technorati

Didn't we already do a technorati assignment? I thought so. So I guess we're going in deeper this time. I'm still *waiting* for the technorati tutorial that I'm supposed to watch to download...it's taking for-ever! In the meantime, I checked out the Percolator and Popular features. I wasn't very interested in the Percolator which, "show(s) the blog posts and mainstream media stories getting the greatest attention from other bloggers in a topical area right now. The percolator tends to update these around three times an hour; enough time to track trend and attention data, and short enough to keep pace with the blogosphere." I guess it's kind of interesting, and if I had all the time in the world I'm sure I could spend some of it looking at the Percolator...but alas, I don't. More interesting to me is what's "popular." "Library" went from #14 most popular search to #12 in the past few minutes. Maybe I should keep clicking on library and see how high I can get it. If my clicking on it makes it jump that fast then I wonder about the number of technorati users...Oh, now it's down to #13.

ANYWAY...I got the image above by clicking on library and then saving the "viewings by day" graph to my desktop. I wonder why the recent spike in library searches? Interesting. I'm still not very interested in the results that technorati gives me for library. I guess the library use for this could be checking out what is popular and in the news at any given moment. But it seems that that is easily accomplished by looking at a Google or Yahoo homepage or CNN.com or any of the other news pages.

Ok, I'm going to watch the tutorial now...

Meebo & IM

I love Meebo and have been a user for a year or two. When I started using IM I had a yahoo account and I had to download software to my computer to use it. That was fine for my home computer, but what about someone else's computer? Or work? Meebo makes it easy to chat online from any computer.

My heydays of online chat have passed, (I'm too busy at work and don't feel like typing too much when I'm home,) but I do still occasionally sign on to Meebo and chat with a friend. I've heard we have an internal chat program at FVRL, but I have not been signed up for it yet. I definitely see the advantage of coworker chat, especially at a library system where people are in many different locations.

I also see a point to having the ability for the library to IM with the public. I agree with H2 regarding teens and IM, but just because teens have moved on it doesn't mean everyone else has. I think a Meebo widget on our homepage to connect with users is a great idea, and I think it would be attractive to users of all ages.

Del.icio.us

Oh my, I feel like I'm coming out of a fog. Where did the past 30-40 minutes go? One moment I'm doing research for my library 2.0 post and the next thing I know I'm reading The Best of Craigslist 2007. How did I get there? I don't know...one bookmark led to another...I know I started at the IS Desk del.icio.us account.

Del.icio.us is one of those programs that I always hear about and have played with some, but have never really become addicted to. I like the idea of being able to access my bookmarks at home, at work, at my in-laws, etc. But there is also something very personal about bookmarks and I wonder how I'd be judged if the world could see my eclectic tastes?

I love that the IS desk has an account. I definitely see this as useful on the reference desk. I also think that the library could have Del.icio.us accounts that we advertise to the public. It could be another place to have the "Resources by Subject" link list that we have on the FVRL site. I would like to see an easy way to search by user so that the accounts of libraries, museums, schools, etc, could more easily be located.

Will I sign up for my own account? Probably. But will I forget the password within the month and have it go the way of my Bloglines account? Possibly.

introduction

I am a librarian at Fort Vancouver Regional Library in Vancouver, WA and a part of FVRL Discover 2.0. I feel very lucky to be a part of a library system that values all of its employees learning about new(ish) technology on their work time, and is even rewarding us with a day off if we complete the program in a timely manner. Very cool!