spydus library automation system. Their website displays an endorsement from the Lord Mayor of Wollongong City, who makes no bones about the convenience it offers to users of the city library and the time it saves carrying out routine transactions. Since cell phone users are legion over here, wouldn't a similar system be great to help our patrons attached to their cell phones, keep up with holds, overdues, ILLs , and purchase requests?