Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Thing #15: Web/Library 2.0

Tom Storey’s (2006) definition of Web 2.0 is the best I’ve seen to date.

“In Web 2.0, the Web becomes the center of a new digital lifestyle that changes our culture and touches every aspect of our lives. The Web moves from simply being sites and search engines to a shared network space that drives work, research, education, entertainment and social activities—essentially everything people do. You and your mobile and non-mobile devices—PDA, MP3, laptop, cell phone, camera, PC, TV, etc.—are always online, connected to one another and to the Web.” http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/1.htm

In the next paragraph Storey says that the Web itself becomes the operating platform rather than our PCs. One of the benefits of a web-based platform is the transparency of the software to accommodate different browsers and operating systems. As a Mac user living in a Windows world I certainly welcome platform transparency. Another benefit, of course, is the availability of our content no matter where we are, and no matter on what machine we’re accessing the web. On this blog I’ve already documented my experiences with using Del.icio.us as a web 2.0 bookmarking application.

I believe that Michael Casey and Laura Savastinuk (2006) have hit the nail on the head when they write:

“In the current library world—particularly in public institutions—we are accustomed to focusing our services on those customers we already reach. . . . Libraries are in the habit of providing the same services and the same programs to the same groups. We grow comfortable with our provisions and we fail to change.” http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6365200.html.

Not only do we keep dipping into the same well, we, ourselves, as librarians grow too comfortable with already developed skills, and are reluctant to learn new ones. Perhaps it’s the fear of technology, but we have to push beyond that. Our patrons are becoming more and more technologically savvy, even the preschoolers. Michael Stephens writes:

“If we learn to learn, it doesn’t matter that this week’s hot technology is Twitter and next week’s even shinier tool is something else. We can still figure it out, use our foundational knowledge to make sense of it and decide if it works in our situation.” http://tametheweb.com/

In addition, the patrons that aren’t tech savvy are looking to us to help them become so. While working as a PSA at the Millard Branch patrons would daily come to my station asking for help in establishing an email account, searching for jobs on the web, and writing resumes. I’m sure that this is a common occurrence at other branches as well. It’s heartrending to see 50 year old workers who have never learned to type trying to negotiate online applications. They have no other choice as many employers no longer accept paper, phone calls or walk-in applications. A large part of our profession is service, and as our patrons needs change, so must our service skills.

Another issue facing our libraries is that of accessing materials not owned by our systems. Fortunately, we have ebooks, audiobooks, and movie streaming (although not for Mac users!). We have downloadable journal articles via full-text online databases. So, the main issue is acquiring books for our patrons from other sources. Yes, we have ILL, and yes WorldCat is making it easier to request an item, but we still have to deal with time delay. If the item is a research document we may have no other choice since there are few copies available. But if it is a readily available book, but not in our collection, Amazon and others can supply the text in a matter of a couple of days. Sometimes these books can even be downloaded. How will we answer this challenge?

I’m excited about the newly developed and developing tools available via Web 2.0, and I am eager to see the transformation of our libraries into the infocommunities of the future.

References

Casey, M. E. and Savastanuk, L. C. (2006, September 1). Library 2.0: Service for the next-generation library. Library Journal. Retrieved October 19, 2008 from http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6365200.html.

Stephens, M. (2008. October 24). SLA IT Bulletin: Digital Focus: Michael Stephens. Tame the Web. Retreived October 29, 2008 from http://tametheweb.com/.

Storey, T. (2006). Web 2.0: Where will the next generation web take libraries? Web 2.0 Retrieved October 29, 2008 from http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/1.htm.

#14 Technorati

Hey! What a cool tool! I had fun watching the video on Technorati and signing-up for an account. I "claimed" my blog and tried to search for some friends blogs - including O! What a Geek. Couldn't find any of them, but only spent about 5 minutes looking, though. Next I added a "favorite me" widget to my blog home page. So you all can add me! Hah!

I'm really enjoying learning about web 2.0 apps and adding them to my arsenal.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Thing # 13 - del.icio.us

i LOVE delicious! (on the web as well as on my plate). I was getting frustrated this Spring working on three different computers and having to bookmark the same pages in every browser. Then I saw delicious on a coworker's browser and decided to investigate. This was the answer to my need, and I must say that it has opened the door for me to add other web-based applications. A few years ago I used a laptop almost exclusively, but I no longer have one, and must rely on desktop PCs for my computing. Having portability in bookmarks and applications makes much more sense.

One of my favorite web-based apps is Google Calendar. I've created a series of calendars which are hosted on a free web calendar server and then download them to my Google Calendar. My wife and I both have current calendars to compare our schedules, and I don't have to retain all that info in my mind anymore. Having Google Calendar as one of my AAA bookmarks in delicious, it is readily available whenever I need to check a date. I already added OPL Staff Day to the last Friday in April 2009.

The 23 Things - 1 to 12

Some of my OPL colleagues participating in O! What a Geek have documented their progress and experiences with the 23 Things in great detail. I love to view their blogs and learn about other apps that I missed along the way. From them I have discovered Glickr and Trading Cards. From other librarian friends on Twitter I have found avatars like Voki and link listers like Lijit (say that three times fast).

