PB Wiki

As the Staples commercial goes "That was easy!"

I think it would be a good idea to have a local wiki for the branch. We could use it to collaborate on projects and to communicate on different work items.

Wikipedia is a site that I view fairly regularly to get a quick and dirty bit of information on a particular topic.

Wiki's in Libraries

I believe the wiki would be a great tool for libraries to use. It would allow staff across the library system the ability to get in and update and change web site information without the need to channel it through a webmaster. This would be great for program information, building information, and more.

Another great use would be for reader's advisory from librarians to the public. There could also be wikis to highlight search and research strategies that can be updated and expanded on by staff across the library system. Overall, it would be a great tool to use.

Cookie Monster in the Library

Here's an amusing video of a challenging library patron:

Away from Icebergs

I am going to comment on the article called "Away from Icebergs" from the Web 2.0 discussion pages.

The points raised in this article are valid. There is a really need to study and understand the effect of having a huge amount of information readily available online versus the physical need to have books on shelves. Even as we build larger libraries, it is hard to fill all the gaps, especially as new and unique ideas pop up on line constantly (such as Extreme Ironing and other such endevours).


Regarding the users, the public library does have a problem in that our patrons are a wide range of personalities. There are many library users who have little or no interest in technology, so books will remain their primary focus. However, the younger crowd are more and more comfortable with the technology, so we should work harder to accomidate them. Finding the balance is important.


Now with higher fuel prices, visits to the physical library may go down for most people. This will place a greater emphasis on electronic access. It would be great to see a Second Life style site for the library system. However, it is highly doubtful that the physical library would ever go away, since many people need to have the face-to-face interaction that does not exist in the virtual world.

Anyhow, please enjoy the amusing comic below (click on it for a larger view):

Technorati

I found Technorati easy to use and straightforward. The way to search for tags or links to a particular web site is unique. It would seem like the tool is a good alternate to using Google all the time, especially for blog or video searches.

Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us definately has some appeal to it. I have found over time that I stopped bookmarking sites. I would only do it when I was actively involved in project and needed to get back to certain sites quickly. This could definately have a use.

During this exercise, I found some kooky sites. Perhaps the weirdest is "Garfield without Garfield." Basically, some genius takes the daily Garfield cartoon strips and removes Garfield and Odie, leaving only Jon alone in his madness. Below is an example:

I lost interest in Garfield years ago once he stopped acting like a cat and starting walking on hind legs like a furry human. This version of the comic strip really makes Jon seem insane and is much more entertaining!

BTW - for a better comic strip with a animal character always acting like the animal he is (or fish in this case) is Sherman's Lagoon. Although Sherman will act like a human at times, he is always ready to devour one other fish along the way. Like this one (click for larger view):

WebFeat

It okay. I found some information, but nothing exciting.