It's the 'Library Thing' Thing! That's Thing #12, That Is!

Well, this is a pretty cool idea. The GUI, however, is definitely not my favorite. I admit that I haven't gone into advanced search, but the primary search and add capabilities are pretty limited. Why not provide a list of responses to a search with check-boxes added, so that I can instantly add 20, 30 or 50 books to my library?

I'm a Beatles historian, with at least 3 or 4 dozen Beatles-related books in my collection. But unless I scan each book by barcode (which IS a cool way to do it, actually, unless they are in storage), I have to do my search for 'Beatles', scan through the responses when there are multiple releases of a book, and then add them one at a time. AND i seem to need to relaunch my search each time.

Truthfully, for a small investment of about $40 per module or $120 for the full suite (and often for free if you represent a not-for-profit organization) you can pick up a software package from a company called Collectorz.com that will allow you to catalog and classify your books, CDs, LPs, videotapes, DVDs, etc. VERY easily. I use it for the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. It's intuitive and allows for VERY quick adds ... based on search responses, by barcode or ISBN entry, etc. Your catalog can also be easily displayed online by adding their generated catalog pages to your website. They have litereally hundreds of options with regards to what you want displayed, and how you want it shown. It even has a lirbary card module, so that when we/I lend stuff from the collection I can keep track of who has it. I've done a chunk of my personal collection and all of the LIMHoF collection with this software, and it's really quite amazing.

'Library Thing' COULD be this good with some serious code work. I understand that it's free, but if you're going to go through all of this work to enter a collection, why do it with limitations? And yes, it's nice that it's accessible to all, but it's still living on their site. If the capability is there, isn't it better to have full control over how your catalog is displayed?

They're off to a good start, though.

Thing #8 ... revisited! Here's a Slide Show ...

Library Gala Presentation 2006

View more presentations from songsmith.

Thing #11 - ReddIt, Digg & Mixx ...

... remind me, as a whole, of the title of a Nick Lowe album from 1978. The title: "Pure Pop for Now People".

I can understand why the sites exist exist. But I personally don't find them useful. The three sites strike me as a tool most useful to folks who don't use an online e-mail service (to see the headline-filled pages that bring you into your mail), or who rarely find themselves confronted with the Yahoo! or AOL front pages.

The Reddit, Digg and Mixx sites seem to basically be a 'Ready Ref' page of pop culture headlines. Perhaps it's just me, and I'm sure it is (LOL), but this reminds me of a scene in a movie (Woody Allen?) I remember seeing many years ago that involved a party where people were handed cards with phrases on them meant to serve as conversation starters. I'm sure there is some useful and real 'information' on these sites, but how do I find it? (The search box on Digg brought up some weird results when I typed in 'Mets', actually.)

I dunno ... is it anti-social to genuinely not care what everyone else thinks are the most popular things to read about online? There's just not enough time in the day, really.

Thing 10 : "Tag ... You're It!"

On my other blogs I always try to creatively tag my posts well, usually looking for ways to get the 'musos' to come visit. So, the tagging part of this 'Thing' was sort of old news.

With ragards to sharing bookmarks, I think that's been going on since 'MyFoxmarks'. That program was really designed for folks to make their own bookmarks portable, but there were a few of us who would use the system comunally. We all knew that our primary interest was music, and it was a great way to compile lists of music related links without constantly e-mailing them to one another. Delicious. com seems a much more straightforward way to accomplish this.

Anyway, I'm signed up for Delicious.com, and I have a few bookmarks up. Perhaps i'll import my Foxmarks next!

Thing Number Nine ... Wiki Wiki Wiki (a.ka. The Hawaiian Thing)

Well, the library wikis were pretty neat, I will say! My favorite of the ones listed is the 'Library Success' page. Some interesting ideas there, and I like the fact that not all of the suggestions discussed on the wiki are techno-centric. I especially enjoyed the concept of the 'Work Like A Patron Day'. Clever.

Wikis are fun. One of my L.I. Music Hall of Fame-related 'things to do' is to tweak the wikipedia entries that relate to Long Island artists. Interestingly, they are usually (for the most part) quite accurate.

One fun bit of weirdness that I did find, however... and this relates directly to the library ... was in the entry for 'Paul Stanley', the lead singer of the group KISS. It stated in Mr. Stanley's wiki entry that his father had become independently wealthy many years ago, after having invented ... wait for it ... the first 'urinal deodorizer block'. Hmm?

