Today I'm back to LibraryThing -- I say back, because I played with LibraryThing sometime last fall -- but for this adventure into social networking, I've chosen to start a new LibraryThing account. Being a book person, I like LibraryThing, so it has been a pleasure to return to the site and play around with this tool again. If I get around to being social, it will be through this particular social networking resource.
Here's my LibraryThing address: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Maggie_Foote
In my return to LibraryThing, I've enjoyed the tag clouds and the book covers -- they are pretty darn nifty.
At some point, though, I wonder if I should select a few library books for LibraryThing, that concern technical services librarians. Could one pull together such a subset on LibraryThing? And how can you socialize on such dry writing? Let's face it -- Chan's book on subject headings doesn't exactly rival Harry Potter as a riveting read. Maybe LibraryThing is of greater value for public services librarians in public libraries, or just for book lovers in general. Like me, who thinks this thing is just too cool.
Maintaining my Irish theme, I do have one title on the list, Anam Cara. The rest are either on books or on music. I do plan to continue adding titles to the list, slowly but surely.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
RSS feeds again
A hot summer afternoon, the perfect time to examine RSS feeds one last time -- no interruptions, no need to hurry home in the heat, a time to relax.
I've now explored syndic8, feedstar, and topix.net. I know about Technorati. I have a Bloglines account and a Google Reader account. All of these tools are easy to navigate. I see the potential for libraries, for professors, for the ordinary soul on the street.
And for the most part -- I don't need any of them. I feel deluged with information already. Some of these tools provide me with such trivial information about sports and entertainment that I feel almost insulted. There's more to life than much of this stuff, and if I do want to know this stuff, I can head to Krogers and read the National Enquirer headlines. Or read People. Or read the daily newspaper.
As for library feeds? Just not interested.
Right now, for the sake of experiment, I'm getting a substantial number of RSS feeds. Eventually I'll cut them back to a bare minimum of feeds.
This should not be taken as a criticism of any of these tools. They serve many good uses, and I'm certainly glad to know they are out there, and that if I need them personally I can use them. I do not mind showing a library user how to use one of them. The knowledge of these RSS feeds is highly worthwhile. The RSS feeds can be of great value for others who seek out information for their needs. I can also see that there are a select few feeds that are useful to me personally and professionally. I just don't need such a glut of information, especially a glut of shallow information. I've enjoyed the RSS ride, and now I'm getting off.
I've now explored syndic8, feedstar, and topix.net. I know about Technorati. I have a Bloglines account and a Google Reader account. All of these tools are easy to navigate. I see the potential for libraries, for professors, for the ordinary soul on the street.
And for the most part -- I don't need any of them. I feel deluged with information already. Some of these tools provide me with such trivial information about sports and entertainment that I feel almost insulted. There's more to life than much of this stuff, and if I do want to know this stuff, I can head to Krogers and read the National Enquirer headlines. Or read People. Or read the daily newspaper.
As for library feeds? Just not interested.
Right now, for the sake of experiment, I'm getting a substantial number of RSS feeds. Eventually I'll cut them back to a bare minimum of feeds.
This should not be taken as a criticism of any of these tools. They serve many good uses, and I'm certainly glad to know they are out there, and that if I need them personally I can use them. I do not mind showing a library user how to use one of them. The knowledge of these RSS feeds is highly worthwhile. The RSS feeds can be of great value for others who seek out information for their needs. I can also see that there are a select few feeds that are useful to me personally and professionally. I just don't need such a glut of information, especially a glut of shallow information. I've enjoyed the RSS ride, and now I'm getting off.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
RSS feeds
Time for a few words on RSS feeds.
I already have an account on Bloglines, and check it nearly every day. It's pretty good. For comparison's sake, I set up a Google Account. It was pretty easy to do.
Both accounts include library feeds, but guess what. On Bloglines I rarely check it. I look at the feed from the NY Times on the arts, covering everything from Mozart to Tony Soprano. Wonderful reading. I wonder if I will do the same with Google Account.
Because -- much I love libraries and librarianship, I find that RSS feeds and many other Web 2.0 tools interest me personally, but again and again I draw a line in the sand with libraries. Perhaps I think of social networking as social, unrelated to the profession. Or maybe I can only think about libraries for so long, and then I have to stop. Enough already.
So this brief paragraph concerns the lesson on RSS feeds, lesson 1. I'm done.
I already have an account on Bloglines, and check it nearly every day. It's pretty good. For comparison's sake, I set up a Google Account. It was pretty easy to do.
Both accounts include library feeds, but guess what. On Bloglines I rarely check it. I look at the feed from the NY Times on the arts, covering everything from Mozart to Tony Soprano. Wonderful reading. I wonder if I will do the same with Google Account.
