Delicious IS a monster

So maybe DeliciousLibrary only works with Macs, hmph. :/
I thought I had seen otherwise.
I guess I should do my research before talking..

Online Applications & Tools

I was quite impressed with this week's set of "things." I mean, I knew there was a lot of stuff out there.. but seeing it all together in one place like that, was almost like Christmas. That is, Christmas 2.0 (uh oh, I hope we don't ever get that far...)

I'm kinda peeved at myself... a few months ago I was trying to find an online planner/organizer/to-do list. I signed up for a few to try them out. I found one that worked pretty well, had a nice feel, and great functionality. I used it a couple times and then it got put on the back burner - it's not that it wasn't helpful, it was just going to take time (that I didn't have then) to set up so it would be helpful. Anyway, a couple weeks passed and it slipped my mind entirely. Now I want to go back. Except - I can't remember what the site was. *Bangs head*
I mean, it wouldn't take thaat much work to search and click around until I find it again (I'm pretty sure I could recognize the page layout) I just don't want to hassle with it right now.
I guess that shows just how dedicated I was to the planner idea... or maybe how much I truly need one.

That said, I've taken my shot at online planners.
That, that said... somewhere in my web browsing for this week's "things" I found a wonderful site. Except... I can't remember the address (again?) No seriously, I think I might have a significant short-term memory deficit.
It had Delicious in the name, making me wonder if it was a part of the social bookmarking world (which possibly could've made it even MORE wonderful.) But the layout is entirely different.. so I don't think it is.

*2 minute hiatus*
It actually only took me about 20 seconds to click on the delicious sites tagged "gdt" and search "delicious" bringing up on the first page: Delicious Library! Found at: http://www.delicious-monster.com/
How easy was that to remember?

(If I seem a little more energetic than usual it's probable a combination of being two hours away from a holiday weekend and the cup of coffee that I finished off with my lunch.)

So. This Delicious Library isn't quite a planner, but it certainly would aid in organization, particularly of my mind.
It is a way to collect and tag everything (by photo, screenshot or partial screenshot, the works) the way del.icio.us lets you collect and tag links. It can be accessed from your desktop, the web, or -get this- your cell phone.
The cell phone part sold me. I currently have a number of photos on my cell phone that might raise a couple eyebrows. Things like book covers, the backs of peoples' heads (she had cute hair), you get the idea.. things I want to keep record of, remember without having (or being able to) write down. But most of the time they stay hidden in my phone and I never really do anything about them. Dangit.
Another thing it can do - and I just read this briefly and don't understand it fully - is when used with a mac (including their fancy shmancy camera) it can take pictures of barcodes and the like and turn them into actual letters and numbers. Heck yes. So you can scan a CD and have all the information including the album art (copyright schoppyright) automatically saved to your computer.
Maybe macs could do this all along and I have kept myself in the dark.
Or maybe there is something magical in this software? I need to find that out. My husband's PC has a built in camera so I'm wondering if somehow that technology could work from there, or if again it's mac's superiority.

All that hype - and I haven't actually signed up yet.
My concerns: it might turn into del.icio.us or my clippings folder on Bloglines: a wealth of fantastic information and at the tip of my fingertips until it daily gets buried deeper and deeper by more fantastic information. Leaving such a mass of wealth that I can't become too overwhelmed to even dig a spoonful out. Pathetic, I know.

So concludes the first inspirational find from this week's 23 Things. Thank you SLA.

Other splendid finds:
Mindomo is like the snow that starts falling in Christmas Eve 2.0 - to follow my analogy. But again, I haven't actually used it, only fiddled. It could be a good recommendation to Intro to Writing instructors. Atleast those who teach brainstorming.

iGoogle has been my homepage on my home computer since my husband discovered it.
It's great, but never caught on entirely for me. I mean, I still have it there everytime I open Firefox. But the truth is, I rarely open Firefox. Maybe twice a week. I just always leave it open and on the pages that I actually use.

Docstoc (from the Web 2.0 awards): A lot of fun to browse and a brilliant idea. But there's almost so much there that unless you are looking for something in particular - you may not find anything (either that or stumble upon a masterpiece.)

Is anyone else noticing this trend? First of all, so many brilliant ideas taking birth on the web, but yet, that don't actually get used because as good of ideas as they were it just becomes too much or too impractical.
Which really comes down to the issue of information overload, I do think. There are just sooo many options out there. You are probably better off just picking the first thing you find to do a given job then to try to find the "best" - or you'll spend your whole life searching ("...for all the things we think we want" - the Ataris.)

I was very happy to find Etsy on the list of best Web.20. I love it and would spend much more time there if I made twice as much money as I do now (oooor, if I had the time to open my own shop..hmm..)

