Week #7- Wiki

“Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information.” -Michael Scott (Steve Carell), The Office.

This week's topic is wikis, which many people use, but don't know that they are using it. I like wikis for what they allow, user input and flexibility. But, caveat emptor, (Latin-let the buyer beware), what you see is what you get. As Wikipedia found out after the episode,"The Negotiation" aired and their site was flooded with activity. (Not all of it good).

The wiki that we have for staff use is good but it is not the first place that I usually look. I think that a lot of staff aren't using regularly, not because we don't like it, because we are still stuck in our "old ways".

I think the the library could use wikis in a similar way as Durham County. We could ask for patron input about the library, (how did you enjoy such and such program, etc). Of course, there would have to be some control over what things are considered acceptable and what are not.

Another way we could use wikis is similar Shelfari and other sites, that allow you to add author information. If we wanted to do brief bios about authors or even Henrico County and library history. There are many ways to use wikis.

Week # 6- Photo Sharing (Flickr)

This week we are learning about photo sharing. I do share photos on-line so I am familiar with some of the sites. I do have a Flickr account (before it was suggested) but I don't use it much. Most of my on-line photo sharing is done with my social networking accounts. However, I do like Flickr and I think it is neat! (Did I just use neat?)



I can't see how the library will use Flickr, but I'm sure that someone out there is thinking of a way. I guess you can use them to share photos of events, but I'm not sure how many patrons would care to have their photos all over the internet. I like to have my pictures taken and I do put them up. But I would want them to be all over the web where anyone could use them for any purpose. (Please don't pretend that it does not happen, because you know it does!) Yes, I know that they have copyright protection, but don't kid yourself into thinking that you are safe because it's there. People photocopy protected items all the time. If you don't believe me, just look at how many people photocopy books.



Now, I know that the "assignment" was to post a picture and write about it. But, there was a chick fight in the library and you have to see all the photos. So, I am posting the link and you can check it out for yourself.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9878737@N02/

Enjoy!!!

Random Thought for Today

Sorry, I have been busy lately and have gotten behind on my random thoughts. Not that I haven't had any random thoughts just haven't had time to blog about them. Now, here is today's thought:

Why do we park on a driveway and drive on a parkway?

Week# 5-Podcasting

This week we are learning about podcasting. I like podcasting and I enjoy watching them. Just like everything else there are bad podcasts and good ones. Now, I'm not saying that you have to be Steven Spielberg to do a podcast but atleast have the basics down. There are certain elements that should be present when you are doing one, and loud noises and dark backgrounds are not okay. It is amazing what people will podcast and some of the most interesting ones are ones that people make up. One of the best that I have seen was a woman standing on the table singing and then she fell off. It had me crying, it was so funny.


I think that podcasting could be useful to libraries, a number of libraries are already doing them, including school libraries. There are lots of uses for them and I sure that we can find ways to use them here. My one question is who will do them and how much staff time will go into them?

Week # 4 Twitter (the good thing)

This week we are learning about Twitter. Although I don't care for it (read my last post) there are some useful things about Twitter. One of the most useful things about Twitter is that you can tweet about events that are happening as they happen. (This is true of most social sites, I facebooked while watching the presidential inauguration). Which is very handy when it is a big news story or event. This is useful to the library because we can tweet library updates, ie power outages.

Another use for Twitter in the library is tweeting events that are happening at the moment. How nice would it be to remind members that craft/storytime/movies/book club is happening at such a such place at such a such time? (Crafts at * at 10 am). It could bring more people to the library. It never hurts to have a lot of reminders, we live such busy lives.

A library could also announce new books (although this could be very time consuming and you need a staff member to update regularly).

It probably would be a good idea for each individual branch to get their own Twitter id so members can choose what branch updates they want. Nothing worse than getting news about a place that you don't visit or get to the library to find out that you are in the wrong place.

So, I say give it a try and see what happens.

Week #4- Twitter/Your Choice (The bad thing)

So this week we learned about Twitter. I am familiar with Twitter but I don't use it. Why? Because I have a problem with it. Well, it's not the technology itself, but with the people. Andy Warhol once said, "Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes", this is how I feel about the whole micro-blogging, blogging, social networking world that we live in. Now, don't get me wrong, I do myspace, blog and facebook...more than I am willing or care to admit. (Did I just say that?) But, I draw the line at Twitter.

There is nothing so important, so urgent in someone's life (or my own) that I need to follow and updated it every minute, every second of the day. Do I care that you cut your hair too short or that you took a dump (ewww, no)? Do I care that you are in a resturant/bar/coffee shop? That you put ontwo different shoes? That you tape you thumb to your hand to see what it feels like to be a dinosaur? No, no, funny but no.

People assume that what they are doing or have to say is so important, that others will interrupt their days and lives to find out about yours... umm, if I wanted to know what you are doing, I would have called you or better yet asked you.

The fact that people are willing to tell someone and everyone every detail of their lives is mind blowing. I may blog and give some details of my life, (I'm guilty of doing this on facebook and myspace), but there are some things that I don't want you to know, ever. Now, I know that you don't have to tell the whole world that you took a dump (eww, again) but most people do. You know why? Because there is nothing that is personal anymore, it's like people don't have personal filters.

Now, for those who know me, know that I am guilty of saying things without caring. But the percentage of things that I do say is much smaller than the percentage of things that I think and that I want to say. You know why? It's called a personal filter!

Another problem with Twitter is that most people say things in the "heat of the moment" and say things that they A) didn't mean/did mean and/or B) later regret. Ashton Kutcher is an great example of A and of B.

As a culture are we so vain to think that we matter more than the next person? Or is "reality" tv to blame? (Here's a hint, it's not real. It's scripted). Does the mundane feel more like an event if everybody knows that it is happening? Or does "living out loud" mean that we have to broadcast of lives to everyone? Hope you have some answers because I don't.

The last (bad thing) about Twitter that I will say is this: it makes it easy for you to stalk people. Let's see, you tell people what you are wearing, what you are doing and where you are going. Now, you have a person obsessed with you or liking you in a really, really weird way. So, they follow your tweets all day long (and you for that matter), then they build a little fantasy "relationship" with you and you don't even know it. Next thing you know, there's a rabbit cooking on your stove (Fatal Attraction is more than a movie). So be careful of what you tweet you never know who is reading...and yes, stalking is a crime. But people do it anyway.

Week #3-RSS Feeds

Okay, I know much about RSS feeds since I happen to subscribe to a couple in my personal life. I agree that they do save you time by bring the "news" to you. But, if you are like me once I get the updates I go to the site. I like looking at the sites and commenting if I feel something is worthy. (The RSS feeds helps me in being one of the first people to comment). While it is a useful tool it becomes annoying if you are getting feeds from sites that update a lot (like CNN or TMZ). Be careful on what feeds you choose, because there's nothing worse than trying to get a job done and you keep getting interrupted.



I can see how RSS is important to larger library systems like New York Public (89 branches) and Miami-Dade County (44 branches) and others with multiple branches, I can't see much use in smaller systems such as ours. Although, any system could benefit from having one.



If the feeds are set up like Library Journal's where you could pick from feeds then it could benefit those members that are interested in computer classes and films but not in children's events and vice versa.