Delicious-Social Bookmarking (9 of 23 Things)

Okay - I'm on overload with user ids and passwords - though truthfully I keep reusing the same ones over and over. My kingdom is yours if you discover my secret! I'm finding Delicious to be cumbersome and finicky. Every tag has to be spelled exactly the same way, each and every time or it's seen as a different tag and heaven forbid you put a comma between the tags or a space between words. I was using the same four tags and by the time I got five websites loaded, Delicious thought I'd used seven or eight different tags. And it wasn't all that easy to fix. My Delicious link is http://delicious.com/friend.dc85 .

I can understand the value of such a social bookmarking site for some occupations/purposes, ie. teachers of any kind, sharing with others in the same profession/business...uh, okay I'm having a hard time coming up with a lot of others - but I'm sure there are. For certain purposes I could imagine social bookmarking working for libraries - booklists, award winners, etc. But if you want all your bookmarks in one place, other sites appear to be simplier (Mybookmarks.com) but not social (able to be shared) - I was glad to see there is an option to keep a bookmark private - that would have been a deal breaker.

I think I'll slowly add more bookmarks to Delicious and play around with it. Maybe I'll appreciate it more, the more I use the beast.

Tagging (8 of 23 Things)

I have already been using tagging on my blog. Since my blog is serving a dual purpose - a chronicle about my Web 2.0 experiences (via 23 Things) and a reading journal, tagging allows me and any follower of my blog to isolate the different components and read only what is relevant to them at the time. Quite handy!

As I played around with FPL's iBistro listings with LibraryThing, my naivete surfaced and I had to research LibraryThing to figure out where their tags came from. I am assuming the font size is a cloud and indicative of the frequency of the individual tags relative to the other tags. At the rate the website has grown its easy to see the relevance of the tags as a whole.

I don't know that these tags will replace subject headings in libraries - subject headings can grow in number with change and innovation but, relative to LibraryThing, they are somewhat controlled and finite while the tags are devices of the masses and infinite and sometimes quite bizarre. Subject headings provide a constant and lend control to a library's catalogue . I think tags compliment the subject headings by providing input from the readers at large and in large numbers. This should be encouraged - but as with most of these Things - I can't imagine spending that much time in front of my computer - I mean inventorying all my own books - give me a break! Although it is another way to chronicle your reading. Think I'll stick with my blog.

Instant Messaging (7 of 23 Thing)

After a few false starts and a little more than a small amount of technical help via IM and in person, I managed to get Instant Messaging set up on my desk and laptop computers. Along with neat icons, too! At the moment, all my buddies are family members who have to put up with me and all my fooling around. I will try figuring out Communicator next week at work if I find the time.

For the most part, I find Instant Messaging to be a lot more work than a simple phone call. First it breaks your concentration, second, you have to compose your replies somewhat quickly (and spell correctly) so you don't feel like you're letting down your side of the conversation and third - you have to keep up with the incoming replies as you compose your own - the pressure! Now I could see how it could come in handy -like when your kid IMs you at work and even though it looks like you're working you're really helping them with their homework. Ha! Ha! However if phone reception is unavailable, expensive or just plain bad but Internet is at the ready, I could understand how this "Thing" would come in handy - like on a cruise ship or in a foreign country.

As for public libraries, using IM to answer reference questions would provide real-time virtual customer service. Of course logistical issues such as dedicating manpower ready to respond to incoming inquiries, handling multiple patrons at the same time and setting limits on time spent with each inquiry, would have to be addressed.

This is a Thing I was already familiar with and believe I'll attempt to make more use of it in the future -to broaden my experience and see if my opinion of its worth is justified.

Digg-Social News Aggregator (6 of 23 Things)

Wow! How does anyone online get any work done. You could easily spend hours reading, commenting on and watching the progress of posted items. I was really fascinated by the real-time aspect of this aggregator - with the Upcoming feature Digg is literally working within seconds of stories being posted. Digg and public libraries are similar in that popular opinion reigns. On Digg, the stories with the most "votes" or diggs are chosen by the readers and are posted highest or first. Likewise, in public libraries patron requests and popularity are given high priority when purchasing material. The biggest differences, and they carry considerable weight, are the very real time element (Digg wins), the online community's role of deciding what stories rise to the forefront (Digg again) and most importantly, the authority of the "news" (Score one for libraries). There is no stipulation as to where the information comes from, no verification , no fact checkers of any kind. Since libraries provide both internet access and therefore access to social news aggregators, as well as authoritative sources, we're covering the best of both worlds! An interesting social experiment.

I registered as a Digger, but as fast as breaking news hits this site I'm not sure when I'll submit anything. I think it would probably be something offbeat but immensely interesting. I'll keep my eyes peeled for the extraordinary. Fun Thing!

Twitter (5 of 23 Things)

Okay - so is there any better way to waste one's time? Maybe texting? There are not enough hours in my day to twitter. I suppose if I was tied to a computer 16+ hours a day with no phone or outside contact this mechanism could be useful. To begin with the jargon is foreign - not user- friendly to a newbie. It's even hard to tell who's posting - the twitterer or someone making a twitter comment. The celebrity twitters are littered with ads that are very distracting.

Sorry to be so negative. How could a public library possibly use this Web 2.0 device - maybe something with teens. They are usually in the know on new technologies and seem to embrace any and all changes. Also, maybe for commentary or opinions on a particular subject or virtual book discussion. I'm open to suggestions, but at first glance I'm mystified by all the hype.

Photo Sharing (4 of 23 Things)

The holidays have me behind and here's my attempt to catch up. I fooled around with several photo sharing websites (Flickr and Shutterfly) and was pleased with the results from my trial picture searches. Also impressive were the tools available to improve the composition and quality of your photos -although I believe my Mac's iPhoto will do much the same and keep my pictures on my own computer. I also realize you have the option to keep your online pictures private, but my suspicious side (I'd rather not call it my paranoid nature) makes me leery about posting my personal pictures on the internet. I believe you should consider anything that is uploaded or sent electronically as public domain. I rarely pay bills online either. So with that said, I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority and that I probably wouldn't be personally making use of the Photo Sharing Thing.

As for library use of this Web 2.0 Thing, many marketing opportunities present themselves. Many patrons will enjoy seeing online slideshows of themselves and their families participating in library programs. Also showing the larger community the variety and turnout for library programming impresses civic leaders and increases public opinion resulting in more library funding. Looking at various public libraries already taking advantage of photo sharing, I found a majority of pictures focused exclusively on audience members - especially children. The Marathon County Public Libraries in Wisconsin prominently posted a photo and video release form, others did not. I have to wonder if releases were obtained from every person in the pictures. Am I a privacy nut? - I don't know, but I don't want to unexpectedly find myself in any online pictures - what's the chance that wouldn't happen? Also, a few of the libraries appear to allowed patrons to share their unrelated photos via the library link - what is that about?

I believe the utmost care must be used when deciding what pictures to upload to a library or photo sharing site to protect both the library and the patron.