Twitter Twits

I don't like Twitter.

I don't get it.

It seems like a tool for narcissists with ADD.

Seriously.

What kind of thing is Library Thing

After previewing the tour, this statement gave me pause...

"LibraryThing gives you library-quality data for your books, and is also full of social information."

No, it does not give you library-quality data for your books. Their "work" record is not comparable to a full bib. record. There are too many people in libraries who do not appreciate the amount of information that can be used from a properly constructed, complete bib. record. A good bibliographic record is THE FOUNDATION upon which access to any ILS is built. So, that being said, this database is only as good as the information going into it. B/C it's user driven, there is a lot of useful information that wouldn't be in a "library" record, e.g., author pictures, but then there's a lot of junk too. Its strengths are its hot links, for example, the links to author pages are interesting, but then the info is far from complete. Their solution to multiple authority records for one author is to have users "combine" entries. It's an interesting concept.

I do not consider LibraryThing an authoritative source. I don't use it b/c I have other databases for my own use that I can populate with data I know is correct, and also private. This is a personality thing -- I'm not that interested in what other people think of a particular book, nor do I feel it necessary to blog about my opinions about a certain book. (Can I say this as a librarian??)

So yah, it's cool beans, but I prefer other legumes.

Does shareware play well with others?

I use Google Calendar all the time. ONLY b/c I can't get access to my work calendar/email from home (which I'd prefer). The same thing goes for Google docs. I have used it only when I haven't had access to MS products.

I think it will be very interesting if CPL stops supporting industry standard software in favour of shareware/freeware (web-based). If so, the importance and reliability of our Internet connections/bandwidth may cut into the cost saving measure.

Flicker flacker. Flicker flash.

When I go over to my sister's for supper or vice versa, inevitably the laptop gets pulled out and the latest and greatest YouTube videos get shown to much laughter and repeated viewings, e.g., "Charlie bit me!"

I don't usually visit Flickr by itself, usually I'm taken there by a link on someone's site to see their photos or work.

When I went to look at other people's photo streams, I felt like I was spying into their world. I could see vacation photos, intimate moments (nothing salacious thankfully!), and way too much stuff that I simply would not care to know, nor post myself (although I'm now rethinking some of my Facebook albums...). I found the groups feature helpful and when I finally figured out how to scroll through the pictures in the right order (frustrating!) I got to see some cool ways of harvesting vermicomposting -- with added captions that pointed out specifics. All in all, I don't think I'd visit this site just to muck about. It was too unweildy for my tastes.

RSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I use Google Reader for my RSS feeds. I subscribe to several blogs and LOVE the convenience of centralized access to the latest posts from sites that I find interesting. On Sunday mornings, I get my cup of coffee, plunk myself on the couch, turn on the laptop and "catch up" on my favourite web sites through 1 access point. BTW, Bibliocommons has an RSS feed for your favourite books... just sayin'.

Googled

I use quite a few of the Google products, but, embarassingly enough, I hadn't used the Google Books tool.

It has a search function so I searched for vermicompost. The list of books either have No preview available or Limited preview or Snippet view or Full view. The ones w/ no preview can either have the citation/cover by itself or with reviews if available. What's particularly impressive about the limited preview is the hot linked contents and citations. The snippet view has your search terms in context, but only in a snippet or portion of the page.

I was once again reading an article left by someone (our mystery enlightener) in our staff room. The article was talking about digital books by 2020. The author's point was that cheap, accessible text delivered electronically will be a positive change -- just like the dime novels of the past. Google books has already centralized access for J. Q. Public and has me really impressed.

Facing Facebook

For you, is Facebook useful or a time-waster?

A staff member (I don't know who!) put an article in the staff room...

"RIP digital me: Saying good-bye to Facebook"

www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/personal-tech/rip-digital-me-saying-good-bye-to-facebook/article1522456/

The part that caught my attention was "A cottage industry of performance artists and other Internet rebels has tapped into social media paranoia by launching such websites as Web 2.0 Suicide Machine and seppukoo.com ( a play on the ritual samurai suicide). The services allow users to activate a seris of software codes that enter their social media accounts and eliminate all posted images and text."

So that got me thinking (as an avid 2.0 user) could I do it? Could I pull the plug? And to make a long post a little longer, so far the answer is no ... so the answer is not so much useful, but certainly entertaining.

