Library Thing Eleven

LT seems to have a really wide appeal to many librarians, but personally, I don't find LT that useful for my own reading development. All the book covers look nice and pretty and everything, but I'm just not into checking out others' bookshelves.

I prefer to hear my colleagues and friends talk about books that have really moved and inspired them, or to read blogs and author reviews, like for example, what our fellow blogger "Stuff'n'Nonsense" does very well. And what others here have done in lists on their blog sidebars.

Library Thing is just one of several flavours of book sharing social software available on the internet. Shelfari is also very popular, and really recently, as in this month, Google Books released My Library. Read this recent Wired blog post about Google Books and My Library. The cool thing about Google Books is that you can search for a book and also check out which libraries have it. I think that this will be one to look out for as it becomes more developed, especially for us in libraries.

LibraryThing and similar tools have the potential to be great reader services tools for our patrons who prefer online interaction. For example, we could open up our personal bookshelves to patrons so they can see what we, as 'expert' readers, are reading.

thing ten

i didnt have to think hard to bring you my favourite image generator.

the card catalog generator is fun. it's old skool. its application in libraries? none, really, except that it looks like a library card catalogue. The Melbourne Athenauem Library, where I used to work, still has a card catalogue in the library space. It hasn't been in use for a while, but it's a beautiful thing to look at and be reminded that once upon a time we didn't use computers...

really simple syndication

There was a time in my life when I had a huge list of bookmarked sites, and, to see when each had been updated I had to manually check each one. rss has solved that issue.

In the past I've experimented with different types of feed readers - the third party applications which need to be downloaded and installed on your pc, and also the web based ones. My personal preference is with the third party applications because they seem to deliver the content in a more streamlined and user friendly way.

The one I use, FeedReader, also delivers images with the text, something that my web based ones such as Google Reader don't do. But the downside of this is that you can only access the feeds from the computer with the software installed...which is only a downside if you are one of those people who needs their updates every minute of the day. (Yarra doesnt let you download third party aplications so don't bother trying yourself - I've already tried) .

Libraries and RSS?
Having a dynamic, rather than static, web presence is something that libraries should do if they are serious out their online patrons. RSS works for sites that change on a regular basis.

For LPD purposes, RSS feeds are pretty useful too. The only problem is deciding which of the myriad library blogs you want to read...

Library Etiquette is my favourite library blog and I have it in my feed reader. I pretend that it's professional development, but it's more entertainment.

Anonymous Lawyer is my favourite non-library blog that i subscribe to, also more entertainment than contributing to my professional development. if anything it is the opposite.

My geeky computer friend is a podcaster and this is his science blog, which is pretty much a gratutious plug to get more listeners. It's #2 in the iTunes charts, which in the blogosphere is like being in the Australian Idol Opera House Finale.

technology for chicks

my techie interest ['thing 7 required blog post] is the stuff that sparkles and has glittery dangly things hanging from it, for example, this Swarovski USB stick.

suspended from a beige silk cord, this heart pendant splits into two parts, revealing a hidden USB memory key. Made of polished stainless steel with fully faceted, asymmetrically-cut Silver Shade crystal, the two halves are held together with a pin. There's 1GB of data (which is about 250 songs or 1,000 photos) with password protection and high-speed USB 2.0 interface.

a recent saatchi and saatchi survey of british internet using females concluded that only 9% of respondents thought it was important that their gadgets look feminine. this was supported by qualitative feedback from opinion leaders and consumers who felt "patronised" and "offended" by the abundance of pink products available at the expense of the sleek and beautifully designed and packaged products they wanted to see.

as a proud member of the 9 per cent minorty I wish to reclaim all that is pink, or pearlised, or has hello kitty emblazoned across it.

flickr not fun

flickr is all well and good, until you try to merge a couple of old accounts and lock yourself out altogether. which i recently did.

so instead of extolling the virtues of flickr i am going to have a major bitch about how I emailed the 'help' desk about 3 weeks ago to ask them for assistance, and have yet to hear back from them. i'm taking bets that my email went into their 'inbox' never to be seen again.

technology is wonderful and amazing until it fails you. just like i can never rely on the spine label printer to work every time (which it never does, guaranteed) one should also not count on things in 2.0 land. especially those which are free.

how does flickr fit into our library service? in short, at present it doesn't, we don't have an active enough online patronage to warrant it.

but that doesnt mean that librarians should ignore it, however. there may be a time when it will be useful. on a personal level it's a great photosharing tool amongst friends. it's also a nice tool for librarians who like to network beyond physical boundries. as you can see in the image above, i have done my bit for team librarian and made my own librarian trading card, many of which are featured on flickr. They are all pulled together from disparate photo albums with a unified tag. i simpsonified myself using a simpsons the movie online image generator. i think it's a good likeness.

On my trading card I've quoted F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. to read the quote you need to click on the image to enlarge it. Fitzgerald mentions sobriety and being in the library - he's clearly never been to Yarra (moot point: he's dead and american).

the seven 1/2 habits

i have just realised that the seven habits theme has been taken from steven covey's best selling self help book seven habits of highly successful people/teens/families/whatever next? it has given me inspiration.

three goals
my goal in this ten or so week exercise is to have critically analysed 2.0 in the context of our organisation.

i will also aim to stop rolling my eyes at those who have made Second Life their first. though i may not achieve this goal.

and finally, my last goal shall be to formulate the definitive seven habits of highly effective librarians. if successful, this will be my greatest achievement to date. input welcome.

one life
not sure what it means, but it sounds good.