Thing 10 - Wikis

23 Things wiki on PBwiki

Had fun adding to the 23 things wiki. (Hint - look for the Holstein.) The PBwiki interface was easy to use, the toolbar options in the editing / composing screen were straightforward and offered a pretty good range of tools. It was simple to create a table, import an image, or create a link to another URL or wikipage. As I am not fluent in html, this was critical to using the wiki efficiently. Creating a new page was also easy. I liked the template option idea, although the particular templates available might not be very useful in a library setting. They seemed geared more to schoolwork, more for either the student or the educator. But it also looked like you could develop template of your own that might more closely fit a library milieu. Or maybe others in the PBwiki community have developed templates one could use.

I read "Using Wikis to Create Online Communities" by Meredith Farkas. She makes some valid points about the possible uses for wikis in libraries. But the whole idea of making the library’s website the online hub of the community -- I'm skeptical. It just seems to be another of those let's be all things to all people endeavors. Mission creep. Why is this a role the library should take on? Does it make sense? Is the library website the best place for local restaurant reviews? Aren't other places doing that better already? I just dunno.

I looked at some of the example of libraries using this for staff information, policies and so on. I think that kind of use makes a whole lot of sense. Our own library is experimenting with some similar uses.

Luv that Lee LeFever and his videos. He's got another winner with his "Wikis in plain English".

I set up a quick wiki on PBwiki, I'm already using it to coordinate Christmas gift buying with my family. I really can see the benefits of this kind of tool for a lot of collaborative efforts. I discovered that PBWiki also had some more useful templates available at the page level. These make it easier to set up a specific-purpose page, e.g. project tracker, document repository, team member list and others.

Thing 9 - Collaboration

Hmmm. Google Docs shared editing feature. I'm not impressed based on my experience with the sample document in this exercise. Here's my story.

I have a Google account, I asked for the permission necessary to edit the document via email as instructed at the 23 things blog. I got an e-mail that indicated that I have permission to edit this shared document. I clicked on the link, went to the doc, clicked on the "edit this page" link and got a message that I don't have permission to edit the document. (I summarize, this circle was reiterated with variations several times, but with the same results.)

If people who were actually trying to co-edit a document ran into this many obstacles, they would just call and set up a meeting at a coffee shop and bring their laptops and yellow legal pads. Maybe the whole setup for 23 things added another layer of complication, but this is NOT straightforward.

I see the value of this kind of tool, but based on the evidence of this experience, not this particular tool.

So, based on what I was able to see of the shared editing of this obscure little document on Google docs -- here are my thoughts. It sure resulted in a mess. I realize this exercise is not really like a true shared authoring situation would be, still... what a mess. Strikes me that the hard part of shared editing is negotiating with the other editors about the content. I couldn't see how this tool allowed for a history of the revisions to the document. Nor did there seem to be the facility to put notes to your collaborators (independent of the doc text) explaining why you were making an edit/addition, etc. Of course, I may be all wet with these observations, since I couldn't get access to the edit function. ;)

A presentation to share - please view!
Anyway, I created a slide presentation on Google Docs. It was pretty straightforward. This tool is limited, though. There were several simple tasks it could not do. For example, when a photo I imported needed to be rotated 90 degrees to orient the correct way, this presentation tool couldn't do that. I found a solution by manipulating the image in other software on my pc, re-saving it and uploading it again. Also, if you want to layer a shape with, for example, text, you can no longer manipulate the shape in any way once you've sent it to the back layer. It is also difficult to place graphics consistently in the same relative place from slide to slide because there isn't a ruler or grid to help you position things. So, if you had a bare bones kind of presentation to do, this could work well. Anything more sophisticated might not be possible.

Thing 8 - Sharing

I was a little tired of uploading photos and messing with graphics, so I choose create a database via lazybase. I created a list of good books I've read kinda recently. Below is the list embedded in this blog post. To share it with others I could give them the public URL to the read-only version of the database.

Initially, I thought I'd be able to create a version where I could create a form and have people input information to add to the database from my blogspace. (You know, some link that said, e.g. "tell me about a good book you've read lately". I must have misunderstood lazybase's capabilities though, because I can't seem to find any way to do this. If it could do this, it would have been an interesting way to mess around with the concept of user-generated content for sharing info, but alas...

