I have a degree.....

Needing just 50% on my dissertation, I finally discovered I have passed my masters degree. Ok, 53% was not great, but it is a pass. But then, for those who have read this blog my spelling got a real good telling off.....oh well.

The demise of public libraries.....is it happening?

Having worked in public libraries, I have been reconsidering staying within this area. This was underlined via a story by MaintainIT, which pointed to a Boing ,boing story about internet access being filtered and unfiltered in California. In the article RandomReader makes the following comment:-
As a former public library librarian, I can say that unfiltered Internet is simultaneously 1)important for intellectual freedom reasons and 2) a giant pain in the rear end. More broadly speaking, computers are transforming the texture of libraries and attracting new demographic slices that previously had no use for the library. Add to that what Amazon and Half.com have done for allowing book lovers to access books, and the impact of Google on giving people access to basic reference information, and you have even more more upheaval in public library land. Just today I predicted to a colleague that by 2025, the stereotype of public libraries as being about books and a quiet environment will be replaced by something having to do with computers, community programming, and probably the taint of Internet addiction/e-stalking/etc.

I'm in agreement. The days of looking for books are dead. Being an expert on e-mail is soo the vogue. No wonder i'm looking at legal libraries.

Reading on the way to work

Having started my new job has given me time to catch up on plenty of reading (1,2,3) I have just started The Devil's Cup, which looks at the history of coffee. As a blogger, I was interested in the London Coffeehouse's, especially Richard Steele, who created Tatler in one. The book quotes the coffeehouses of the time, who could be writing of bloggers when they says:-
Coffeehouses had made civilised conversation into a popular sport.

Job satisfaction

Having said previously of starting my new job, I am getting into the swing of things. Yesterday, was exceedingly good. Just the simple things make it enjoyable, like getting on with work colleagues and assisting people who need it, and best of all learning from my mistakes. Shame the jobs short-term, but its nice to be enjoying a job.

Shelfari feel the stress

Having discussed previously Shelfari's bombarding of users and none users with spam, it seems there trying to climb out of a hole. Tim Spalding quotes Book Patrols article, in which they accuse Shelfari of Astroturfing, saying:-

Shelfari has engaged in some pretty dubious behavior including astroturfing (posting on blogs pretending to be users, not employees) and partaking in widespread spamming campaigns.

Shelfari CEO, Josh Hug, has defended himself from the claim of astro-turfing, by saying:-

As for the astroturfing, that was an unintended work of an unexperienced but well-meaning intern who failed to make himself known as he commented on blogs. That was not our intent and we were unaware that was going on. It has stopped.

If it was a rogue intern, why was he needing to do it? With $1million investment did they really require such a transparent way of doing this. I maybe a librarything fan boy, but shelfari have really been very stupid, and allowing an intern to do this (without keeping an eye on them) is dafter still.

Sad news

I was informed sunday of my grandfather passing away and am in the midst of preparing myself to be a bearer. I will miss him so much. He watched me as a child play football, he got me interested in football (which in turn made me interested in statistics and classification). He also taught me more important lessons. That money does not make you happy. That you should look out for your fellow man. That you should always remember your family. And most of all, that life is for living. I Salute you for that grandpi.

Shelfari gets shot down........

Librarything has brought to my attention that its inferior competitor Shelfari has been spamming people. Whom Tim Spalding(the owner of librarything) describes (via another source as this):-

in the words of the well-known blog Gawker, "basically social networking rapists."

I've noted also that Shelfari has been emailing me a lot lately and its very annoying (and something librarything NEVER does).

Hopefully, shelfari will stop it soon.

Does Professionalism extend to A major library employment agency?

Having started my new role (which lasts till the end of december), I was still looking for a position after I finished there. Therefore in looking on a library agency website, I noted a role I felt I suited. They asked for a cv on the website, which I sent. After a good few hours no response. So I rang them, to show some degree of keeness (it was a good job, so I wanted it). I spoke to the relevant person, who said my email had not arrived. THEN SHE CHECKED HER JUNK FOLDER. It was in there (first off, that made me feel tremendously undervalued and incredibly angry). As is the way, I kept my cool, asked if I could put myself forward and sending me more information on the role. She did (surprisingly).
I wrote back, said I liked the job, but lacked a few skills but was willing to learn would she put me forward.
Response. None.
I had to ring again. She was at lunch, and would contact me if anything occurred.
Response. None.
Now, most large library and non library agencies (1,2,3, have a professional attitude. Even if they do not have a role, they don't put your email in junk folders, ring you if you got nowhere in the position.
But this one (no names, but very large and so web 2.0 organisation they have a blog) feels they have no need to offer feedback. Well, thanks for nothing. Diatribe ends.
By the way, I had also rung them to see if a half day voluntary role was still available. It wasn't and they were taking it down friday. Funny, I just checked and its still there.

Pre-job nerves and making an impression

Well, as I start my new role as a Learning & Information Officer tomorrow its quite nervy. I went down today to see where it is. I wanted to do a recon mission, so I could check the library, join the library (therefore checking what identification is required to join). Ironically, the library is closed on a wednesday. The library building though looks very nice, and a 100 years old this year. Roll on tomorrow. Its nice to know start my career as a librarian. I would also like to say thanks to well wishers who are presently enjoy the half-term.

Patron training article

There is an interesting article over MaintainIT called A commitment to patron training. Sarah Washburn discusses how they have got people to come to computer training by having a small charge of $5, which is then refunded to them once they start the course.
A very neat idea, as most people don't mind wasting time but hate wasting money. The person who started this Claire Stafford says of this scheme:-

“If they come to the classes they get their money back. We did start it as a free--non-gratis--service, but we were finding that if people didn’t make a commitment, that they were not coming in. And we had waiting lists that were just tremendous! And we couldn’t serve these folks that were waiting, and the folks that did sign up forgot, or had something come up, and failed to contact us and let us know. “

Excellent.

Libraryzen news

Garrett Hungerford over on Libraryzen has created a neat re-design of his website. For those who have not heard heard of library zen, its described as:-

LISZEN, powered by Google Co-op, was launched on October 27th, 2006 by creator Garrett Hungerford with 530 searchable library blogs. Since that time LISZEN has grown to over 750 library blogs and has been noted in School Library Journal, Google's Librarian Central, and other publications. Other Library and Information Science Programs have added LISZEN to their web resources for library students; such as University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of North Dakota, and Uppsala University.

Good news

Having finished my dissertation and job as a carer, I will start a new job on thursday at a library. As is usual, pre-first day nerves are setting in, but i'm glad to be back at work.

NYT article

There an interesting story in the New york Times called Libraries Shun Deals to Place Books on Web [may require sign in]. In the article it talks about the Open Content Alliance. this aims to :-
'Several major research libraries have rebuffed offers from Google and Microsoft to scan their books into computer databases, saying they are put off by restrictions these companies want to place on the new digital collections.'
Its very interesting read.

Library Game

Via librarystuff, is a library game using Flash. In the game one has to answer querys for clients and finding them as quick as possible. Kind of reminded me of Paperboy back on my old Spectrum.