Wiki wiki scratch yo yo bang bang

How easy or difficult was it to find articles that needed editing? Were the errors you found factual or grammar / spelling?

Two TV shows come to mind -- South Park when Cartman parodies Will Smith's "The Wild West"
"Well, I'm a badass Cowboy livin' in the Cowboy days.
Wiki, wiki, scratch, yo, yo, bang, bang.
Me and Artemus Clyde frog go save Salma Hayek from the big metal spider.
A wiki wig wig wiki wiki wig
Fresh cowboy from the west side
Wiggy wiggy scratch yo yo bang bang
Me and Artemus Clyde frog go save Salma frog polly prissy pants
Go down to, well... rumpletumpskin"

and 2

The episode of 30 Rock when Jenna is going "in character" for her Janis Joplin biopic and the writers get into Wikipedia and make up all these weird things that Janis did so that Jenna will do them too. [the picture below is where she's about to eat a cat since that what it said in Wikipedia]

So to answer
How easy or difficult was it to find articles that needed editing? Were the errors you found factual or grammar / spelling?

Wayyyyyyyyy easy. The errors that I found weren't really errors -- they were phrases that were written in a way that could be considered absolutes, when in actuality there were other options. [that's a thing with me...]

Anyhoo, edited without an account and poof, it showed up. I was under the impression that one needed an account to edit, but today I learned something new. Thanks!

Tag you're it!

What are the advantages of storing, sharing, and tagging web content this way? What are the disadvantages?

We discuss this question during our Organization of Information module. I also remember brilliant discussions from Alan Manifold and Michael Gorman when I was working in the States on this very issue. Alan wants everything in XML and Michael says however imperfect MARC is, he'll switch over once you prove there's something better. Think about the rather dismal success [non-success] of Dublin Core -- we had the top librarians and academics in the world working on this metadata standard, mandating it to be user friendly and have scalability for the "masses" to be able to catalogue electronic resources (e.g., web pages). The original 15 element sets weren't precise enough to be efficient, so more and more terms had to be added (subsets) and then it became unwieldy. Effective and efficient retrieval of any item from any database depends on unique identifiers and also controlled vocabulary, but it's the "controlled" part of the vocabulary that seems to be the biggest problem.

The advantage of vocabulary inputted by the users is that it's "user-friendly." However, this is also a disadvantage since 'cat' to me, may be 'feline' to you, may be 'kitty' to another. So do you put all of those tags in and if so, is one able to find all the 'cat' items when you search for your 'kitty.' This is already evident in Delicious with the tag bundles -- which is a step towards a controlled vocabulary, or grouping like items under a single heading.

I'm on Michael Gorman's side. I think the MARC record, just like democracy, is an imperfect system, but as Winston Churchill declared, "It better than any of the alternatives."

Library 2.0 reflection

Upon reflection of this experience, it is challenging to incorporate all the different elements of knowledge, change, development into one's regularly scheduled life. Luckily we have opportunities like Library 2.0 to help us along the journey towards professional and personal fulfillment. It is particularly rewarding to strive towards a goal, to learn new things and to be part of something larger than onesself. It's what makes life meaningful on this whirling sphere of indifference.

Who needs Johnny Depp...

when you've got Alyss Heart...

Frank Beddor's fantastical take on Alice in Wonderland is published in a trilogy and came before all this 3D techno movie-ness.

The first book "Through the Looking Glass" most of Alyss Heart's family and friends are ruthlessly killed by her evil Aunt Redd. Alyss escapes through the Pool of Tears, which is actually a portal between worlds, and winds up in Victorian England and is renamed Alice. At first, the child tries to tell ordinary humans about her world and the power imagination actually effects in Wonderlandia, but they gently chide her for telling stories. She believes that she's found a sympathetic ear in a young Oxford don who is a friend of her adopted family, but he turns her story into the travesty we all know as "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Meanwhile, Hatter Madigan, a member of Wonderlandia's Millinery, who also escaped through the Pool, searches for Alyss across continents and time, until he finds her more than a dozen years later. Back home in Wonderlandia, the few who have escaped evil Redd's soldiers plot to retake the land. [Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA published in School Library Journal]

Stay tuned for book 2!