Making Javascript Suck Less

That's MochiKit. This made the honorable mention list for the Web 2.0 awards. It's a pretty cool Javascript library with a lot of functionality built in that I can hopefully harness. Right now I'm using it to develop sortable lists for the New Titles web page(s). Just need to get it to play well with my xsl.

Very Happy to see Meebo came out tops for the Communication Award. It rocks. Made it possible to dump QuestionPoint. Thank you. Thank you.

Zoho

It works quite well. I can see where it would be quite useful for someone that uses many different pcs (people who use our internet stations would be a prime example). All you have to do is login to Zoho and your stuff is right there. This is a dandy for convenience. One caveat, you need to be comfortable with the fact that your data is stored on a server somewhere instead of your home computer. As with all apps, read the privacy statement closely and decide if you can live with it. Of course if you use Gmail, Hotmail, etc... your fanny is already flapping in the wind.

Editing Wikis

Bamagirl said it all. Easy as making a P&B sandwich. Not much more to say. Hopefully exercises, such as this one, help people feel more comfortable with the web apps.

Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki

Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki is an example of a very useful wiki. It has been instrumental in getting our new Ask A Librarian service up and running. Very helpful if for no other reason than getting in touch with other librarians who boldly went before us down the Meebo path.

Rant 2.0

I am a firm believer in harnessing new technology to enhance our services, but I also don't see the 2.0 movement as new revelation in librarianship. It is time to lose the 2.0 moniker. Come on Michael Stephens (and all others using 2.0 slang), the traits you talk about are ones that Librarians need period. These are not new ideas or changes in the paradigm. 2.0 is in vogue and, of course, without the 2.0 moniker your piece may not get the attention in deserves (and it does deserve it).

Things may move a little (ok, a lot) faster now, but, in it's purest form, change is change and technology is technology. Whether it is moving from card catalog to ILS, creating wikis, adding enhanced services online or at the library, or changing the physical library environment, what we are seeing now with the 2.0 vernacular is not really new. We've been doing this stuff for years. New skills may need to be learned, but this has been a constant in librarianship over time. Libraries, in general, are progressive environments that focus on the users, as well as, the future. Sure we are not known as early adopters when a technology becomes available, but one thing that libraries have done well is provide consistent, stable, and reliable service.

Sounds boring, but reliability is often underrated. Yes, we should embrace new technology. But, we should only commit if it is right for our patrons needs, is sustainable, and is relevant to our mission. This may mean that not everyone embraces the new social technologies the same way, at the same time, or at all. It just depends. Just as Stephens says "the Library is human," the library is also "social technology." We are constantly evolving. Even if this is just from interacting with our patrons every day.

Innovation comes in many different forms. The 2.0 moniker will be gone soon and replaced with a new term for innovation in the library. My suggestion for this new term would be Librarian.

Ok, time to get back into my straight jacket.

Technorati

Probably makes as much sense out of the socialweb as anything. If nothing else, it can suck your time away. Do a search and see where you end up. Probably not where you expected.

Thing 13: Tagging schmagging

Yeah, tagging is kind of neat. But, it really can create a mess. At least in some practical applications.

For instance, I use (well, used. It has been down for a month) a website that houses open source images. It has changed from, categorically, defining images to a tagging system. So, when looking for an image, you have to navigate a huge tag cloud. Plus it doesnt have a good search engine. Part of the problem may be their site and how they have decided to implement tagging, but it is much more unweildy than before. There doesn't appear to be any type of authority (which is the point of tagging,I guess) Things that you would think should appear under the same heading don't. My guess is that Dewey aint got nothing to worry about.