Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Thing 13: Tagging
My own slowness actually helped me out with this "thing." When I read the Tagging post for 23 things, my initial reaction was "nay nay" I don't care for tagging, it is anarchy, I like controlled vocabularly, etc etc. But then I took a class this summer on graphic novels and experienced my own library catalog frustration. I needed to find a manga title to read for my class and I used some website resources to find suggestions on titles. I searched the catalog for a few but nowhere in the record did the word "manga" appear. I was unsure if I had the right title, so I dragged myself up to the 5th floor and discovered A LOT of manga titles that never appear in the catalog, if one searches for keyword: manga, unless it is in the title. Our library catalog has recently incorporated Encore to create a more user centered experience of a catalog interface. Tag clouds, popular choices, relevant searches, etc. Users can search the catalog and create tags to better define and refine titles. I have tagged several titles with "manga" and rated several works within the starring system. I think we should encourage user tagging of library resources as a complement to controlled vocabularly.
Thing 12: Twitter
Once again, my best laid plans collided with grad school, full time job, and sanity. So I am woefully behind on 23 things, but I'm determined to finish, even if it's in December and I've lost my chance for a completion certificate.
Oh Twitter, you are a fascinating demon. The last time I heard about you, well, when don't I hear about you(?!) it was last night on the drive home listening to NPR reporting that Paula Abdul announced on her Twitter account that she is leaving American Idol.
I'm not sure how I feel about Twitter, most of the people I "follow" on Twitter are addicts and tell me every single banal activity they are in the midst of: "getting gas" "on the way to lunch" but as I, once again extol the glories of Mr. Stephen Fry, his tweets are fantastic, witty and engaging. Of course my tweets tended to fall on the annoying and banal ("finished my class project" "watching Frasier--again") but as much as I am annoyed by the world's obsession with Twitter I am heartened by the recent use of protesters in Iran who used Twitter to expose the situation to the rest of the world when websites and news organizations are blocked and restricted. The tweets also protested media coverage of the situation, especially CNN. My favorite analysis of the situation: "As much talk as there is about Twitter and other social media supplanting the likes of CNN in covering breaking news, they're really another source rather than a replacement—and Twitter users know that as well as anyone else. Thus, they want—and demand—big news organizations to step up, nimbly and responsively, to cover fast-changing events like this."
Iran's protests
Oh Twitter, you are a fascinating demon. The last time I heard about you, well, when don't I hear about you(?!) it was last night on the drive home listening to NPR reporting that Paula Abdul announced on her Twitter account that she is leaving American Idol.
I'm not sure how I feel about Twitter, most of the people I "follow" on Twitter are addicts and tell me every single banal activity they are in the midst of: "getting gas" "on the way to lunch" but as I, once again extol the glories of Mr. Stephen Fry, his tweets are fantastic, witty and engaging. Of course my tweets tended to fall on the annoying and banal ("finished my class project" "watching Frasier--again") but as much as I am annoyed by the world's obsession with Twitter I am heartened by the recent use of protesters in Iran who used Twitter to expose the situation to the rest of the world when websites and news organizations are blocked and restricted. The tweets also protested media coverage of the situation, especially CNN. My favorite analysis of the situation: "As much talk as there is about Twitter and other social media supplanting the likes of CNN in covering breaking news, they're really another source rather than a replacement—and Twitter users know that as well as anyone else. Thus, they want—and demand—big news organizations to step up, nimbly and responsively, to cover fast-changing events like this."
Iran's protests
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thing 11: Instant Messaging
Oh my, I started instant messaging a long long time ago, 1998. Before we married, my husband and I conducted a very long distance relationship with the help of AOL's IM. He was in UK I was in TX. I don't IM as much as I used to, I think I burnt out. I do have IM capabilities through Yahoo and I have used the Facebook chat option.
For libraries I think IM is a great way to provide virtual reference and assistance. At my library we offer general chat reference and the subject librarians have virtual presence for subject specific reference. What I love are the questions from users inside the library, "I'm on 6th floor, where do I find X?" just as much as users who are IMing from home. It's all about getting to where our users need information and assistance--point of need! (sorry I've been reading a lot about virtual reference for my class) :) Also, it's fantastic for users who live miles away from a library, feel uncomfortable communicating orally on the phone, and who simply prefer to be more anonymous.
So my current IM service is Yahoo Messenger and my username is viaggio74.
For libraries I think IM is a great way to provide virtual reference and assistance. At my library we offer general chat reference and the subject librarians have virtual presence for subject specific reference. What I love are the questions from users inside the library, "I'm on 6th floor, where do I find X?" just as much as users who are IMing from home. It's all about getting to where our users need information and assistance--point of need! (sorry I've been reading a lot about virtual reference for my class) :) Also, it's fantastic for users who live miles away from a library, feel uncomfortable communicating orally on the phone, and who simply prefer to be more anonymous.