StyleHive looked interesting too, but I couldn't quite figure it out in the 10 minutes I was there (=poor web design?) Besides.. I don't see how that (or Etsy, for that matter :() can become industrious in the library/academic setting.

I think that covers enough for now... this week was quite enjoyable. Now on to other, more laborious, tasks.

Books Don't Grow on Trees

I'm not sure if I should attribute the name of this blog to wit or to the corny sense of humor that I inherited from my dad... but I thought, either way, I should share a few thoughts on it and why I chose it.

There's no grand story of how it came to my mind, it just did. Aside from it's catchiness I liked that it mentioned books, and hence referenced library/literature/academia/etc. but also that it wasn't specific enough to limit me to only one of those arenas (library vs. library and literature.) I also liked that it can be interpreted in a few ways.

First of all, I find the title fitting in view of the original purpose of this blog: commentary on Library 2.0. While books did originate from trees for centuries, quite literally, now we are finding more and more deviation from that with the rise of the internet age.

Second, and even more significant, is the allusion to the statement "money doesn't grow on trees." A statement we tend to apply to people who think they can reep without sowing; gain without giving. Unfortunately I find that attitude all too pervasive in today's education. Students want to get ahead, want to succeed, and yet so many will evade study, treat research like the plague, and neglect something as basic as homework. Sure, they'll do what it takes to learn practical workforce skills but it saddens me that the mind is so often neglected in that process.

To take that even a step further, it's a principle I need to apply to my own mindset, my own lifestyle. There is no easy gain. Especially not in disciplining the mind. Since I was young, I wanted to write. As much as I enjoyed writing though, I had a lazy approach to it, even from a the beginning. In college a great man hounded into my being the dire necessity of a disciplined life - in all areas: physical, spiritual, and not the least mental. One of his famous quotes was, "How can you call yourself a writer, if you don't write?" Writing begins with reading. And reading begins a very long process of constant writing which cannot end before a work is not just written, but edited and reedited until the page is worn through and it can finally arrive as a polished work. I finished the majority of my training with this man last year, and already those principles of discipline are slipping from my habits and even my memory.
I want to write. At the end of my life I want to have something to show for my writing. But that won't grow on trees. Any finished product I arrive at will be the result of grueling discipline, if I will submit myself to it. There is no easy way to acheive success. There is no easy way to write a book worth reading. And hopefully this blog can be a constant reminder and even a motivator towards that.

Wikis

I enjoyed the section on wikis, particularly exploring the recommended wikis listed on the 23-Things page. I found some interesting library information, including but not limited to, free webinars on many different aspects of libraries. I bookmarked a few and will check them out more when I have time.

I am very excited that SBBC just switched our Virtual Library into a wiki format. Granted editing access is limited - I don't even have access, as far as I know. But it looks great, has a very clean feel to it, and has a search option! All very nice improvements.

As I was reading about all of the wonders of Wikis, I was also in the process of helping proofread, compile, and format our campus's IEP. Which sparked a splendid idea - wikify the IEP! As we have our different departments contributing their own parts, and continually editing those, it can become quite a mess to keep track of it, especially bringing it all together into the single, unified document it needs to be. I worked overtime to make that happen, manually. SO a wiki was the obvious answers. Ideally.

I browsed around a little bit though and it may not be that simple, practically. I need to play around with some wikis until I actually find something that would work well; including, preferably, a way to upload a template if not an entire document to work off of, a way for multiple people to be able to edit it and yet have it password-protected, and.. I think there were a few other options which I am not remember right now. But having all of those helpful little additions, which would be what makes the wiki worthwhile, either brings in a dollar amount or complicates the process.

And then there's proposing the idea and getting everybody on board with it...
So we'll see. The immediate need has subsided for now but it will arise again soon. If by then I find a wiki that would work, I'll propose it.

But still, I'm pretty impressed myself at the prospect. ;)

Blogger wins.

I tried Bloglines. I liked the concept of it, a lot. But when it came down to it.. Bloglines is a feed reader, not a blog host.
Besides, it's ugly.

*apologizes before my bloglines feeds disappear into the vast space of internet*

SO yes, I am going to bring my professional blogging to blogger. Below you will see all that I've done recently, transfered from my Bloglines account.
I have been going through SLA's 23 Things (http://wiki.sla.org/display/23Things)
It's been fun, albeit slightly redundant for myself. But even though I already am familiar with many of the tools they cover, I have been learning more of their capabilities!

