Across a Crowded Room...

Thing 23 : I came, I saw, I conquered. Sort of.

2007-11-05T13:36:00.001-08:00

9 weeks ago, I joined my colleagues and participated in a training program called "23 Things", it is designed to help me understand this internet phenomenon, Web 2.0 .

Web 2.0 was a stranger to me, and I was skeptical. "Is Web 2.0 just a fad?" "Will any of the Web 2.0 websites still be around in a few years?"

"23 things" never answers my second question, but it has successfully convinced me that a major social change is indeed happening on the internet and there's no turning back, it also challenges me to envision all the opportunities and possibilities this movement can trigger.

I wish there would be an easier way to explore Web 2.0. Many websites mentioned in the program wouldn't let me set my foot in unless I opened an account and disclosed some personal information first. Each time I did this, I felt like I was giving a piece of myself and my privacy away. Is this the trade-off for embracing new technology? Sometimes I wonder.

The websites that "23 Things" introduces me to are the best of the crop. At first, I was worried I didn't have enough technical knowledge to tackle them. It turns out lack of expertise was not a major issue, answers and solutions were a few clicks away if I was patient enough. Web 2.0 makes it easy for amateurs like me.

On the other hand, preconception can easily become an obstacle. My years of working in Automation may have caused me to judge some social bookmarking sites unfairly, "23 Things" reminds me that in Web 2.0, people matter, users matter, popularity is as important as quality, and I need to look at these sites again from a different viewpoint.

I have been trying to figure out how to apply some of the Web 2.0 concepts to my daily life. First, I have to decide if I should have internet connection at home so I can take advantage of what I've learnt at my own pace.

Second, I need a good search engine. Not all search engines are created equal and I find Rollyo the most useful, it now occupies a permanent place on my browser.

I like Flickr, but I have no desire to acquire a digital camera at this moment. I enjoy YouTube videos that my friends send me occasionally, I don't think they will be my main source of information and entertainment. On the other hand, downloading a movie, especially the classics, from OverDrive is very appealing to a movie enthusiast like me.

When one of my friends was concerned with his children's school work while he's away on business trip, I suggested Google Doc to him. The fact that he and his children can both work on the same school project at the same time over the internet makes Google Doc more than a word processing program, it becomes a useful parenting tool.

My biggest triumph with "23 Things" came when I threatened my son that I would join Facebook if he didn't answer my e-mails. I know e-mails are passe to him, text messaging and Facebook have become his preferred modes of communication. On the other hand, he doesn't like his mother to stalk him in front of his friends in this social networking site. Thanks to "23 Things", I got his attention and e-mail is back in service, at least for now.

This is the power of the internet and I have just started scratching the surface of it.

Thing 22 : Audiobooks

2007-11-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

Our library is one of the libraries in Maryland that subscribe to OverDrive. To access this digital library, all I need is a valid library card.

There are 2 ways to search the OverDrive collections. I can go to Maryland Digital eLibrary Consortium website, or I can search for downloadable audio or video titles in my library's online catalog, each downloadable title includes a link to the OverDrive page.

The OverDrive collection, which is quite small, is a supplement to our library's electronic resources. Navigating the site is easy, it is not as chaotic as some of the digital library sites I have seen. I can search by genre, title, author, release date and popularity. It seems our library already owns many of the popular audio books that are listed in OverDrive.

The capability to download digital content from OverDrive to a MP3 player is a big plus. In the past several years, we have witnessed how MP3 technology has dramatically changed the music industry, many of our customers are used to this format and have been regularly downloading music to their mobile multimedia devices. To entice customers to use our electronic resources, the MP3 capability is a must because that's what our customers would expect from a digital library.

At the end of this discovery exercise, out of curiosity, I decided to download the movie "8 1/2" from OverDrive to my computer. I quit in the middle of the downloading process, partly because it took too long, mainly because I realized this movie deserved a screen bigger than my 17" monitor, I should and will get a DVD copy of this title from my local library instead.

In this digital age, my library still matters.