Thing 7 - Communication

E-mail.
Great tool, but often hard to manage. I liked some of Merlin Mann's e-mail productivity tips. Especially his reminder that e-mail (for the vast majority of us) should not be a real-time communication channel. If you need to contact someone NOW, pick up the phone, or use IM. Then batch process the e-mail. Also, loved his suggestion to just fire back a reply the first time you touch the message if it can be done in under 2 minutes. Why deal with the message twice? These are suggestions I can put in place at once, though I never have been obsessive about constantly checking my e-mail.

The e-mail program we use at work has some productivity features available. You can organize messages into folders, create rules for semi-automatically processing messages as they come in, etc. As far as I can tell I think our tech folks control the spam filtering feature of the software. At least, I can't see any settings available to me.

Instant Messaging
We instituted IM at our libraries several months ago. We're using it mostly for the ref staff to contact one another it's an alternative to the phone for some simple transaction style communication. It works well for that, offering an opportunity to slightly time-shift these reference interactions. I'm also seeing people use it for those quick, real-time communications between staff that e-mail doesn't do so well -- things like quick questions to a colleague, technical problem status updates, etc. A beneficial side-effect of using IM is that it helps colleagues bond a bit more. In systems with multiple branches, sometimes it's easy to loose touch with your co-workers at different locations. IM offers a quick, casual way to touch base. In those small branches with just one lonely librarian at the helm, it's a reminder that they're not alone. :)

Text Messaging
RU 4 real? No cell, no opp.

Web Conferencing
Minitex Session. Sadly, I have to report that my first experience with Minitex's webinars was very underwhelming. After registering and receiving a confirmation of the session, it turned out I never got a second e-mail I was supposed to receive that had the URL and other information in it necessary to actually get into the webinar (offered via Microsoft Office Live Meeting). So. . . much time wasted.
My rule of thumb for these webinars would be:

• The first time you attempt a webinar, you'll probably want to register for a session you don't really care if you miss (and one that has no fee).
  
• Then you'll want to either download the LiveMeeting software or check on technology requirements for accessing the web-based version of Live Meeting.
  
• Then make sure you have the right 800 number to call to get connected to the audio.
  
• Then double check that you've received the URL and entry code you'll need for the meeting (webinar) session.
  

If all that goes smoothly the first time you try this -- you lead a charmed life. :) If not, use the first time to do all the troubleshooting and see if the second session you attempt actually works out.

Update - tried to attend a web conference on web design offered via Webjunction today 10/7/08. Sadly, the network connection at my branch library was down. Aargh, Qwest!. I seemed to be cursed when it comes to web conferencing.

Thing 6a - just cuz

I just had to try for an animated image. Sweet. And yet, a moving image like the one below gets real annoying real fast.


ImageChef.com Poetry Blender

Thing 6 - image generators

Oh, yeah. These could get to be time wasters -- but in a fun way. I can see how you could quickly create some pretty polished graphics for the library using these tools. Presentations, yep. Websites, signs, um hmm.




I think it would be wise to skim through and experiment with some of these and create a small set of stuff that works well or you could be lost tracking down possibly cool stuff for days.


Image Chef seems to create pretty good-looking things, and I like the way it has categories of like things for you to browse through.

But speaking of graphics, I hope I'm not the only one very frustrated with the difficulties of placing graphics in this blog. There seem to be very limited ways to place them on the page. Also, the cut-and-paste-code images seem to behave differently than the uploaded ones. No doubt if I knew more about html coding I could mess with it, but I thought that was partly what these blogging tools were all about, that one didn't need to write html. Sigh.

Thing 5 - My friend Flickr (mashups)

Well, the concept of mashups has a lot of potential, but given the limitations of this exercise, I didn't see any of the Flickr mashups that had anything much beyond novelty interest for a library. And the only thing that really seemed even workable for the purposes of this exercise was the spelling one. (Though that was really cool.)

The mashups I've seen in a library or archive context that make much more sense have to do with mashing up images from a special collection (say pictures of historic barns) with map information. Take a look at Barns of Winnebago County at the Oshkosh Public Library.