Weirdness competition

I was interested watching the television, and the new Wii game called Britains Brainiest family. The game is against other 'families' in the UK. The prize for this is to Win university fees for your kids. Now with Britain going into a pickle about computer games. Now, I like gaming as many other librarians do, but I really am not a fan of paying for one's education by being able to afford a WII, the game and getting my family to play as well (getting my family to play seems hell too me).

Nancy Dowd article

Nancy Dowd from The "M" Word - Marketing Libraries blog has an interesting piece entitled Blogging for a purpose?. Although I have previously tried to get a blog started at a library, it provides some useful insights in whats needed.

Google's My library article

I noted from librarystuff article by Phil Bradley about Google mylibrary. Phil feels that :-

My advice - give this a miss entirely and don't waste any of your time on it. Use something like LibraryThing or Shelfari instead.

I think he is correct here as I have said before.

Walt Crawford meme

As some blogs have already indicated(1,2), Walt Crawford has a new job with Palinet. The full article on his job is here:-

Walt Crawford Named Director & Managing Editor of PALINET Leadership Network
10/4/2007
PALINET is pleased to announce the appointment of Walt Crawford as Director and Managing Editor for the PALINET Leadership Network. Crawford is an internationally recognized writer and speaker on libraries, technology, policy, and media, and the creator, writer and publisher of Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large, an ejournal on the intersections of libraries, policy, technology, and media published monthly since 2001. He also maintains a blog on these and other issues, Walt at Random. He was recently listed as one of the 31 most frequently-cited authors in library literature 1994-2004 (the only American writer on that list outside academic libraries.) Cathy Wilt, PALINET’s Executive Director, comments: “We are thrilled to have Walt direct the development of this library leadership community of practice. The PALINET Leadership Network and PALINET members will certainly benefit from his substantial experience, not to mention his editorial wit and wisdom.”

About the PALINET Leadership Network
Currently in beta release, the PALINET Leadership Network is an innovative online member service for library leaders designed to create a community of practice by sharing informative articles, forums on current issues, and collaborative discussions on cutting-edge topics. Designed as a wiki platform, the PALINET Leadership Network provides the latest innovations and most current leadership information in the library arena and beyond. Developed in partnership with the Library Leadership Network (LLN), it is an ideal vehicle for staying current with literature, blogs, and other leadership conversations, as well as a critical tool for mentoring staff.

See Walt Crawford at the PALINET 07 Conference + Vendor Fair, October 29 - 30, 2007 at the Tremont Grand Conference Center in Baltimore, MD. Register at www.palinet.org/2007conference.

Many congratulations to Walt and best of luck in the new role.

Database news

Found via Researchbuzz , a database of books with photographs and photograph covers. Researchbuzz writes about :-
Covering Photography, a site that indexes book covers with photographs (as opposed to abstract book covers or those with paintings, illustrations, etc.) ......... The site contains hundreds of book covers with photographs, browsable by date, photographer (Laurie Anderson??), publisher, author, or designer.

The site can be found here. An excellent site for photo libraries.

Inspirational bloggers

I was reading Jennifer Macaulay's blog entitled I Think I Have Blogger’s Block. In this she says why she hasn't blogged so much, that :-
It isn’t that life has gotten in the way, that school has gotten in the way or that I didn’t want to write.
I find it a shame. Jennifer has always been an inspiration whilst (and recently completing) do my own Master degree. It was interesting to watch her go through a similar course at the same time as I was and the problems she encountered.
I do hope she feels that 'I’m generally unhappy about my school experience' will be found soon.
Another blogger who I hope has good news soon is Walt Crawford. As those who read his blog know, Walt is 'between jobs'. I also find his blog excellent material to have a maturer attitude to libraries (thats meant as a complement). I do hope he has something to look forward to after his holiday.
Very divergent bloggers, but I do appreciate reading them on my bloglines.

Free range librarian article

I noted Karen Schneider from has released an interest article on Wikipedia entitled Wikipedia's Awkward Adolescence. If your interested in wikipedia, its well worth a read.

BL books go digital

Via the bbc it seems that the British Library is All books are public domain and often dating back from the nineteenth century. The British library is working in conjunction with Microsoft on the project by utilising its Microsoft's Live Search Books.
The article says:-

Digitised publications will be accessible in two ways -initially through Microsoft's Live Search Books and then via the Library's website.

The books will be fully text searchable, meaning users will be able to look for keywords within a publication, making research easier and enhancing interaction with the material.

Job hunting and blowing your own horn

I read an interesting blog found called blowing your own horn. Ahmed Bilal writes:-

Self-Promotion is something most of us are uncomfortable with - and it's not just the prospect of 'selling' that turns us off, in reality its insecurity (cleverly dressed as modesty) that holds us back.

Whether by nature or by society, we are programmed to sell ourselves short.

I was interested in this, as i have just finished my course, and working through my last few weeks at my present job. Therefore, application forms are presently my main source of reading material. Not the most interesting thing to do.

Therefore, when re-reading through a job application, how one needs to do it not only within application forms but also when working within a library.

In this point I mean the idea of advocacy. In the last few weeks I noted Meredith Farkas discussing the Mudflap girl,
who is now being used as an icon for Wyoming's libraries to indicate they 'are as expansive as the state, and as close as down the street.' I always find it interesting how libraries blowing there own horn.

Librarian movie

Via Lisnews about the documentary Hollywood Librarian. There is a review of the film of it in the Journal Times. I have talked about this film before, but it only seems to have a USA release. Any idea when it will be released here guys?

Siva Vaidhyanathan project

Siva Vaidhyanathan has written on his blog, about his new book and blog that will go with it, called The Googlization of Everything. This will look at the effect of Google on society. It seems to be a long way from completion, but sounds an interesting book. Siva say in his new blog:-

On occasion, I will post an open question on this blog. Please answer it.

So, check it out if you have time.

Dissertation is now freely available at my website

After constantly talking about my dissertation entitled Blogging and its impact on libraries and librarians I have published it here on my personal website. It has both my dissertations, but the blogging one is at the bottom. It is yet to be marked, so please don't inform me it not very good. Also my lecturer said wait for it to be marked, but I wanted to put it up. Anyhow, thanks again for all those who answered by questionaire and a special thanks again to Sarah Houghton and Meredith Farkas (the first for helping me get people to know about the questionaire, and the second for her research).
Anyhow, for those who want to read 80 pages of a pdf, enjoy.

At last.....the dissertation is done

I finally completed my dissertation today. I just have to hand it in. Its been a hard slog, but thankfully its done. I know how some other library bloggers have felt when jobs on top course work have made for a lot of work (1 & 2). I have sent this out to the people who took part before I put it up on my website for others to read (if reading 80 pages on blogging is your interest).
Anyhow, I would like to give a huge thank you to some people's whose research certainly helped. They are Michael Sauers and Meredith Farkas. I would also like to thank Sarah Houghton again for getting people to answer my questionaire.
That means I can start blogging more regularly. On top of looking for a job.

