Library 2.0

I read several of the perspectives on Library 2.0. The ones I read all basically saw Library 2.0 as a positive development for libraries, and I agree. I have so enjoyed learning all of the new Learning 2.0 technology, and I look forward to putting this knowledge to use in service to our patrons. As librarians, we are basically in the lifelong learning business (so to speak) so we of all people should embrace the phenomenon that is Learning 2.0. It certainly isn't going to go away, even if there might be some of us who are reluctant to jump on board! ;-) The trick is to figure out just how we can make use of all of this technology in a practical sense. Libraries are already making use of tools such as blogs, MySpace, and Wikis as a way to reach out to and interact with their communities. When I think of all the various ways we could utilize this new technology, the possibilities seem endless. I think we've only just begun, and I am excited about what the future holds.

Technorati Time

Today, I surfed around Technorati. First, I searched for "Learning 2.0" in Blogs, Tags, and Posts. These searches all returned different results, and I suppose I found the Blog results to be most relevant and useful in this instance. I then went on and looked at the "Most Favorited" Blogs (favorited...is that a new word?) ;-) I saw a few political blogs I had read before, but other than that, there wasn't too much I was interested in. I did enjoy the search function, as I searched for several of my interests and found some other blogs I might like to read. While searching for "libraries", I came across The View From Here, which looks pretty interesting. I might have to add that one to my Bloglines account. I was not surprised that the top searches included Harry Potter, but I was disheartened that they also included Paris Hilton (her 15 minutes of fame feel more like 15 years...ugh.)

del.icio.us = Another Cool Discovery

I've had fun giving this a try. I've already tagged several of my favorite websites, and I will definitely be adding more. I have a plethora of bookmarks on my Firefox browser, and while they are all organized by folders, I think del.icio.us could help me even more. And it will also help to have all the same bookmarks available whether I'm on my laptop, desktop PC, or work PC.

I think this tool could be useful to librarians. Usually when we find a useful website for a particular school project or some other hot topic, we go around to each Info Desk PC and create a bookmark in Internet Explorer. However, if we set up a del.ici.ous account for our department, we wouldn't have to add a bookmark to each PC's browser. We could just tag the site under our del.icio.us account, and make it available to all department librarians in an instant. And that's just one of the possible timesavers del.ici.ous could provide.

On a more personal level, this tool could have been useful to me when I was working on my Bachelor's degree. I kind of wish I knew about it then, as it would have been great to have at my fingertips when working on various research papers. It would have been especially helpful, too, because I took most of my classes online and had to keep track of a lot of links provided by my professors. Well, at least now I'm in the know and can use this tool for graduate school!

While clicking on sites tagged by other users, I found something relevant to us here in library-world. It was a WikiHow on falling asleep to audio books. It recommends checking out audio books from your library and playing them on very low-volume while laying in bed. Apparently, nonfiction and classic literature are great for lulling one to sleep! I'm not sure how I feel about this. Classic literature as a sleep aid? Hmmmmmm....

Rollyo...eh.

Rollyo just isn't as fun or useful to me as some of the other Learning 2.0 technology. Maybe if I spent more time with it, I'd grow to love it. (???)

I created my own personal News Searchroll, as I love to read the news online, and I consistently use the same favorite news sources. But I actually find that Google News does pretty much the same job this searchroll does, but better. I suppose I just need to play around a bit more with Rollyo to discover its usefullness to me, but so far, I find it kind of blah. Oh well, we don't have to fall in love with every one of the 23 Things, do we?

Image Generator Fun

I have a Yahoo account, so it made sense for me to play around with Yahoo's Avatar Image Generator. And it was fun! I love playing around with stuff like this, so I took my time perusing all the options and "trying on" different things. This is what I finally settled on, and although the woman in the image does not quite resemble me in every way, :-) the setting and the accessories (doggie and books) are very accurate! The dog even looks very much like my own beloved mutt!

For the Love of LibraryThing!

I have known the joy that is LibraryThing for some time now. Still, this exercise prompted me to catalog even more books. Before, I just listed books that were on my own personal library shelves. But then, I don't necessarily own every single book that I have read and enjoyed (thanks to the library, of course!) :-) So, I thought, I really should list all the books I have read that I really liked or loved (no point that I could see in listing the ones I'd rather forget, and that includes some that are still on my shelves!) So my list has now broken the 100 book mark, and I'm still going strong. I just have to crank up my memory...!

Some Libary-Related Feeds

I first heard of The Feel Good Librarian in a Library Journal article. I hadn't read this blog in a while, but this week's Library 2.0 assignment prompted a visit. It's a fun blog that tells the tales of the Reference Desk front lines. I've added it to my Bloglines list of feeds.

I also added:

Libraries and Librarians Rock (because it sounded cool, and looks very interesting...haven't had a chance to read through it yet, though!)

The Hip Librarians' Book Blog (yes, it also sounded cool, :-) and it looks like it could be a helpful Reader Advisory tool.)

Library Grrrls (I love the "riot grrrl" reference, and it is a good resource aimed at aspiring female librarians.)

Now, I just have to remember to check my Bloglines account so I don't miss anything good!