#17 Playing Around

I'm so there.

#16 - Wikis

Wikis have most certainly become one of the most popular ways to collaborate and create a non static yet non blog website.

This has some good before and against points, which I'll drop here:

FOR
Easy to use
Web-based
Simple syntax (don't need to know HTML)
Anyone can make changes -- no more waiting for the Webmaster to get around to your requested changes.
Many free and open source options
Flexible and extensible

AGAINST
Too open -- "I don't want someone changing my writing!"
Disorganized
Vandalism and spam

Having set up a wiki or 2, I'd have to say that battling with the wiki syntax after years of pure HTML is not easy (personally). It can be a steep learning curve, and this is probably why the freebie places offering full set up are popular.

FOr library use, the most obvious wiki use is a readers advisory that can be tailored to the actual collection. It's great to draw resources from general adivsories, but there's no point getting people all excited about a book there's no copies of in the collection.

#15 - Perspectives

One thing I really liked from Rick Anderson was this:

We need to focus our efforts not on teaching research skills but on
eliminating the barriers that exist between patrons and the information they
need, so they can spend as little time as possible wrestling with lousy search
interfaces and as much time as possible actually reading and learning.

This is so true. I can remember going to the Eltham library when I was 9 or 10 and doing searches for Mum who said she couldn't find a book because she couldn't think like a computer. Much of Web1.0 was like that - if you weren't a natural born geek or couldn't learn how to do it the computer's way, it was never going to work for you. These days, search tools are more intuitive, acting much like people expect them to (most people anyway) but there's still room for improvement within everything from the library cataloge to the databases to... name it.

People need to be able to sit down, find what they need and feel confident in doing so.

Dr Wendy Shultz offers this exciting thought:

There are SecondLife3 subscribers who spend more than forty hours a week online, immersed in its virtual graphic world. Digital natives take 2.0 for granted; they are buzzing over Web 3D. Carrying Chad and Miller’s argument through this next phase transition, we arrive at virtual collections in the 3D world, where books themselves may have avatars and online personalities. But the avalanche of material available will put a premium on service, on tailoring information to needs, and on developing participatory relationships with customers. So while books may get in your 3D face all by themselves, people will prefer personal introductions—they will want a VR info coach. Who’s the best librarian avatar? How many Amazon stars has your avatar collected from satisfied customers? This could create librarian “superstars” based on buzz and customer ratings. People will collect librarians rather than books—the ability not just to organise, but also to annotate and compare books and other information sources, from a variety of useful perspectives.

As one of the "Digital Natives" all I can say is - sign me up! The potential would be huge!

#14 Technorati

I'd heard of Technorati but never looked into it as a very small scale blogger with no plans of either world domination / huge amounts of advertising dollars and therefore haven't worried about low site traffic.

Again, the tagging does make for an easy browsing experience. It relies on the honor system (as does much of Web 2.0) in that people who tag tend to tag correctly (not adding "shoes" as a tag to a post about suitcases, for example). There's always going to be hit and miss with people seeing their tags as applicable when other people don't.

Nothing seems surprising in the popular searches - both Britney Spears and Christmas are in the top 15. I'm happy to spot multiple word tags (whoo!).

#13 Deli.cio.us

Apparently Deli.cio.us were the first to come up with tagging (must be true, read it on the internets). However, apart from finding them hard to spell I also find their tagging is not as intuitive as Vox.com. Vox allows tags to be seperated by a comma which gives you multiple words in a single tag. While Deli.cio.us lets you tag with dog and food, Vox lets you tag with "dog food" meaning that tags seem more useful and a lot more precise and when exploring via tags you are more likely to find what you're interested in.