How addicted?

I found this via Thoughts from a Library Administrator, which is a test to see how addicted to blogging. I'm only 64%. I'm feeling a bit disappointed.

i am back

Well. Kind of. Just reached 10000 words on the dissertation, 5000 to go. Not really that happy with it, and might just ask if it will past. On top with job hunting and less than a month keeping up with my bloglines is a nightmare. At least an interview for a research job.

Great film and blogging

Just watching High Fidelity and as a Nick Hornby fan and reminded me of some of the best idea for blogging. The idea of list. I also like it cos its funny and very soppy and reminds me of my own girlfriend.

Affections and families....the social networking way

I was speaking to a blogging friend the other, who has taken on another blogger for his blog (I am not going to reveal the blog). Anyhow, I occasionally Digg. In passing he told me his daughter sometimes enters his stories on digg, because its his new job. How social networking sweet? How these digital natives show affection can be quite endearing?

The backroom boys and The Good, the Bad, And the 'Web 2.0'

I recently acquired The backroom boys as I had read a review of this book back in 2003. The book deals with the british boffins and 6 different invention after the war, that changed society. the chapter I was interested in the story of the BBC game elite, that was created in 1984. In the book it discusses the beginning of the UK computers and computer industry. One line struck some resonance, which was the following:-
It was going to be a future of shrink-wrapped software products far too complex to be written at home by amateurs : a world of mass marketing, not mass participation.
This reminded me of the article in the wall street journal that other bloggers had been talking about (1,2). This was a discussion between Andrew Keen, writer of The Cult of the Amateur, and David Weinberger, author of Everything is Miscellaneous. Having read some of Keen's book, he don't really appreciate the amatuer. When he says of blogger's :-
The simple ownership of a computer and an internet connection doesn't transform one into a kitchen makes one into a serious cook.
Both instances underline the role of the amateur in society. From the 1980's to today, amateurs help assist and history always shows this. Keen seems to refuse any idea of people needing non-experts to make scientific discoveries. People like Luke Howard, who gave clouds there names. Its a shame Keen seems to quick in his condemnation of the web 2.0 world.
Anyhow, I would highly recommend The backroom boys.

Meredith's questionaire

Meredith Farkas has a questionaire over on her blog. Its an update of one she had done previously on the biblioblogosphere in 2005. Its only 30 questions and really quick and easy. Funnily enough it might be used on some of my dissertation. Thanks to Walt for pointing me to this on his blog.

The history of tagging

Stephen's lighthouse has an interesting blog on the history of tagging . Well worth a look. Anyhow, I gotta pack.

55 articles for bloggers

Via lisnews, a list of 55 articles for better blogging. A really should read list (if you have the time). I'll unfortunately be in Germany with my girlfriend to see her parents and go to the beer festival. Nice.

Global services.......Whats the impact on booksellers and book swap sites?

Global services, have gone on a major increase on the 14th of may of this year. The impact of this is being felt within the book swapping industries (bookmooch, swapsimple & swapthing to name a few. This has meant that many users in America are finding it hard to be able to send out books. I reckon this might seriously affect the business model on these companies.

The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture and assualting our economy response

Having written previously about acquiring a copy of Andrew Keen's new book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture and assualting our economy, it seems he's not really enamoured himself to many people. First up, Michael Sauers of travellin librarian fame (and the writer of the wonderful Blogging and RSS: A Librarian's Guide informed me that he had read it. He also gave me a link to his review of it, which was an interesting read. I'm still looking forward to getting it though, as it'll assist with the dissertation.

Jared Diamond's 'Guns, Germs & Steel'

I recently went to Borders and got a copy of Guns, Germs & Steel by Jared Diamond. Now, I had heard of this previously, and especially last year when the The Ubiquitous Librarian was discussing it.
Well, its an interesting read so far. It discusses why certain regions in the world advanced and others didn't. If your looking for a book that looks at history, geology, biology, this book ticks every box.

Clay Shirky at Supernova video

Clay Shirky has a great video presentation from his speech at Supernova. He discusses the impact of 'love' when we share our resources on perl problems, linux and the London 7/7. It is so worth a look, as librarians (or whatever) satisfaction is increased when we work as a team and to help others.(This article is linked via Peter Morville's blog).

New book on the way

Seeing I have started my dissertation on blogging (and it going very well, thanks very much), I have needed to find some anti-bloggers or at least anti-social networks. So whilst reading Information world review, I noted Andrew Keen's new book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture and assualting our economy. Looks a fun read from the usual web 2.0 love in. If I hear one more feature has been added to facebook I might just scream.

What I have learnt as a blogger

Having reached 1 year and promised to write about my experiences as a blogger over that period I thought I would do that now as I've been relatively quite lately (I blame my dissertation).
1. The first thing I learnt in this year is to read before you speak. Having read Rebecca Blood's book, it gave me a basic idea and history of the subject. After that I needed to gain some people I enjoyed reading. Bloglines has really helped.
2. Always answer comments. Obvious. But many people do not. Its polite and keeps the conversation going.
3. Try and keep your post regular, but only if have something to talk about. Also, look at other blogs and extend or trim your your remit. Although my blog started off as predominantly as a predominantly library 2.0, but the remit has changed to looking at my job and dissertation.

This is just part of a series of short idea. My next post will be how to gain users to your site. This is no that i'm oh so popular, just some idea's I have learnt from other blogs and bloggers.

a quick thanks

To Sarah Houghton (aka Librarian in black) for point out my questionaire. Ning I thought might have helped, but Sarah's comments meant I got some feedback on the questinaire itself already from New Zealand.

Techdirt articles....again

Over on Techdirt they point out that Blockbuster and Netflix have sorted out their patient dispute. The dispute being that Blockbuster was copying netflixs business model. I do find it frustrating that business models are being patented. Jefferson would turn in his grave if he knew this.

Quick shout out to Pete

For those who don't know, England has been suffering flash floods in the north of England. A blogger who live's in that area is Pete Smith, but fortunately in his seems fine in a recent post. Hope the sun come's out for you and family soon Pete.

Siva article

Guess who is catching up on his bloglines? Well over on Siva's site, he has an interesting article called Google still offers really bad search results; Librarians still essential. This indicates the need for librarians rather than just the google search. Not that we did not know that already.

Techdirt articles

Techdirt have a story today called College Libraries: Forget The Books, Host LAN Parties. This loos at how o get more users through the door. Although I do feel Jenny Levine has been doing this for ages!!!!!!!

Questionaire for Librarians with blogs in Libraries

As i've said many times before, I am presently doing a dissertation on blogging in libraries. I have therefore set up a questionaire online, as I was unsure how to set it up on my Ning account. Therefore, if you have a blog at your library, please answer the questions below as it would be really appreciated.


Click here to take our Online Survey

More facebook......

Bought via Tom Coates, an interesting articles about facebook in CNN. Although others have written about the rise of facebook in more detail, its worth looking at. Seems that facebooks newsfeeds appears on every Facebook member's home page, displaying recent Facebook activities of a member's friends..
Seems facebook is taking over by the look of CNN article.

