But is it what they want?

Kudos to Meredith Farkas for pointing out that what we provide for our patrons, no matter how well-intentioned, may not be what they want. University library patrons are not the same as public library patrons; rural library patrons are not the same as urban library patrons. Many times I have had patrons come into my branch and just ask to be shown how to use email or do a simple search on the Internet. Other patrons, especially teens, live on MySpace, MSN Chat, etc. How many libraries have created blogs that no one uses?

Granted, our demographics are changing and we need to be constantly scanning the horizon for how best to accommodate those changes. Which brings us to another point: Meredith wrote extensively about assessment. I would add to that we need to: ASSESS what our patrons really want, ASSESS if what we’re planning to offer will address that need or a perceived future need, and finally, ASSESS how well did we perform in meeting that need. One of the needs I’ve seen with our rural patrons is to have access to technology that they feel comfortable with and understand. That would explain why books on CDs are still more popular than Download Library.

Michael Stephens, “Into a New world of Librarianship”, notes that Librarians 2.0 plan for their users, while controlling technolust. I also like his observation that Librarians 2.0 watch for the impact of technology AND recognize the need for honest, human conversations. Of course, librarians themselves are also consumers of Library 2.0, not just purveyors. Chip Nilges and John Riemer point out the exciting aspects of metadata and the collective intelligence of tagging that should have most librarians panting with excitement.

Library 2.0, for me, is a tool. True, it is a new (for now) and exciting tool, but it is still simply just that: a tool. If I am interested in connecting and collaborating with other groups and people, then it becomes a social tool. If I am interested in a quick, seamless gathering of data (RSS feeds, etc) then it becomes a strategy. If I am interested in the efficient storage and retrieval of data (Delicious, LibraryThing, Flickr), then it is an organizational tool.

But, at the end of the day, I really don’t care what it’s called so long as it makes my life easier. And, I'm guessing that perspective is the same whether we are the librarian or the patron.

Delicious and Technorati

Sound of funeral dirge in the background....my home computer died this week. The ol' hard drive just stopped working. Which brings us to the topic of Delicious. I wish I had created those bookmarks BEFORE my old system went to the great dustbin in the sky. With all the upgrades at work, it also makes sense to save bookmarks to a 'non-local' source such as Delicious in case you are working in another branch or your staff PC is re-imaged.

Tagging makes information storage and retrieval more meaningful. It was interesting to note, of the bookmarks I added, how many other people had added them as well. Creates more opportunities of communication between people of like interests.

Technorati was interesting but a little overwhelming. After reading through several of the most popular blogs, subject-related blogs, etc. I found it important to remind myself that these were created by people expressing their opinions. They are not meant to be taken as authoritative. As a librarian, this reminds me once again about how important our job is in assisting our patrons to find good quality, authoritative information on subjects - not just someone's opinion expressed in their blog.

Library Thing and Facebook

Library Thing is fabulous! It's like a virtual world-wide reader's advisory resource. Cataloguing the initial five books was just a beginning. A wealth of information yet so easy to use.

Interesting question about Facebook and organizations. Facebook can be an invaluable resource, especially for non-profit organizations. A good example is how the Humane Society uses Facebook and MySpace as a forum to express opnions and create grass-roots level advocacy.

But, that's not to say everyone should jump into it. If your target audience doesn't use social networking tools, then Facebook may not be for you. One of the biggest drawbacks to Facebook for organizations is the potential loss of control over their image - with open access, you can't control the conext in which your organization may show up.

And, for all you subversive dissents out there - here's an interesting link to Egyptian youth and Facebook. http://www.digiactive.org/2008/06/03/pros-cons-egypt-activists-rely-on-facebook-what-if-its-blocked/

For me, the biggest personal drawback to being on Facebook (I just joined last week) is the amount of email it generates as people want to sign on as friends. Who are these people? I don't even recognize most of them! Although, I did hear from two old high school boyfriends. Hmmm..

Click if you love animals

One of my favourite animal rescue groups that I support (and have persoally visited) is Full Moon Farm. This sanctuary offers shelter and care to wolf-dog crosses. These beautiful animals have been abused or abandoned and would have been put down if not for the hard work and dedication of Nancy Brown who owns and runs this rescue shelter.

The Animal Rescue website at http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3 is currently running a contest to benefit animal shelters. Click on "Click here to give" (each link provides a bowl of food for an animal in a shelter) then go down to the bottom of the "Thank you" screen to the Animal Rescue Site Shelter Challenge. Click in that box then please cast your vote for Full Moon Farm, Black Mountain NC, USA.

To find out more about Full Moon Farm, go to the link on my blog under Favourite Web Sites.

The woofers and I thank you!

Run over on the Information Highway

So here I am, better late than never, blogging away on a beautiful Sunday.

Talk about information overload! First, I created a bloglines account. Very easy. Next, I needed to decide what blogs to add. Okay, let's begin with adding blogs from various people in our web course. Great! That saves me the time of clicking on each blog to see what people are doing. Or, have I simply shifted WHERE I click? A least I can see at a glance if there have been any current updates so that saves me the time spent in needless clicking only to find that there has been no change since the last time I looked at someone's blog. Like all of you who have subscribed to my blog and are wondering where the heck I've been and why haven't I completed this week's assignment. Ah well, life intervenes; it's been an incredibly busy week.

Next step...check out all of those tools. Yvonne was right - topixnet is too much info with too little Canadian content. Feedster seemed to have a download problem on my home computer vis a vis taking too much time so like a child with a short attention span I gave up and clicked elsewhere. With regards to Syndic8 I hated the interface - very poorly designed in terms of graphics, organization, and use of space. The bloglines search tool was great and opened up a whole new realm of information tracking. So much information and so little time to digest it all...

Feeling overwhelmed with the Information Highway, I am now going to clear my head by travelling down a different kind of highway; this time on my Harley.

Putting RSS feeds on online catalogues would be great for library patrons to track new additions to our collections.

And for anyone who is concerned with copyright laws in Canada, please check out Michael Geist's blog. Great insight as well as a great activist, especially in the area of DRM (Digital Rights Management).

It still feels like I'm being overloaded with information. At least now, its nicely organized...