#16 WickedWikis

Well, I looked at many many wikis and I think I have come to a brick wall. Almost without exception, there just seemed to be too much information presented in a single place. I am reminded of a friend who went to social agency for financial help and came away with all of the wonderful brochures - too many wonderful brochures - it was just too daunting to go through them all to find the advice that would be helpful to him.

Traditionally, one of our roles as librarians has always been to guide people through the information available. I understand that wikis are an attempt to gather information about a particular topic in one area and to organize it in an accessible manner- but I still find them overwhelming rather than helpful.

# 13 to # 15 Idea Overload (in a good way)

I've gone through the del-icio-us, technorati and web.2 theory activities in the midst of a week that has set me back on my heels. At the moment I am working on many projects that all have library 2.0 components. From getting Overdrive launched, through creating an exciting new web 2 component for Summer Reading, to planning a branch meeting presentation that will introduce teens and web 2 in a subtle/fun way to staff, to planning presentations to the board and county council on our first actual web 2 success (Overdrive) - I come home from work with my mind reeling. I have always loved new ideas and the intellectual challenge of seeing where they fit into my world view - so these past few months of web 2 ideas have been wonderful.
I am stunned at the impact this will all have on our lives. Every since the early days when Katie and Jenny played with ICQ - I've been convinced that the experience of interacting with people beyond their immediate little world of Thamesford would shape their lives in ways that we can't even imagine. That conviction has only grown as I've learned more about all of these new web 2 tools - the fact that I've corresponded and exchanged ideas with Michael Stephens (a guru of Library 2) after hearing him speak at OLA - the fact that Ann at Library office has corresponded with a Curator of Photography at some British museum about the uniform a relative is wearing in a WW1 photo she originally sent to a person on a genealogy list serve - this is web 2 at is best - people talking to people about their passions with no barriers of distance or social position.
So, back to libraries, the library has always been a community service. We have to understand that the community is changing and that not only does the library have to change in responce, we have to step back from our historic position as the people who provide what the patrons most likely need or want and embrace our new Library 2.0 role as the facilitators that work in a 'socially rich' environment where we work with the users to bring them Library 2.0.

No one knows what the Library 2.0 will look like, but we at Middlesex County have to become active participants blogging and interacting with both our patrons and our professional peers as we move into the new age. Interesting times indeed!

My Technorati

Technorati Profile

ACK!

I seem to have had absolutely no time to get back to the 23 things - and this weekend is going to be full too. The Can Am Horse show is on at the Agriplex in London and since Anna's program in Fairview has been cancelled, we are planning to spend some time talking to people and seeing if we can come up with an alternate plan for next year.

This weekend is also College Royal at U of Guelph - the annual open house that showcases the campus. the main attraction is always the Vet college and the animals ( a favourite is the cow with the window into it's stomach that has been a feature since i was a kid). Jenny will be busy all weekend showing Socrates the vulture and her two new charges - crows named Poe and Loki. She has to field questions and keep people out of Soc's biting range. He thinks Jenny is his mate and always become very protective of her when there are people around. We are planning to go on Saturday to see the displays and take the girls out for supper because it is Katie's 25th birthday next week. Hence the title of this entry .... ack!!!

# 11 Library Thing

Well this activity was the one that I could have easily gotten lost in.. so many books to consider reading...so little time. The LibraryThing site did raise a question in my mind - each of the 11 things so far, on their own, could absorb a huge amount of time - exploring, playing with, becoming proficient at. It boggles the mind how much 'stuff ' is out there. Surely things will settled out with a few applications becoming commonplace, many others moving to well deservesd obscurity. For instance I heard on the news today that Second Life is where YouTube was last year in terms of reaching the tipping point in the mass consciousness.

Another interesting thing about Second Life - it was supposed to be a utopian meeting place for people. But , at the same time as multinational corporations are opening outlets in the virtual world, and politicians are setting up virtual campaign offices, the Second Life world has had its first taste of protest and rebellion. Certain politicians virtual offfices have been picketted - one, in fact, was swathed in Nazi Flags.

# 10 Online Image Generator

This one was lots of fun. My attempt to make an avatar in Second Life was, at best, satisfactory - it is really easy to spot new people in the Second Life city - they are the avatars with no clothes or no hair because their people decided to skip the appearance section of Orientation Island !
I figured I 'd have another go and this time I was much more successful.
I used Portrait Illustration Maker to put my avatar together.

# 9 - Finding Blogs and News Feeds

Once I've found a blog that discusses an area of interest (knitting) I have found the easiest way to find other blogs on the subject is to look for links on the first blog.
I did try all of the suggested sites to find blogs/news feeds - in fact I tried a new topic I've been researching - tent pegging. In a never ending search for more dangerous things to do on a horse (for my husband, not me) I've run across tent pegging. It was a skill taught to cavalry officers in India who were likely to encounter elephants on the battle field. Apparently the most effective way to stop a battle elephant is to spear it in the foot. So officers were taught the skill by galloping around an obstacle course with a drawn sabre held out in front or to the side of the horse's head. Akaash Maharaj (a former Liberal party speech writer, former officer in the Governor General's Horse Guard, and one of the most brilliant public speakers this side of Stephen Lewis) is the Canadian tent pegging champion and is, at this very moment, in Oman competing in the World Championships.
I figured searching the topic tent pegging would be a good measure of the effectiveness of the various search sites (all pages were set to rank by relevance). Results: Feedster- got a tent pegging site within 3 suggested sites, Topix in 2, Syndic8 0 and Technorati got a site in 1.
There is going to be a demonstration of the sport in Markham on the 23 and 24 of May. I am planning on keeping husband Geoff busy that weekend!