Thing 21 : Podcasting

2007-10-22T10:02:00.000-07:00

Podcasting is a low-cost and effective way to reach audience and share information with them. Many users particularly like audio podcasts because of the conveniences and the great varieties of subjects available to them. They can listen to news, sports, entertainment, life skills, lectures, and even obituaries from any computer or from a MP3 player when they are on-the-go.

To many users, podcast is like a blog . With a microphone, even amateurs can talk like a professional radio host and broadcast their thoughts to the world.

For me, podcast is a new way to touch base with my hometown which is 10,000 miles and 12 time zones away. Some of my hometown newspapers and radio stations have podcasts that provide the latest local news and radio programs, I can visit home without actually leaving home.

Podcast.net is my primary source when searching for a podcast, search is fast and easy and it includes podcasts in foreign languages. A recent keyword search of "library" in the same directory produces 63 results, quite a few libraries as well as companies such as SirsiDynix have already been using podcasting as a tool to dispense information. To find booktalk podcasts, Washington Post and New York Times are good sources to go to too.

Connecting to a podcast through Podcast.net can be slow sometimes , a faster way to connect is to subscribe to individual RSS feed, through which I can also get the latest episode of the podcast.

With YouTube, everyone can become a filmmaker, with audio podcasting, everyone can become a radio host. When podcasting is becoming mainstream, will it pose a threat to radio station?

Thing 20: "I AM big, it's the PICTURES that got small"--Sunset Boulevard

2007-10-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

If Norma Desmond had lived a few decades later, she could have reinvented herself in the universe of YouTube She could have been the 80-year-old British pensioner and widower, geriatric1927, whose series "Telling it all", is one of the most subscribed videos in the short history of the site. In this series, he talks about himself and the world around him, and one of his episodes has actually reached over 2 million viewers so far.

The same movie quote can also be used to describe the phenomenon of YouTube. It is a small screen that shines brighter than any social networking sites. Even though it has more popular videos than quality videos, it is still a land of many possibilities, it's social impact has been widely recognized, and libraries should capitalize this opportunity.

YouTube, with 100 million views worldwide everyday, is a place where library can gain high visibility. From what I have seen in YouTube and Yahoo video, many libraries have already used this social networking tool to conduct virtual library tour, to promote library programs, to share information, and to create training manuals. Picture is worth a thousand words, messages in this visual format can really travel far.

Free flow of information, A+ Partners in Education are two of the many causes that our library always champions, one of YouTube's nonprofit programs, "Broadcast your cause", is a place where I think we can reach out and make a powerful statement.

I found the following video in YouTube after I had read about the World Digital Library Project in the newspaper. The project is initiated by the Library of Congress, and people who are involved know where to go to broadcast their message.

Thing 19: Wanna "Yelp" about it?

2007-10-15T13:19:00.000-07:00

Yelp, one of the Web 2.0 award winners, is a local community guide. Type in a zip code, I can find suggestions of where to eat and shop, where to find local libraries, or the best route to take to go to work. Recommendations come from members of the site and they are usually rated, this adds credibility to the reviews and it literally puts local businesses on the map.

Yelp is more than a local reviews search engine, it is a social networking site as well. It lets each user blog about almost anything in his daily life. It gives users a platform to discuss what is going on in their own communities. From what I have read on the "Conversations in Columbia" page of this site, topics can be anything from Halloween party to Al Gore winning the Nobel Prize. Yelp also provides users an alternative way of communicating with their friends, it looks more and more like the social networking site, Facebook, to me.

This is what Yelp, or Web 2.0 is about, connecting, communicating, and sharing information, users' involvement is very often as important as the information itself if not more.

2007-10-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

This blogpost is created and posted directly from Google Docs. I choose this program over Zoho simply because I have already had a couple of gmail accounts, this makes trying some of the program's appealing features easier.

To start this free service, I don't need to install any software. I very often work from 2 different workstations, now I can have easy access to this service from any one of them.