Tim Coates......talking with Talis

Its been interesting to see Talis has been talking about the problems in public libraries and especially talking about Tim Coates blog and how he see's how things are not working in public libraries. I'm not always in agreement with Tim, but I do think he does sometime have a point. Therefore its good to see that Talis interviewed Tim. Its good to see a conversation like this.

Celebrate......all marks passed

I finally got my marks and seems I passed everything. Just a 15000 words dissertation to do.......

New York Times article

There's a great in the New York Times called Can Blogs Become a Big Source of Jobs?. It looks at how blogging can aid with people with one's career. Worth a read.

I don't stand a chance.......

Seeing I finish my masters in September 2007, and I have to look for a 'proper' job, puts a lot of fear in me. Having already struggled with the idea that i'd be up against Walt Crawford for a job, but now the free range librarian is also looking for a job. Well, mcdonalds awaits me......

New alternative search engine site

Read/write web has extended its network, after recently adding the excellent last 100 (a site dealing with the digital lifestyle). The new one is called Alt search engines. For us information a possibly new blog to look at rather than Google?

Netflix, are they joining Amazon?

Netflix, the DVD rental company has been making ruption in its share prices (so say Businessweek). Businessweek believe that Amazon could soon make an approach. With Amazon already acquiring Shelfari, Amazon seem to be cranking the investment up to increase there search facilities (and like businessweek, Amazon's unbox has hardly been a great success). The acquisition seems a pretty good one, as with there database on sales would greatly add to more longtail sales.

Twitter article

There is a nice article over on Bussinessweek called The Twitterization of Blogs. Although i'm not a fan of twitter (unlike other bloggers). As i'm covering my dissertation on blogging its another piece of research to add to my delicous account I suppose.

Naked Conversation.....oh, we're CILIP lets make it no conversation

Although Cilip has enough of its detractors, who are more articulate in there arguments, I thought they were doing something really useful in providing a daily round-up newsletter for information workers. UNTIL TODAY.
Then, you get an email, informing you there replacing it with a weekly one. How good of them to show how poorly there acting. This falls down in so many ways, and perhaps underlines CILIP lack of judgement. This is how I see it falls down.
1. The newsletter we recieved today informed us there would no longer be a daily mail-out. But no explanaition was given. If you opened a library on sundays for 6 months and then just stopped it without no explanation, would the user be happy. NO. CILIP are the professional body that are supposed to lead in these area's and not show us how to do a bad job about it.
2.The newsletter today says:-

Although the current daily bulletin has now ceased, we will be looking at alternative ways of keeping you up to date. Our enhanced weekly bulletin will be appearing on Thursday.

Again, this is covered in bad PR (a reflection of CILIP and some libraries), when they are making all the decisions. In an enviroment of library 2.0 we are all investors in the service we work for. The new network economy can enhance user experience, but CILIP seems to reject this idea. Why didn't CILIP have an email address so we could have some idea's for what they should do with a new service. Oh no. We just pay for the priviledge of being members to CILIP, and our opinion is irrelevant.
3. A weekly bulletin board is impreactical. A weekly update means dated news. More news to read in my inbox. A daily one is short and fresh.
Their are plenty more criticisms I could add, but the idea of CILIP ever taking note is a forlorn hope I think. I do feel that consultation would have been a good idea here.

Copyright Documentary release

From a blog I usually read, I was pointed to a film thats been released on copyright called Good Copy Bad Copy. Its released on a creative commons license, and speaks with some real experts in the area like Lawrence Lessig, John Buckman of bookmooch and magnatunes, the bit torrent site Pirate Bay crowd amongst other. Its free to download here unless you want to make a pay pal donation.

Article on university library

There's a nice article called SOU's Hannon Library gains Web networking savvy
in which the library's information literacy coordinator (Dale Vidmar) has set up social networking sites (bebo, facebook, myspace) saying "I think people appreciate that the library is not this formal imposing place," said Vidmar. "It has personality." Thank god that will never happen in the uk ;)

blogger and podcasting

The June edition of the online magazine Blogger & Podcasting has just arrived in my inbox. Looks really good and something i'll need to read. but then I always say that about Walt Crawfords Cites & Insights.

What I should have done before.........

Having reached a year of blogging and not done much lately, there is one blog which I felt I should write. Thats to say thanks to the following people who left comments on my blog. I am doing this as I read John Schwartz's blog in which he said:-
How does a print media company grapple with the threat of on-line media? If they're not acquiring new media properties, they're attempting to add community engagement to the on-line analogs of their printed publications (eg, opening comments on ariticles or newsfeeds). This isn't always smooth, but rather than fight the trend, most recognize that readers find community content as or more interesting than corporate content (I, for one, find the comments on my blog far more interesting than my blog).
Thjerefore I would like to say thanks to the following people:-

• Stephen O'hear
• Helen Blowers
• Tim Hickey (who no longer blogs)
• Siva Vaidhyanthan
• Paul Miller
• Rick Roche
• Johnathan Kelley
• Don Wood
• Brian Mathews
• Tim Spalding
• Rana Basheer
• Rachel J. K. Grace
• aaron
• Dr.Fiction
• Michael Sauer's
• Dan Champion
• Roger Hiles
• Bill Drew
• Michael C. Habib
• Pete Smith

Thanks for your adding some feedback on my blog.
Also, I will also discuss in a future blog what I've learn't from blogging. Sorry for the infrequent blogs too, but the dissertation seems to take up a lot of my time.

Sorry, I forgot to add Jessamyn West.

libraries and blogging

As I have said so many times before (1 & 2). As the dissertation is about libraries,librarians and blogging, I thought I would do some interviews to get some idea's etc. But, what I found disconcerting (and I should've known this), was the lack of library blogs, in comparison to librarians who blog.
Is it me, or wouldn't a libraries advocacy be better placed by allowing libraries and customers to interface by this technology (and others)? I mean I'm not trying to sound like an old sour puss (which I can be), but I then came accross an a forum discussion on librarian blogger ning entitled Working our way around the red tape, in which Kirsten was trying to set up a blog but all blog entries would have to go through there PR department. Please. How ineffective is that? It seems weird as library professionals w can talk to ourselves through blogs but not our users.
Anyhow, thankful I sent a request to for libraries that blog and got inundated with offers of assistance. Thanks for that.

Release of new blog called last 100

A recent blog has come to my attention called last100.
It describes itself as :-
last100 will provide news, reviews and industry analysis on products and services related to the digital lifestyle, with a particular emphasis on how the Internet is being used throughout the home. The site is edited by Steve O'Hear, a London-based consultant and journalist. Steve also writes a blog for ZDNet called The Social Web and wrote and directed the Silicon Valley documentary In Search of the Valley .

Where does the name last100 come from? It refers to what industry insiders call the "last 100 feet" problem, which is the gap between the typical home's computer and its living-room TV set. While the digital living room is a primary focus of last100, the site will also cover other areas of the digital lifestyle (VoIP, portable media, mobile web etc).

