Thing #12

I have created my search roll, but I'm still not sure what it is to provide or how to use it. Nothing has convinced me that this is something I need, but I plan to continue asking fellow 23 Things folks and reading the HoCo blogs.

Thing #8

RSS and blogline. Having read several articles about RSS, I have only a slim idea about them. My sense is that this is one of the tools for "consuming" information. I am not so wedded to the Internet that I have to be in constant contact with information. I have registered with Bloglines and Google, but I have yet to figure out just how to set up my own feed.

Twenty-two years ago or so, Madeleine L'Engle wrote of her distaste for the words "consumer" and "consumerism". I seek information for the joy of learning and for good tools for living; I do not feel a need for a steady feed of news and information. I do not watch television for my news and I do not listen to NPR nonstop. At my age, I am quite selective and like being able to choose carefully and deliberately.

I am already under the curse of "too many books, too little time". I am not sure I want to get into "too much information, too little time".

Thing #19

Although Week 5 was listed as Fun Week, Week 8, no. 19 was the most fun for me. Years ago a friend of mine said that she was glad we couldn't take dictionaries into exams because she would go to look up a word and get lost reading the whole page.

I got started on the Web2 awards list and got lost in the variety of categories. It was great fun and enlightening. It made me aware of the number of options available as part of Web2: Here is my partially annotated list.

http://blog.meebo.com/about

Huge instant messaging system

http://www.43things.com/

No. 1—Lists and polls. Great fun for someone who loves lists and unusual topics, i.e., me.

http://upcoming.yahoo.com/

No. 1—Events: the link went directly to Baltimore events. Multiple options, calendar, category, etc.

http://grant.robinson.name/projects/guess-the-google/

No. 3—Games: I’m not a gamer, but Google was the lure. This looks like a fun game of creating montages and guessing key words.

http://www.wayfaring.com/

No. 2—Mapping: a subscription map service

• Create personalized maps; Share them with your friends; Explore maps created by others; Connect and collaborate

http://www.care2.com/

No. 1—Philanthropy: Discover, Share, Take Action: a mix of philanthropic causes. The home page is cluttered and daunting.

Thing #16

The links at http://marylandlibrarieslearning2.blogspot.com are extremely helpful for understanding wikis, and as I read on Web 2, it is clear that wikis are a tool that Web 2 libraries are using in their social networks.

Wikis can be used to annotate the catalog, create social groups that the library wants to serve.

http://meredith.wolfwater.com/cil06/#10
This link from Mdlibraries is well done and has links that could be followed for days, but almost all of them stripped away some level of mystery for me about wikis. Slide 5 showed a format similar to the HoCo page, but with a number of wikis to draw the customer into the library's services. Meredith Farkas' presentation is filled with a variety of practical library uses for Web 2 and wikis.

http://enquiring-minds.net/2007/11/19/balance-in-everything-wikipedia-v-the-librarian/
This article about Librarians and Wikis points out the need to get into Web 2 and its tools.