I’ve used my blog for a variety of postings from family to sports to rants about ethics. But, I thought I’d like to document my progress on the 23 Things as well. Being a left-brained person, I’ll use this post to create a list of my experiences, and maybe to comment along the way.

1) Thing #1-Intro
2) Life-long learning
3) Set-up a blog –Here it is!
4) Register the blog with the Geek team – you’re reading it!
5) Flickr – set-up an account and posted photos
6) Flickr Mashups – posted Glickr slide show
7) Technology post – see “Technology R’nt US”
8) RSS feeds – read
9) Signed-up for some RSS feeds.

I found RSS shortly after it came out. My favorite aggregator is NewsFire which I use on my Mac at home. I found that you can be overrun with RSS updates depending on the sites to which you subscribe. Although it’s easy to check “mark as read,” it can be impossible to keep up with the amount of news coming to your desktop.

10) Played with image generators, posted a trading card
11) LibraryThing, I’ve been a member since Spring

I investigated some online Library catalogues such as Shelfari, East 41st St. and LibraryThing. I liked E 41st St.’s ability to search the OPL catalog for books as well as Amazon’s reviews. But, I didn’t like the representation of my library. I found the book cover listing cumbersome and unsearchable, and preferred a text list such as LibraryThing has. I had the same issue with Shelfari. I have also made librarian friends on LT via the groups pages. We now Twitter everyday.

12) Rollyo – I added a rollyo link and search engine to my blog.

I like the concept of rollyo that is creating a search engine from your favorite web sites. No more searching the entire web when you know that the content you want is contained in a few sites that you return to over and over again. I added a Mac search that looks at the major Macintosh sites on the web. The best info on Macs will be found on one of these. I’m still working the kinks out of the search engine.

Well, I’m halfway there. Not a very exciting post, but I just wanted to account for my Geek activity. Now back to my MLS projects.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Chris Hall Commissioning Ceremony

graphic myspace at Gickr.com
Photos of Chris Hall's Commissioning Ceremony, Wednesday, 2 October 2008, Marine Barracks, Washington, DC.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Hello from Northern Virginia

I have good news, and I have bad news.

First the good! We have had a wonderful week visiting our son, daughter-in-law, and three great grandkids. On Wednesday our son, Chris, was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He has been a member of the Marine Drum & Bugle Corps for 15 years, and served as mellophone section leader, chief of operations, head of public relations, company gunnery sergeant, temporary assistant drum major, and horn line seciton leader. Can you see why he was chosen to become the next officer of the D&B?

Later this month Chris will begin 6 months officer training at Quantico Marine Base, here in Virginia, and then assume his duties as Executive Officer of the D&B. We're all quite excited for him. This has been his goal for several years, and we've been sitting on pins and needles since February for the actual event to happen.

Shelly and I flew to DC Tuesday evening and began a wonderful time with Chris and his family. We were equally blessed to have Courtnie's folks there at the same time. We hadn't seen both of the "in-laws" for a few years, and so we had fun celebrating and visiting. Early Thursday, Courtnie's parents drove to their home in Florida.

Chris, Courntie, Shelly and I made plans to go to the grandkids football games and to watch the Buckeyes battle Wisconsin. This is a particular treat for Chris & me, because we don't often get to share our mutual love for the Bucks in person.

But, on Friday evening we received a frantic phone call from Courtnie's mother. Her father had been found not breathing, and was being rushed to the hospital. As you can imagine everything was in panic mode for the next half hour. There were phone calls among the three sisters and the mom. We ushered the grandkids to their parents' bedroom and bedded them down. Chris tried to steady Courtnie.

About thirty minutes later the phone call that everyone dreaded rang. The doctors were unable to revive Courtnie's father, and the grieving began. How amazing. He had seemed so healthy just two days earlier. He was pretty fit for a recently retired man. He exercised regularly, and wasn't overweight.

Chris and Courtnie decided to drive to Florida that very night. The other daughters live in Illinois and Texas, so Courtnie went to her mother to help comfort and console her. Shelly and I remained in Virginia to watch the kids, and so had to extend our stay. We rescheduled our flight, and thanks to the airline, they did so without charging us a penalty.

Chris, Courtnie and her mom will be returning home later this week. Shelly and I will travel back to Omaha and to our jobs. It has been a blessing to spend the past three days watching our grandkids. It does bring back memories of our three about 25 years ago.

But it gives us pause to reflect, too. Imagine going from the height of celebration to the depths of grief.

For Chris and Courtnie, the past 8 months of waiting have been pretty gruelling. A lot of patience has been worked into their characters over that time. They wondered if they would ever have a chance to get excited and celebrate, and then to only have a couple of days. They deserved more time.

What is the lesson now? How will the family move through the process of grieving the loss of its head, and once again turn eyes to the future and hope?

I pray that the God of comfort, who saw Chris and Courtnie through those 8 gruelling months, will show Himself even more present and strong in the days to follow. I pray that He will bear the family up in His wings, and wipe away all their tears. I pray that He will turn their mourning into dancing.

Life will go on. Death is only one part of the cycle of life. The young are full of love and laughter and will bring joy to their parents' and grandparents' hearts. Hearts will be consoled, and hearts will remember with love him who is no longer with us.

Thanks for reading this post. I hope that you will take a little time to reflect on the blessings of your life and to show appreciation for those around you that you love.