Thing 22--User Choice

WAYN.com (“Where Are You Now?”) is a networking sight for travel and leisure activities. The home page slogan is “What would you love to do?” New members begin by listing all the places they have visited and would like to visit throughout the world, in addition to where they are now. Members also list their leisure favorite activities—such as reading, hiking, bicycling, camping, cooking, photography, etc. This is made easy with a series of icons for popular activities; just click on the ones you want to add to your profile.From this basis, you can connect with people who have the same interests as you do, or who want to visit or have visited the places you are interested in.

It is a good site for getting information about travel destinations and activities from those who have already experienced them. You can see photos, read reviews and blogs, and watch videos from around the world. Of course, there are ads related to travel and leisure activity, but some of these are even helpful, with special offers and comparison information. All in all, I think this is an interesting, active site, even for armchair travelers.

How could libraries use this networking site? Well, Frisco Public Library currently offers "Travel Kits" on various destinations for our customers to check out. In addition to maps, books, and videos, the kits include a list of websites to visit for further information on the destination. WAYN.com could be added to the list, or it could also be used by librarians to check for additional links to information for various destinations.

Wikis

I like wikis! I had never looked at the Discussion or History tabs on Wikipedia before. That was pretty interesting. I saw something I disagreed with the other day on a Wikipedia page. Now I can't remember what article I was reading, but the next time, I'll make a comment.

It was fun playing on the Frisco Restaurant wiki. I set up a new page for the Market Street in-store food court. Unfortunately, I accidentally set it up as a sub-page under Irish Rover before I realized I wasn't on the home page. I went back and created it as a sub-page for the home page, but I could never figure out how to remove it as sub-page under Irish Rover once it was there. What am I missing?

I think an internal wiki would be great for Frisco Public Library departmental policies and procedures. It seems like they are very fluid and frequentlyy being revised or changed, and it would be handy to have all the information in one place, rather than trying to find all the past e-mails on a subject.

Podcasting

Although I listened to all or parts of podcasts from several libraries, I found none that I would want to subscribe to. The were some that I might listen to (author interviews and book talks), if I was using a portable device and doing something else simultaneously--like walking or driving the car. In general, the audio quality was poor, with uneven volume. Most did not use a musical background or introduction. A lot depends on the speaker. If he or she is lively and humorous, it helps a lot; but some sounded like they were reading from a paper.

Having valuable or interesting content isn't enough; it must also be presented with technical excellence and be entertaining as well as informative. Otherwise people will go elsewhere to get the information in a quicker, less painful way.

Although I'm sounding critical, I realize that it takes a lot of time, talent, and energy to produce an interesting podcast and with many libraries, this is being asked of people who are already busy with numerous other tasks. I noticed that the Cheshire Public Library's podcasts were entirely "Teen-driven" -- a good idea for increasing teenage participation at the library.

Hulu

Well, it's a little hard to stop watching Hulu long enough to blog about it! Even though I've looked over my husband's shoulder a couple times as he was watching something on Hulu, I was amazed when I explored the site for myself. What surprised me was the quantity of shows available, and the currency of them! Every show that I thought I might want to watch was available, and the most recent broadcasts, as well. I know, I'm showing my dinosaur qualities!

The truth is, I rarely watch tv, and when there's a show I think I might want to watch, I forget to turn on the tv (or have my husband turn it on for me -- there's three remotes, for Pete's sake!)

So here it is, all available before me, and I can even access it by myself! It was fun; I was kinda like a kid in the candy store. But like that kid, it's not where I expect to spend my life -- or even regularly visit. First, I don't watch that much tv; second, when I do, there's a lot to be said for lounging on the sofa in front of a big screen; and third, there's even more to be said for not having to watch advertisements.

So, what effect will Hulu and other online viewing sites have on libraries? I (a dinosuar) don't think there will be much negative impact on our DVD circulation. In fact, it could improve it, as customers become aware of or watch clips of programs on Hulu and then decide they want to watch it again without the commercials or some place where they don't have Internet access (not sure where that is!) However, technology continually changes, and as kids grow up watching and reading the majority of media on computers, it may seem as strange to them to watch a show on a tv in a living room as it does to me to watch it on a computer screen at my desk! That means watching the circulation of our physical DVDs vs downloadables, and responding (or anticipating) appropriately in our collection development.

I'm sure I've written more than you want to read, and besides, I've got to get back to Hulu.

YouTube

Well, that was fun. You could spend hours and hours on YouTube, but I only spent 45 minutes, and the videos I watched were a real "mixed bag." Some were hilarious ("Adventures of Super Librarian, Harper College Library Tour); some were stupid ("melvin Dewey Speaks"); some were boring ("Allen Co. Public Library"), etc. In this brief tour of YouTube, I think I learned that if you want to catch the attention of your audience, you better be interesting, funny, AND visually effective. We're used to being entertained; a video that is strictly informational without some entertainment value is not likely to succeed; there's too many other ways to get the information quickly.

As far as addressing the "authoritative" aspect of YouTube videos, there may be a possibility that the summary information that describes the videos could provide some direction. The source/creator is a good starting point.

Thing 17 was a lot of fun, especially for someone who has not played around with music streaming before. I started out with Musicovery, because I liked the idea of the “relational map based upon mood, genre, and decade.” But I kept running into “premium member only” restrictions, and when I tried to do the free registration, I always got a form in a foreign language (French, I think).

So I switched to Pandora. I found it very easy to navigate and choose selections. I like the biographical information it provides about the artists, and the many options for finding and playing the music I like. The only thing I didn’t like was the advertisements, but it is free, after all.

What role can this service play in our patrons’ lives? Well, I guess they could listen to streamed songs before checking out one of our CDs. Maybe the library could provide links in the catalog to streamed samples from our CD collection. Will people still check out CDs in the future? I think the technology will change from CDs to smaller devices with online music providers. Oh, that’s Thing 17! It’s already here!

Google Docs

Google Docs was new to me, and it was interesting to work with. I like the idea of online accessibility of files, even if it is just by me, working from different computers (at home or at work, for example). And it would be very useful also for group collaborations. For example, members of a book club could all contribute to "Discussion Questions" they would like to talk about for the book the group is currently reading.
I tried doing a presentation. I could imagine members of a family all contributing to a "memory book" for one of the relatives...or employees for a coworker. If departments of an organization were doing a joint presentation, and especially if the departments were in different locations, this could be an effective way to work together. I also tried a spreadsheet, and a form. Each of these formats seemed fairly easy to use.