# 19: Web 2.0 Awards List

I have a little list...

Actually, no I don't, but this site did. Piles of them.

Listdump promised to be very exiting at first until you realized that most of the lists were centered around topics as mundane as batteries and diet pills. Great concept, boring execution. Also, the list of A to Z tags was misleading. You would try a promising sounding tag and find that little or nothing lay beneath it.

An improved version could certainly find a place in a library setting when an internet related question appears.

# 18: Online Productivity Tools

I began using Google Docs back when it was Writely. Writely was a cuter name but Google has kept the usefulness aspect of the tool and it is convenient to sign it to your email and also have your documents one click away, not to mention your calendar, photos, blog reader, and way too many other things...

So I thought I'd try Zoho Writer which really gets major cuteness points for for the colorful building block logo. You can see how easily impressed I am by minutiae.

I liked the interface, which reminds me of MS Word, except friendlier and less convoluted. My only quibble is that when I tried to post to this blog with the publish button it didn't work. Either I did something wrong or they are having a temporary glitch.

#17: Sandbox Wiki

The glitch was fixed (hurrah!) and I was able to make the title of this place here into a link on the Maryland Libraries Sandbox.

I created this entry and edited this one.

# 16: Wikis

For reasons that don't bear exploring at this juncture, I have decided to start numbering the 23 Things. Consistency is NOT one of my hobbies.

More than Wikipedia then. A good way to pool information.

I liked how the St. Joseph County Public Library system created a subject browsable wiki with such nice touches such as staff picks and a random page link.

Oh and the links to external webpages were also extra convenient.

I was very impressed with the BookLoversWiki done by the Princeton Public Library. Three words: Pooled book reviews!

A reference wiki would be made of AWESOME.


TTFN.

Library 2.0

After reading through the Library 2.0 debates on the OCLC website, I'm still processing. However, there are a lot of good points and valid opinions there, many of which I agree with, although not all.

I'm slightly conflicted in how I wish to take a stance on this topic. I very much enjoy and take advantage of the way the Information/Computer Age has revolutionized many lives. Websites, emails, social networking, online games, blogs, and other tools whose names currently escape me are a significant part of my daily existence. I have no objection to these types of things becoming more prominent in libraries.

However, I can also seen the value in maintaining the old tried and true infrastructure as well. As long as it continues to be updated as much as necessary to keep it streamlined and fresh, it would be folly to discard anything to hastily. The library serves many different needs and can certainly adopt new methods without abandoning the old ones. Let's try for a synthesis, shall we?

Technorati

Technorati seems slightly more amorphous this time around. I toyed with the search engine for a bit with the term 'Learning 2.0' and came up with slightly different results for each.

The favorites consisted mostly of gadgets, blogger and business tops, and random silly/weird sites such as Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things.

Delicious is tasty

Del.icio.us is a really handy way of keeping bookmarks organized with tags and also available from any internet-enabled computer. I've actually been using it already, but went ahead and made another account for this particular name. You can take a look at it here if you're interested. I don't have too much it yet but I'll be adding more.

I do especially like the way in which bookmarks can be shared (or not) with others. You can search on a tag and see what lies underneath. And you can also see who else has bookmarked your saved link and see what tag(s) were chosen for it. All in all, really nifty.

I dug around a little in the PLCMCL2 account and discovered that some libraries offer IM reference.

Hmmm, I say, and again, hmmm.