Thing 11- Social Media

NEFLIN's blog post said it itself, the top stories on these social media sites drive reference questions. It is important for librarians to keep up with current events, which generally aren't covered in the local paper. I liked how on Digg you could see how many "diggs" were made for a specific article.

This Thing is important to the idea of Web 2.0, because it does allow users to interact with and essentially create the program.

Thing 10- Tagging and Delicious

I became familiar with Delicious while getting my MLIS, although I haven't used it much lately. You can find a lot of good sites by exploring others' tags.

I think it would be great if library patrons could tag books in our collection. This would be a great reader's advisory tool.

Thing 9- Sharing

I think Lazybase would be a great way to collect and share your important information. Creating databases of books for storytimes or favorite books are just a couple of ways I could use this program.

The library could use it to house our bibliographies, which constantly need updating (wasting a lot of paper in the process).

Thing 8- Communication

I have been using IM for a long time now, and frequently text my family. I know that I can text my sister (a teacher) during the day and get a response faster than if I called and left a message for her to call me back.

The library staff uses e-mail to communicate with each other, and patrons e-mail us from our website. Instant messaging could be a useful tool for quickly providing reference services to patrons. This way they would not have to wait for their e-mail to be forwarded to the correct party and answered. An instant connection would be made with the library staff member, plus there is the added benefit of having a record of the transaction.

Thing 7- I feel like I should have this flashing above my head...

We could use this to create cool new graphics for promotional materials.

Thing 6- Mashups

I am too much of a perfectionist for this. I kept changing the letters to find the best combination. Oh well... (and on top of that, Brit just told me that the images are totally different anyway.)

Thing 5- Flickr

This is either the most boring game of Chicken known to dog or the most improbable "staring game" ever played.
Originally uploaded by colorblindpicaso

OK, I could waste some serious time looking at cute puppy pictures. This could be bad... very bad.

So I think I'm supposed to be relating this to work... we could use pictures for promotional use and store our programming pictures for later use.

Thing 4- RSS Feeds

I subscribe to a number of blogs, and have set up the feeds so new posts display on my Google account. This saves me from having to visit each blog separately (HUGE time saver!).

Thing 3- Blog search engines

Today I played with Technorati and Bloglines. I had trouble getting Technorati to load twice. Third time's a charm, though, because it finally started working. I did the same search on both search engines, and was happier with the results I received on Bloglines (which were totally different than those on Technorati). I found Technorati to be kinda busy, something that I don't particularly care for. However, Bloglines made it seem like you needed to have an account to do anything on their site. Novice users might not notice the little search box up top and be inclined to use it.

I honestly don't know how many of our patrons would use this or ask for help using it, but it's a good tool to be aware of.

Thing 2- Web 2.0

While I think it is important for libraries to embrace Web 2.0 technology, I think the idea of "Web 2.0" as a movement is overhyped. Libraries have, for the most part and in their own time, generally accepted new media and technologies. As quickly as Web 2.0 is accepted, it will be replaced by another generation of technology, which libraries will need to adapt to just as readily.

As for Web 2.0 tools, I think it is so important for librarians to learn them and utilize them. Not only are patrons using these tools, but new technology will likely build on them. Libraries can use these tools to effectively communicate with patrons and create a more user-centered library.

Thing 1- Set up a blog

Wow, that was really easy! I have visited blogs in the past and am amazed at what I have learned through them. Using a blog on our library's website would be a great way to connect with patrons to discuss books and events.