Google Docs looks and works a lot like many conventional word processing softwares, it requires very little technical expertise to use it. I can invite up to 200 people to share, and 10 people to edit my document simultaneously. This concept of sharing and collaborating is very similar to wiki. Like wiki, all revisions are recorded. Unlike wiki, I have better control over the quality and the access to my work with Googke Doc. I can also add a RSS feed to alert other participants of the latest update.

"Word count" is a nice feature to have too. It is statistics that analyzes the structure of my work, and I can take it as an advice to improve my presentation.

Once my document is created, it's saved and stored automatically inside Google Docs, this makes floppy disks more and more obsolete. It can also be searched by keyword, there's no need to go through the extra step of tagging the document.

Now more and more people turn away from conventional e-mail and prefer to communicate through text messaging and social networking sites, Google Docs, with its many nice features, can make e-mail relevant again.

Thing 17 : Wiki sandbox

2007-10-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

I added a comment to the Maryland libraries sandbox, which was not difficult to do, but I was unable to add my blog to the list of all Maryland library blogs, someone had inadvertently deleted the Blogs! Here page. This problem is exactly what critics have been saying all along about wiki, when people are allowed to edit freely, the content of the wiki can easily be compromised.

Once law and order is restored to the wiki community, I will try adding my blog to the master list again.

Thing 16 : Wiki

2007-10-10T05:54:00.000-07:00

At first glance, some of the library wikis mentioned in "23 Things" look very much like an intranet or a website, in fact they are the sum of many efforts and results of an incredibly versatile tool, WIKI.

A conventional website or intranet is a one-way communication tool, adding and changing contents is often managed by a few. Wiki is less rigid by design. It offers a place and an opportunity for people to meet, to collaborate, and to assemble information without leaving their desks, and results are instant.

Libraries can use wiki to conduct meetings, it saves phone calls, e-mails, text messages, and travelling time and expenses.

Librarians can pool their knowledge and set up resource wikis for internal and external use.

For libraries with limited resources, wiki can be used as an alternative to website or intranet Wiki can also serve as a community bulletin board for local groups and organizations, or a public forum for people to voice their opinion and exchange their ideas.

Wiki offers libraries alternative ways of communication, it can easily be adapted to different library needs, its democratic nature makes it an appealing addition to any organization.

Thing 15 : Web 2.0 : How do I connect thee? Let me count the ways.

2007-10-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

Web 2.0 is about “Connection”.

Libraries connect with their users in numerous new ways. They blog, they send the latest news by RSS feeds, they run online bookclubs, they help users navigate the internet and make suggestions of useful websites. They also understand the power of social networking sites and some have already made their presence in MySpace and FaceBook.

In the past few weeks, we read success stories of websites such as Flickr, FaceBook, MySpace, and LibraryThing. They succeed mainly because they give users a chance to contribute and to share information they have.

We also learned about the significance of virtual world. Many businesses campaign aggressively in Second Life. Education institutions and medical communities such as American Cancer Society and Center for Disease Control create avatars to dispense and share information.

These new technology tools are no longer for the young and the hip. They can help create a library without borders where users can fully participate and share resources. These tools are designed to build user loyalty by engaging them and connecting them on many levels.

When information flows freely on the internet, library users expect the same from libraries. Libraries need to break down barriers and share their resources. Users should be able to access to every electronic resource owned by every library in this country.

New technology has opened many doors and Web 2.0 is becoming part of the library culture. However, it works only if every library user owns a computer and participates in the same network. What if, for example, I need a tablespoon of sugar in the middle of baking a cake? Instead of looking for my buddies online, I would go to a different reality, I would knock at my neighbor's door. I would like my library to be the neighbor whom I can still count on when internet has its limitations and fails to connect.

Thing 14 : The Zen of Technorati : searching the moment

2007-10-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

According to Technorati, there are 70 million weblogs and I'm going to find out if this search engine can help me find blogs about “Learning 2.0”

There are 3 ways to search in Technorati, by blogpost, by tags, and by blog directory.

It seems it really doesn't matter which search option I use, whether it's keyword search on homepage, “their favorites” or advanced tag search, the results are almost identical, around 25,000 blogposts for “Learning 2.0”.

