I had taken at a look at Yahoo! Answers a couple of times and the range and variety of questions is amazing - from the serious to the ridiculous. I had also had a 'foggy' thought that it would be good if librarians could be in on the game to demonstrate our skills and resources, not realizing that Answer Board Librarians existed.
The major obstacle to librarian involvement would be time - any time answering the board questions is either time taken out from your regular duties or out of leisure time. It would be advantageous to raise librarian's profiles and skills via the boards, but in practical terms, this is resource draining. What we really need is for people to ask librarians first, but people seem to find it easier to ask anonymous strangers online, perhaps regardless of the quality of responses, than to ask their librarian.
Niche or specific-focus answers may have success, responding to eg. medical questions, legal, children's reading, travel. This would focus the area for responses making it more manageable for librarians to be involved.
It is interesting to note that although Google Answers ended in late 2006 - the 'answers phase' of the web looks like continuing; even Wikipedia could be considered as a giant question and answer service.
In what ways might your customers like to rate or review items in the collection or services you offer?
This may be another role for the library blog, offering a rating systems or a special section for particular comments. Feedback via the library blog can be targeted towards particular services and resources, using a rating scheme of, for example, 'stars' to enable client feedback.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Week Seven - Tagging etc.
There is great potential for tagging as a catalogue enhancement and as a cataloguer I'm aware of some of the issues involved. The Library Journal, Sept. 2007, has a good article: Tags Help Make Libraries Del.icio.us : Social bookmarking and tagging boost participation which covers Del.icio.us as well as LibraryThing. The article has links to several libraries using Del.icio.us, giving a wider perspective on how this is being used. The first library mentioned in the article is actually an Australian library - Delany College, Granville, Australia.
One concern I have with tagging is the longer or larger the 'tag cloud' the more confusing it appears. The Sutherland Shire Libraries have an extensive number of tags and they have made use of bundling to group tags together. There is probably a stage when the volume of tags becomes too unwieldy but that is the nature of how new technologies develop and we problem-solve as they evolve.
Cleveland Public Library Recommended Bookmarks provide a neater arrangement with their lists that are then linked to Del.icio.us. Even if Del.icio.us is only used as a forum for accessible bookmarks, it can be a valuable tool for communicating with library users, as well as exposing the potential of these types of sites.
My Del.icio.us. account has no items at the moment, but I have set it up!
I hadn't realised that Technorati also searches videos about 'bookmobile' or whatever, not just blogs.
I set up my own Library Thing account and it's interesting to see you can add books using Amazon, Library of Congress or other sources. As a cataloguer I would use LC most of the time and go to Amazon if desperate. LC records are much more consistent with more info. since they have been catalogued by 'real' cataloguers. The 'Librarians who LibraryThing' group has some great questions and discussions: choosing books for incarcerated youth -- neoliberal publishers -- setting up a library in Ethiopia -- Air Force libraries : what an eclectic bunch.
Although LibraryThing has more than 21 million books to date and already half the size of Libraries Australia, I suspect the quality of the records would not match that of Libraries Australia.
One concern I have with tagging is the longer or larger the 'tag cloud' the more confusing it appears. The Sutherland Shire Libraries have an extensive number of tags and they have made use of bundling to group tags together. There is probably a stage when the volume of tags becomes too unwieldy but that is the nature of how new technologies develop and we problem-solve as they evolve.
Cleveland Public Library Recommended Bookmarks provide a neater arrangement with their lists that are then linked to Del.icio.us. Even if Del.icio.us is only used as a forum for accessible bookmarks, it can be a valuable tool for communicating with library users, as well as exposing the potential of these types of sites.
My Del.icio.us. account has no items at the moment, but I have set it up!
I hadn't realised that Technorati also searches videos about 'bookmobile' or whatever, not just blogs.
I set up my own Library Thing account and it's interesting to see you can add books using Amazon, Library of Congress or other sources. As a cataloguer I would use LC most of the time and go to Amazon if desperate. LC records are much more consistent with more info. since they have been catalogued by 'real' cataloguers. The 'Librarians who LibraryThing' group has some great questions and discussions: choosing books for incarcerated youth -- neoliberal publishers -- setting up a library in Ethiopia -- Air Force libraries : what an eclectic bunch.
Although LibraryThing has more than 21 million books to date and already half the size of Libraries Australia, I suspect the quality of the records would not match that of Libraries Australia.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Week Six - Video
I tried to develop a comparison of YouTube and Google Video, using the term ‘lego’.
