Introductions via Bookmarks

I think using Delicious bookmarks as a means of introducing ourselves to classmates and colleagues is a really fun and creative idea. In just the few moments it took me to scan through the bookmarks we've accumulated as a class thus far, I was able to see that I share the following non-academic interests with some of my classmates: Etsy, fantasy football, vegetarian cooking, celebrity gossip, and the Smitten Kitchen blog. Now I know that I may find other sites of interest to me by looking at the Delicious pages of those folks. I also liked having the opportunity to share some of my favorites!

It was challenging for me to think of myself in terms of the Web sites I look at, even though I spend hours a day on the Web and references to things like xkcd or Cute Overload occur regularly in my real-world conversations. And, as with any social software, I really thought through each choice and what it would "say" about me beyond "I like sports." On Facebook and other networking sites, I always refrain from listing favorite books, movies, music, etc. because I know people form opinions based on those things that are very limiting. If I post, for example, that my favorite musician is Yo Yo Ma, people will form a very different opinion of me than if I post that my favorite musician is Justin Timberlake. Does everyone think I'm a total geek now that I linked to Whedonesque?

How we present ourselves is, of course, not a concern that is limited to the virtual world, but it seems like a much larger challenge because so much of the information on social networking sites is not couched in any kind of context. When you make a list of favorites, people make their own assumptions, whereas when your favorites come up in the course of real-life face-to-face conversations an explanation is attached. You can relate a funny story or sentimental memory or something else that gives actual insight into your character more so than the simple fact that you like a certain movie. Facebook can make people seem very one-dimensional.

Delicious vs. Furl

It's strange, but I prefer the idea of Furl to the actual execution. I like that you can rank bookmarks and that there are so many different levels of sharing and that you can add so much metadata to a bookmark (the "clippings" feature, in particular, seems neat). In the end, though, simplicity won out with me (and, it seems, with my classmates and the general masses) and I preferred Delicious. As I said, I like the idea of being able to add so much metadata, but in application I like just clicking the button, adding some tags, and saving. Which, of course, you can do with Furl, but it's just so clean and easy with Delicious.

Thing 15: 2.0 Reflections

Because of my newfound enthusiasm for del.icio.us (and oldfound enthusiasm for the word "folksonomy"), I read the article "Tagging & Social Bookmarking" in the September/October 2007 edition of Library Technology Reports.

I love the collaborative nature of tagging, how it's something you can do at home in your PJs, yet it might help someone on the other side of the country find just what they were looking for. That said, I think a totally awesome use of tagging highlighted in the article is in readers advisory and how the tags you apply to a book might help someone else discover and enjoy that book.

I'm intrigued by the idea of integrating the RA function into a library's catalog, rather than having it as a seperate blog on the Web site. What if patrons were able to log in to their library accounts and tag items held by the library? Or even rate them, like people do on Amazon.com (possibly my favorite Web site and the standard I hold everything else to)? Yes, I realize that in application this could possibly open a very very large can of worms, but as I said, it's an intriguing idea. I already think a library catalog should basically look just like Amazon, complete with pictures of the book/DVD/CD/whatever, links to similar items, reviews, etc. Yes, I think that in part because I love Amazon so much, but it's also because that is what a lot of users are coming to expect from technology. If Amazon can offer them a full buffet of information, why can't the library?

Thing 13: Delicious & Nutritious, Tastes Just Like Chicken

I've enjoyed the 12 "things" I've done so far and have thought of useful applications of the 2.0 technologies in my library, but del.icio.us is the first thing to make a lightbulb go off over my head cartoon-style.

I use seven different computers at the Pflugerville Community Library. Yes, you read that correctly. Sometimes I even use all seven in a single day. It just depends on what I'm working on. I also regularly access Web sites that can only be properly viewed with Internet Explorer (you'd think, it being nearly 2009 and all, that those sites would get with the Firefox program). I often get frustrated at not having my bookmarks at six of the seven computers and at having to open two different browsers to find all of my bookmarks. Obviously, del.icio.us can't solve the problem of me having to use two browsers, but at least I could just go to one place when I'm looking up a web address for a colleague or patron, etc. I can't believe I had never thought of using del.icio.us before!

Not only do I think del.icio.us is a great solution for me as I hop from computer to computer, but I also think a library account could be a really useful collaborative tool among the staff. People could add useful sites as they found them and they'd be accessible to the rest of the staff immediately. No more "oh, I know Becca has a really useful readers advisory site she likes, but I can't think of what it is" or "can you remember the address of the Travis County Web site?" Brilliant!

I'm so enamored of del.icio.us now that I'm even considering overcoming my aforementioned anxiety about creating new accounts to set up a personal account.