# 17 Playing Around w/Wikis

As I mentioned earlier, I have been entering into the Reference Dept. Refwiki for some time now. I found it even easier than the same entries I used to make in our Refblog.

So, as per one of the discovery exercises, I created a login acct. so I could "play in the sandbox" and looked around and fooled around and added my blog to the Favorite Blogs site.

My general take on the whole wiki system is that, & perhaps this is because I am more experienced w/wikis than some of the other L2.0s, although it has some disadvantages, i.e. entries can be easily tampered with, I think its collaborative qualities & its quick updates are positive & useful.

# 16 Wikis

I love it that the word "Wiki" comes from the Hawaiian phrase "wiki wiki", as my heart belongs to anything Hawaiian.

As per this assignment, I viewed Wiki, Wiki, Wiki; also Wiki's: A Beginner's Look. I also viewed two of your suggested readings: Book Lovers Wiki--(I already photocopied the many books it has reviewed) and the Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki--looks a lot like our Refwiki.

Anyway, I feel good about this week's topic since I have both experience in reading a wiki--our very own Refwiki, as well as having experience in inputting info into the wiki. After recording the minutes from our bi-weekly reference meetings, I type them in Word and then copy & paste them into the Refwiki, making the required changes so it's easy to read & easy to find. Utilizing asterisks, which become bullets, is an example of my experience.

In our Refwiki, under Category: Library Information is a subcategory under R called Reference Minutes.
The purpose, like all wikis, is for the members of the group--the Ref staff-- to have a good way of accessing info quickly, from the pooling of our expertises. I like it that we've taken our collaboration to another useful level.

We first began sharing useful info w/a blog--the RefBlog. We have since discovered the merits of a wiki & have moved all old stuff from the blog to the wiki, replacing the blog w/the wiki & eliminating the blog all together.

More on this in my next blog entry #17

# 15 Library & Web 2.0

The perspective I found most interesting was the first reading-- Away from the “icebergs” -- which suggest 3 threats to the future of libraries. Below includes the titles of these 3 & a snippet of what I considered a good thought from each.

The “just in case” collection...As a Web 2.0 reality continues to emerge and develop, our patrons will expect access to everything – digital collections of journals, books, blogs, podcasts, etc.

Reliance on user education...We need to focus our efforts not on teaching research skills but on eliminating the barriers that exist between patrons and the information they need

The “come to us” model of library service...integrating our services into their daily patterns of work, study and play.

My overall impression so far? On one level I am not as appreciative of the many examples of web2.0 we've explored as I would be if I had more time to devote to them. On the other hand, I have found value in learning as much as I have from this project as I am not so totally in the dark when I hear terms like flickr, RSS feeds, Web 2.0, etc. I'm going to plug along and hope that some of this sticks w/me & not worry too much about what I'm missing in the process of squeezing it all in.

# 14 Technorati

So I read about Technorati's new features. I did a few searches in the EXACT phrase box. Funny that when I put in Taylor's College, a place where my son will do his next semester, I got blogs about college and blogs about taylor and blogs about taylor's and a few about taylor's college. Go figure about the exact phrase part of this?!

But don't give up too soon. I then went to the most Popular page as suggested and noticed on the list of top searches, Harry Potter, and Paris Hilton, and Frank Rich to name a few. Not knowing who Frank Rich is and wanting to, I clicked on that. I found many blogs with the word rich. And my blogs with the word Frank. I still don't know who Frank Rich is. Perhaps I will google him.

Then I clicked on the 100 top blogs list. Here are some exciting things I found...

How to Change the World

Think Progress

Hot Air

Needless to say, my experience in this exercise was not totally impressive. I do know that there exists such a site, however, will no longer wonder how people find blogs.

#13 Del.icio.us' Social Networking Aspects

"...peering into another users' filing cabinet..." I suppose I might find that useful in some other life--maybe when I retire. Like when I retire I'll plant a big garden. When I retire I'll look at others' filing cabinets!