I'm not sure how blog directory works since there are only 20 topics listed , anyhow, I get 683 results, which is a big improvement.

The search becomes interesting when I search by tags. First I go to tag page for suggestions. Unfortunately, the tag page lists only popular tags, most of them are too broad to be useful. I'm not sure where my “Learning 2.0” fits in. “Education”? Maybe. Or should it be “Technology”?

Finding relevant results by tags has everything to do with how the blogs are tagged. Take Japanese food for an example. There are 110,458 blogposts about Japanese food, with the help of related tags such as snacks, bento box, fish, vegetarian, etc., I can narrow down my results significantly.

Unfortunately, there are no related tags available for “Learning 2.0” and thus makes the search much more difficult. So I decide to put in as many tags as I can think of using the advanced tag search option. “Learning 2.0 or 23 things” gives me 1,316 results while “Learning 2.0/23 things” gives me 5. Obviously, “or” and “/” do make a difference in results.

Sometimes I wonder if tags are the best way to search a topic, especially after reading the tag statistics from Technorati. According to them, only 35% of all February 2007 posts used tags, majority of the posts didn't. So my final verdict is that if I know exactly what I am looking for, I will do an advanced keyword search, type in the exact phrase, choose “blogs about”, and I will get a manageable size of 102 results for "Learning 2.0.

While I was navigating the site, something interesting was happening at the same time. “Learning 2.0” began to emerge on the “Top search” list and was climbing up the chart. What it really means is that right AT THIS VERY MOMENT, my coworker Regina and I happened to be searching the same topic multiple times, our collective effort put the topic on the chart. Next day, when I checked “Top search” again, my topic was no longer there. Technorati is about living the moment, searching the moment.

Searching in Technorati is a frustrating experience for me. First, the site froze a few times during my navigation. It seems to me the site handles the volume of traffic better in the morning than around 6:00 p.m.. Second, there are not enough sorting tools available to me to find relevant results. Most blogposts can either be sorted by language or by “authority”. Authority here doesn't mean quality or reliability, it means popularity, it means the number of blogs linked to a certain blogpost.

Technorati may not be my choice of search engine because of the problems cited above. However, if there's breaking news, or if I want to know what people are talking about at this very moment, whether it is politics, entertainment, or business, this is the place where I want to be. The new blogpost page is updated continuously and some of the blogposts actually come from reliable sources such as CNN.

Thing 13: It takes a village to make it del.icio.us

2007-10-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

When it comes to cataloging websites, some people may call the community created by del-icio-us an anarchy while others may see it as the democratization of the cataloging practive. In library world, subject headings established by institutions such as Library of Congress are used to catalog books. In del-icio-us, websites are cataloged by the “tagging” system. Each user assigns tags to a website he's discovered, tags link similar websites found and tagged by other users together, this collective effort makes all websites searhable and retrievable in the del-icio-us community.

Since there are no specific cataloging rules in del-icio-us, the success of finding relevant results really depends on how each individual tags his site, users may have to go through several pages of related tags to find what they need.

I think del-icio-us works best within a group of people who share common interests and objectives, and would likely use similar tags to index their collection of websites. del-icio-us allows users to set up a group account, PLCMCL2 account is a good example to show how group efforts work in finding, tagging, and sharing useful sites.

2007-09-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

When I was first introduced to Rollyo, it wasn't love at first sight. Who would want to embrace a search engine that requires preparation work in advance? I was too comfortable with Google or Yahoo search.

On the other hand, I did have problems managing my favorite and/or useful websites, most were buried under “bookmark” on my browser, so I decided to give Rollyo a try.

I went into Rollyo with low expectation and high skepticism. I cataloged my favorite websites, assigned them to different searchscrolls that I had set up, and remained unconvinced along the way. The Aha! moment came only after I had put the “Rollbar” on my browser, all of a sudden, the mission of Rollyo became clear, it's about one-stop searching. One click on this "Rollbar" button, a Rollyo search box appeared. I typed in a word or a phrase, chose a specific searchroll, and Rollyo began to search my subject in the websites that resided in that searchscroll. I also added the site that I was visiting to one of my searchscrolls, it was fast, easy, and efficient, the preparation work really paid off and I was on a roll.

