Thing 15

As it turns out, Library 2.0 is not a new thing, or a new definition. It's really only the last year I've been hearing about this concept, so I was a little surprised to notice that quite a few of the Library 2.0 articles were dated 2007 or earlier. Library 2.0 is now, huh? It's happening! Which I think is great. I've kind of always thought of Library 2.0 in terms of Web 2.0 and technology. Online library services, etc. I read quite a bit more than 2 or 3 articles for this, as it peaked my interest, and yes, Web 2.0, technology, online services, they're all related to Library 2.0. Overall I like how Michael Stephens describes the goal of Library 2.0 - "better library services for more people." Yes, it means change, but that's also a great thing. Doing new or different things to interest and entice new or different people to the Library; but also updating our services to best serve the needs of currect patrons. I noticed that collaboration between libraries and their patrons was also mentioned a lot - that interaction is key. I know I'm willing and eager to make these sorts of things happen. There were also some articles mentioning grabbing the attention of teens, as the "next generation", as it were. We're certainly giving that a go here. Now to think of the many, many other things we can begin to do, for everyone...

Thing 14

So, Technorati went through a major redesign in October last year, and now none of the exercises we were meant to do are relevant. All those headings we were to click on don't exist. Somewhat frustrating, as I was looking forward to having a go at them all. And the thing is, the new design seems NOTHING like what it used to be. I can't even find an Advanced Search, which seems to me plain weird. So unless I'm blind...

Anyway, I had a browse of Technorati, and honestly, that seems to be all you can do now. Sure, they have lists of the "Top 5", "Top 10", "Top 100" which is somewhat interesting. You can do a keyword search for blogs or posts. There doesn't seem to be any Tag search tool...I could only find a list of the most popular tags for the last month. Technorati is most certainly all about the most "popular". I did like the whole Authority bit though - so when you browse the blog directory (broken into broad catergories), it lists the blogs by their "authority" (a number out of 1000, with 1000 the best you can get), which is a measure of the blog's standing and influence in the blogosphere. At least this way you know which blog might be more relevant to what you're looking for.

As for the last exercise to "claim" my blog through Technorati, I think I'll wait until I have my new review blog up and running. It's been created, and looks pretty, I just have to start posting. Maybe in a few weeks I'll claim it.

Thing 13

Okay, so I'm just going to admit it straight out - I'm not a big fan of Delicious. I've used it before in that I've created an account and imported bookmarks from my computer. I've also used it to tag those pages. But other than being useful in the sense that you can access your bookmarks from any computer, I don't really like it. I listened to the 8 minute podcast about using Delicious, and during it I thought maybe there is more to it that I'm just not getting, but I went exploring and found myself back at my initial impression. The podcast talks about using a unique tag that a group chooses so that they can share the sites they find, etc, and I think that's useful. But it also mentions using Delicious as a research tool, rather than internet search engines like Google and whatnot. Less sites to trawl through? I don't think so. I think Delicious is just as bogged down with so many sites, that you still have to sift through a good amount of irrelevant links, no matter that their tags are meant to group them for easier searchability. Which when it comes to anything on the internet, isn't all that unusual, I know.

During the e-learning training I took part in however, the idea to use Delicious for gaming sites the kids play was brought up, which I think is a great idea, seeing as none of us can ever remember which sites they go to!