YA Librarian: Taming the Beasts & Other Tall Tales

Pot Luck #56: TXT U L8R - Texting

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:50:00 +0000

I text message regularly and made use of text messaging during Hurricane Ike, as well as just on a day-by-day basis. Mostly I text my husband and friends (I have sent picture messages of our new puppy to relatives that live far away...did you know that iphones don't send and receive picture messages?...I mean, what's even the point?); sometimes I just need to send my husband a reminder "pick up milk" or "we need dog food" or "did you feed Lilly her vitamin" because we'll just miss each other coming and going from home (and he doesn't listen to his voice messages, but will see a text). I don't use much text lingo, though. I don't know if it is my irritation with poor grammar or because I'm an old fart or what, but I just don't really like many of the abbreviations. I'll use them when necessary, but rarely do I send anything more than a few words....so what's the point of abbreviations?

Books, Readers and Beyond: #54 Social Networking Through Books

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:27:00 +0000

Exercise 1:
I have tried joining an in-person book club. Several, in fact. When we first moved the Houston area I went to many in an attempt to meet more people my own age (as when we first moved down here the only people we were consistently hanging out with were my parents...although I love them, we also needed people other than family to have fun with!). I have a book club that my husband and I go to once a month. We enjoy the people, but everyone is closer to my parents' ages rather than ours. That is my one complaint. There are tons of book clubs in the Houston area...some of them are too far away to be practical (I love Jane Austen, but I don't see myself driving to Tomball...sorry, guys). Others you have to be a particular type of person to be a member (moms, retired couples, Christians, etc.). Where are the bookclubs for twenty-somethings? Hello? I like to read and discuss books, too. I have never tried joining an online book club; I personally prefer face-to-face interactions for book discussions. I always hated the online components in my graduate course work...I can't imagine a book discussion group being much different (feeling obligated to post...wondering if you have the time...feeling like everyone else is showing me up because they seem to post a new comment every twenty minutes...)

Exercise Two:
We actually have a reading group for our teens. We have the kids come in and talk about everything they've enjoyed reading over the last month. With our teens, having a designated book to discuss doesn't really work - schedules are busy, they don't all like to read the same thing, we don't have to worry about having enough copies of a certain title, they don't have to feel any strain to read above their level or on a topic they don't enjoy, and there is no pressure to have something "completed." Sometimes the kiddos will have read the same book and we can talk about it together. Other times they are just excited to share what they've enjoyed and pick up some recommendations (it's like a readers' advisory group...so now it's not just silly old me telling them the book is good, it's their peers as well!).

Exercise Three:
I searched for reviews and ratings for Looking for Alaska by John Green on both Shelfari and LibraryThing. The Shelfari community rated the title a little over a four (slightly lower than Amazon's customer reviews...at least according to Shelfari). LibraryThing users rated the title with 4.36 stars. The reviews seem roughly the same. Some absolutely love the book...and a few think it is overrated, unrealistic and doesn't make sense . I wasn't surprised by the ratings or the reviews.

Books, Readers and Beyond: #53 Finding Books Online

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:48:00 +0000

Exercise One:
The three closest to my branch appear to be a Barnes and Noble, a Borders, and a 1/2 Price Books. Where, oh where, are my independent booksellers? Do you just not have an online presence...is that why I'm not finding you? What happened to the days when I could take a free bus to Bookpeople and Bookwoman :o(
Anyway...all three of these booksellers have a web presence.
Barnes and Noble - Quite flashy and interactive, with a scrolling "our picks this week" feature. Barnes and Noble sells a variety of materials (not just books...although I've noticed that their movies and music tend to be on the overpriced and small selection side of things). Also, this might just be a temporary feature of today rather than any everyday one...but "Tween-tastic Artists"...who thinks these captions up? I'm not a tween, but I'm certainly offended.
Borders - I personally like the Borders website better than BN. First, they have a Shelfari-looking feature of new titles...which I think helps them integrate into the online bookish communities a little better. I also believe that Borders has pulled in customer opinions within their home page in a more accessible manner.
1/2 Price Books - Personally my favorite chain bookstore to shop in (although I work in a library...so I rarely, if ever, purchase books) out of the three. 1/2 Price Books doesn't have a snappy, super-interactive website. But, honestly, I don't think they need to be flashy. People love 1/2 price books because of the unique experience you have in each one. Of course you find stock overlap, but sometimes what you see on the shelves can be extremely unique to the community.

