Every day, I see something amazing and creative that people have done online with photos, audio or video content. Whether they are creating something totally new or remixing things to develop something that the original creator had never envisioned, I am just blown away at what the Web now allows us to do creatively. Since …
Update: I received an e-mail from one of the creators of Ask Dr. Wiki stating that they are now requiring folks to prove that they have medical credentials before they are allowed to contribute to the wiki. I hate barriers as much as the next person, but in the case of a medical wiki, there …
As you all know, I’m a big fan of wikis, such a big fan that I often cannot gauge how other people will respond when they are introduced to wikis. Well, imagine my surprise to discover how incredibly enthusiastic our participants were this week about implementing wikis in their library; probably more so than any …
Could you ever have imagined a couple of years ago that a candidate for ALA President would have a campaign video on YouTube??? 🙂 This isn’t why I personally endorsed Jim Rettig for ALA President. Nor is it his very cool blog. I think Jim is a librarian who has not lost touch with the …
Social Software in Libraries cover Originally uploaded by librarianmer. I just heard from the folks at Information Today that my book is heading off to the printer tomorrow! I think it’s going to spend some time there, because I was told that it will be available at the end of March or the very beginning …
Week two of Five Weeks to a Social Library is now over. RSS and del.icio.us really generated a lot of excitement for our participants and many could see the personal and professional benefits of using these tools. We have people spending 16 hours per week on the class because they want to play with these …
I never thought I’d say this… but I want to go work for the Pentagon! Lewis Shepherd sent me this Computer World article about some of the cool things they are doing in the intelligence community with wikis, RSS, AJAX and Mashups. In particular, they mention the Intellipedia which was launched in 2004 and seeks …
I mentioned PBWiki’s new editing interface a few weeks ago, but this week was the official launch of this tool. I truly think that having a WYSIWYG editor like PBWiki has now is going to break down the biggest barrier to adding content to a wiki. Wiki markup may be easier than HTML for some …
mk1_1024 Originally uploaded by Dave & Bry. This is so cool! Visit the picture in Flickr and click on All Sizes and you can actually see the individual books! And there are many others too! Thanks Dave! 🙂
I always tease Roy Tennant about how so many geek girls (me included) — and probably geek boys too — are totally crushing on him. He doesn’t really “get it”. I think his recent post in TechEssence, “Open Letter to ILS Vendors” is a great example of how smart, pragmatic and (as John Blyberg puts …
The weeks and months before the start of Five Weeks to a Social Library required a significant amount of work, but I don’t think I was prepared for how much time I would need to devote once the course started. However, it has been totally worth it so far. I am literally blown away by …
I have always been an idea person. I probably get that from my dad who has had dozens of business ideas in the 29 years I’ve known him. However, before I became a librarian, I rarely pursued any of the ideas I had. I usually either didn’t know where to start or I didn’t think …
Honeymoon in Big Sur Originally uploaded by librarianmer. My husband, Adam, never likes taking credit for the things he’s done, though he deserves an absolute boatload of it when it come to my successes over the past couple of years. I’m not a naturally confident person, so I doubt I would have accomplish half of …
chickadee Originally uploaded by withrow. To the chickadees, blue jay and brilliant red cardinal I saw in the pine tree just outside my kitchen window as I made breakfast this morning, thank you. I have no idea why you’d want to be here in Vermont when the temperature this morning was well below zero, but …
I’ve been meaning to write about Walt’s great Cites and Insights piece on conference speaking. If you haven’t already read it, do take a look. He combines insights from Rachel Singer Gordon, Dorothea Salo, Jessamyn West and 90 people who participated in Rachel’s survey on the subject with his own insights to create a really …
I just wanted to give people a head’s up that the wiki for this year’s Computers in Libraries conference is up and people are already starting to add content. I’ve already got my schedule online and I’m really excited about speaking at the conference and seeing some of the terrific talks on the roster. I’m …
I’m so happy to finally be able to publicly congratulate Dorothea Salo on her new job as Digital Repository Librarian at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. I knew Dorothea enjoyed her job at George Mason, but like me, she is not a city person and I know how city life can wear on someone …
One thing I was really excited about with Five Weeks to a Social Library was playing around with Odeo. I’d seen a lot of people using it and it looked like a really great service. I love their cute embedded players. Unfortunately, I seem to have come to it at the point where things are …
On a happy note, a friend of mine has recently started a blog in an area of librarianship that doesn’t get enough discussion in the blogosphere: access services. Mary Chimato is the head of access and delivery services at NCSU, and started Circ and Serve because she saw a gaping hole in its representation on …
I have received many e-mails in regards to the first article in my tenure as a columnist for American Libraries, “Balancing the Online Life” (wish I could link to it, but it isn’t online). Most of them have been very positive, but I did get a few complaints. All of them were from librarians who …