Google Video produced 96,188 hits, You Tube 63.500
I prefer the YouTube screen layout which provides a good summary
Eg: Added: 2 days ago
From: Blunty3000
Views: 27,600
09:38
YouTube also provides alternative search terms, eg: “Also try lego star wars…….etc.”
YouTube displays 20 results per screen, compared to Google’s 10. Google has better sorting options but I liked being able to view YouTube results by list view or grid view.
The actual results of the lego search were quite similar, but my overall preference was for YouTube.
The use of YouTube for libraries:
We love our NJ libraries was okay as an example of library promotion, but it did focus on regular services that have been around for ages.
QandANJ: Now Your Library is Open Late Night Too! Has a fresher approach with the 24/7 thing and the drive-through ordering would appeal to teens in particular.
The State Library of Queensland timelapse construction video was interesting, but the PLCMC New Employee Orientation seems a rather impersonal way of welcoming new staff – I would rather have a brief welcoming meeting with the new boss (even if they are up the management chain) rather than a video welcome.
The Reference and Research Assistance video was really good – informal and friendly, and I loved the reference to librarians as information experts.
I wasn’t very enthused by the book reviews segment, looking very amateur, but this could be an attraction for some people who wanted to participate.
Mosman Library's Author Talks were good, but as someone commented in the main blog, their duration is quite long.
I can see YouTube or similar sites offering a useful promotion tool for libraries but we need to look at what sort of image we are trying to convey, not just put more rubbish on what is already a fairly crowded attention-getter.
Google Video produced 96,188 hits, You Tube 63.500
I prefer the YouTube screen layout which provides a good summary
Eg: Added: 2 days ago
From: Blunty3000
Views: 27,600
09:38
YouTube also provides alternative search terms, eg: “Also try lego star wars…….etc.”
YouTube displays 20 results per screen, compared to Google’s 10. Google has better sorting options but I liked being able to view YouTube results by list view or grid view.
The actual results of the lego search were quite similar, but my overall preference was for YouTube.
The use of YouTube for libraries:
We love our NJ libraries was okay as an example of library promotion, but it did focus on regular services that have been around for ages.
QandANJ: Now Your Library is Open Late Night Too! Has a fresher approach with the 24/7 thing and the drive-through ordering would appeal to teens in particular.
The State Library of Queensland timelapse construction video was interesting, but the PLCMC New Employee Orientation seems a rather impersonal way of welcoming new staff – I would rather have a brief welcoming meeting with the new boss (even if they are up the management chain) rather than a video welcome.
The Reference and Research Assistance video was really good – informal and friendly, and I loved the reference to librarians as information experts.
I wasn’t very enthused by the book reviews segment, looking very amateur, but this could be an attraction for some people who wanted to participate.
Mosman Library's Author Talks were good, but as someone commented in the main blog, their duration is quite long.
I can see YouTube or similar sites offering a useful promotion tool for libraries but we need to look at what sort of image we are trying to convey, not just put more rubbish on what is already a fairly crowded attention-getter.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Week Five - Wikis
I was really interested in the article What to Do With Wikipedia. Although Badke relates this as a discussion revolving around academia, the points he raises have also been discussed (and continue to be discussed) in a library/librarian context. Accuracy, reliability, validity – all issues that librarians debate in relation to the use of Wikipedia. His final conclusion is the ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ response, and I think that’s been my conclusion too, in terms of using Wikipedia. Are librarians making a leap to create and/or edit wikipedia entries? Can we? Should we? How much are we contributing to our own library wikis like the Library Success Wiki? Plenty of rhetorical questions here!
As someone who has developed procedure manuals, particularly in relation to cataloguing, using a wiki for this purpose would ensure that everyone has access to the most recent information and contributors can update their section as required. To maintain overall consistency, it may be necessary to have the manual edited or overviewed by one person/coordinator. There are other online options for collaborative editing, but wikis seem to be so open and simple to use.
The Library Success Wiki’s update information at the top of the screen highlights the problem of vandalism, another issue that librarians (or anyone) needs to be aware of when using wikis.
Book Lovers Wiki from Princeton Public Library looked good, but I thought it may be a little out of date – they refer to 2006 and 2007 for reading club. A wiki, just as a website or blog, needs to be reviewed and refreshed, or at least glanced at, indicating the last time it was updated.
