#15 On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0

After reading all of the perspectives, I have to agree with the authors. Libraries must embrace new technology as it evolves, and plan the growth of library services to accommodate each leap forward. The library customers, or patrons if you prefer, of tomorrow are already perched in from of our system's computers from 3PM on each day. They embrace each tweak of their favorite sites, and rarely check out a book unless it is required for a school assignment. If the libraries do not evolve with the online content that appeals to the new generations we will cease to be a relevant part of their lives.

I understood what Rick Anderson was saying about the "just in case collection." If circulation drops 55% that is a significant number. However, the 45% remaining are customers that may be unconcerned, or uninterested, or just plain terrified of the technology that bombards them every day. We need to continue to serve this segment of our aging population as we have done in the past. They will probably learn to live with a request list as we continue to weed out collections, some may even come to accept some aspects of technology, but we should continue to offer quality services to that customer base until it is a truly insignificant segment of our users. After all it will just be a few more decades.

Let's not forget that as librarians we are to offer services to all segments of our communities, not just the technologically savvy.

Week 6: #14 Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

In doing the advanced search for this exercise I found that Blog Posts got the most results, while Blog Directory got the fewest results of the three.

In exploring the popular blogs I found an unlimited number of fascinating postings there are out there, and how many of them are for the techies among us. I sense that the techies among us still rule the blogosphere, but not for long. Since I am not a techie I explored a lot of different subjects and found out quickly that one hour is not enough training time for this exercise. I was late to get on duty at the ref desk!

I always like to gravitate to the Political blogs. Over the weekend there were a some political rallies up in New Hampshire in the middle of a snowstorm. Today I see lots of blogs about the candidate who was the focus of the rallies. It makes me wonder what role blogs will play in the '08 presidential race.

Week 6: #13 Tagging makes the web 2.0 world go round

I love Del.icio.us! I only wish it had been available when I was in library school. I was going from home computer, to library computer, to classroom computers, to lab computers, and all my nifty bookmarks were on the home computer! Then there were all of the group projects . . . and we were constantly emailing links to each other. Those days are "the good old days" with this fabulous new find.

I am interested in YA librarianship so of course I looked to see what might be new to me. I found hiplibrariansbookblog which will provide another resource for YA book reviews. Alternative Teen Services gave me some great ideas for connecting with teens. Pop Goes The Library is a good resource for keeping up with what's going on in the real world when you work nights at the library.

I think this will serve me best as a source where my bookmarks are always accessible.

Week 5: #12 The "Library" Elf will remind you!

Library Elf was relatively simple to set up and use. First, the usual account creation. Deciding which warnings I wanted, how far in advance they should start, and whether they needed to be repeated, and how many times, were the biggest decisions in this exercise. This is the easiest exercise thus far. I have a number of materials out, and a large number of things that I've requested so I'm anxious to find out how this works.

What should be interesting is that HCPL also sends you hold notices, expiring holds notices, as well as reminders of due dates. My inbox may get crowded if I have too many holds arrive or books due on the same day. Time will tell if I like the old tried and true, or the Library Elf. I don't want to get Inbox warnings because of the additional warnings.

I have a card with Montgomery County but I did not register it, because I don't use it.

Week 5: #11 A Thing about Library Thing

I've never had any aspirations of becoming a cataloger. I just don't have the patience for detail work.

I created a small library of YA books that I have enjoyed. I was presently suprised to see how many other LibraryThing patrons had the same books in their catalog.

Here is the link to my library on LibraryThing: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/EvolvingLibrarian

Week 5: #10 Play around with Image Generators

This is an avatar I built using Meez. It doesn't look anything like me and I'm not musical but it was a lot of fun to generate. Click on it to see the animation.

Week 4: #9 Finding Feeds

As I mentioned in #8, newbies to feeds can find themselves looking for them on every site they visit. I used the Bloglines search tool in #8 right away in my search for feeds and blogs on children's and YA materials. I looked for resources on graphic novels as well, because they are increasingly popular in my field.

Of the four search tools we were supplied, I found Topix to be the easiest for me to navigate, and I found more items that were relevant to me. Syndic8 found lots of results that were not relevant to my search, the same for Technorati. I never was able to access Feedster.