If I was a researcher (and when I retire I might become one) I could see benefits of this tool. But I have registered & installed my buttons anyway and now have made it possible to see my bookmarks on my computer at home as well as here at work. Presently, this is the attraction for me.

Bookmarks vs. Del.icio.us ~~
On tagging: I already name my bookmarks w/a one word descriptor of my choice. And then I often rename the link to a one word descriptor so I can find it easier. Since I am not interested in "building a collaborative repository of related information" I have found this approach satisfactory. But who knows! Serious Eats looks interesting to me as I expore along...

# 12 Rollyo

Just took a quick look because this sounds interesting to me. Quick Quotes could prove very handy. Also liked Free Photos (even though I know now that I can go the route of Flickr for free photos too) because it seems easier than Flickr. I also explored other rolls & saw things like Ask Mr. Fixit, music stuff, book info...

I think I will explore this more later. Can't say too much about it except that it seems worthwhile to me, much more so than some of the other L 2.0 things.

I will use this!

http://rollyo.com/kizuki-sama/quick_quotes_search/

# 11 LibraryThing

FABULOUS! I absolutely love something finally. I created an account & began entering right away. http://www.librarything.com/catalog/sitko I have a large stack of little slips of paper, all shapes & sizes, with titles of books & authors names & who recommended them to me...Now I can get this organized & have my own little system/bookstore.

I don't think I am interested in the social aspect of this site. At least not yet. The Groups & Talk I'll pass on for now. I made this a private acct. in my profile but may venture out there later.

The UnSuggested--books it thinks I would NOT want, seems like I might enjoy.

I also love--which I just discovered--that I can click on the bookjacket in my list & and choose that it take me to the book site in Amazon--where I always go for reviews. Now I can do two steps at once!!!!!!!!

So take a look w/my link here. I just got started so only have about 6 entries. I really like the Cover View aspect of this as well...just like browsing books in a bookstore.

THANKS FOR SOMETHING I CAN REALLY USE...& ENJOY.

#10 Image Generators

I created this "warholizer" from the site called FD Toys.

AND...







http://www.letterjames.com/start.php?mod=image-personalization

I created this image at LETTER JAMES

AND...
I went to http://www.dylanmessaging.com/create
and created two images--Bob Dylan messages to --that I emailed to my friends.

# 9 Finding Feeds

So far I've checked out Syndic8 and got a bit confused. Think I'll ask for help on that one. The process I used for finding some feeds was right on the Bloglines site. I just tapped into a few of the offerings they gave from their staff's favorites. If it's good enough for them...good enough for me.

# 8 Making Life Really Simple...Perhaps

I went through the discovery resources & finally can say I now know what RSS is all about. I can see how for those who view a lot of stuff on the internet, this is a great way to expedite the process. For me, at this time in my life anyway, I'll stick w/the great outdoors. It's kinda like, for now I'm buying my produce at the Farmers' Market. When I retire, I'll grow my own. And when that time comes, I'll RSS my book reviews and movie reviews and some other things that interest me enough to go online.

#7 Blog About Technology

Well I'm truly not a techie person. Did I even spell that right? And this goes beyond computer kind of stuff. I still don't own a digital camera, although that seems to be creeping up on me. No cell phone. No dishwasher. We have an outhouse on our place and we still use it often. And I just figured out how to program our cordless phone to do all that it was meant to do. One thing that did make a big difference in my life, however, was finally, after some 30 yrs of going to laundromats, getting a washer & dryer.

But ask me an Excel question. Or ask me for a quick graphic-- a sign or poster, admission tickets, business cards. Calendars I can do in a jiffy too.

Anyway, it's amazing the info that's out there. Just trying to find the time to get that info is the biggy.

#6 More flickr fun

I've chosen to make a librarian trading card. Seemed the easiest thing to do. So here it is.