Halloween Week Tasks

Week 7: I have been "using" wikipedia for some time. I know it is subject to editing of a dubious sort, so I take it with a grain of salt. It is fast, like the meaning of wiki implies (Hawaiian for quick). Do I like the idea of a democratic encyclopedia? Maybe not, because I'd like to think there is some kind of editorial authority. How can we sort facts from puffery? Will my virtual presence on the net make me able to spot lies and spin?

P.S. I went for a tour of nfl2wiki. As soon as I remember what I used for a password etc. I'll do some entries in PBwiki. A library wiki for all the procedures, not to mention rules and policies, is a fantastic idea.

Keeping my world colorful and del.icio.us

Week 6: This week I am considering the ramifications of del.icio.us. It means that I can bookmark to that website, instead of my computer. OK -- I won't have to be at my own desk computer to bring up my favorites.

Late entry: I finally registered at Technorati. I guess that's about the literati of the blogosphere. I see that our NFL learns 2.0 site has been picked up because of the previous entries of our staff members.

Later entry: Web 2.0 - Is this where the medium meets the message? People create "spaces" for themselves on the internet, add some content and then assign various internet services to troll for information that they desire to have on tap. Doesn't this mean that our physical selves begin to have an aspect living in cyberspace when we are interacting (give and take) with our faithful information gathering servants? The fact that I have tentacles reaching into and out from this virtual world doesn't creep me out in the least. It is actually endlessly fascinating.

Paradoxically, this means more immediate and personalized library service to patrons is possible while simultaneously being removed and remote. We can bypass the metamessages of appearance, dress, speech and social standing (except for what we might read into the formulation of the queries) and get quick, tailored or automated answers out -- I hope.

Don't overlook the fact that this is a journey of self-discovery.

Week 5: Well, the pressure mounts..... it takes me forever to figure out what these things are and what catagory to fit them in. But I press on. I am giving myself an avatar. I generated it from Yahoo (I did not care for the "doppelme" avatar generator that was offered through our instructions) besides, I think this gal depicts an idealized "liferlibrarian" -- cat, glasses, sensible clothes and all. Perhaps, she is my alter-ego. If you click into the picture, it will take you to the Yahoo avatar site.

As for Library Thing, it's actually great fun and potentially very useful to us here at Newburgh Free Library. See my Library Thing choices and access it to the right of this posting. Although, this has been quite a bit of work and some wretched frustration, this is shaping up to be a long lasting piece of training.

Thrill of the Chase

Week 4: To be sure, there is a thrill to getting the various applications to finally load and work. I grew a little frustrated when I kept getting an invalid URL message. I didn't want to give up because my favorite RSS is the Old Farmer's Almanac. I wanted their Moon Phase feed because we talk about the full moon so much around here.

Exploring

Week 3: I've taken the plunge and signed up for Flickr. The options look good and the fact that there are so many members willing and eager to share their photos makes it a happy hunting ground. It's a bit overwhelming though and the indexing to find just what you want is rough. Can't find spooklights in the Australian Outback to save my life.