thing #19: power tools page

Long ago and far away, the lovely Joy and I created the Power Tools page.  It was a fun little project!  The best thing that’s happened to it so far, imo, is the catalog search plugin.   I also like the freedom that comes with knowing the page is a work in progress.  We can try different things, add to the page, take away from it, etc.  It’s almost like a refreshing little vacation; an opportunity to get away from the large, unwieldy, and bureaucratic projects we often take part in.  That’s definitely one of the drawbacks, and something worthy of an entirely separate post, of working for a large library system.

thing #18: web 2.0 award winners

In looking over the list, it’s so nice to see WorldCat made the cut in the books category!  Library tools are often the red-headed step child of web 2.0; but not in this case.  In my never-ending attempt to get us to consume less (and to make libraries look a little more cool), whenever I mention a book online anywhere, I always try to link to the WorldCat info page, rather than Amazon, etc.  So often, it seems that people automatically jump to buying a book, rather than checking it out from their local library.  May my links to WorldCat be a friendly reminder that a more prudent choice is possible.

And for mostly aesthetic reasons, I am loving Visual Complexity.  Pretty pretty!

thing #17: google docs

What a thing of beauty it is when documents are not tied to a hard drive or a physical memory device.  That’s why I’m kind of in love with Google Documents.  You don’t every have to worry about emailing a document or forgetting your flash drive somewhere.  All you need is the Internet.

Web-based apps like Google Docs are even better when they’re used in a collaborative way.  No more clogging up people’s inboxes!  No more sending a document back and forth countless times!

Here are some real-life testimonials of when Google Docs has saved the day for me in regards to collaboration:

• I do work for an Aids in Africa non-profit (website is a work in progress!).  Every year we have a booth at ComFest.  In effort to get appropriate “staffing” for the booth, we created a schedule with a Google Docs spreadsheet and emailed all volunteers about it.  Since everyone had access, each person was able to go into the document and schedule themselves for a time slot.  Genius!

• In a slightly more delightful way, I used a Google Docs spreadsheet to get people to sign up to bring meals to some dear friends shortly after they had their first baby.  No one, including the less-techie people, had any problems using it and people even took the initiative to add a few columns such as “What dish are you bringing?”  Two heads are better than one!

Overall, I love how Google Docs removes wire-crossing email mistakes from the equation.  Much less room for human error!  And, you don’t even have to have a gmail account to access a document.   You can share a document with anyone, no matter what email provider they use.

things #15 & #16: wikis

Wikis: always a lurker/consumer, rarely a contributor.*  I am a web 2.0 lame-o.

Maybe it’s because I think wikis are generally lacking when it comes to design?  I am girl who judges the book by its cover, so if it’s not pretty, I’m typically not having it.

However, I really like it when wikis get used like this.  The session proposal wiki is awesome!  So much so that I kind of pondered heading off to Chicago somewhat last minute.  But then I slept on it and changed my mind.  Looking at the attendees list, I would be one of the few girls going.  Hmmm.  Not sure how I feel about that.  Plus, I would probably just feel more dumb rather than more empowered about Drupal.  And we must not forget that the economy is in the crapper these days; probably not the best idea to burn fossil fuels and tax payers’ dollars in order to get out there.

*But now thanks to this wiki, I am becoming less of a lurker and more of a contributor.

thing #14: library 2.0*

One of my classmates in high school, whose name I cannot remember, would always debate with me about labeling people, insisting that it was a very narrow thing to do.  He was a total hippy — complete with all the “recreational” things hippys like to do.  This was the kid who, in art class, convinced the teacher that we should listen to exclusively Steve Miller Band and Bob Marley (and the occasional Grateful Dead) while painting.  Unfortunately for me, this was the general culture at my school.  I would rather chew glass than listen to “that kind” of music and partake of “that kind” of culture.

I was a punk rock straight edge kid.  He despised that I labeled myself straight edge and would CONSTANTLY debate me about it.  Over a decade later, I have to say: he was right.  Labels (tags) are for things, not people.  Tagging things is the best!  I mean, COME ON, “folksonomy” is one of the BEST WORDS EVER.  On the other hand, labeling people may be convenient, but it quickly becomes snarky and toxic.

Not only was he right, but I have also grown to love Bob Marley and Steve Miller Band (still hate the Dead though).  The high school version of myself is rolling over in her grave right now.

What does this have to do with library 2.0?

I think the most library-esque web 2.0 thing that we can capitalize on is tagging.  What a fabulous way to bring a craptastic catalog to life.  Just look at what Darien Library has done so far with their fledgling SOPAC.  Although I wish it were in alpha order, I love the tag cloud on the right.  And I love their special “better than the book” tag.  Genius!

Someone slipped me a Darien Library card number, allowing me to do some tagging of my own.  I ran into a surprising problem: it doesn’t appear to let me create a multi-word tag.  Strange.  For this (lovely) book, I tried to add the tag “talking animals.”  It separated the phrase into two tags.  Surely, I must be missing something because the tag cloud on the right makes it quite clear that multi-word tags are possible.  If you’re able to add multi-word tags on Darien’s SOPAC, please enlighten me!