LibraryThing and Rollyo

I set up a LibraryThing account several months back and never did much besides add some of my favorite books to it. I don't have the desire to tag books right now.. but I DID check out GuruLib.com and was quite excited by what I saw. I definitely think I'll get into that - when I'm actually at home and can properly catalog things. So cool! I don't know how consistent I will stay with keeping books recorded on the proper bookshelf, as my books tend to rotate (current reads -and there are about eight right now- move from their original bookshelf to my nightstand and then back to the original shelf or whatever bookshelf has room, possibly the living room "display" bookshelves, if I really liked it - and I do try to keep a sense of order to it all.)
That, the visual aspect of it, and the ability to add music and games too, make it a happy prospect for me!

Now to Rollyo.. it's pretty cool. Great concept, but I don't know if I would really use it all that much. Maybe if I am working on a specific project. But honestly, Google generally does a decent job for me. I don't need the hassle of an extra tool if it will only save me a few minutes here and there. But that could change.. I'm already speculating creating a "Medical" one with the medical sites that I trust, as opposed to whatever Google spews out. I made a Librarian one, using a handful of library oriented sites, databases and search engines, but it could use some work - the results weren't spectacular.

Edit: My Health Advice search engine, it seems pretty good so far!http://rollyo.com/flowerofedo/health_advice/
The Librarian's "Sengine".. works so/so, depending on what you search for.http://rollyo.com/flowerofedo/my_librarians_sengine/
What I got a kick out of was their Searchroll Naming procedure: Be as descriptive as possible. (Limit 20 characters)Honestly.. how descriptive can you be with 20 characters?

Play Time?

So I made a cool video at http://www.imagechef.com/ but Bloglines didn't want to display it... sad times. But that's ok, because then I went to bighugelabs.com and made an awesome image - but apparently there's no easy way to share that in a Bloglines blog (not compatible with anything, even Flickr?)So I went the round-about way, uploading it to good old Photobucket..

There will always be a window to fly through..


All said and done, I'm not a hug fan of avatars or sparkly/cheesy/myspacey things. Bighugelabs.com ended up being my favorite, it had the least kitchy things. Which may or may not be saying a lot.
I also liked the "create a pocket photo album" tool. I might try that from home.

RSS & Newsreaders

I was a little ahead of the game here..I've had my Bloglines account for a while now along with quite a collection of professional blog subscriptions.
I have my subscription list divided up into categories, including (but not limited to): personal blogs of friends and family, education related, library related, information literacy related, crafting related, music, and comics. There are atleast a few in each category - but don't worry, I don't delve into all of them. I skim most of them, keeping my eye open for the highlights or what is especially applicable. And those I often "clip". Which then requires discipline to stay on top of my clippings folder as well as to NOT get way behind on the subscriptions.
I've also had my iGoogle page since I discovered it. It's my homepage, and fun, but honestly I don't "use" it all that much. I don't use a feed reader on there.. but even if I did.. I think I'd overlook it because there is just so much there.
All that said, I've gained a lot from my blog subscriptions. I love the easy and almost unescapable access and the ability to stay on top of things - especially things in my "career field." Sometimes it all can get overwhelming.. but I'd rather be overwhelmed than underwhelmed I guess. And that's what the clipping folder is there for!
Oh, and on a final note, I LOVE the updated Bloglines beta. SO great. I am glad to see all the improvements they've incorporated.After only using it a couple time (i.e. not being fully experienced yet) I only have a couple complaints:1.) Is it just me or have we lost the ability to "hide" the menu bar on the left? 2.) I really like that clicking to read the updates in a given category or blog doesn't automatically count it as read. Although it will take some getting used to to have to scroll past everything I "read" in order to have it counted as "read." That's infringing a little too closely on my rights to skim instead of actually process information, thank you very much.

Flickr and the Library

As for practical ways to implent Flickr and such into the workplace..
I had a hard time thinking of effective ways to use Flickr at SBBC, particularly with the students. I think it could be a very fun/helpful tool and that it can have a lot of uses in the workplace, especially a school/library. But there isn't enough of a technological foundation here for that to be immensely effective.
I liked a lot of the ideas that I saw other share though... so I will comment on those:
Having a library account could be fun - but I don't know how I could publicize it or get it into more than a few hands. The newsletter, of course, but that may provide a few hoops to jump through first.
Delivr and even the Montager could add a fun dimension to announcements and advertisements, but only to the staff/faculty unless I printed things out, as there isn't much capacity for student contact through email.
I think the most practical idea was searching Flickr for Creative Commons photos to use in the newsletter/flyers/presentations/etc.
That and using it for research - a way to find visual resources - is not something I would've initially thought of.
In the wild imagination side of my brain I had this idea to have some sort of treasure/scavenger hunt using a map with Flickr photos.
I do see a lot of potential .. but this isn't the ideal location to flesh it out. I'll keep in marinating in the back of my mind though and figure out ways to implement it where I can!