Exercise Two:
I did a search for Looking for Alaska by John Green on Google (the shopping section) and found several copies: from Amazon @ $4.99, Golden Gate Bookstore @ $9.97 and Barnes and Noble @ $15.99. I guess Amazon and Golden Gate have used books because $16...I don't think so. Katy Budget Books has a copy of the title for $7.99; Books a Million is selling a copy for the same price ($7.99); BookMooch had no copies available for trade. Amazon has a downloadable audio version for $15.73. And of course Harris County Public Library has several copies of the book, a downloadable audiobook, and an audio book on CD...for free!

Exercise Three:
I downloaded James Patterson's Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports from the Maximum Ride series. While a read a lot online (well, I guess I read a lot just in general), I don't enjoy pleasure reading on a computer as much as holding the book in my hands. Partly I guess it is a mobility issue. My husband and I have a laptop, but he uses it more often (as he is the student in the family) and I don't really feel like I'm in a position to say "stop working on that paper and give me the laptop, I need to read some teen fiction!" So, until I can read it in my bed or while I'm eating breakfast in the morning...it just doesn't feel as much like a pleasure. Instead it feels like online reading...like I do when I'm at work. However, in some ways I do wish that I would use the laptop for more pleasure reading. Not only does it seem more convenient (never getting overdue fines...it just automatically reverts back to the system!), but it seems more cost effecient and perhaps even better for the environment.

Book, Readers, and Beyond: #52 What to Read

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:49:00 +0000

I've used many of these resources before to assist others in finding materials, so it was interesting to try it for myself!

1. I did a read-a-likes search for John Green's Looking for Alaska in NoveList, What Should I Read Next, & Fiction Booklists from Morton Grove Public Library. I was not surprised that it was difficult to find a read-a-like for this specific title through the MGPL's lists, mostly because there were very few teen-related booklists (and some of them weren't even geared toward teen readers - i.e., Teen Fiction for Older Adults). I think the closest I could find was an 'edgy fiction for teens' list. However, I was pleasantly surprised that NoveList had suggested other teen fiction books that I enjoyed tremendously (and a few others I haven't read but will have to check out)! What Should I Read Next provided me with a completely different list of titles, a few of which I had read and enjoyed and several others I have been meaning to read (but, alas, have never had the time...at least not yet)!

2. Using NoveList, I identified for the 4th grade girl (using a guess-timate from the lexile ratings) Dinorella by Pamela Duncan Edwards and Edward in the Jungle by David McPhail. For her older brother I also found two titles through NoveList:Kit's Wilderness by David Almond and The Afterlife by Gary Soto. Although, really, for both of these kiddos I would need a little more information - what kind of animals, what did you read lately that you liked, how scary do you like them, etc.

3. For the reader who has read everything by Dean Koontz, I would recommend authors Greg Bear (from NoveList), John Saul (also from NoveList) and F. Paul Wilson (from What Should I Read Next?).

4. Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness quartet has the following series order
1. Allana: The First Adventure
2. In the Hand of the Goddess
3. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
4. Lioness Rampant
I identified the series order through Kent District Library's "What's Next?"

#30 File and Folder Organization

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:30:00 +0000

I actually had a really great time with this exercise. The oldest files I deleted were those just barely over two years old that were held in a young adult folder since before I took my position...so I took what I could from the previous staff and refashioned and reformulated the labeling schema and file organization to best serve the needs we have now.
I also went through my personal folder and was able to delete several files that I no longer needed (just a few months old), such as proctoring forms, forms I'd downloaded to fill out but are available on Harriet, etc.
I was a little surprised by how organized our files had become by default or organically developed over time. Yes - there was some overlap and inconsistency with labels. Yes - there was some confusion as to what belongs in what folder. But with just a little clean-up I was able to affirm that I had become organized, that defunct files and folders were deleted, and I have done my duty to help keep the cost of storage down :o)

#29 E-mail and Other Waves of the Past

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:08:00 +0000

I'm still more comfortable with e-mail than almost any other form of communication. I suppose I'm just a text kinda gal (although I'm a terribly slow texter on my phone; I no longer regularly IM my friends as I did in high school and at the beginning of college; and I don't really post messages to forums, discussion boards, or MySpace pages). I prefer shooting an e-mail off to folks rather than trying to catch them on the phone; leaving an e-mail is almost like leaving a phone message...except I can delete, edit, rephrase, and reorganize my thoughts in a WYSWYG kinda way.

