The Secret Life of Beagles

Sense and Schnauzers

Click my little icon over there
<-----

and you can go to this week's podcast.... all hail LINKS!

Of Dogs and Men

So recently I was asked to review Librarything and Shelfari two social web sites based around the idea of social bookmarking and conversation. All around the idea of books. Reviewing books, talking about books, finding books, and interacting with books. Its a really fascinating idea after all and an interesting way to meet people. I had been meaning to try one of these programs so i signed up to both of them and have been fiddling around with them.

Overall the programs are fun ideas and pretty interesting offering a host of services. Librarything is proud to tell me these use amazon.com to search for their books. Librarything honestly has a lot more general options at first glance and a lot of different programs and sections groups, tags submissions list and a essentially it offers a lot of different things to users. Its search tools and options for tagging and connecting books are more advanced and honestly it can offer a lot of features.

however it doesn't have the same kind of amusing aesthetics that Shelfari offers. Shelfari is a bit more fun to look at. Selection of books is a lot easier and the search methods get some nice returns without using more advanced methods. It also has a lot of nice cover art and frankly the options it gives are a lot less complicated and a lot easier to find Librarything feels almost too crowded with options and it needs to redesign where things go make things less cluttered . Overall i like shelfari a bit more, despite the versatility of Librarything, but both are fun and I'll probably be using both when i have some "free time"

Rover Shrugged

so here as per class instructions is my groups new wiki on our chosen database. We chose The National Gallery in London

http://scils598group5.pbwiki.com/

Hairy Otter and the Deathy Howls

Well i had to make one Harry potter reference. It is almost a requisite.

Click To Play

well anyway thats my entry here are some of the things you will hear in this audio file

• me agreeing with brown
• information without context is not knowledge
• never trust context-less information
• a librarian trashing over reliance on the internet (oh THAT has never been heard)
• amusement, hilarity, and hijinks

Howl Havoc and Let slip the Practice

A podcast practice file. Its best if you DON'T listen to it.

Click To Play

Fun isn't it

Kennelship Down

I was thinking as I read Lyn's Blog:

As the gatekeepers to information, libraries need to learn about Web 2.0 and the new social software programs that are coming out in order to be able to teach their patrons what is happening and how to use this new kind of information.

Are we perhaps over romanticizing our power and position in libraries? I mean sure we provide a valuable support role for others but are we really "gate keepers of information?" Perhaps we're putting too much pressure on our careers and ourselves. I think libraries are important but are they THAT important?

It brings to mind something Librarian/Runner/Mets Fan/Mom said:

There isno advantage to be gained in bemoaningthe fact that 21st Century
librariansneed to learn to use these new tools.Instead of misplacing energy
intoromanticizing a bygone era, it ismuch more productive to embraceour new toys
and dive into thepool of the future.

Perhaps as is said here we're misplacing our energies a bit and we are on our concentrating on the negatives of technology and haphazard implementation. Maybe by thinking to well of us we're diverting valuable energy and being a little too prideful. It’s just a thought really.