Photos

I had fun exploring flickr. I must say, I never gave it much thought (or credit) before but now I am a fan. (And I found a few friends with accounts!) I made an account but didn't do a whole lot with it as I don't have pictures on my work computer, don't think it'd be a good tihng to load them on my work computer, and between moving and.. moving.. didn't have the time/motivation to add any from my home computer. But I do think I will soon! Maybe even transition from photobucket to flickr.

Library 2.0

Take my thoughts on Tagging and apply those to Library 2.0 - because it's the same concept in my mind.
I read a book called "Cult of the Amateur" by Andrew Keen which was very interesting and insightful albeit difficult to read at times because I knew from the get go that I disagreed with some of his premises.. and that I thought many of his arguments had logical fallacies.
Buut... point being, he denounced all things YouTube/Blogs/Amazon/internet..etc. Or so he made it sound in the beginning, until he finally came around and admitted that they weren't all bad but they did have flaws/potential for flaws. Or so I gleaned...I think his point was that we shouldn't let the amateur take the place of the professional/expert. And I agree.. I think that can be taken too far though. I don't the YouTube is the root of all evil (or all the money that hollywood and music/movie professionals are losing.) I do think the world needs to suck it up and realize that things are changing, including our media and how we like/want to access information. It's not all for the better but it's reality. And can you really fight a declining society, anyway? That's the real question at stake here..
I wrote down some quotes from the book and my thoughts on them that I might transpose onto here, because it really did provoke my thinking on this whole issue of Internet and Library 2.0.
I will say.. the internet/blogs/delicious/youtube/videos/and maaaybe even myspace are tools. Tools that can and should be used. That is no guaruntee that they will be used rightly. Therefore their products won't always been beneficial. Therefore if Library2.0 is dependent on that.. it's bound to fail. We all need boundaries.We can't all be the smartest and best. yet neither can we entrust everything to the smartest and the best (absolute power corrupts absolutely, right?)
I believe passivity is wrong, dangerous, and damaging to the human mind. I believe we should be active learners and contributers to the learning society, even if some of us are "slower" learners than others, or just plain dumber than others. (I gotta say that to allow myself some room in this Library 2.0 realm.)
Therefore, I like the idea that the web is allowing us such an open and easy way to contribute. I like that we can all build and then share resources without killing twenty trees and then waiting four weeks for it to ship across the country.
But I don't think everything is worthy of being shared. I don't think everyone should share. And I don't think I should regulate what's what on that spectrum. I don't know who should, but I do think somehow it should be regulated.
So, Wikipedia, right? That's what comes to mind. Confession: Wikipedia is almost always my first source. Why? Because I know I will find what I am looking for. Why else? Because I know I tend to be lazy, and like the quick/easy answer. Do I think that's right? Not always. Do I think that's the best? No.I do wish I had more of an initiative to search things out and turn every question I have into a research paper. But the fact of the matter is that I have a lot of questions and my life will only last on average, 80 years (and I'm not even guarunteed that.)
Ok, so the real question: Is Wikipedia my only source? Not when it matters. Not when it is a question about my health, or a research project, or something that matters dang it. Now I may have very low standards for what matters (i.e. fascism doesn't matter, I'm satisfied with Wikipedia's defintion.) But I do have standards!
Here's what I do: I looked up "international literacy day" on Google today. Clicked the Wikipedia result (#5), and ended up reading (and trusting) Wikipedia's 'list of countries by literacy rate'. I mean... if someone was going to go through all the trouble of coming up with those numbers, who I am to question them? (Ok, so sometimes that is and sometimes that is NOT my attitude.) But I also followed a direct link to the official Internation Literacy Day website (that was NOT above the Wikipedie site on my Google search results.)
So... all that said.. I like Wikipedia. I use Wikipedia. But I am not a huge fan of this mystical force called "Library 2.0"
Why? Because it's just another outward expression of Post-modernism. And although that's the trend of our culture and therefore nearly irresistable, I can sitll resist it for as long as I am able. I am religious and I am opposed to the religious expression of Post-modernism as well(the Emerging and more particularly the Emergent Church.) Now don't get me wrong - I find their ideas intriguing and their mantras alluring. But when it comes down to it they are wrong. And I don't want to be wrong. (Although I am probably "wrong" for saying they are wrong.)
But ultimately.. I am torn on this idea of Library 2.0 (i.e. postmodernism in the library) because ideally it is great but its implications can be frightening. And I don't know if I am ready to bear the consequences of those implications.. especially since I haven't figured them all out yet.

All that said, maybe I am reading too much into it? Maybe I just need to say "go internets!" and have it be done with, and discover that there are no real consequences to be had, not in light of all the benefits reaped.