LibraryThing: for The Hoarder Who Likes Order

I think there are two kinds of librarians. There are the information seekers and the information hoarders. And although the LibraryThing does allow you to search, I think this has been designed to tickle the fancy of the hoarder who likes order. I wonder if this is the future of library catalogues. It's amazing to me how a powerful tool like this, that could easily have cost thousands of dollars a decade ago, is available virtually for free. I had a bit of fun entering a few of my favourite books, but being the sort of librarian who is into the searching side of things, I'll leave this one to the cataloguers.

RSS: Feed the Hungry Beast

I must admit that I often have doubts about just how long some of these Web 2 tools are going to last. To have longevity I think a tool has to provide a useful service that didn't exist before (in any form). It has to really change what we do rather than simply entertain us. It has to be a fundamental shift rather than simply to cooler way of doing something. Otherwise it will be swept into insignificance by the next craze.

I think RSS is here to stay!

Not too long ago when you surfed the web there weren't that many breaks to choose from. New waves were a cause for excitement and much discussion. Today something new has to pretty special to make a splash.

As the edges of the web stretch further beyond the horizon, it is becoming more about personalisation than exploration. Rather than hunting down that exciting new surf break, we are cruising a vast ocean on time saving guided tours. Hoping our chosen vessel will deliver visits only to our ports of interest. If you can't see it all then spend more time visiting your favourite places.

If libraries can't do something with RSS that I think we need shooting! It seems to me that anything that is a tool for the selection and delivery of information has librarian written all over it. We have known for a long time that we inhabit an information hungry era. I think RSS is an opportunity for us to create a few menus. Perhaps one day every course, collection, or library community will have its own feed?

Flickr: a Face in the Crowd

I have chosen a picture of a face in the crowd from Flickr because it seems to me that as convenient as it is to share photos on the web, the sheer size of the collection that is available to anyone, is diluting the power that the image has had in modern society. So many images race through our consciousness every day, that even if we see one that could potentially have meaning to us, it is likely to pass us by unnoticed. A diluted drop in the ocean. I think too we tend not to value anything that is made available to us free and on mass. Would you have the same reaction to an image discovered hidden away in a Fryer Library archive box, if it was just another jpg amongst a million others on Flickr?

Of course there is another side to the story. Not all images on Flickr are open to everyone. And I suspect that these are the ones that are most valued. Of course the value is only partly in the content of these images. It's the shared story of the individuals behind these images that provides most of the value. Like post cards on a shared notice board they become meaningless when nobody can remember who sent them.

So what does this mean to libraries and librarians? I'm not sure. However I do think we should always think about who we are collecting for. I think also we should remember that sometimes the more we make a resource accessible the less what we do is valued. Of course in this world of convenience the danger is that if something is not a click away, then it will be ignored as “just to hard”. This unfortunately is the Catch 22 we are stuck with.

Life Long Learning

I don't think you can work in a library and not be a lifelong learner. It's a place which attracts that kind of person. It also attracts the kind of person who has boxes of books at home which they will never read again, but just can't bring themselves to throw out. I think this is because we value what we got from those books, and we need to repay them by giving them a good home for ever. Something like a public housing scheme for war veterans, except these vets suffer from yellowing paper and dog eared corners rather than shrapnel wounds. But I am wandering off the point. What I want to say is that I think we all have the desire to be lifelong learners. However, I think we wander around a bit directionless, like a bee with an overwhelming number of flowers to choose from. For me the 7 1/2 habits are road signs that keep the lifelong learner from travelling down too many no through roads.