Wikis

There seem to be any number of possible applications for libraries, as shown by my quick look at several sites.

Book reviews by staff and patrons, games and game discussions, details on library/regional area events were some of the offerings.

How about a place for people to post comments/suggestions on library services/programs? The Book Display Committee could open up suggestions to members of the public who might be interested in seeing certain topics covered, for example.

PBCLS Wiki

Still more clicking and typing this week...and voila!...I find out we have our very own library wiki. Among a number of other things, I found some cute animal pix, favorite local restaurants, and someone who raves about Mount Dora (north of Orlando) as a Florida vacation destination.

Of course, the first I clicked on was Favorite Books, where I found a slew worth checking out. This wiki concept is a very handy way of sampling opinions from many people at once...without the hassle of email.

Web 2.0: What it all means

Monty Python probably has the answer to this one. Imagine a roomful of Pythons furiously blogging...about anything and everything. Access to their posts would have to be seriously restricted, otherwise we'd never get any work done, we'd all be laughing so hard.

But I digress...

Actually, no.

I think the Pythons can be seen as something of a metaphor for Web 2.0: the Flying Circus Brits and their films can leave your jaw agape, astound you amaze you, etc. The Pythons offered a little something for everyone. So does Web 2.0; everything you can think of (and lots that you can't) can be found somewhere electronically.

Unfortunately, enjoying the Pythons or John Cleese as hotelier Basil Fawlty, requires only that you sit back and get ready to be vastly entertained. Web 2.0, on the other hand, requires all...this...clicking...and...typing. I envision the day we will be able to do all these things merely by speaking to the computer.

Technorati

Finally, something I might actually use on some consistent basis. Technorati has a blog searcher that groups by category: entertainment, business, lifestyle, politics, sports, technology. When you click on any one of these, more detailed subcategories appear.

delicious

What a rather odd name, that. Maybe there was somewhere on the site where I could have ordered free pizza. Mmmm...delicious! I guess I missed that link. I'll have to hunt for it later.

Like all of these nifty tools so far, this one has lots to offer. The idea of reaching out to others is appealing. Alas, there is still far too much clicking and typing to be done. And I don't understand how so many people find so much free time to play with all this stuff...not only creating your own posts and embellishing your blog, but checking out what others have done/are doing. I can see some limited applications that might be useful for me on del.icio.us but not as a place I'm going to all the time, such as a news site.