I love Wookieepedia – I’m not particularly a Star Wars fan but I can see how this is a great way for SW nerds to communicate and display the depth of their SW knowledge! Even a quote of the day is featured, plus a date clearly indicated for when the last edit was made.
PB Wiki plugin options are great – I didn’t realise you could add photos, calendar etc.
I assumed wikis were just a text based system.
As a cataloguer the examples of possible next generation catalogues gave some practical illustrations of the possibilities. Being a wiki, readers can participate by posting their examples.
I had seen the Tasmanian site before, but none of the others. The Danbury Public Library’s example of Bridget Jones’s Diary demonstrates innovation with tags and links to similar books. Good stuff!
As someone who has developed procedure manuals, particularly in relation to cataloguing, using a wiki for this purpose would ensure that everyone has access to the most recent information and contributors can update their section as required. To maintain overall consistency, it may be necessary to have the manual edited or overviewed by one person/coordinator. There are other online options for collaborative editing, but wikis seem to be so open and simple to use.
The Library Success Wiki’s update information at the top of the screen highlights the problem of vandalism, another issue that librarians (or anyone) needs to be aware of when using wikis.
Book Lovers Wiki from Princeton Public Library looked good, but I thought it may be a little out of date – they refer to 2006 and 2007 for reading club. A wiki, just as a website or blog, needs to be reviewed and refreshed, or at least glanced at, indicating the last time it was updated.
I love Wookieepedia – I’m not particularly a Star Wars fan but I can see how this is a great way for SW nerds to communicate and display the depth of their SW knowledge! Even a quote of the day is featured, plus a date clearly indicated for when the last edit was made.
PB Wiki plugin options are great – I didn’t realise you could add photos, calendar etc.
I assumed wikis were just a text based system.
As a cataloguer the examples of possible next generation catalogues gave some practical illustrations of the possibilities. Being a wiki, readers can participate by posting their examples.
I had seen the Tasmanian site before, but none of the others. The Danbury Public Library’s example of Bridget Jones’s Diary demonstrates innovation with tags and links to similar books. Good stuff!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Week Four - RSS
Subscribing to Bloglines was very easy, but deciding on which feeds to subscribe to took a lot longer. In addition to
(1) The Power House Museum photo of the day, I decided on:
(2) LibraryBytes – Helene Blowers. “Byte-size” chunks of news about libraries & new technologies.
Helene’s bio. details are impressive!
Her role as Public Services Technology Director for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County has been well known courtesy of the Learning 2.0 programme, but she is now Director of Digital Strategy for the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Also joint author of Weaving a library web: a guide to developing children’s websites.
(3) Research Buzz - News about search engines, databases, and online information collections. Reports on the world of internet research, provides updates on search engines, data managing software, browser technology, etc. This site is by Tara Calishain, who has authored several books. I also receive her “Research Buzz” via email, but trying is as an RSS feed could be a better proposition.
(4) The Shifted Librarian – ‘shifting libraries at the speed of byte’. This blog is by Jenny Levine. I have seen this blog being referred to but have never looked closely at the site.
“Levine has one simple goal: to help us librarians become as technologically adept as our users are so that we can deliver services to them when and where they wish to use them and in their preferred medium and platform” Library Journal 2003.
(5) Boing Boing – while this site looks rather ordinary and is subtitled “A directory of wonderful things” Boing Boing is summed up as: a weblog of cultural curiosities and interesting technologies. It's the most popular blog in the world, as ranked by Technorati.com, and won the Lifetime Achievement and Best Group Blog awards at the 2006 Bloggies ceremony.
It does have the most random blogs to view with everything from current news to a suggestion that the Dalai Lama could start a celebrity t-shirt line!
(6) Search Engine Watch - provides tips and information about searching the web and analysis of the search engine industry. Subscribing provides updates for items posted to the SEW blog. This includes any story that has run in Search Engine Watch, along with references to stories from across the web.
It also provides a link to related SEW blog posts so the reader can follow the trail of similar posts for a particular topic.
I downloaded the Bloglines Windows Notifier so I can quickly see when new posts arrive.
More thoughts on RSS:
RSS is a great way to stay updated with the latest blog news, but it would be easy to over-subscribe and be subjected to more information overload, so feeds would have to be chosen carefully and eliminated if they don’t provide your information needs appropriately.
