Library Stuff

Dave Winer has been writing about reading lists lately as he tackles a new aggregator hack of his OPML Editor. As he has been working on that, I have found myself commenting on more blogs than ever before: either for work or to add to the interesting discussions happening in the library community. I was never a big commenter in the past…

Reading lists are a way to have an updated OPML file in your aggregator at all times. Usually, when you grab an OPML, you have to do so every few days if you want it to be fresh. Doing this manually is time-consuming and annoying. Subscribing to a reading list will ensure a fresh OPML file is being used by your aggregator as it updates automatically.

The two (reading lists and blog comments) collided in my brain this morning on the way to work. Here’s what the thought process.

1) I want to follow the comments that I am making on blogs.

2) I don’t want to grab the feeds for those comments (if available) because I will forget to unsubscribe to them and they will sit in my aggregator, sucking on the limited bandwidth that I have to work with.

3) I want to be able to easily subscribe to a comment feed and then have it automatically deleted when the conversation is over.

4) Enter reading lists.

5) I could create a separate OPML file for all of the comment feeds that I want to track.

6) After a certain number of days with no comments to any blog post that I subscribed to, the feeds would automatically be deleted from the reading list.

7) What would be even better is if (somehow) I could automatically append my OPML comment reading list when I make a comment on a blog post. Wow!

This is just an idea and I haven’t fleshed out all of the details yet, but I think the concept works. Also, as I read more about reading lists, the more I see it as way to create hierarchical lists of content. Blogs are a perfect place to start. This evening, Dave writes:

New verbiage about reading lists. “It’s a way for readers to delegate the act of subscribing to experts in subjects they are interested in.”

While experts is a relative term (experts based on what?), I think he’s onto something here. Trying to catalog blogs is very hard to do. Reading lists might just be the thing to do it well. I think that there is a piece missing though…maybe the manual creation of the lists?

CiteULike: Empirical Analysis of an Evolving Social Network

Today, we released a search feature for the Community Lists. More on the PubSub blog (you might consider subscribing to the feed if you want to hear more about what were doing).

I am also in the process of weeding from the Librarian list (mostly those blogs that are no longer live) as well as fixing a bunch of domain issues that have occured over the past month. Sorry to those that ware effected by this.

I just read over at The Ten Thousand Year Blog that Barbara Quint’s editorials in Searcher will now be available as a Podcast.

As David mentions, the URL for the Podcast will change every month. Thus, I can’t subscribe to it. Because of this, it shouldn’t be considered a Podcast, but an audio version of her editorial.

If ITI wants to provide an audio feed for BQ’s work in Mp3 format (which would be absolutely lovely) that would be updated whenever a new audio file is created, then it would be a Podcast. Plus, they will need to include enclosures. Hint: Talk to Greg Schwartz.

So, a great idea and useful, but not a Podcast.

Michael Arrington is profiled in Mercury News today. Well worth the read if you are interested in how he got started with TechCrunch:

“Arrington got the idea for the blog while he was doing research for creating Edgeio — a search engine blog for classified ads posted on blogs — that he hopes to launch within the next month. In the process, he looked at all types of Internet start-ups because he wanted to track the competition and look at how new, cheap Internet tools such as AJAX and programming languages such as Ruby are being used to launch businesses.

The former corporate lawyer has become an impresario of sorts for Silicon Valley’s latest Internet companies.”

Coming soon to a city near you. Jenny Levine and Michael Stephens (clearly the “it” librarians of 2006) are doing a 4 city tour (hopefully more, fingers crossed) of a program that they have developed called “Conversation, Community, Connections, and Collaboration: Practical, New Technologies for User-centered Services”. Here’s the description:

“This session will focus on new technologies your library can implement now to enhance online services for your patrons. We’ll explore how blogs, RSS, wikis, and social software can be used to offer a more dynamic, useful site for your patrons, while at the same time making maintenance easier and more efficient. In addition, we’ll examine how new applications of virtual reference (such as instant messaging and Jybe) can help you reach out to patrons where they are online. Staff training will also be addressed, including recommendations for getting started and best practices, as well as advice for user planning. At the end of the day, you’ll leave with concrete ideas and recommendations for going back to your library to implement any and all of these services at almost no cost.”

I’m been very impressed with the energy and enthusiasm that Michael and Jenny have put into getting their message out. I’m also thrilled that they have ditched “Library 2.0″ from these session descriptions in favor of non-buzz words. Smart move. I also hope that that they can bring their show to the east coast and energize the libraries out here on the four C’s. (link via ALA Techsource Blog)

I just noticed that my library has added a new feature to their catalog. Patrons can now pay overdue fees online:

“With our E-Commerce service, when you owe library fees of $5.00 or more you will see the option to pay online! From home or from an Internet computer in the library, click on our Online Catalog and then view your patron record.”

“You will see the new “Pay Your Library Fees Online” option only if you owe over $5.00. Payment is made via a secure connection using any Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card. Items must be returned or reported lost or damaged to use this service. We hope you find this new service to be a convenience.”

mobilecrunch
Originally uploaded by stevenmcohen.

Congrats to Oliver Starr and Michael Arrington on the launch of Mobile Crunch:

“MobileCrunch is Mobile 2.0. Our mission is to identify, profile, test and even help develop the technologies, applications, services and devices that will define the next generation of connected mobile computing.”

Mobile Crunch is part of the “TechCrunch blog network”. There should be a Library Crunch….Oh….er…..

Over the next two weeks, I will be the finishing touches on a book manuscript on event blogging (which I’m writing with Marydee Ojala). I’ll probably take a week off from formal writing (yes, I’ll keep blogging) and then dive into my next big writing project. And that is…

Libraries Build Communities is a blog that will be used to support a book that Chrystie R. Hill and I are writing. We just signed the contract with ALA Editions are very excited to research, learn, and collaborate with each other.

The book will deliver to librarians a process-based approach to community building based not only on what libraries have done in the past but ideas for future community building as well (online and off). Using case studies and theories from social network analysis, social capital, and public places, we hope to deliver practical methods for libraries of all shapes and sizes.

We will use the blog to help build up case studies, discuss questions for interviewees, and ask advice from readership. So, put the feed in your aggregator and join us on what will prove to be a an exciting journey for all of us.

Marydee Ojala links to an article from U.S. News and World Report that calls librarianship an “excellent” career for 2006. Impressed? Hardly. Take a look at what they write about us:

“This is an underrated career. Most librarians enjoy helping patrons dig up information. They learn in the process and keep up to date on the latest books and online resources. The need for librarians, unfortunately, may decline because search engines make it easy for patrons to find information without a librarian’s help. The job growth for librarians will be in nontraditional settings: corporations, nonprofit organizations, and consulting firms.”

The first sentence is the only one that makes sense. “Most librarians enjoy helping patrons dig up information” sounds like it came from one of those 8mm films we saw in junior high school. Chalk it up to bad marketing (“Sure, I’ll pay for the honor of presenting at your conference!”) and a stereotype that just won’t go away. Also, search engines make the user BELIEVE that finding information is easy, not that it’s actually easy. There’s a big difference. Last, isn’t there a job growth in public/academic libraries as well? I remember reading that all libraries are hiring more these days, but I could be wrong.

Excellent!