Rollyo has won me over, I even created a searchscroll to keep my favorite “23 Things”. It has occupied a permanent place on my browser, or at least until the next great search engine comes along.

Such is life in the wild wide web!

2007-09-26T06:54:00.000-07:00

“Library Thing” is a people's library. Its entire collection is built and powered by over 275,000 people who love to read. In this virtual world, you don't need to create an avatar to join, all you need is a few books that you want to share and you are in. The goal of “Library Thing” is to connect as many people and books as they can, it is designed to appeal to both the professional librarians and regular readers. I don't know how useful the site is to catalogers, for regular readers like me, there's plenty to like.

First, to search for a title is fast and easy. I can search by title, author, ISBN, or one of the 23 million tags if I'm ambitious. There are 2 ways to search, for me, the easier way is to use the “Search” button. This feature allows me to view information of the book before I add it to “My Library”. The second way is to search through the “Add a book” feature. The disadvantage of this method is that I don't have a chance to get to know the book first, a click on any entry on the search result list immediately sends the title to the “Recently Added List”, I have to take the next step, to go to “My Library" and see if it's the right book.

Once I'm inside “My Library”, I can sort my titles by author, title, date, tag, and rating. These options are not easily accessible at first glance, I have to poke around the page to find them. I do like the tools that I can use to organize my books. Subject headings and tags used by others can be borrowed or I can create my own. After working with the catalogers for so many years, I'm really tickled that I finally have a chance to try my hand at cataloging.

I also check out the site's Chinese language collection. 23,539 titles are listed, the majority of them are English translations of the original works. I did find a few titles written in original Chinese language, I also found a few Japanese titles mixed in with the Chinese ones. The titles are not arranged alphabetically and no sorting tools are available here, I hope this will improve when the site becomes more global and demand for Chinese books grows.

After a trip to a virtual world such as “Second Life”, I'm happy to settle in this book world. Thanks to my fellow readers, every page is filled with interesting information, each tag leads me to many new discoveries, each click makes me want more.

Thing 10: Breakfast at Tiffany's Processing Dept.

2007-09-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

Thing 9: Finding needle in the vast ocean

2007-09-18T13:40:00.000-07:00

Instead of focusing on library-related blogs or feeds, I decide to approach broader subjects to see if some of the search engines mentioned in "23 Things" and I are up to the challenge.

My first search is for "Barrack Obama". "Finding needle in the vast ocean" is exactly how I felt when more than 590,000 posts related to him came up in Bloglines. As more and more people publish in the web, how do I search? How do I pinpoint the feeds that are relevant to me? Most search engines like to show you what they have but they don't want to tell you how to find them.

Of the 5 search engines listed in “23 Things”, Bloglines, Feedster, Topix.net, Syndic8.com, and Technorati, Feedster is the only one that provides a useful “search help page” and the search tips are fairly easy to follow. In Technorati and Bloglines, I have to pore over their FAQ page only to find unsatisfactory answers. I'm unable to locate the Blogfinder mentioned in "Technorati tutorials" in "23 Things", it seems I have to sign in as a member first to have access to this feature, hopefully I will learn more about it in Thing 14 . Topix doesn't even include a “Help” button on their home page, they expect me to find my own way.

Lack of sorting tools is another major problem for me. Most search engines define search options or categories such as feeds, blogs, citations, hottest news, music, religion, etc. for us, feeds can usually be sorted by dates. However, a lot of these classifications are still too general for me to narrow the feeds down to a more manageable size.

To cut through the clutters, I've finally learnt to be very specific with my keyword search. In Feedster search box, I put in as many words, phrases, dates, and reliable sources as I can think of , as a result, I am able to reduce the 48,945 feeds on “Obama” to 3. I've also learnt if I want to find feeds for a specific news story, I can always go to the Washington Post website where many stories have a feature called “who is blogging”, it is operated by Technorati, through which I can read all the feeds that are related to a specific story.