All that said, I am extremely rigorous about deleting e-mails (sometimes deleting things that I probably should've kept....and then needing to have someone resend me the e-mail that they had smartly tucked away for later). With both of my personal e-mail accounts (hotmail and google), as well as with my work e-mail, I have a series of (perhaps not clearly) labeled subjects that seem to work okay for my purposes (such as health insurance, identity theft, online shopping, family, recipes, articles, outreach, programming, etc.).

If I need to hold on to an e-mail for future reference (perhaps I'm working on something in particular and I need to make sure I have a whole group of e-mails to facilitate an ongoing project), then I'll keep it aside in a folder. If the e-mail seems just like an FYI or a "how're you doin'?" note, then I usually delete it if it holds no sentimental value (like a love note from a J.A.M. would certainly be kept). I do a better job of maintaining order in my work e-mail than within my personal e-mail accounts, but it has worked for me so far :)

#28 Getting Things Done & Other Flights of Fancy

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:30:00 +0000

I'm an avid list maker. I sense a great feeling of release (and perhaps excitement) in making a To Do list and checking off everything that I have completed. I suppose I'm a little bit behind the curve in not integrating my To Do's and schedules on the web. I'm just too attached to my spiral notebook and daily/monthly planner to forfeit the joy of physically writing out my goals and visually seeing them completed with the scratching-off motion and aesthetic.

I'm a planner. I love making short-term and long-term plans. My To Do lists almost always include a list of things easily accomplished today, followed by more intensive projects that might find completion in months or years.

I'm a librarian and pride myself on my multi-tasking, prioritizing, and organizing capabilities. This whole ideology behind "Getting Things Done," for me, does not seem particularly revolutionary. I feel I already do an alright job of maintaining an organized workflow, of recognizing what can be done immediately and what is worth a more intensive time-commitment, and of eliminating junk.

I'm thinking that the whole "Getting Things Done" system of "establish[ing] a work flow process, us[ing] 6 levels of focus and the five stages of the natural planning method" does not really prevent one from spending more time organizing than actually doing (which is giving as a sort of warning or threat). In fact, getting a little too crazy about defining your work flow, six levels of focus, and five stages of planning might actually just be confusing the whole matter.

#27 Podcasting

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:17:00 +0000

I'm comfortable with podcasting technology and of making my blog's feed podcast-ready. I developed and hosted a podcasting program for teens at the Library last fall; of course, although it is realitively straight-forward and simple, the teens seemed to think it was "too hard." Mastery in a few minutes seems to have been the attendees' expectation. I've made podcasts in the past and, while I feel it could potentially be an awesome service, I do not feel I have the "stage" presence necessary to provide an exciting podcast or one worth the time of prospective users - just like some audiobooks are better than others based on the reader, some individuals are better at projecting excitement and at engaging with a distant audience.

I think what some people don't seem to realize is that having a successful podcast is extremely dependent on a vast amount of organization, planning, preperation, and patience in editing, as well as just having a basic knowledge of the technology. Knowing the technology is available and knowing how to mobilize it does not make a good podcast or one that people are willing to hear however often the podcasts are posted. I believe that is why so many of the most successful podcasts are coming from independent, alternative, as well as mainstream media sources; people who have a knowledge of how to put together a "package" seem to have had more business in terms of downloads. Just my two cents :)

#26 Online Music Creation and Re-Mixing

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:29:00 +0000

Online music mixing sites and freely downloadable recording softwares can be really fun to play with and, without doubt, totally awesome for those who want to make their own music or recordings but have no interest in shilling out hundreds of dollars for pricey software packages. For Teen Tech Week some of the teens and I played around with several online drum machines, Splice Music, and Tony-B - and I have to say, even though several of them were often frustrated with how complex the online music mixing sites turned out to be, I was excited to see them expanding their knowledge of online tools and using their creativity to enhance their web presence (such as uploading their tunes to their MySpace pages, rather than illegally using some horrible sounding version of the new, hit song). As I mentioned in my previous post, it seems our notion of collaborative art has been developing with exciting new possiblities for the future. Relationships and new networks based on collaborative creativity bring a new dimension to to the term "world music."

