Thing 16: The Wiki Tiki Monster (for all you Scooby Doo fans)

I'd like to begin with a quote from Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia:

Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. Wikis give us a place where anyone who is kind, thoughtful and intelligent can come and join us in building a better and more rational world.

And yeah, I got that quote off a Starbucks cup, but it's profound. I love Wikis for the same reason Jimmy does. Wikis are romantic (in the philosophic sense), imperfect, and democratic. They are grounded in the same spirit that fueled the US Constitution, the same spirit that made John Lennon so controversial. I use wikis all the time, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Web 2.0 and Librarians 2.0 are all about leaving behind that "us and them" concept of information provision--now it's all just "us."

PS LURVED the Book Lover's Wiki! What a great idea--fabulous for book people and the clubs they belong to.

Baby Pandas Revisited

OMG! From Boing Boing, a chair made just for me! I think it will work well in my new living room.

PS Really, Rosie, I can quit anytime.

Thing 15: Library 2.0

After reading all the material on Library 2.0, I have to say I think most of us are already there, or at least on the highway. At the root of it all, be it technology or materials, it's all about customer service. Are we Librarians 2.0 anticipating customers' needs and trying to meet and exceed them? Yes, absolutely. I particularly liked this quote from "Into a New World of Librarianship" by Michael Stephens:

This librarian asks what new technologies or new materials users need. This librarian proposes building projects and involves users in designing those places. This librarian does not create policies and procedures that impede users’ access to the library. This librarian tells users how resources and funds will be expended. Decisions and plans are discussed in open forums and comments are answered. This makes the library transparent.

I love the transparent concept--wow.

Thing 14: Technorati

Okay, so I'm liking Technorati, despite the fact that every time I think or say the word, it makes me think "Nosferatu." Don't ask me why. Anyway, I shopped around for beekeeping blogs, and hey, I found some! Like this way cool one. And I checked out the most popular stuff, and Boing Boing was the most popular blog! I suppose this makes sense, because I've had to listen to one of my officemates tell me over and over for weeks now about how much he lurves Boing Boing, and now I know why--it's really cool.

Thing 13: Huh?

Del.icio.us. Not really getting it. I'm not much of a bookmarker to begin with, and this site is really lost on me. I don't see Del.icio.us as a great research tool, but I guess if you want to save your bookmarks online, well, here's the place to do it. I also don't get the whole "See what other people are bookmarking" and "connect to others" come-ons. My question is this: are people really "connecting" on sites like this, or is it just curiosity and voyeurism?

Thing 12: Shoebeedoobeedoo

So I just did the Rollyo thing, and set up my own shoe-shopping search engine, Shoebeedoobeedoo. (I dare you to say "shoe-shopping search engine Shoebeedoobeedoo" 3 times really fast.) It was fun and quick to set up, but I don't see myself using it. What if some amazing new shoe site is born and you keep missing it because you aren't aware of it, and haven't added it to your search engine? I don't want to maintain a search engine, I already have a job. That's Google's job. And THAT'S why I lurve Google.