I can’t wait for web 2.0 stuff to come live at CML’s catalog.  For reals, I can’t wait!

And I’ll say it again: I heart tagging (and the word “folksonomy”).

*Sometimes, when libraries talk about “library 2.0″ and “web 2.0,” I fear they have become the equivalent of THAT GUY who wears the band’s tshirt to said band’s concert.  You know, that guy who makes the cool things, those that are supposed to be subtle, a bit too obvious and obnoxious.  I don’t want to be that guy.

thing #13: yummy

I think the best thing about delicious is that they officially changed their name from del.icio.us to delicious.  So much easier!  I just set up an account; find me!  I’m boring right now though — haven’t added anything yet.  These days, I’m a little bit behind with Learn & Play.  Once I’m caught up, I’ll start bookmarking & tagging.

thing #12: twitter-dee, twitter-dum

I talk too much.*  I write too much.  I am verbose.  That’s why I love Twitter.  It forces me to keep it short and sweet.  Find me on Twitter!

I think I might love TwitterFox, one of my favorite Firefox extensions, even more than Twitter itself.

Do you know how badly our library needed Twitter this week?  SO BADLY.  I have been wanting to embed a Twitter-feed on our homepage for a while now and this week would have been perfect.  The windstorm/hurricane Ike remnants of the Midwest left us with over half of our locations closed and the public eager to know which ones were open so they could come in to use wireless.  Or charge their cell phone.  Or charge their electric razor.

Instead of a simple Twitter post, we were left to deal with posting red text at the top of our homepage via our homegrown content management system.  The red worked great.  But cool and sleek it was not.

How does Twitter typically get used?  Well, in my circles these days, most tweets involve either the presidential campaign and or International Talk Like a Pirate Day.  Ahoy!

Meanwhile, I enjoyed some Scrabble by candlelight and I learned that a tree in my backyard split at the base of the trunk.  I’ll probably have to cut it down so that it doesn’t fall on my house.  SUCKO.

*And yet I HATE talking on the phone, so much so that I don’t even have a cell phone.  I am one big bundle of paradoxical surprises.

thing #11: no to library thing, yes to goodreads!

(Long time, no blogging thanks to the major power outages in the midwest!)

For thing #11 of Learn & Play @ CML, we were encouraged to set up a Library Thing account.  Well, I polled my friends and found that most people use goodreads instead.  Goodreads it is.  I have wanted to do one or both for a while.  Again, Learn & Play is the best excuse ever to do some fun stuff!

Find me on goodreads!  I think it may be my new addiction.  Looking forward to learning more and doing more with it.

I added the first few books that came to mind: the Scott Westerfeld Uglies series & some Nancy Farmer books.  I am a sucker for all things teen sci fi.  Especially those that expore moral & ethical issues.

Consider yourself warned: if you become my friend on goodreads you will probably think less of me because the Twilight series will be amongst some of my faves.  Sorry.  But I really do think the series explores issues that go well beyond Edward’s good looks.  Yes,  Stephenie Meyer is kind of a crap writer, but the story is good!  I can’t wait for the movie to come out!  Sorry again.

I think this is a hilarious recap of what happened to the cast at the VMAs:

If only I were that clever at her age.

thing #10

moar funny pictures

My very first lolcat!  Featuring my very own furry beasts: Spooky and Sophie.  Or, as we more often call them: “The Doid” and “Phronic.”  DON’T ASK.  But do go to I Can Has Cheezburger and make your own!  And click on the photo to vote for my pic!!!

drupal: the elusive solution

At CML, we are beginning the long, arduous process of transitioning our sites to Drupal.  Long-term, am I happy about this?  Yes.  Short-term?  OMG Drupal is going to drive me to drink!!!  I don’t even really know what to ask nor what to look for.  Development of a skeleton of our site is coming along quite well, but I’m still in the dark.

Here’s the problem:  I’m not a developer/programmer/web designer.  But, as my non-techie husband fondly calls it, I’m certainly no World W Internets dummy either.  I am stuck in the tragic middle.  And where is the peer group for that?  I’m having trouble finding one.  Forget about finding a group like this that also has a library bend. (I almost typed “liberal” instead of “library” there…politics on the brain much?)  Grrrrr.

I think part of the problem is that because I work for a large, urban public library, my job is so specialized.  Consequently, I haven’t had as many happy accident opportunities as I would like.  Never out of necessity have I had to learn programming, web design, etc.  I am like the doctorate person who knows “everything about nothing” but I don’t have the cool letters at the end of my name.  And as far as I know, there aren’t any other large, urban public libraries using Drupal.  Again, where’s my peer group?

I’m hoping that help will come from my own backyard.  Along with one of my colleagues who actually does do programming, we are going to pick the brains of the IT team at one of our partner libraries.  They’re small, but they’re local!  Their soon-to-be new site is built in Drupal.

Maybe by the time I’ve crested the huge learning curve, I will be able to pioneer the creation of a peer group that focuses on Drupal for non-developers/non-programmers/non-librarians/yet not a stranger to technology by any means in library settings.  First, I’ll need to work on a better name for such a group.