Mike Arrington over on techcrunch has also mentioned it. So for those diggital native, its worth a look.

Ubuntu

After watching Jessamyn West, I was inspired to add Ubuntu to my pc laptop. Unfortantely, I need to sort out the wi-fi drivers, but its better than windows (i am a mac user so forgive me). Anyhow, great video Jessamyn.

Set to 'away'

I've presently been in down mode. In other words i've taken a rest before starting my 15000 word dissertation on blogging. As I have know started it i'll blog more on this subject and will even write some ramblings I may filter through.

I am 1 years old

Not literally. I have now been blogging for one year, and as this was an experiment in social media, its one I've enjoyed mainly. Anyhow, I would like to take the opportunity to thank thoses that have read this blog and also posted on it to.

Last essays done

Now a 15000 word dissertation, but first, a large drink..........ahhhhh, now I see where twitter comes in useful

Jack Valenti passes away.......will DMC Act to?

Jack Valenti, techdirts favourite innovator has passed away. The man who brought us the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and in 1982 the statement that 'VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone.' Ummmm, sounds bright?

My first review in revish

I just added my first review to revish, as I really like what Dan Champion is doing to the site (and it was better than doing more facet analysis essay to be honest).
Also, Library Too give's it a brief mention on his site to.

Social networks and playground politics.......

As I've often mentioned here, i'm a fan of social networks, but sometimes its a real playground (and mainly a boys one at that). At first I was really a fan of Digg, but lately when I've dugg things for people, some people 'bury' it and stop it going anywhere. Well, yup thats fine, but Digg won't tell the person or people why it was buried (even though the burier has to say so). So, if someone doesn't like your profile they can bury it. So digg, tell us why some stories are buried, as if its been copied, done before we know why. But don't let some people bury it without any reason to show why they did that. Rant ends.

ZX Spectrum is 25 years old today

Totally un-library related. But anyhow, for those old enough the ZX Spectrum was 25 today. I started wit a ZX81 (its precursor and cheaper), but the Spectrum in Britain really created a boom in computers during the early 1980's, and gaming. Anyhow, a toast to the spectrum.

Revish review on zdnet

Having discussed Revish before, it was good to see it had a fuller review on on zdnet. Nice to see it getting this kind of coverage.

The book i'm reading.........

I'm presently reading What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry by John Markoff. Its nothing to do with libraries either and I can't put it down. It discusses the impact of some of the luminaries of the computer age in the 50's and 60's and how California also affected them. I was previously a historian in my undergrad days, so some of this stuff is amazing, as it touches to area's I enjoy (computers and history). Reading about Doug Engelbart's* presentation in 1968 and the way it impacted just underlines that Xerox Parc and intel didn't invent the personal computer in a vacuum.
Also, as I was fortunate enough to work on the documentary 'in search of the valley' it made me notice how fortunate I was to meet some of these guys and how california has made the personal computer so ubiquitous. Well, this is beginning to sounds like some gushing love letter from a pre-pubescent rock fan to there band. But get this book. It really does give a great story and history lesson.

*Engelbart btw invented the mouse along with many other things.

Walt Crawford book reviewed (but not by me)

Just seen that Walf Crawford's book (Balanced Libraries)has been reviewed over on library too. Its a good review and I'll have to get round to reading it, as I always find Walt Crawfords blog a good read and who is not always a fan of technology for technologies sake.

What libraries are about........

With all the closures and hand wringing of libraries in both the UK and USA its nice to have an article looking at libraries having a positive effect on society in the UK. This come's via the telegraph, and the article is called 'turning the page', and looks at a library in Edinburgh in which both the users (young one's especially) and the staff have been invigorated by a positive manager who has brought in a sysdtem of inclusion to both in an impoverished area.

The week that was.........

Another week and another 3 I missed to blog more fully about. Actually, I have a term paper, lets leave it at 1.
1. John Buckman has added some new features to Bookmooch, such as a wiki. Shame you can't tag on it though.

Academic library 2.0 article

Over on academic library 2.0, she has an article entitled Social Scholarship on the Rise. In it she talks emerging parameters of social scholarship. She talks about sharing our information, allowing other to share and participate in a creation of a document. She also discusses how we should make it available to. All I agree with, and when my dissertation is done on 'blogging and libraries' I will release it both on a website and put it on citeulike. If anyone wishes to add anything about this subject please contact me.

My 200th entry and a myspace for books

Yup, after nearly a year its my 200th entry which is good. So first off, thanks for reading this. Secondly, over on zdnet, there's news that Bloomsbury publishing are releasing a myspace for books. Sounds interesting.

The week that was.........

Another week and another three blogs to add.

1. Wired interviewed to Helene Blowers and Michael Stephens. Good to see them getting the attention they deserve.
2. Walking Paper pointed me in the direction of an Economist article Not bound by anything dealing with the digitising of books and there impact. Ok, Kevin Kelly perhaps discussed it last year in the new york times, but as ever walking paper has an interesting spin on the story.
3. Pete over on Library too has a piece on why we qualify as librarians. I totally agree when he says:-
I also studied for a Masters in Information and Library Management. My goal- a professional post. One with some strategic responsibility, some chance to develop collections.
And here I am doing those things, working alongside library assistants. I hope I don’t come across as arrogant or elitist. I never had that feeling about the librarians I worked with when I was a library assistant. I just recognised that there were different tasks to be done, by different people, working to different expectations. As I still do.

Libraries as homeless shelters in the USA

Over on alternet, they've an interesting blog called America Gone Wrong: A Slashed Safety Net Turns Libraries into Homeless Shelters, dealing with US libraries and librarians dealing with the homeless in there libraries. Give's a harrowing view that the lunatics have taken over the dewey system.

Query......What's the best site for this?

In a previous blog entry I review some social networking sites. A user has asked me in the comments the following question:-
I am looking for a way to catalog and organize my home library of about 1000 books. Not interested at this point for the social interaction. What's the best site for this?
Funnily enough I had been thinking about this when I was around a friends who was showing me Delicious Library. I know this has been reviewed many times, but I do like it. Obviously you need a Apple mac. Delicious Library describes itself as:-
Get your Mac, a webcam, and Delicious Library and rediscover your home library. Just point any FireWire digital video camera, like an Apple iSight®, at the barcode on the back of any book, movie, music, or video game. Delicious Library does the rest. The barcode is scanned and within seconds the item's cover appears on your digital shelves filled with tons of in-depth information downloaded from one of six different web sources from around the world.
I like the idea of doing that so simply of adding your media sources (dvd,cd and books) with a scanner from your i-sight camera. If you want all media try this. It does cost $40, but then thats not too bad is it?
If you want to do just books my preference is with librarything.

Tim Spalding and libraries

Tim Spalding over on librarything has an interesting (and short) article entitled Will libraries die. To summarise he says:-
Let's all stop imagining a library without books, and imagine a library without CDs and DVDs. Let's imagine a library with books, and hope for one with more of them. Maybe it's just me, but I'm jazzed by that prospect.

