Thing #17 -- Wikkiing Bayside

I chose to edit the demographics section of the Wikipedia article on Bayside, Queens because I feel the article gave the misimpression that the community (where I have lived for the last 27 years) consists of "a majority" of "upper class Greeks, Italians, Irish, and Russians"--in reality a rather slim majority of 53.9% at the time of the census. While the article did point out a large influx of Asians into the community since the '90s, it did not mention that a whopping 30.4% of the community in 2000 identified themselves as Asian. I added these specific census statistics (and other ethnic and racial identification figures) because I think it is important to identify the significant Asian population in the community, which has grown even more considerable in the 8 years since the census.

It felt empowering and a little scary to edit this article and see the changes appear immediately in the online article. It remains to be seen how long this edit will hold up, if at all, but I liked doing it. I really liked it!

Thing #16: Wiki Wiki Woo, Wiki Wiki Woe

Until this exercise the only wiki I was aware of was the mother of them all: Wikipedia. This grass roots encyclopedia, which is now the #1 referenced source on the Internet, can be added to or edited by anyone at all. It is so controversial I even created a separate folder in my e-mail for articles discussing its merits and drawbacks. It is frowned upon and even forbidden as a source by teachers and professors because of its fluid nature and lack of reliability and authority. Definitely not a scholarly resource, it is on the other hand a bottomless source for information that can often not be found anywhere else. One study claimed that Wikipedia was more accurate than the Brittanica, which also contained mistakes, and that when false information was deliberately added it was usually corrected within minutes by zealous self-appointed editors, usually experts in their fields. And then of course there are the "vandals" who deliberately plant false and even libelous information just for fun. The comedian Stephen Colbert did just that for a hilarious skit on his television show.

The wikis mentioned in the articles on QL 2.0 site discussed the use of wikis as community networking tools. A wiki for this purpose was used at several ALA conferences to great success. I couldn't figure out how to access the podcasts listed in the information sources. The links led to a blog listing the different blogspots. Many of them sounded interesting, but there didn't seem to be any way to access or listen to the actual podcast. Wikis are apparently easy to set up and edit; the articles stress that they must have a focus and purpose. Shouldn't everything? One diagram illustrated how much more efficient they are in organizing communication in a community rather than the use of e-mails. Many of the wikis I ran across were for sharing resources for research and educational purposes, and some were focused on hobbies and particular interests.

One problem mentioned is that when anyone can add content, anyone can also edit and change another's writing. Most people find the idea of someone else "messing with" their writing offensive. And people often disagree on what "correct" content is.
Of all the wikis I ran across, the one I find most interesting and useful is Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki. I'll definitely go back there.

Thing# 15: Thoughts on Library 2.0

The concept of Library 2.0 and Web 2.0, now ubiquitous buzz words, emerged in the last few years from new models of business and social networking. If I had realized the term "librarian 2.0" was so common I would have chosen a less generic title for this blog. The shift to a less centralized, more socially networked, user-friendly online environment is a natural outgrowth of a more interactive, less static, rapidly evolving web. I have to agree with those who write that the whole concept of what libraries should be and provide to the public is changing. Like it or not, we must adapt to the changing technological and social environment or risk becoming dinosaurs.

The digital delivery of information has completely transformed the way information is transmitted, received, and controlled. While we see ourselves as the protectors and curators of the written word, much like the Irish monks who protected and illuminated manuscripts during the Dark Ages, there is also a positive side to digital publishing. No book need ever go out of print. Most people do not realize that ever since the IRS ruling in the '80s that publisher's inventories of books be taxed, the vast majority of books published go out of print within a year. This need not be the case with new ways of storing and delivering information. Demand publishing can provide a copy of even the most obscure works--for a price, of course.

As information specialists and professionals we need to at least be familiar with e-books, podcasts, newsfeeds, etc. just to keep up. On the other hand, as many librarian bloggers have noted, just because we make the technology available and zealously promote it, the public at large has often not responded or shown any interest. Good theory does not necessarily work out in actual practice.