Public libraries could use RSS to stay up-to-date on reader’s issues, such as gathering the latest book reviews or book news to post to their own Library blog or website. In terms of special libraries, immediate news could be advised and passed on to relevant people in the organisation, eg. in medial libraries news from National Library of Medicine or health blogs. In law libraries, findings from court cases or discussions of impending legislation could be covered.
Other good library blogs:
Newcastle Region Library hosts “The Book Crowd” for book reviews (I'm a contributor, it must be fabulous!) ;) http://www.thebookcrowd.blogspot.com/
ACT Public Library Blog - http://actpubliclibrary.blogspot.com/
I like the way they have so many links to other sites and sources throughout their blog, widening the reach of the library linking through other information channels.
...I have some others but the list is at work, so I’ll have to add them later…
Okay - there's one more:
Birmingham Public Library has news, reviews and info. - their blog includes plenty of photos/illustrations which make it appear more vibrant and interesting.
(1) The Power House Museum photo of the day, I decided on:
(2) LibraryBytes – Helene Blowers. “Byte-size” chunks of news about libraries & new technologies.
Helene’s bio. details are impressive!
Her role as Public Services Technology Director for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County has been well known courtesy of the Learning 2.0 programme, but she is now Director of Digital Strategy for the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Also joint author of Weaving a library web: a guide to developing children’s websites.
(3) Research Buzz - News about search engines, databases, and online information collections. Reports on the world of internet research, provides updates on search engines, data managing software, browser technology, etc. This site is by Tara Calishain, who has authored several books. I also receive her “Research Buzz” via email, but trying is as an RSS feed could be a better proposition.
(4) The Shifted Librarian – ‘shifting libraries at the speed of byte’. This blog is by Jenny Levine. I have seen this blog being referred to but have never looked closely at the site.
“Levine has one simple goal: to help us librarians become as technologically adept as our users are so that we can deliver services to them when and where they wish to use them and in their preferred medium and platform” Library Journal 2003.
(5) Boing Boing – while this site looks rather ordinary and is subtitled “A directory of wonderful things” Boing Boing is summed up as: a weblog of cultural curiosities and interesting technologies. It's the most popular blog in the world, as ranked by Technorati.com, and won the Lifetime Achievement and Best Group Blog awards at the 2006 Bloggies ceremony.
It does have the most random blogs to view with everything from current news to a suggestion that the Dalai Lama could start a celebrity t-shirt line!
(6) Search Engine Watch - provides tips and information about searching the web and analysis of the search engine industry. Subscribing provides updates for items posted to the SEW blog. This includes any story that has run in Search Engine Watch, along with references to stories from across the web.
It also provides a link to related SEW blog posts so the reader can follow the trail of similar posts for a particular topic.
I downloaded the Bloglines Windows Notifier so I can quickly see when new posts arrive.
More thoughts on RSS:
RSS is a great way to stay updated with the latest blog news, but it would be easy to over-subscribe and be subjected to more information overload, so feeds would have to be chosen carefully and eliminated if they don’t provide your information needs appropriately.
Public libraries could use RSS to stay up-to-date on reader’s issues, such as gathering the latest book reviews or book news to post to their own Library blog or website. In terms of special libraries, immediate news could be advised and passed on to relevant people in the organisation, eg. in medial libraries news from National Library of Medicine or health blogs. In law libraries, findings from court cases or discussions of impending legislation could be covered.
Other good library blogs:
Newcastle Region Library hosts “The Book Crowd” for book reviews (I'm a contributor, it must be fabulous!) ;) http://www.thebookcrowd.blogspot.com/
ACT Public Library Blog - http://actpubliclibrary.blogspot.com/
I like the way they have so many links to other sites and sources throughout their blog, widening the reach of the library linking through other information channels.
...I have some others but the list is at work, so I’ll have to add them later…
Okay - there's one more:
Birmingham Public Library has news, reviews and info. - their blog includes plenty of photos/illustrations which make it appear more vibrant and interesting.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Week three
Exploring Flickr has been an interesting exercise. I have looked briefly at photosharing but not into the depth that I have now explored Flickr. The Flicktr 'tour' was a great way to be led through the various steps and possibilities for image use. I searched on Flickr for "books" (how original!) and found some really great images - the cat 'reading' a book was cute, but my favourite was the llibreria bookstore in Amsterdam, the image I have uploaded here. Looks really quaint and makes me reach for a coffee immediately.
Like one of the other people commenting in the Learning 2.0 blog, I find it easier to save images to me computer and load from there.
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