The week that was.........

Another week and another 3 I missed to blog more fully about.
1. A new book By Walt Crawford called Balanced Libraries: Thoughts on Continuity and Change. Available from lulu for £11.85. Looks as thought provoking as his blog is.
2. Tim Spalding's treatise entitled No more User Generated Content on LibraryThing. I think he's sick of the word ;)
3. Following on from my previous blog about the threats Kathy Sierra has faced on the blogosphere, business week has an interesting analysis entitled Dispatches from the Blog Battle Zone. Looking both at the misogyny and anonymity (as some other bloggers have also written about). A worthy article if you have the time.

The sad face of blogging..........

I've just been pointed to some terrible news on crunchnotes about the death threats to blogger, Kathy Sierra. Some of the written text and images are truly disturbing. I love being part of the blogosphere and social networking, but its really sad when something like this occurs. Kathy has now had to stop going to conference's. I hope Kathy is able to go to conferences soon and this person is caught and punished for doing something like this.

My five non-library blog reads

Well, as mentioned previously, Rachel Singer Gordon on liminal librarian asked which 5 non library blogs one reads. Here goes.

1. A VC blog. A VC discusses social software and sport and family.
2. Tim Anderson's Media Studies Gateway Page. A guy I bookmooched a book off months ago, gave me his blog address. The rest they say is history. Musings of a communications professor of Denison University on TV, relationships and the social web (not in that order).
3. Tom Coates blog plasticbag is always worth a read. He describes it as:-
'A weblog by Tom Coates - quitting the fire to cold complexions needing it
Concerning future media, social software, mass-amateurisation and the web of data.'

4. Jeff Jarvis' Buzzmachine for his idea's on blogging, television and the media.
5. Stephen O'hear's Social web for similar reasons to Jeff Jarvis. Though his love of Twitter is tiring.

The week that was.........

Another week and another three blogs to add.
1.Having discussed Revish before, its seems it will be rolling out on march the 30th. Revish is different to other social cataloguing sites, in that its more about book reviews. Looking forward to it.
2. Still enjoying the social networking site for library 2.0 on ning. I've recently joined the librarian blogger for ning. check it.
3. Rachel Singer Gordon, over on Liminal Librarian asks what other 5 (non) library blogs they read. People have time to read non-library blogs?

Twitter........IM for the dull classes

John Blyberg has a great comment on Twitter, entitled Thank God for the (twittering) voice of reason…. I love the descroption he gives for it as follows:-
'I say Twitter is the Paris Hilton of the social web. Slutty and unfortunate. The basest manifestation of the culture and systems it represents.'
I just don't get twitter. Some people say it's great at conference, where you can network etc. But I disagree. If your networking in a conference, two things will happen. You'll network with the top experts first and foremost. Which leads to my second point. If your 'stalking' the upper hierarchyy, what happens to the other people at the conference? They get left behind. I go to a few conferences on the social web to meet and SOCIALISE with other people because thats what I thought the social web was supposed to do.

The book I read maybe wrong......but I still like it

I've been reading Don Tapscott's wonderful book Wikinomics. I think its really good, even better than the long tail, as Tapscott really gets to the crux of API's and the sharing mentality on the web in the web 2.0 world. But, in some section 'I just think he's wrong. For example, when Tapscott writes:-
'Google's spectacular growth from the late entrant into the internet search game to dominant global company rest, in large part, on an open approach to innovation.'
Well, there not that open. Brin and Page have copyrighted pagerank even though it was there PH.D dissertations. I'm not knocking Google (viacom and microsoft are doing that a lot better). But, Tapscott's book is keen to mention how educational institutes work together with business, to improve tools. Google could see pagerank was an advancement (though Battelle's book says some of the idea's had already been there before). I would still recommend the book though.

The week that was.........

Three things I never got to blog about:-

1. From Tame the web comes Ten Tech Trends for Librarians 2007. Michael Stephens considers this as :-

Sure it puts a finer point on it but it also recognizes the changes in my thinking about the essential duties of librarians:

Learn to Learn
Adapt to Change
Scan the Horizon.

2. Is Tim Coates excellent blog thats trying to address the loss of British public libraries. The article entitled Bookshops and libraries. This looks at 'Of course it was never true [that booksellers and not libraries]-- not only have books shops not spread everywhere, in fact in the past 10 years they have hardly spread at all- and they certainly never spread to many of the 3,000 places in which there are public libraries-- but it was simply was never an argument that made sense. If we have a generation of people who enjoy reading and we presented them with clean attractive well-stocked public libraries, they would have used them. Instead we offered them dirty old dumps with a few dirty dog eared hardbacks that no one bothered to steal and nobody wanted them.'

3. Total unrelated but library journal has an article on the new grahic novel by Frank Miller. It looks pretty awesome.

New library blog.....infodoodads

Five librarians have started a new blog called infodoodads. Laurie Bridges (one of the writers describes it as:-
Our goal is to review information tools on the Net. You know, the cool things you don't want to be the last to know about.
Brought via Ning. Obviously.

Master's dissertation on library 2.O

After going through library 2.0 ning, I noted Mike Habib blog, and his masters dissertation titled 'Toward Academic Library 2.0: Development and Application of a Library 2.0 Methodology. Its well worth a look for those who do (and don't) know much on the subject.

Google Analytics

After my recent trouble with sitemeter, I've added Google analytics, which is described as :-
Google Analytics tells you everything you want to know about how your visitors found you and how they interact with your site.
I've seen it used before and looks interesting way of looking at who (if any) looks at your blogs.

Feelings of loss.......

I'm not amused. My sitemeter has gone down. It says no one's been on there for 36 hours. Its driving me crazy. I think I better get a grip.

Library 2.0 on Ning

Bill Drew has created a Ning social website for library 2.0 enthusiasts. Ning is described as :-
Ning is an online platform for creating social websites and social networks. The websites running on its service are built in standard PHP and the platform itself is built in Java.
Its a great idea by Bill and worth joining. Here's mine.

The week that was.........

Following on from last weeks article of the same title, i'm adding another 3 things I should have blogged more about on this blog. I hope to make this a regular thing. Topping the charts is :-

1. From lisnews comes the New York State Bill S2298- Protecting Children in the Internet Age. Seems very similar to DOPA or do I mean Social Networking Web Site Prohibition Act? Anyway, its another law regarding "requiring filtering software on computers in public libraries and schools to prevent minors from viewing indecent materials." Not again.....
2. Via Lorcan Dempseys blog I came accross David Rothmans blog on Shelfari and librarything. Rothman likes how you can transfer your list via librarything to shelfari, and feels this could be done via e-book downloads. I prefer a library and the physical object, but then I'm not a digital native.
3. Michael Stephens over on library crunch links to his interview with Robert Doyle (Executive Director of the Illinois Library Association) and the impact of American legislation on social networkung sites in the USA.

librarything and Shelfari coverage......take off in social cataloguing?