#25 Argh! Piracy!

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:12:00 +0000

Yes, I still use CDs and I often burn my own mix CDs for the car. I even (gasp!) burn an entire album onto a CD-R so that my original purchased copy can be retained snuggly at home in its appropriate case, not having to face the risk of scratching and my own clumsiness. I guess since I was in high school and beginning college I've been fairly comfortable with burning music (as well as other files) onto CD; I've never found it too much of a challenge, but keeping all of my music files organized and appropriately labeled has sometimes been annoying.

I personally think the "music business," and the Recording Industry Association of America in particular, needs to get with the times. As a librarian I believe in giving credit where credit is due and certainly want to protect the rights of intellectual property holders; but, I also believe that our understanding of ownership (especially diffuse ownership in the age of the web) and the processes of recording human creativity and ingenuity have totally changed over time. I find the RIAA's position to often protect the recording industry and record labels over the rights of artists and musicians; it isn't a surprise that several artists (notably Radiohead and Trent Reznor) are circumventing recording labels entirely and making money from their craft by mobilizing online distribution of music and music-associated paraphernalia (such as t-shirts, collectible sets, booklets, etc.). I'm certainly not a pirate - but I understand that until the recording industry can learn to better compete with, challenge, or make use of (often illegal) online music distribution, that the debate (and alleged problems) will not cease.

#24: The hills are alive

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:40:00 +0000

I've been a fan of online radio for a few years now (including, but not limited to, pandora...which I approve of theoretically more than in any sort of practical application), most especially news radio. My experience of downloading music has been rather limited. I've downloaded from iTunes (incredibly disappointing selection) and I've indirectly enjoyed the benefits of free and legal music downloads via my husband, but I'm just not very interested in downloading digital music. Most of the time (although certainly not always), the sound of compressed audio is annoying to me. I guess I'm a little bit of an audio snob.

#23: I Made It...and other fabulous things

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:56:00 +0000

I can't believe it is finally here! I cannot believe I am writing my twenty-third iHCPL response! First, I particularly enjoyed: making my avatar, spending more time cataloging my books through LibraryThing, blogging about all of my investigations, discovering all the fabulous e-Audiobooks HCPL has available, getting some training credit to play around with Flickr and YouTube, registering my own del.icio.us account, and playing with image generators and editors. I don't know particularly if iHCPL has modified my path of life-long learning (as many of the exercises involved using services and technologies with which I was already familiar and sometimes frequently used); but it has made me hopeful that I can stay in touch with new and emergent technologies throughout my career. Since the Children's Department here at Freeman has been discussing setting up a blog, we in the YA department have also considered doing something similar as a way to get the teens involved in the planning of programs, voting for what movies or anime they might want to watch for movie nights or our future anime club, giving us feedback on programs they have attended, highlighting new materials, and eliciting book, movie, music, etc. reviews from our teen patrons. I know that this is not the end of the road, by any means, and I look forward to spending more time discovering new resources on my own, in collaboration with friends and coworkers and our patrons, and hopefully to share my knowledge and experience to positively influence interactions with library patrons.

#22: Downloading the Motherload

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:35:00 +0000

While I spend time looking for e-audiobooks and e-books for patrons who come to the reference desk, I've never had the time or thought to look for myself...so it was an eye-opening and infinitely enjoyable experience to find so many young adult authors with e-audiobooks available through HCPL (Jerry Spinelli, Stephanie Meyer, Christopher Paolini, Eoin Colfer, and Walter Dean Myers...and more!! oh my!!)!!

Although LibriVox was certainly cool, I thought Wowio was amazing! So many comics and manga available to download for free! Wowio also seemed a little more aesthetically flashy than LibriVox (at least to me); but I can see myself recommending either.

#21: Podcasting Your Heart Out

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:15:00 +0000

I looked at both Podcast.net and Podcastalley.com and added the podcast "This Week in Houston," where local citizen/journalists describe upcoming events in the Bayou City. Because I'm still relatively new to the area, I thought it might be fun to hear about some of the great events, attractions, and individuals that make Houston a fabulous place to live. Of course...I'm one of only two subscribers...but I'm sure the word will spread (as I am doing right now!).

