CCLS 23 Things #23: Is this really the end?

I'm going to go ahead and write this post before completing the previous exercise, to make sure I finish by the January 16 deadline.

I am sure that this project is not the end for me, because I have been fascinated by online resources since my early journeys on the text-based "information highway," and I will continue to try to keep on top of new developments. I doubt I'll ever become a fan of, say, Twitter, or podcasts, because they just don't seem to fit in with the way I think or the way I learn. On the other hand, I can see great potential in some other online resources, e.g., wikis and virtual computers.

Some of the resources we explored were really fun but potentially toxic time-wasters. YouTube could occupy me for hours, and I could likewise waste all kinds of time with image generators. I'm not convinced it would be time well-spent. I think I should go read a book instead...

Some of the social networking activities seem to represent a generational divide. It would seem all wrong for someone my age to have a MySpace or Livejournal. I also feel that there's something inauthentic about a library trying to establish an institutional presence in one of these communities. A young librarian, acting as an individual (though in a professional capacity) would be another matter. I can see that kind of connection working to raise the library's profile among teens.

I'm still on the fence with regard to Facebook. I don't want to feel as though I'm spying on my kids by trying to hang out in their online circles.

With a new library director at Tredyffrin, all of us have been asked to think about how our job duties fit with our personal strengths, and how those duties might evolve to create a better fit. I would love to include more technology-related responsibilities in my work, and the "23 Things" project just might provide some of the knowledge and inspiration I need to set off on this path.

CCLS 23 Things #16: Playing around with PBWiki

If you're used to blogger software, there's no problem at all transferring to wiki software.

But to my surprise, it does somehow feel different to contribute to a page created by many users. It's more "communal" in every sense of the word, good and bad.

I added my blog, then added a favorite restaurant.

CCLS 23 Things #15: So what’s in a wiki?

I have never created or participated in a wiki, but I had looked at a few of these before, e.g., "Library Success: A best practices wiki" and the "SJCPL Subject Guides," when reading other articles or books about online resources for libraries.

The wikis that I really liked, and that seemed perfectly suited to the format, were the community-based sites, such as RocWiki and the Ann Arbor wiki. These seem to replicate the way we find out about community resources in the "real" world, by asking friends and neighbors.

As far as library applications for a wiki, I have been thinking of using one for our circulation manual. We already have the circ manual and the reference manual online, so they are easily accessible and searchable. But the wiki would enable each department to add and edit, customizing for their own procedures.