Librarything had some good coverage in the New York Times called A Cozy Book Club, in a Virtual Reading Room.
And with Shelfari getting $1million dollars investment from amazon. I like the idea of both librarything and shelfari, i'm always worried there business plan may fall down when more people suffer social networking fatigue. I suppose they'll add more features then........

Ipod's don't kill people, but the law might say different......

Over on Siva Vaidhyanathan site, he has an article called Cars kill three pedestrians all over NYC (No IPods implicated) , seems to follow on from the suggestion on a Proposed On Cell Phones, iPods In Crosswalk. Seems very strange idea that ipods are causing us to walk in front of cars. Perhaps there all listening to libvibes ;)

Librarything and tagging

Tim Spalding over on librarything has a great post called Percent who tag, as a follow up to his other post (When tags work and when they don't: Amazon and LibraryThing)
In it,he says:-
'Here's some data on that issue. I compared the number of books a LibraryThing member has with whether they tag or not. The later is defined as having at least one tag, so it over-represents taggers. But the trend is clear. The more you have to keep track of, the more you tag.'
I really like to tag stuff now (I really like the new feature in blogger for tagging).
The other thing I like about the article is it also engages the user with site (librarything I'm talking about). Some social cataloguing sites forget to engage there users, but not on librarything.

The week that was.........

Here are the top 3 links I should have discussed over the last week. Coming in at the top:-
1. Tagging: LibraryThing and Amazon. If you like tagging then you'll love this article by librarything owner Tim Spalding.
2. I loved the story of the patron in Alaska arrested and his laptop confiscated for using the libraries wi-fi after hours. Whats that about?
3. About Five Weeks to a Social Library over on Meredith Farkas blog. This looks wicked, but I've just had no time to do it with a term paper to do.

Shelfari gets amazon investment

Nice to see the first web 2.0 company, Amazon has invested a minimum of $1 million in the company. I've spoken many times about shelfari (1, 2, 3), so hopefully Jeff Bezos can teach them a thing or to on being a web 2.0 company.

More on DOPA and Social Networking Web Site Prohibition Act

Having discussed DOPA previously (1, 2, and that it had failed, but returned in a new guise when Senator Matt Murphy (Illinois) had introduced a new bill called Social Networking Web Site Prohibition Act, I was interested in Jenny Levine's article over on the shifted librarian blog called Senator Matt Murphy of Illinois Set to Ban His Own Blog from Libraries?.

She points out that in his blog that :-

In the blog post itself, Murphy sounds fairly reasonable and balanced, saying he filed the bill "to raise awareness of the threat predators on these sites pose to our kids" and "to advance a dialogue on how we can minimize this threat." Neither of these reasons really explains why he chose to introduce a full ban on a class of sites he can't even define (nowhere does the legislation explain what is meant by the term), but I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt as I read his responses anyway.

Unfortunately, I got as far as the 12th comment, in which Detective Bob Riordan, who is working with Murphy on this legislation, notes that Blogger is in the list of "top 10 social networking sites."

Crikey. How funny is that. You would have thought he would have at least checked his own blog out beforehand wouldn't you?

What site is Murphy's blog on? Blogger. So apparently, Murphy's current bill would ban his own site - where he hosted the "live chat" to discuss banning social networking sites in libraries - from being accessed in libraries, even by adults.in

Streamburst release of In search of the valley

Streamburst has just released In Search of the Valley on there website I hear.. Streamburst describes themselves as:-
Streamburst is an innovative and forward thinking company supplying services and infrastructure for the delivery of Television and Film Productions over the Internet.
Streamburst has sole focus on Download to Own content, no VOD (Video On Demand) or near-VOD services are planned at this time.
International Distributors, Production Companies and Website Operators can benefit hugely from the unique features that Streamburst offer:
New highly effective piracy deterrent methods that do not alienate or drive customers to piracy Content Delivery in Multiple Formats Servicing Multiple Devices
Brand / Market Specific Content Delivery,High Quality, Fully Managed and Professional Service.

Obviously i've discussed the film previously (here and here. Previously the film had been on DVD sales at $18 (with coupon, $20 without). So the new format sysatem, is a great breakthrough.
The release of the film has hit both Digg and techcrunch. Its also been entered onto the internet movie database. Good publicity if you can get it I say.
I really must recommend the film as I both worked on it in a minor degree and its what I consider I write about. Meeting such web 2.0 and open source luminaries as Tim O'reilly, Brian Behlendorf and Marc Canter (who has a wonderful voice. I mean he loves the sound of it). This film is well worth a look. And hell, there's extra's with it to, and at $8.

Pet bug......SHELFARI

I wonder if i'll ever stop writting about social cataloguing sites (1, 2, 3). But i've just learnt that shelfari has added groups for its site. Wow. Brilliant. 8 months behind librarything, and they at least created a few groups themselves. Has shelfari done that? Don't be silly, thats what the users are there to do (i there world anyway).......

Wikipedia update part 1

Follwing up (a few days behind I know), on the demise of wikipedia, it seems I was a bit early in putting them in the dead pool.
When listening to libvibes on the 15th of february, 2007, it pointed to the following article from Lunch over IP blog. The author points out that:-
Let's start by saying that the most-digged story on this (by several thousand people) was by a blogger that was not at the conference. Laurent Haug, the producer of LIFT, has already made clear that Devouard did not say that Wikipedia is going to shut down, nor used the word "disappear" during her speech.
Oh well. Sorry about that.

Return of DOPA

Seems the demise of DOPA (Deleting online predators act) is in misinformed. Having discussed this previously (here and here, seems though that a new (but oh so similar act) is being brought forward called the Social Networking Web Site Prohibition Act by Illinois state senator, Matt Murphy. There's better analysis of this here.

Wikipedia update

Well, following on from my earlier blog entitled Wikipedia running out of money, I got left a a comment pointing out that the quote had been taken out of context. He also pointed me in the direction of another article called Wikipedia: On the brink? Or crying wolf?. The author says:-
Hyperbole aside, there can be little doubt that the organization is indeed strapped for cash. Its worldwide operations now require 350 servers and they don’t run themselves.

Wikipedia running out of money

Wikipedia it seems is running out of money according to 901 blog. The reporter says:-
Florence Devouard, Chairwoman of the Wikimedia foundation has told an audience at the Lift07 conference that Wikipedia has the financial resources to run its servers for another 3-4 months, and that without further funding Wikipedia “might disappear”.
Hopefully they'll sort the situation out, it would be a shame to lose it.

Something new, an exciting social cataloguing site

Richard Wallis on Panlibus has pointed me in the direction of a new and innovative social cataloguing site (now I didn't think I would say that recently). The site is called Revish, and not released yet but it sounds promising, as Richard writes:-
Unlike the short snappy often light-weight reviews you find on sites like Amazon, LibraryThing, etc., Ravish intends to create a community of in-depth reviewers.
I've signed up for it and will discuss it in more depth, but for now here the companies blog.

Petition to stop British library cuts

Following on from my earlier entry about the 7% cuts at the British library,I just read about this petition to stop it going through. Please do sign it.

