Thing #16: Wikis

Thing #16: Wikis

A wiki is a collaborative website and authoring tool that allows users to easily add, remove and edit content. With the benefits that wikis provide the use and popularity of these tools is exploding. Some of the benefits that make wikis so attractive are:

• Anyone (registered or unregistered, if unrestricted) can add, edit or delete content.
• Tracking tools within wikis allow you to easily keep up on what been changed and by whom.
• Earlier versions of a page can be viewed and reinstated when needed.
• And users do not need to know HTML in order to apply styles to text or add and edit content. In most cases simple composers similar to word processing software are used.

As the use of wikis has grown over the last few years, libraries all over the country have begun to use them to collaborate and share knowledge. Among their applications are pathfinder or subject guide wikis, book review wikis, ALA conference wikis and even library best practices wikis.

To complete Thing #16:

1) Explore the following links:

• LibSuccess: What is a Wiki? Check out this page for an introduction into wikis and then explore the rest of this library-themed wiki.
• Wikis: A Beginner's Look a slideshow put together by Meredith Farkas gives good examples of how wikis can be used.
• BookLovers Wiki by Princeton Public Library - For library staff and public
• Subject Guides by St. Joseph's Public Library - For library staff and public
• Youth Services wiki by the Allegheny County Library Association - For youth services staff in all 40+ independent libraries around their county.

2) Blog about your findings and what you found interesting/beneficial/faulty/etc. For what reasons could we use a wiki within our libraries?

Thing #15: Library 2.0

Thing #15: Library 2.0

All the exercises we've gone over so far are part of what's been named Web 2.0. Some people question whether this concept really exists, but it can't be denied that the Web has turned in a more user-generated direction. A large part of the people who use the web are now creating their own materials and personalizations.

As the web has changed over the past few years, so have the ideas of libraries. Library 2.0 is term used to describe a new set of concepts for developing and delivering library services. The name shares many of its same philosophies and concepts of Web 2.0, including harnessing the user in both design and implementation of services, embracing constant change as a development cycle over the traditional notion of upgrades, and reworking library services to meet the users in their space, as opposed to ours (library buildings, webpages, etc).

Library 2.0 is more than just a term used to describe concepts that merely revolve around the use of technology; it also a term that can be used to describe both physical and mindset changes that are occurring within libraries to make our spaces and services more user-centric and inviting. Others within the profession have asserted that libraries have always been 2.0: collaborative, customer friendly and welcoming. But no matter which side of the debate proponents fall, both sides agree that libraries of tomorrow, even five or ten years from now, will look substantially different from libraries today.

To complete Thing #15:

1) Take a look at the links below that explore the 2.0 philosophy:

• OCLC's article, "Web 2.0: Where Will the Next Generation Web Take Libraries?"
  
• Library 2.0: Service for the Next Generation Library


• Search Technorati, Delicious, or your favorite search site for blogs about Library 2.0 and see what those in the blogosphere have to say about the concept.
  

2) After reading these, post to your blog about your reaction and opinions on the idea of Library 2.0. What does the 2.0 movement mean to you? Its strengths? Weaknesses? What can we do to move in this direction to make things easier and more usable for our patrons?

Thing #14: Google Books

Thing #14: Google Books


We were going to do Technorati for Thing #14, but due to the fact that most people were rather unimpressed with the short introduction they got from the RSS feed finding, we're replacing it with Google Books. Why? We all use Google. We use it at home; we use it at work. Many people are unaware that besides searching the web, they can also use Google for searching through the full text of books.

In 2002, Google launched their Google Book Search Site as a step toward allowing people to search all of the world's book. Within a couple years, Google had partnered with the University of Michigan, Oxford University, and other prestigious libraries to digitize their large collections as part of their Google Library Project--we're talking millions of books that will be available to be searched online. Imagine being able to see first editions of local history books, or being able to search for a book relevant to an obscure topic.



Google Books offers full view options for many books in the public domain and preview (or snippet) view of others that still retain copyright. You can limit your search to full view if you only want to retrieve books that are completely available in digitized form.

To finish Thing #15:

1) Visit Google Book Search. Try a sample search on a topic that interests you--be sure to try out the "Full View only," so that you can find some books that will be presented in their entirety. If you're having trouble, try Google's Help Center.

2) Click on a book to view. Look at how you can explore the pages by browsing, the table of contents (if there is one), and searching within the book.

3) Create a blog post about your experience. What benefits does Google Book Search have for our libraries? What does it mean for extending access to information? What don't you like about this site? Do you have concerns about copyright? Let us know your thoughts.

