Library Thing or Goodreads?

When it comes to a book cataloging site, I seem to be a follower. I created an account in Library Thing and was starting to get it up and going, when everyone around me seemed to be defecting to Goodreads. So I did what any red-blooded American will do... I followed along. I abandoned my Library Thing account and left it out there in cyberspace all by itself, probably feeling all lost and lonely. Then I created a new Goodreads account.

This Goodreads account has been fairly successful. I have added many of the books that I have read. I enjoy giving the book stars to indicate how much I liked the book. I have also written some reviews. Occasionally I read a book and have a particularly strong feeling about some aspect of the story. I enjoy describing these feelings in the review space. The really fun part is when someone responds to these reviews. For Great Books '09, I read a book that I did not care for at all. But all the reviews I read were the opposite of what I felt. So I wrote my less than glowing review and seemed to touch a nerve. Apparently, I missed the point of this particular book and some of my fellow readers felt compelled to point out just where my thinking went wrong. I loved that exchange. It was great fun, and well worth the price of admission.

One feature of Goodreads that I find helpful is the emails updating me with what my "friends" are reading. I did not have to read these emails too many times before I got a real taste of what my co-readers enjoy reading. This is always helplful when I am asked about a genre that may not be my specialty. I can be fairly certain of who nearby may be able to help. And, afterall, isn't that what we want out of all of this?

If you are interested, you can view my book lists here.

RSS Feeds

I have set up my home computer to use iGoogle as my home page. To this I have added Google Reader where I can catch up on the day's headlines. What I liked about this, in particular, is that I could choose where I would get these headlines. When you log onto a MSN homepage, or some such, you at their mercy for headlines. With Google Reader, I could choose which news service to use.

I also added the AACPL Exploration blog and several of my colleague's blogs. I liked being able to see their updates without having to go hunt for them.

I am looking forward to RSS feeds being available through the Aquabrowser. I am hoping this will be an easy way to know when my favorite authors are coming out with new books.

I intend to continue to explore this particular aspect of Web 2.0. So far, I find this to be the most useful.

Just testing...

how to insert links into a post. Learn something new everyday.

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Our friend, FLICKR

During my first look at FLICKR I was heading north so I looked for pictures of places I wanted to see. My husband wanted to see the Erie Canal, so I looked for pictures of it. I found real photos taken by regular people, and there were tons of them. The difference between these and what you find on official websites is that there were pictures from all angles. You could see everything, not just the professional photos taken from just the perfect angles. This tool would be useful in helping a patron decide if they wanted to travel to some particular place.



If you have a need to share photos among a group, or a family located all over, this tool could be quite useful. Emailing pictures is not very practical sometimes. If you have more than a few photos, then email becomes cumbersome. Using FLICKR, you could sign up, invite your friends, then share away.

Intro to Web 2.0

Watching the video, The Machine is Us/ing Us, I was surprised at how many of these components of Web 2.0 I have already become familiar with. And, yes, some of it I learned through LATI.



In the article Into a New World of Librarianship, the author Michael Stephens said we can't afford to "Techno-Worship" i.e., love new techology just for the sake of new technology. But aren't we all guilty of that sometimes? I know I am. But I find myself having a honeymoon period with this stuff. When I first discover something new, for example my cell phone, I want to use everything. I play with it and find out all that it can do. But as time goes on and the newness wears off I figure out what is really useful to me and find myself using only those features that I really need. The last time I upgraded my cell phone I was more pragmatic about what I wanted versus what I was willing to pay for. It was a wide gap. I ended up with your basic cell phone that would make calls when I needed it to. After all, isn't that what it is really for? I am suspecting that I will find the same with some of this new Web 2.0 technology. It is fun and it has some really cool bells and whistles, but what will it do for me? What parts of it do I need?

That's what we are about to find out, isn't it?