To find local news, the best search engine is Topix.net. To start a search in Topix, I can either go to their website or to the CNN.COM homepage and look for the local news box, a zip code is all I need to find out the latest local news. Most sources come from local news media. "Ellicott City News", for example, draws the news from Baltimore Sun, Howard County Times, Columbia Flier, WBAL-AM, and WJZ-TV, etc., readers can submit their own stories too. I can also post a comment on "Ellicott City News" forum, one of many topic-driven forums offered by Topix, this is as close to a town hall meeting as you can get online.

My last search is for a popular food blog called “Chocolate & zucchini”. Syndic8.com is the only search engine that delivers. I typed in the phrase, no more, no less, Syndic8 gave me 3 entries that matched exactly what I was looking for, I didn't have to browse through thousands of unrelated feeds or blogs. However, unlike most search engines, Syndic8 does not display brief description nor source for each entry upfront on the result list, it seems people in Syndic8 really love statistics, I had to go through a couple of pages of mysterious codes and detailed statistics before I could see the actual blog or posting.

Thing 8: What's on sale at Target this week?

2007-09-12T06:14:00.000-07:00

Through Bloglines and the Target RSS feed I subscribe to, now I can find out their sales with just a couple of clicks, no more flipping through newspaper ads, no more going through several screens at their website to find the sales, what's not to like?

Thanks to 23 Things, I also find out that one of my favorite websites, “Chocolate & Zucchini” has RSS feed, now I can read their delicious blogs everyday. Don't get too excited though, my friends, I don't often practice what I read.

I wish stores like Trader Joe's, Giant, Safeway, and Papa John's Pizza would have the same feature, that would certainly make my life easier.

Thing 7: They call me Mimi, meet me at the Simulcast

2007-09-10T05:30:00.000-07:00

Mimi is one of the main characters in La Boheme. Washington National Opera is going to perform this opera on Sept. 23, 2007. The performance is also going to be transmitted simultaneously to 32 schools around the country for FREE! Locals can watch this performance on the Washington Monument grounds. Wouldn't it be nice if the Library could become the 33rd institution to receive this simulcast?

Thing 6: This "Retrievr" is a golden mashup

2007-09-07T13:47:00.001-07:00

I used to think Flickr was not for me. I don't take pictures, I don't own a camera, I keep all the Kodak moments in my mind and my heart, I have nothing to share. Now "23 things" forces me to take another look at Flickr and the mashups that are used with this service, the results are fascinating. I particulary like the combination of Flickr and Retrievr and this is how it works. First I draw a sketch, then Retrievr will display matching images that are taken out of the Flickr collections. It doesn't really matter if the images actually match with what I draw, it's the anticipation of what Retrievr can come up with makes it exciting.

It's a fun way to search photos and it's addictive!!

Thing 5: A Flickr moment

2007-09-07T13:39:00.001-07:00

on approach
Originally uploaded by matt knoth

An image I took out of Flickr.

Nature is one of the most photogenic objects, point and click, and you have a stunning picture.

These are salt ponds near Fremont, CA.

Thing 2: 7 and 1/2 lifelong learning habits

2007-09-06T06:16:00.000-07:00

Two words jumped out of the screen at me when I was getting towards the end of the tutorial, BE COURIOUS.

Many of us are so bogged down by responsilibites, demands and challenges of our daily life, we forget to “be courious”, we become indifferent, passive, and cynical. Be curious, we need to remind ourselves. Life without curiousity is a dull life, be curious, many doors will open, we'll go in and...

PLAY!

Thing 3: The Impossible does the Unthinkable...

2007-09-06T05:59:00.000-07:00

She owns a piece of real estate on the internet by creating her own blog, something she didn't even dare to dream of a couple of weeks ago. Compared with the spread that some of her coworkers, the bloggers extraordinaire, have put together, this is a rather primitive abode and a humble beginning. She doesn't know what this is going to lead her to, she is ready to explore.