Learn & Play 14-- Web 2.0 and Library 2.0

What are the practical applications of Web 2.0 for our library patrons? This is the question that occurred to me way back in December 2006 when I attended an OLC workshop on Web 2.0 at the Westerville Public Library.

I am sure many of you are familiar with the "lightbulb moment" that 1st and 2nd grade teachers see all of the time, when their students finally understand how to read. Picture a lightbulb turning on in a little bubble above your customer's head, like in the comic strips. I have had a few of these illuminating moments with library customers here in Science, Business & News.

My lightbulb moments have occured on two memorable occasions. The first one was when I demonstrated how a group of market researchers could set up a feed reader (I used my MyYahoo! account to demonstrate), then feed in full text trade journal articles from EbscoHost Research Databases, or ProQuest Direct. A feed reader can also help you keep track of news and research developments in your industry. One of the workshop attendees actually said "Aha".

My second lightbulb moment was with a library patron who is starting up a nonprofit organization. He was looking for ways to communicate with other social entrepreneurs in the Columbus Metro area. I demonstrated to him how he could set up a Delicious account, and participate in social bookmarking. He said that a Delicious account would help him keep track of valuable articles that he finds online, and make his search for funding more efficient.

Just for fun Dewey Decimal Quiz, Thanks Helene!

The Dewey Decimal Quiz was fun, because it let me cheat! Of course, I ginned the system by using 590 as my favorite number. This reminds me of how I let my son cheat at the little math game we used to play when he was 3 or 4. I figured that if he was smart enough to count ahead and do multiplication in his head at 4, then let him cheat. Here is my results:

Barbara Beardsley's Dewey Decimal Section:
590 Animals (Zoology)

Class:
500 Science

Contains:
Math, astronomy, prehistoric life, plants and animals.

What it says about you:
You are fascinated by the world around you, and see it as a puzzle worth exploring. You try to understand how things work and how you can make them better. You might be a nerd.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

Learn & Play--Thing 13 Delicious!!

I set up a Delicous account several months ago because Rachel Rubin told me that she used her own account frequently, and was kind enough to give me a quick tutorial. Going through the 23 things has prompted me to re-visit my own Delicious account.

Tagging shows up in many of the social networking sites, but I think that Delicious is an excellent site for me to use, because I can hang onto interesting tidbits of information without using a post-it note, or computer print-out.

My Delicous account is linked on this blog. If you have the time, look at the Hill Business Library site from Minnesota.

Learn & Play-- Thing 12 Twitter

I set up a Twitter account and posted something, which was interesting. I couldn't see the attraction, until my colleague Nancy R gave me a brief Twitter tutorial. I am now following several people, and NPR. My twitter "handle" is bbeardsley59, which is not at all anonymous.

Mike Bowers & the staff of the Ohio SBDC @Columbus State Community College is using twitter in a really interesting way. They recently used their social networking site to announce a tour of Ohio Stadium for the Central Ohio tweeting community. I forwarded the info to Largesse, LibraryJoy and Jimmer, but you can look at the info yourself at http://sbdcfreeadvice.ning.com/. Look for the Events listing on the right side of the page.

Library Thing

I set up my own Library Thing account: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/BBeardsley . I thought that the information about Library Thing for Libraries was really cool.

Thing #10 Image Generators

I had some fun with image generators, and used the Einstein chalkboard to save a picture we can all enjoy.

A Great Library Related Blog--The Shifted Librarian

From Jenny Levine, The Shifted Librarian always contains some content that is interesting to me as a librarian. Since my library (Columbus Metropolitan Library) has a new levy looming on our horizon in November 2010, I found this post really interesting: http://theshiftedlibrarian.com/archives/2008/07/29/swinging-236-votes-can-libraries-do-it.html.

RSS Feed Readers

I set up my first feed reader, a MyYahoo! account about 2 years ago. I use it to demonstrate the practical application of RSS feeds to adult students and business people. I see no reason to set up a bloglines account, when my MyYahoo! page works just fine.

I can use EbscoHost, or ProQuest to set up an RSS feed with full text journal articles. The problem with this service is, I cannot read the full text of the articles when I am not in the library, because of authentication requirements from the database provider.

I can set up RSS feeds from blogs I admire, like the Kegliography, Common Craft, and Library Bytes to stay informed.

Databases That Warm My Geeky Heart

So, I'm an unabashed library geek, you gotta problem with that? I really like the new database, or Premium Resource (in CML parlance) called Gongwer News Service. Any CML cardholder with internet access can select this database from our list of Premium Resources on our Reference page http://columbuslibrary.org/reference, and find informatin on Ohio government, legislation in the Ohio House or Senate, and Ohio related news articles.

The Gongwer News Service should be of interest to Ohio business people looking for government legislation information on their industry.

Flickr Mashups

I was truly delighted by the various ways to experiment with color on flickr. My favorite was the science fiction magazine cover mashup. When you roll the cursor over the tiny blocks of color, a specific cover pops up, and you can click on it for a larger image.

www.coverpop.com/pop/visco/

Flickr Exploration

Continuing with the Columbus Metropolitan Library staff activity, Learn & Play, I explored Flickr, and set up my own Flickr account. I used some pictures taken by Dan Zwyer, when I was traveling with my family in Washington State in October 2008. There are so many wonderful pictures that Dan took, I hope I can add more to my Flickr account soon! A link to my photostream is here: http://flickr.com/photos/30674012@N04/

Ideas to Deals

Michael Bowers, the Director of the Ohio SBDC at Columbus State Community College, has created a blog with lots of interesting content for Central Ohio entrepreneurs http://ideas2deals.typepad.com/my_weblog/. He mentions CML in a recent post, entitled "Can I at Least Get a Feasibility Plan?" http://ideas2deals.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/08/can-i-at-least.html. It's great to know that Mike recommends Columbus Metropolitan Library to the local business community.

23 Things!

I am exited about this new learning opportunity, and I hope to learn from my CML colleagues. I already use a MyYahoo! feed reader to organize my favorite blogs, news feeds, and research updates from EbscoHost and ProQuest. Here's hoping that this blog will stretch my abilty to communicate.