Because -- much I love libraries and librarianship, I find that RSS feeds and many other Web 2.0 tools interest me personally, but again and again I draw a line in the sand with libraries. Perhaps I think of social networking as social, unrelated to the profession. Or maybe I can only think about libraries for so long, and then I have to stop. Enough already.
So this brief paragraph concerns the lesson on RSS feeds, lesson 1. I'm done.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Flickr and Mappr
In my further adventures with Flickr I decided to put my photos on Mappr. In the 15 minutes I've chosen to do this I have learned the following:
1) Don't locate your pictures with an obscure tag. They don't know where Buncombe County is . I do. The first place I ever saw in my life.
2) Even if you try to make it unobscure there are problems. I moved a mountain in Swannonoa to Asheville. When I asked to post it on Mappr, I was asked to drag the photo to somewhere in Kentucky.
3) The map moves way too slowly to suit me.
4) In a futile attempt to map a photograph in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, I managed to get as far as Hiltons, Virginia. That would be GREAT for my photos of the Carter Family home. Unfortunately, that's not Cumberland Gap, Tennessee.
5) In my lesson next week on tagging, I will emphasize clarity in the tag.
6) In the meantime, I will continue to struggle with mapping things. This is the second time I have tried to map a photo only to end in frustration. I have yet to map anything. This looks like a software that the brain dead could use, and I am brain dead from a cold. It and I simply aren't connecting.
1) Don't locate your pictures with an obscure tag. They don't know where Buncombe County is . I do. The first place I ever saw in my life.
2) Even if you try to make it unobscure there are problems. I moved a mountain in Swannonoa to Asheville. When I asked to post it on Mappr, I was asked to drag the photo to somewhere in Kentucky.
3) The map moves way too slowly to suit me.
4) In a futile attempt to map a photograph in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, I managed to get as far as Hiltons, Virginia. That would be GREAT for my photos of the Carter Family home. Unfortunately, that's not Cumberland Gap, Tennessee.
5) In my lesson next week on tagging, I will emphasize clarity in the tag.
6) In the meantime, I will continue to struggle with mapping things. This is the second time I have tried to map a photo only to end in frustration. I have yet to map anything. This looks like a software that the brain dead could use, and I am brain dead from a cold. It and I simply aren't connecting.
Flickr and Irish Libraries
It's been a few weeks since my last post -- I spent time in western North Carolina at Warren Wilson College attending a Celtic week -- Celtic music all week long, from songs in Scottish Gaelic taught by the incomparable folklorist Margaret Bennett to marvelous concerts by the instructors. Then I come back to the library and promptly decide to try to die with a Cold. If I blogged I felt it would sound grumpy or whiney, pertaining to how I felt at the moment.
On to cool Web 2.0 stuff now. I have an account on Flickr! And a few pictures there. Two are from western NC -- no Celtic stuff, but a photo of Peter Cottontail, who cheerfully posed for me for 5 or 6 photos, and then there's a mountain scene there. This is eastern Buncombe County, and you're getting away from the Blue Ridge and into the Black mountains, the tallest of which is Mount Mitchell. Climb Mt. Mitchell and that's as high as you can go east of the Mississippi.
Back to Flickr. This is way cool. Since I have the theme of the Celtic world uniting this blog, I was pleased that Julie G pointed us towards library photos, and I found a lovely bouquet of Irish libraries on Flickr. I was quite fascinated with their exterior architecture. The interiors are pretty much your basic library look, except some of their stacks shelves seem to be on wheels in one or two photos. You can also learn the location of the libraries through Mappr, which I plan to explore further since I can spend hours pouring over maps (apparently an inherited trait from my dad, or so my mom told me. She didn't share the passion.)
Here's the url to the Irish libraires: http://www.flickr.com/groups/irishlibraries/
On to cool Web 2.0 stuff now. I have an account on Flickr! And a few pictures there. Two are from western NC -- no Celtic stuff, but a photo of Peter Cottontail, who cheerfully posed for me for 5 or 6 photos, and then there's a mountain scene there. This is eastern Buncombe County, and you're getting away from the Blue Ridge and into the Black mountains, the tallest of which is Mount Mitchell. Climb Mt. Mitchell and that's as high as you can go east of the Mississippi.
Back to Flickr. This is way cool. Since I have the theme of the Celtic world uniting this blog, I was pleased that Julie G pointed us towards library photos, and I found a lovely bouquet of Irish libraries on Flickr. I was quite fascinated with their exterior architecture. The interiors are pretty much your basic library look, except some of their stacks shelves seem to be on wheels in one or two photos. You can also learn the location of the libraries through Mappr, which I plan to explore further since I can spend hours pouring over maps (apparently an inherited trait from my dad, or so my mom told me. She didn't share the passion.)
Here's the url to the Irish libraires: http://www.flickr.com/groups/irishlibraries/
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