Or again, if you are going to have a library Flickr account and post images from library events you could do a mosaic wall sort of thing, but this seems kind of on the edges as far as core library services and innovation around this Web 2.0 idea.

An impressive but nonlibrary mash up is Follow the Oil Money. This website creates a visual relationship map of the contribution network between politicians and oil companies that donate to their campaigns. The data comes from sources including the Sunlight Labs API, the Democracy In Action API, the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Center for Responsive Politics, and GovTrack.us. I'd like to see some of the library world's larger players doing beefy stuff like this. Librarian trading cards -- not so much. Though perhaps those have their place.

Update 10/7/08. Once again, I have to moderate my previous comments. I've had a look at the librarian trading cards created for the librarians at Carleton College. I have to say, I found them very amusing. But then, I'm an old fogey librarian, not a college kid. I'd like to know if they are effective in getting more students or faculty to contact the librarians (I assume that was the idea?).

Thing 4 - Flickr. Whr in hll is th 'e'?

OK, you gotta like the Clemens Reads photo with roll over links to the catalog record for the books on the display. As with the "Wall of Books" I mentioned in posting on Thing 2, this is an interesting way to bring physical aspects of the library into the virtual world and expand the browsing possibilities. Both of these examples are based on physical shelf displays in the library, it would be really great to explore how this could be expanded to being able to build a better browse function into the virtual presence of the library, the present catalog search being limited in its capacity to allow for serendipity and propinquity. Maybe this is for the next generation of catalogs, where you could construct some kind of browse function based on the cover visuals we already have in the catalog. Maybe a la Google Books?

I also note that the Clemens folks are smart enough to close the circle, as it were. Notice that there is a sign on the physical shelves (whose picture we see) directing library users to check out this display on Flickr, then at the library's Flickr site, they have links directing you both back to the library catalog. Not to knock the effort, but it seems to me this kind of feature would be more useful if it were closely tied to the catalog, rather than out there at a photo-sharing sight.

I'm trying to imagine a really good library use of this kind of service. Maybe photos from library events? I'm sure some libraries are doing that -- anything else? If you are a library that has images as part of your collection?

After setting up an account and uploading and tagging a few photos, I'd say that Flickr is pretty easy to use, at least on that very basic level. I may keep up the site as a way to share photos with friends, but I've gotten kind out of the habit of photography.

Again, the appeal of this tool for personal use seems obvious. It's a pretty easy way to share photos with family and friends without e-mailing honking HUGE attachments. Also, seems a way to build / develop an online community around those who are photo enthusiasts.

Thing 3 - RSS. Keep it real simple, please.

All right, I'm rethinking my previous snark re: video. Lee LeFever's "RSS in Plain English" is a brilliant example of using video well to relay information. It's extremely effective using a very simple, low tech approach (markers, white board, and sheets of paper). And instead of a talking head, he uses a talking hand. Great stuff.

Well, RSS does seem pretty straightforward to set up. It's also pretty clear that for either personal or professional interests it would be an efficient way to check for new developments in an area of interest. As always, the trick would be to first discover those sources of information that are worth paying attention to. Even though aggregating the information in one place helps manage the info inflow, it would be easy to over-subscribe to feeds and swamp yourself with too much information to take in effectively. In fact, one of the sites whose RSS feed I just added to my Google Reader had a special feed of only 'top stories' in case their regular feed was "filling up your feedreader faster than you can empty it."

Seems also that RSS is an obvious add-on to a library's website for news or event information that people might want delivered to them.

Thing 2 - Library 2.0

Aaargh. Speaking of how to find the time, until speedier connections are available to me, getting information via video is positively painful. Life is not long enough to gather information this way.

I'm just not going to get into the whole Web 2.0 / Library 2.0 discussion. Well, OK, maybe just a little. It seems to me there are always new technologies being developed. Responsible and responsive libraries will assess which of these can help libraries meet their main mission. But not all of them should necessarily be embraced if they don't forward the library's goals. Go ahead - call me a luddite. That said, the Wall of Books idea is pretty cool -- an interesting way to bring the idea of browsing more fully into the online experience of the library.