Thing#13: Delicious

Note from Sarah: I will be gone for most of this week. If you run into problems with any of the 23 Things, please talk to your library's Staff Development committee member. I won't be able to respond to emails until Tuesday at the earliest. Have fun with Week 6!

Thing #13: Del.icio.us and Social Bookmarking

For this exercise, we'll explore Del.icio.us, a social bookmarking manager which allows you to bookmark a web page and add tags to categorize your bookmarks. Because they're stored on the site and not your computer, your bookmarks and favorite links can be accessed from any computer anywhere. In addition, you can label your bookmarks with tags, which will enable you to find links that are of similar interest (as deemed so by other Delicious users).


A few of our previous exercises such as Flickr and GoodReads allow users to take advantage of tagging. Tagging is an open and informal method of categorizing that allows users to associate keywords with online content (webpages, pictures & posts). Unlike library subject cataloging, which follows a strict set of guidelines (i.e. the Library of Congress subject headings), tagging is completely unstructured and free-form, allowing users to create connections between data anyway they want.

To complete Thing #13:

1) Familiarize yourself with Del.icio.us and its capabilities. Check out their "About" page to see what you can do. For some screenshots of the link adding process, click here!

2) Explore the site options and try clicking on a bookmark that has also been bookmarked by a lot of other users. Can you see the comments they added about this bookmark or the tags that they used to categorize this reference?


3) Create a blog post about your experience and thoughts about this tool. Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance and library services? Or is it just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere? Let us know your thoughts.

Thing #12: Your Choice

Thing #12: Your Choice (Literally)

Congratulations on making it this far--you're halfway done! In celebration of this, Thing #12 is your choice. Just blog about anything technology related. It can be something you've learned, something you'd like to learn, your favorite exercise so far, a news article you read. Anything. Make sure you are reading a few other participants' blogs, though. Leave at least one comment on another blog, since the idea is to create new methods of communicating and connecting. Remember, you can find the other blogs listed here.

There's one more thing to do for Thing #12 and it's very important: Choose the incentive you'd want to receive at the completion of all 23 Things. In your blog post, you also have to let us know which prize you want. Your options are an mp3 player, a memory card reader, or a flash drive. The staff development team will be picking out the brands, but rest assured that we'll pick quality ones for you. You still have to complete all the exercises through #23 to get your prize, though. We'll be checking and commenting on your blogs all the way until the end!

Thing #11: Digg

Thing #11: Digg

CNN, Fox News, MSN, and many others. Blogs, podcasts, and more. There are so many sites out there, how do you find notable items of interest? What's worthy of looking at? At Digg, users can select specific stories or sites that they think deserve attention or that others might find interesting. As you digg certain items, the votes are tallied to give items a cumulative score and push them up in ranking. By creating an account with Digg, you can join in the conversation by submitting items and posting comments. You can search for specific topics that interest you, or browse by category.

To finish Thing #11:

1. Explore Digg (you don't necessarily have to set up an account, but do look around).

2. Take their tour.

3. Create a post about this site. Post a link to one item that you might not have otherwise discovered.

Thing #10: Good Reads

Thing #10: Good Reads

Chances are that if you're working at the library, you just might be a book lover. But how do you remember everything you've read or put on your "To Read" list? Are you constantly looking for the next book to curl up with? Enter GoodReads, a tool that allows you to keep track of all the books in your life, whether you just finished one or heard about a title you'd like to read sometime in the future.

GoodReads aims to make reading even more fun by allowing you to add friends and use each other as resources for finding new authors and recommendations. GoodReads, like Flickr, employs tagging--only they appropriately use a "shelves" analogy, meaning you can add your own genres and descriptors to help keep all of your children's picture books or historical fiction together.

My personal GoodReads can be found here as an example.

For Thing #10:
1. Take a good look around GoodReads and start your own account (don't worry--it's free!).
2. Add at least 5 books, tag them, and take a look at what other people are saying about those titles. Explore the groups, find friends, and see if you can find a new book that interests you.
3. In your blog, talk about your experience and post a link to your new account. If you're feeling adventurous, explore the Widgets that quickly give you a badge/icon on your blog. These Widgets include a link to the shelf of your choice. For example:

The Widgets can be found after you've created your account by clicking on the "Widgets" link in the upper right when you're displaying the My Books page. Copy the big code they give you, go back to Blogger, click on the "Edit HTML" tab in the composer window, paste...and voila! A widget is born.