I think podcasts can be really fun. I have friends who have made crafty or d.i.y. podcasts and I can definitely see the usefulness of podcasting as an alternative media source and for community information/community building. I fairly recently taught a Teen Podcasting, 101, class and made a brief podcast from home (using audacity to record; iTunes to export as MP3; feedburner to make my blog's rss feed podcast-ready; and uploading my audiofile to OurMedia) as a demonstration. We only had two teens show up and they seemed a little peeved that there were so many steps to the process; but, nevertheless, once you kind of understand the process, it can be really easy and rewarding.

#20: Mr. Bean Does a Dance...but is it legal?

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:22:00 +0000

If you cannot view the hi-larious video of Mr. Bean, click here!

I've always enjoyed playing around with YouTube: whether to find videos of random people doing crazy things (putting a bar of soap in the microwave, for example); to find videos that friends have uploaded (songs, dances, jokes, greetings); or to find footage of New Order performing Temptation. I think it is an interesting social space bringing individuals together via one of the most powerful medium to date - the combination of sound and image.

Nevertheless, while I can certainly see the usefulness of YouTube for libraries (what if we could bring programs and tutorials to a wider audience online??), I do have concerns over copyright protections. Is it all really legal? And do most people know where they can go to find media (whether images, videos, audio, etc.) that they can use, manipulate and re-fashion in the free and clear?

#19: Web-Based Applications

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 16:01:00 +0000

Online Application: Zoho Creator

I'm using Zoho to create this message and while many of the features I understand (being relatively familiar with many separate software applications), I feel also that Zoho has some labeling and organizational issues that might interfere with an optimal use of all available features for beginners. Zoho creators, however, seem to be aware of these types of problems after some usability testing/feedback, the results of which they posted to their information blog:

Accessibility (some features buried deep into modules)
Navigation ( unable to reach a screen or module quickly)
Too many clicks
Complex screens, etc

While I think that this can be an incredibly powerful tool, the interface and some other hindrances to usability will need to be corrected or accommodated before I can see it really taking off.

#18: Social Networking, or, Is My Life Really that Interesting?

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 17:50:00 +0000

Okay, so maybe I don't really believe that MySpace or FaceBook or whatever are for losers (as the graffiti tag might have you believe), but I've never really gotten the whole online social networking site phenomenon. My friends and I have done a pretty good job of keeping in touch without the need to "expose" our lives and our whiny-selves to the world; and I'm not sure I need another (albeit virtual) social venture to remind myself that I do not always make friends so easily. Moreover, I'm not sure that I could really spark others' interest with my textual/graphic/visual output to make many new friends.

However, I did enjoy Dogster and made a profile for my baby Lilly (a.k.a. Lilly Fried Chicken). I found it really helpful in finding a vet and off-leash dog parks in the area (since we recently moved). Threadless was certainly cool and crafty (things I certainly aspire to be) and really sparked me to think about some teen fashion programs. RateMySpace only made me wish I could put more time and effort into making our home decor a little jazzier and did not make me really wish to share my ideas with the world (to have them rate how my partner and I choose to make our living quarters comfortable) or to network with other home decoration savvy-deficient people.

I don't think I'll ever be a MySpace or FaceBook kind of gal. It isn't really my scene on or off-line.

#17: Technology

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 19:46:00 +0000

Technology n. 1a. The application of science, especially to industrial or commercial objectives. b. The scientific method and material used to achieve a commercial or industrial objective. 2. Electronic or digital products and systems considered as a group: a store specializing in office technology. 3. The body of knowledge available to a society that is of use in fashioning implements, practicing manual arts and skills, and extracting or collecting materials.

Blogging about anything related to technology is almost like asking someone to blog about anything related to the environment or to history. I suppose I could focus this post on bras, automobiles, kitchen cupboards, or books. All of these are technologies. I don't mean to be persnickety, but this is a difficult task for anyone whose entire life is surrounded by disparate technologies each with different lasting effects on culture and society.

All ranting aside, the technologies introduced thus far have many practical applications; nevertheless, some I perceive as being more useful to my life and work than others. I do have to say that I have a soft spot for LibraryThing. And I had a good time playing around with photo editing and Flikr. And....I had a good time making an avatar and trying to figure out del.icio.us. And I've already had very positive experiences with subscribing to RSS feeds and wikis. Maybe I'm just a techno-floozy !

#16: Wikis and Working 2.0

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:27:00 +0000

What I appreciate about the wiki format is that it is simple, open to editing by everyone or only a select few, viewable by the entire online world or completely private, and a means to create a digital workspace for however many people one so desires.