There has been so much written about Library 2.0 and the obvious next step--making the interface between user and information simpler, easier, and more user-friendly--we can hardly keep up. And just as we are learning what 2.0 means, right around the corner is Web 3.0 and Library 3.0. Just try googling "library 3.0" and see how many hits come up.

Thing #14 -- Technorati

One could spend days learning all the fine points of Technorati and still only scratch the surface. I've been using Bloglines to keep track of the blogs in this learning challenge, but now that I've seen Technorati I think I'll switch over. Not only will it keep track of the blogs I'm interested in and access a list of the most popular blogs, Technorati uses "Discovery", an extensive tagging system which streamlines the process of locating blogs and blog entries with the use of tags. It also keeps track of up-to-the-minute traffic and "hits" to each blog, which is how the "Top 100 Blogs" are chosen. I didn't register my own blog, but if someone wants to promote his or her blog and increase traffic, Technorati has a great system for doing so, also involving tagging. I started using tags in my earliest posts and then gave up. Now I'm really starting to see the value and importance of tagging--something I'll definitely have to spend more time on when this challenge is over.

A Librarian's Worst Nightmare

Today's Library Link of the Day is thought provoking article by Jacob Leibenluft, "A Librarian's Worst Nightmare: YAHOO! Answers, Where 120 Million Users Can Be Wrong." The article, posted to Slate on December 7th, notes that mighty Google is slipping, not just to second place, but to third. "According to the Web tracking company Hitwise, Yahoo! Answers is the second-most-visited education/reference site on the Internet after Wikipedia." And if you think Wikipedia is scary, wait until you read about the horrendous lack of accuracy and reliability of YAHOO! Answers. According to Leibenluft, not only is YAHOO!Answers helping students to cheat, it's helping them to cheat badly.

Thing #13: Tagging with Del.icio.us

Have you heard the one about the librarian who went to open a Del.icio.us account only to discover she already had one? Apparently I opened an account a couple of years ago but gave up and forgot about it when I couldn't figure out how to download the toolbar. The library computers won't accept the download and I got the mistaken impression that the toolbar needs to be downloaded on each computer the account will be accessed from. Wrong. Once I activated the toolbar on my computer at home I was able to access my account from ANY computer. What a big improvement over "favorites" and "bookmarks" that can only be accessed from the computer where they were saved!

Up until now I saved NY Times articles in my "saved" folder on their website, and sent others to a separate Google account I set up for that purpose. While each of these sites can be searched by keywords, this is still a less than ideal system. I really love the idea of a portable list of favorite sites and articles. It may not be possible to save every online article can to del.icio.us, but I plan to find out. The next step for me, and one of my biggest challenges, is to explore this tagging thing and organize and weed what I've saved. The other is resisting the urge to read EVERY article I run across. I'm a compulsive reader and time becomes meaningless as I jump from article to article and link to link. Just browsing the articles on the QL L2.0 Del.icio.us acount was so tempting hours went by like minutes. I do love seeing what others are reading, which is why I love going through the "Most E-mailed Articles" list on the NY Times site. I definitely plan to go back and explore Del.icio.us and organize and tag my own account.

Skipping to Thing # 20: You Tube

So I've made it through Thing #12, but am skipping ahead to Thing #20.

We've all had our fun with image generators. For Thing #10 Batgirl Was a Librarian posted a mashup of Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues,a famous film clip from D.A. Pennebaker's 1965 documentary "Don't Look Back." She even questioned whether the 60's bard is still alive. Well, Dylan is not only still alive, he's once again in the public consciousness with the recent release of Tom Haynes' "I'm Not There." After seeing Haynes' homage to Dylan last weekend, I thought the following an appropriate response to Batgirl's Dylan video mashup:



Doesn't that just say it all? And all in palindromes.