So my current IM service is Yahoo Messenger and my username is viaggio74.
Thing 14: Delicious and why I'm so behind
Okay, so I've skipped Things 11, 12 + 13, I will do them, honestly, I've just gotten so behind with work and school and also because I have a very negative attitude about Twitter that I haven't worked myself up into a positive happy place to do thing 12 just yet. Now Thing 14, already done it! About a year ago one of my MLS instructors mentioned Delicious and I thought it sounded really cool especially as I travel to several different computer terminals during the day. I have my computer at my desk, the Spec Coll reference computer, downstairs on the main reference desk, and of course my home computer. With Thing 14, I realized how I abandoned Delicious even though it could really help me. So I'm going to revitalize my account right now! Of course there are only 3 sad little bookmarks but I'm going to keep adding--it's my July resolution!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Thing 10: Ning
After watching the tutorial and browsing on Ning I was really excited about the possibilities of creating your own social network and creating profiles for each network. The flexibility and customization options are so cool and I thought 'this could kick Facebook/Myspace butt', oh but then I read the blog post about Ning and the information it is using to directly market members. There's a more recent blog post "Ning to Clients" from the same site 23 Things sent us that reveals even more devious actions by Ning. I'm less impressed.
But I'm going to go back to my initial optimism and muse on the networks I discovered. On the ALA network page I found a colleague of mine and was able to find her blog as well. I shifted over the Texas SLA network, not a lot of activity and browsed through Lone Arrangers a network for solo archivists. They have a really creative page I like their group "Archivists Adoring Austen" which led me to search "jane austen" and I found this odd network: "Liberty Jane Studios" which is dedicated to people who love creating/buying trendy clothes for an American Girl Doll: Liberty Jane. Wow, that is very specific. I don't know who Liberty Jane is but there is a lot of activity on this network. Huh.
But I'm going to go back to my initial optimism and muse on the networks I discovered. On the ALA network page I found a colleague of mine and was able to find her blog as well. I shifted over the Texas SLA network, not a lot of activity and browsed through Lone Arrangers a network for solo archivists. They have a really creative page I like their group "Archivists Adoring Austen" which led me to search "jane austen" and I found this odd network: "Liberty Jane Studios" which is dedicated to people who love creating/buying trendy clothes for an American Girl Doll: Liberty Jane. Wow, that is very specific. I don't know who Liberty Jane is but there is a lot of activity on this network. Huh.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Thing 9: More Facebook
More Facebook. For this "thing" I needed to join three groups. Well I'm cheating slightly because I've already join a few groups, but they are library related! :)
1. The London Library Staff Alumni (because I used to work at this fabulous library in London and I miss it so) The London Library
2. NextGen Librarians--I actually joined this because 23 Things and a blog I read, plus I know one of the admins, she's a fantastic librarian!
3. Stephen Fry Friendship by Proxy Group--because I sincerely adore Stephen Fry and he is such an advocate for libraries and is all around Awesome! And whenever I think about Stephen I have to watch my favorite QI clip (his tv show Quite Interesting).
I also am a fan of my library: University of Houston Libraries. As I mentioned in my earlier post about Facebook I'm not one for joining alumni groups, especially High School, there's a reason you move away from high school. The friends I have from HS days are the ones I want to keep. I've also discovered the Facebook can create quite a lot of bad feeling amongst "friends." Example: A friend of mine shares other mutual friends and has been reading their posts about getting together for lunch but they never include her. Result: feelings hurt.
Now I don't want to be completely negative about Facebook because I do think there is potential to reach out to library users, provide reference though social networks and market library services and events.
1. The London Library Staff Alumni (because I used to work at this fabulous library in London and I miss it so) The London Library
2. NextGen Librarians--I actually joined this because 23 Things and a blog I read, plus I know one of the admins, she's a fantastic librarian!
3. Stephen Fry Friendship by Proxy Group--because I sincerely adore Stephen Fry and he is such an advocate for libraries and is all around Awesome! And whenever I think about Stephen I have to watch my favorite QI clip (his tv show Quite Interesting).
I also am a fan of my library: University of Houston Libraries. As I mentioned in my earlier post about Facebook I'm not one for joining alumni groups, especially High School, there's a reason you move away from high school. The friends I have from HS days are the ones I want to keep. I've also discovered the Facebook can create quite a lot of bad feeling amongst "friends." Example: A friend of mine shares other mutual friends and has been reading their posts about getting together for lunch but they never include her. Result: feelings hurt.
Now I don't want to be completely negative about Facebook because I do think there is potential to reach out to library users, provide reference though social networks and market library services and events.
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