In libraries I see this as another effective and efficient tool for staff collaboration and (if monitored) an excellent way to foster creative engagement between our libraries and communities served.

#15 Library 2.0, or: How to Learn to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Future

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 00:24:00 +0000

I think the perspective that most resonates with my own and inspires me in my future work comes from Michael Stephens of OCLC, when he suggests that: "'the Library is human' because it makes the library a social and emotionally engaging center for learning and experience. Librarian 2.0, then, is the 'strategy guide' for helping users find information, gather knowledge and create content" (Stephens, Into a New World of Librarianship, 2006).

I agree that Library 2.0 must reach beyond simply engaging with new technologies, but also focus on facilitating patron use of new technologies in creative, community-building, and personally fulfilling ways. Expectations of the library as a social institution have changed; a massive shift towards more digital and less analog content may be becoming an increasingly real phenomenon; and the demand for more responsive, user-friendly, intuitive, and constructive systems has certainly begun out-weighing the need for info-mage intermediaries. But I consider the future to be bright, exciting, and challenging for all information professionals! Google may very well become the one-stop information shop of the future, but Librarians will always be here to separate useful from unuseful, unauthoritative information; to help our patrons interact with new technologies in successful ways; and to bring together communities and bridge communities - whether in physical buildings or virtual spaces.

#14 The Glitterati of Technorati

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:35:00 +0000

I could probably spend a little too much time on technorati searching for cool blogs (to again, spend way too much time indulging myself in), but found it to be a surprisingly interesting network through which to build and sustain communities, whether those focus on political affiliations, professional or personal interests, recreational pursuits, etc.

I thought it interesting (and somewhat perplexing) the way in which technorati determines "authority," as though having hundreds of blogs link to one individual's actually indicates that the one individual has more authority than a national, professional organization (...I won't name names...).

Hmmm...

#13 del.icio.us and social tagging

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:14:00 +0000

I find it appealing to be able to access my bookmarks anywhere (as, obviously, I am a somewhat selfish person who enjoys technologies that make my life easier and my work more efficient); I can locate excellent professional websites at home and scurry back to them at work (fabulous!), without spending fifteen minutes on google trying to retrace my steps!

But, moreover, I think if more and more groups and individuals took advantage of del.icio.us, research (for pleasure, for profit, for school, for work) could become an even more engaging, socially beneficial, and productive exercise. For librarians, investigating how our cyberspace users engage with information in a digital environment and how they conceive of its usefulness, determine quality, and conceptually categorize information can open up another sphere from which we can improve our services (both in person and through disparate technologies).

Nevertheless, I think it is somewhat telling that some of the most frequent tags include: blogs, blogging, opensource, linux, java, programming, software, and web design. Right now it seems as though del.icio.us is used primarily by the techno-literate and techno-front-runners (come on...linux, java, opensource...these are not the average men and women on the street). I think if we give del.icio.us some time, it will be an incredibly diverse and rich social environment of resource sharing, and shared resource discovery.

#12: Library Elf

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:43:00 +0000

I reviewed the demo and FAQs about Library Elf and it seems like an interesting and exciting service! Too bad I got the very unwelcoming message of:

Service Unavailable

Sorry for the inconvenience -- the server is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.

Thank you for stopping by.

Maybe another time. I'll check back later :o(

#11: Library "Thang"

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:23:00 +0000

I started using Library Thing just a few months ago as I was finishing up library school. My father always kept a notebook of what he finished reading and when (I think he probably has them going back to the 70's...très cool) and I always really wanted to start keeping tabs on what I'd been reading for enjoyment.

Library Thing was actually recommended to me by the same woman who got me hooked onto Netflix. So far I haven't cataloged too many of the books I have read in the past and currently have hanging out on my shelves; I certainly haven't had as much time to write book reviews. But I've had a great time looking to see how "unusual" or "popular" the titles I'm reading are and what other people have on their virtual shelves. Highly Recommended!

Check out my Library Thing widget on my blog - and - check out my Library "Thang" catalog :o)

#10: A Me Avatar from Meez

merlayton@hotmail.com (Meredith) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:02:00 +0000

I had a great time making my Avatar with Meez. I also checked out the comic strip generator, which was fun but made me slightly suspicious about whether or not all of the images available were licensed for use...hmmm...