Well, having known the very friendly Mr. Eisen, Paul's father and a regular patron of the Port library, for a number of years, I knew that this information was patently (no pun intended) UNTRUE. And so, I removed the, uh ... unusual ... and inaccurate info about Mr. Eisen.

Wikis are usually a great source of information, but as with any resource, the important thing is to check their citations! Here is a link to a very interesting article that points out why we (and them there journalist-type folks) need to be careful with the authoritativeness of our sources.

Perhaps journalists should learn to always keep the phone number of their local library reference department handy, LOL!!!

Thing #8 - Some fun stuff here! :-)

I'm cheating ... doing the post before I 'finish' the Thing. But there are some great and creative tools here. So ... I'll re-edit this post when I've completed the pieces I'll be posting.

Thing #7 - Using IM's ... and (GRR!!) texting ...

Well, Thing #7 on the "18 Things" list has to do with IM'ing, text messaging, etc.

Some of the things in this section ... particularly text messaging ... have an air of "Oh, DON'T get me started!!" wrapped around them for me. In my humble opinion, text messaging, by its nature, can potentially be a useful tool. It has been, however, and it continues to be, used and abused in the most absurd and ridiculous ways. Of all technological advancements that have been made in computing, I find it to be the most preposterous thing to have proliferated modern "culture". And I use that term loosely. The people who I see at restaurants, in movie theatres, in concert halls, in classrooms (by both students AND teachers!) and on the road who seem to be the most proficient at using this service don't bring the term "cultured" to my mind ... other words, maybe ... but NOT "cultured".

E-mailing and IM'ing are, of course, quite useful both socially and practically. But with both techologies you needed, until recently anyway, to be near a computer to use them. The current trend of Blueberries or Raspberries, and EyePhones, etc. leaving people constantly chained by unseen electronic links back to their little digital world - a world where they can be rude, obnoxious and underwhelmed by the simpletons who populate the 'real world' - had not come into existence by the time e-mailing had become a household term. And text messaging is not simply an 'extension' of these early tools. In most instances it is used as a Frankenstein-like, mutated, overgrowth of them.

Some studies have indicated that as few as .2% ... that's not 2%, it's .2% ... of all text SESSIONS ... not messages, but SESSIONS (which indicate multiple 'expressions' typed over a short period of time) are exchanges of practical information between users. A recent study by the AAA discovered that an alarming 46% of teens admitted to being distracted behind the wheel due to texting. THAT is frightening.

And yes ... I'm sure the percentage of extraneous (read: non-informative) telephone calls made every day are even higher. I make them ... we all make them. But there is a social aspect to a telephone call. Much of it having to do with appreciating and understanding the nuances and qualities of a person's voice, both of which allow for better understanding during communication. In many ways it is the most personal form of communication next to a face-to-face conversation. And, of course, up until a few years ago you couldn't make non-informative phones calls to another person while I was trying to enjoy a movie that I paid $12.50 to go see!!! Arrrrgh. Making matters worse, I recently sat in front of two girls in their twenties who had gone to see Bruce Springsteen with their boyfriends who were texting EACH OTHER during the show. And their idiot boyfriends almost came to fisticuffs with the guy behind them who had finally had enough and and asked them to stop (not very politely ... but could you blame him?) about half way through the show because their phone screens were more than a mild distraction.

And don't tell me that texting is improving kids' writing skills. I'm sorry, but "IMHO I LMAO @" that idea.

OK ... rant over. Young people can let their friends know where to meet them at the mall or the movie theatre, parents can contact their kids without making that embarrasing phone calls to friends' houses that every kid dreads when growing up, travelers can alert their families when planes will be delayed and yes ... libraries can notify users about upcoming events or when an interloan has arrived. These are important and useful ways to employ the new technology.

ONE IMPORTANT AND POTENTIALLY USEFUL POINT

AOL Instant Messenger is a pervasive RAM hog, and a nasty program. If you frequently IM, and if you use multiple services, might I recommend Cerulean Studios free Trillian program. It is an excellent IM consolidator, which takes up very little space. When installing it you should just be careful not to check "YES" when it asks you if it can place the toolbar in your browser or change your home page. It should only ask once, and then it will leave you alone. It's a nice little trouble-free program.