Review of Blogging and Rss: A Librarians Guide

Having had a 9 hour journey in all to read this, i've finally got an opportunity to review it as promised. I think the book is well researched and full of tips. But why? Well the author looks at How to use an RSS feeder like bloglines, how to write source code and how it works in the RSS feeders. Podcasts are also discussed, and how the source code works. The coverage on bloglines is really fantastic and I learnt so many things, even though I've been using it for over 8 months. That alone make's it worth a read.
There is also a large amount of screen grabs so one can visualise what Michael is discussing. These are not intrusive either.
Michael also interviews the following library blogs as well:-
Travels with the state librarian, librarystuff
, library web chic, Walt at Random, Lorcan Dempsey
, Librarian in Black, The shifted librarian, Library Techtonics, Walking Paper, Tame the Web, Jessamyn West. They give some great advice for why you should (and shouldn't) blog, and also what they have gained from the experience.
The opening chapters also deal with how to start a cheap and inexpensive blog and the different one's you could use. He predominantly discusses blogger
, but does discuss other blog software.
Michael concludes with some links that are worth having on an RSS feeder and a quote from the cluetrain manifesto and how to get blogging.
So are there any pitfalls? Well, at first the now defunct pubsub was discussed. Thankfully, at the end he left a post note saying he'd noted its demise. Finally, Michael did forget that one should always self subscribe your own blog to see if any one's reading it ;)
Overall, this book is for any librarian interested in learning about blogs, library 2.0 or want something technical to read. So really, all librarians should read it....10 out of 10

Bookmooch enters second life

John Buckman, he of bookmooch has started a place for bookmoochers to congregate in second life. Cool, now i'll really have to get into second life

Social networking? Or will my users be bothered?

After watching the rise of digg and technorati and all the site's that require feedback, it seems sad when some people try this and its not as successful as it wished. For example, over on Ubiquitous Librarian blog, he was discussing how he set up an internal wiki, which just has not taken off. The problem is not usually the technology or the training that scare's people, its they don't always see its relevance or even worst, there suffering burnout from having too many social cataloguing sites...... I'm really a fan boy of the social networks sites, but people are really finding it hard to keep up with this stuff.......oh, well another rant from me, but I do hope that Brian does get the wiki up and running, sounds a great project.

Social cataloguing site.....ANOTHER ONE?

Steven Cohen's wonderful site has pointed me towards another social cataloguing site called good reads. I know I have written about it before, but do we really need another one? I know competition is good, but please do something original rather than copying librarything, shelfari, gurulib, connectedvia ad infinitum.

33 Reasons Why Libraries and Librarians are Still Extremely Important article

A friend sent me a link called 33 Reasons Why Libraries and Librarians are Still Extremely Important. Obviously, i'm preaching to the converted (well I HOPE I am), but its great to see people try to remind some people that not everything is on the web.

Blogging and Rss: A Librarians Guide......its worth it

Just started reading Blogging and Rss: A Librarians Guide long last. Its totally brilliant so far. Michael Sauers book discusses some great idea with other bloggers, and has virtually done my research for my dissertation for me. Thankfully I have a long journey tomorrow, so will finish it and review it like some others already have.

Hands up those who want to work? except sunday and late?

I love it. Seems Wigan librarians are considering striking because of sunday opening and longer hours. I'm sorry, but aren't we struggling to gain people's attention to get them to come. Surely, with people working more hours we need to make ourselves more available to Joe Public not less? I'm with Tim Coates when it come's to reducing opening when he says:-
Because we know that the three most important aspects of the library are its stock, its building and its opening hours. If someone is to be responsible for improving the quality of the service to the local people they must be able to influence these three things, and over all three they need to have day to day tight control .

Blogger......I never knew that.....

I just realised that the beta version of blogger allowed to tag (sorry Google, I mean LABEL). I really should take more notice.......

British library continued

Following on from my previous post, its good to see that people are kicking up a fuss over the paying for use of the reading rooms. Now, if only we could get more people interested in the closers of our other libraries around the country, we might have a heritage worth saving.

British library to charge........did I see that coming.......

Reports in the britsh press and other blogs. One reporter wrote:-

To survive, the library proposes to slash opening hours by more than a third and to charge researchers for admission to the reading rooms for the first time.

All public exhibitions would close, along with schools learning programmes. The permanent collection, which includes a copy of every book published in the UK, would be permanently reduced by 15 per cent. And the national newspaper archive, used by 30,000 people a year, including many researching their family trees, would close.

Well, its not as if learning or having a cultural identity identity seems to matter anymore. It makes you wonder what this country represents, apart from a dirth of reality TV shows and a lack of anything else. Seems a shame the government and British library do not taking into consideration the important of libraries.

library 2030 or 2010.....part 1

Having recently gone back to university for my last two semesters, one of our lecturers brought up the idea of what libraries will be like by 2030. Well, I thought I might blog this, but more hopefully this will be the library of 2010.

Change 1:- The impact of millenials.

Millenials are a follow on from Generation X and millenials are described as being:-

Sociable, optimistic, talented, well-educated, collaborative, open-minded, influential, and achievement-oriented. They’ve always felt sought after, needed, indispensable.

Millenials will become more and more to the forefront as a group of people by 2030. Unfortunately a problem with millenials is their love of feedback. As one writer pointed out:-

...this generation expects immediate and ongoing feedback, and is equally comfortable giving feedback to others...Providing feedback on their performance should play a big part, as should encouraging their creativity and initiative to find new ways to get tasks done.

Millenials' impact can already be seen in social cataloging sites such as shelfari and librarything, where people discuss books and make virtual friends and groups. Classification is often done by people generating there own tags.

Millenials, in utilising the idea of feedback loops and tagging, have made libraries take notice. In America, librarians and users want to bring radical changes to the OPAC (online public access catalog) system. Users and librarians want to allow users to have the opportunity to classify books, rather than have Dewey doing this for us.

Another example of the impact of millenials in 2030 (or 2010) upon libraries is they can aid in giving feedback to libraries. They could also be part of the advertising process to. This can already be seen to occur with the First InfoTubey Awards, which are allowing both staff and patrons to discuss libraries and advertise them. This is an area that will hopefully grow.

Change 2:- The impact of virtual worlds.

This virtual world can be seen in second life, which has brought about a flurry of businesses starting to trade in the linden dollar through selling virtual products.
Libraries have also been opened in second life. In 2030 or 2010, users could go to a virtual library and see what books they can pick up via a computer/phone or other device of the time. They can then order the book they want and collect it from a library that has it at a time that is convenient for them.

Change 3:- Enquiries and instant messenging.

IM will also become a more ubiquotus tool for enquiry desks. Advice will be sought more virtually than now from reference desks. By 2030 the reference desk will be not only about still doing checking for books via archiving etc, but also the digital aspect of archiving which has already begun. Reference desks will need to be aware of more web-based content, such as blog posts and websites.

This is the conclusion so far. I will add more idea's over the next few days.