Thing #18 Online productivity tools

But there's no equivalent to Publisher (or for Mac Appleworks users, Drawing) !!  Which I use alot! Because I like to!  Because I'm visual!

!!

So, okay, I did type a sentence in Google.docs and it were goot.  Easy to use because of its familiarity, but lacking soo many features.  I can only hope for Microsoft's Office suite to become an open source (is that the correct term?) online productivity tool.  And that's only because that's what the majority of people use.  I would love to be able to work on my documents from library to home and visa versa.  Without installing Office on my Mac.  Which we own and have on the boys' computers but haven't on ours because ... because...

Thing #17 The Sandbox

I figured out how to add my blog's URL and poked around a bit, trying to find other pages in the wiki - favorite books, favorite way to escape, anything at all.  I found a couple, but it was a chore.  I never did find out how to create a page to write, "whutevvvr!" on ...

Playing in the sand has made me hot and sticky and covered in grit.  (figuratively? virtually?)

Thing #16 Wikis

I do like what St. Joseph County Public Library is doing with their wiki.  They have information that is contained in our MD Share, often asked facts, and reader's advisory.  I could see where the user friendly design is more appealing than the standard library website; including a wiki modeled on St. Joseph's would be great.  But let's not be throwing the baby out.

The reader reviews on WorldCat, as with Amazon, are helpful.  Kindergarten lesson: sharing is good.  However, having a wiki that the public can contribute to means that libraries would have to have a staff person, or persons monitoring the content constantly and consistently, even using filters, to guard against inappropriate language, diatribes and spam.  Once set up, the time requirement might be small enough to be a daily task rather than a huge portion of the day.

I like wikis, I like them not, I like wikis, I like them not...

Used my recipe rollyo today!

It was too, too fun.  A patron came in to find a recipe for Black Walnut Cake, and I jumped on the opportunity to take my "I need a recipe for" rollyo out for a spin.  I sent him off with a recipe for a Black Walnut Pound Cake from allrecipes.com.  Hoo-wee!

Thing #15 Web 2.0, Library 2.0

It's a brave new world.  

I am both, challenged and invigorated by, and wary of, the library of the future.  The ever developing tools of web 2.0 allow for the expansion of the library far beyond the physical boundaries of the building.  Patrons can access materials and information from anywhere, needing only their magic wand of a library card ...

but what about the patron who cannot use the web, either because of financial inability or because of an inability to learn how to use the technology?  One librarian wrote of not becoming so enamored of technology that we lose the ability to pick and choose what actually works for us in meeting the needs of the patrons.  Another challenged us to walk away from the idea of building comprehensive "in case" collections.

I do not think of our physical collection as "in case."  The collection is there to service not only those with no access to computers and the internet, but those who still prefer the experience of holding a book and reading from the page, or watching a video on something other than a computer monitor.  (Although, as a side note, one son's new screen is probably bigger than that of the first TV we bought as newly minted adults.)  

I believe the need for a physical collection in a public library will exist beyond the five or ten years predicted for libraries to become something "substantially different."  I hope we never forget the one end of the spectrum in pursuit of the other. 

Thing #14 Technorati and the Bloposphere

That incredibly loud sucking sound is being made by the giant black hole of the blogosphere, which is growing larger with every keystroke I make.  I feel my karmic debt deepening.

Puleeze.  Once again, I'm opting for First Life.  I watched the "new and improved Technorati" video, and yes, it's all very nifty.  The woman narrating was obviously delighted with her toy, but when she said she checked one tag "like seven times a day," my head exploded.

I cannot imagine the enormity of wasted time spent reading blogs, checking out the latest on the RSS feeds, and watching videos of mantis shrimp or whatever is most popular at any particular nano-second in time.

I can imagine loss of productivity at work and at home.  And I can imagine plummeting patron satisfaction while reference librarians try to keep one eye on catching up with their favorite feeds, blogs and videos, while helping the patrons ... providing the librarians notice them to begin with.

Current status: Happy Del.icio.us me is back to being cranky old lady me.

Thing #13 Yummy, that's del.icio.us!

Yes, I'll have some more of that.  Here is a tool that I can imagine real world applications for and benefits from.  Personally, I am going to recommend its usage to my sons, because of its tremendous research enhancement potential.  

For use in libraries - what a great way to link readers of similar tastes, perhaps with LibraryThing.  Akin to Author Read Alikes, but better, to my thinking.  Of course, research assistance, including seasonally appropriate - holidays, taxes.  (That wasn't even a sentence.  Oh well.)

Oooo - look quickly; I'm currently not a grumpy Luddite.