Thing #17: Wiki part II

That was sorta fun! It took me a minute to get it to work, but that's what I get for trying without following the instructions. Once I read those, though, it was simple. I'm not very good at narrowing down to one favorite anything but I added The 400 Blows to the favorite movie list and Arts and Letters Daily to the favorite websites.

Thing #16: Wiki part I

This is a great concept, with all the things that I like about it also being the reasons it is difficult to manage, but what the heck! Overall I really like the idea of wikis, mostly because they're accessible to everyone and they have the potential to be a great free resource. It appeals to the egalitarian nature in me. I do realize that with this kind of setup there are guaranteed problems, but I still (at least in theory) like the idea of everyone being able to contribute. I have no doubt that library wikis have the same basic issues as wikipedia does, so it seems like some kind of structure is needed from the beginning to cut down on the confusion and inappropriate editing. Of course that would require some kind of "wiki master" to make sure the content is correct and appropriate and well...that's a big job! I think that the end result would probably be worth it, though.

Thing # 15: Library 2.0

I like so many of us feel conflicted about the idea of library 2.0. I love the traditional, nostalgic image of the library. I love books--the real tangible kind made of bound paper. And there are still many people in our area that come to us for just that. No one I know of wants to turn our backs on those people or that library. But there is a whole new generation of people who require a whole new kind of library. Why not be prepared to serve them as well? After all, we are in the business of providing people with information and the tools with which to acquire that information. Some of those tools are changing. Just because the majority of our patrons don't seem to need those tools right now doesn't mean they won't in the future. Eventually we'll have to catch up and integrate these two kinds of libraries, or we'll have a lot of empty chairs.

Thing #14: Google Books!

I already mentioned my interest in the digitization of books in my "any technology that interests you" blog entry. So it's no surprise that I am familiar with Google Books. I use it frequently, in fact. Particularly when I am looking at a book to make an order card for or thinking of buying one personally that we don't have a copy of here. The Google Library project has some amazing institutions associated with it, so I think only good things are to come from such a collaboration--particularly for people like us who live in rural areas. Most public libraries can only give you access to so much via their own collections. It's wonderful to have an alternative for accessing hard to find books other than interlibrary loan...or a trip to Oxford! And the search feature is great for someone who is really trying to narrow down within a book.

Thing #13: Del.icio.us

Aside from the nuisance of having to consistantly pause to remember where to type the periods in the middle of the word Del.icio.us, I thought it was a really brilliant idea. I signed up for a Del.icio.us account so that I can start putting it to good use. That is my goal, anyway. But I am slow to change my habits, and I do enjoy the familiarity of the good old "favorites" button. It can't compare to portable bookmarks with tags for categorizing, though! I took Kristina's suggestion (thanks Kristina!) and I checked out some of the sites referencing the growing use of this tool in libraries. Apparently several public and university libraries actually have Del.icio.us directly on their websites, giving patrons access to recommended sites and links for various topics, as well as news and assignments for local students. That sounds incredibly useful to me personally and professionally.

Thing #12: whatever I want

As far as technology related things, one thing that's always interested me is the digitization of books, especially rare ones. I am not really a fan of e-books. I would much prefer to read a tangible book, but as a total lit/language nerd I love the idea of having hard to find texts available online. You know, it's not always that easy to find 15th century French texts around here! I actually used Project Gutenberg as a college student in one of my classes. We read a variety of 19th century American short stories and didn't have a text book. These days I often use Google Books, the layout is much, much nicer.

Mp3 player for me, please!

Things #11: Digg

I've visited Digg a time or two before, without knowing much about how it functioned. The fact that the headlines and information that appear on Digg are all submitted by it's members, with only a select few being voted on to the main page, is a fascinating one. Given the popularity of Digg, it seems like that could be great advertising for some people. Imagine the kind of publicity you could get for your blog, or podcast etc...? If you campaign enough and network enough, you can recruit enough Digg members/fans to submit your work and vote for it, thereby landing it on the front page and immediately increasing your audience. Very good marketing.

Anyhow, all in all I like Digg. I definitely prefer Digg's setup to Technorati's. It seems much cleaner. I can see how it's useful in terms of bringing together a lot of fringe headlines and varied information, as well as "News of the Weird" as Abby has pointed out. But I still prefer going directly to certain sources. I guess I'm just old fashioned. And I can't imagine all the time and energy so many people put into social networking via the internet. I mean, I love my computer, but ride a bike people!

Here's a great piece with photgraphs of the world's most beautiful libraries.