2007

Our space?

LITA Blog and Wiki Interest Group Social Software Showcase
Sat., 6/23, 1:30-3:00
Renaissance Mayflower Cabinet Room

Part II of the Social Software Showcase. It’s tres cool that the Showcase is via a wiki.

A group of library 2.0 users sat at different tables and discussed and demo-ed different software. It was hard to take it all in. I spent most of my time at the LibraryThing table.

LibraryThing for Libraries uses JavaScript. It grabs ISBN, title and author, and links to an outside page. Pages generated are more accessible than the usual OPAC pages, which suck on so many levels.

There was a table for Meebo which interested me, but no one seemed to be addressing it. Here’s the link about it on the page–looks interesting.

There was also a table about the Facebook developer’s platform, which didn’t interest me much.

The Twitter group got the largest crowd. Twitter with David Free and David Lee King. There were “too many daves” jokes. I did not join the table, but found the videos and web links very interesting afterwards.

Some of the presenters couldn’t be there due to other obligations. The Showcase was set-up in such a way that you did not need to be a “meat attendee”, but could participate virtually, from any distance. I thought it was really great I could watch videos on the site, such as one about LOCKSS by Karen Schneider.

This group of presenters presupposed some experience with Web 2.0 or Library 2.0. There was kind of an “in crowd” feeling, which I didn’t share. All of the attendees I spoke to were from academic libraries, which was rather disappointing to me. The issues around Web 2.0 seem very different at public libraries. I am going to explore some of the links to public libraries more thoroughly.

I think some of the most interesting ideas around Web 2.0 are reaching nontraditional library users in new ways. I like the idea that the physical library provides a third space for its users. I would like to see Web 2.0 create a virtual third space. I think the various interactive social softwares are leading the way. We need to explore all of them, and coopt the best for library uses. I am not at all sure about Twitter feeds for events, but I love the idea of libraries being part of something fun.

2 comments

  1. Tim

    There was definitely an in-crowd feeling there. For me, it was cool to meet people, like Simon Spero, I’d previously only emailed with. You don’t know someone until you’ve met someone. But I can understand how it would feel a little “close.” I think that inside-baseball people have a responsibility to be inclusive. It might make sense to have one session, “what the heck is this?” and another where we can trade in-jokes.

  2. Elizabeth McKenty

    Getting more out of the materials online for a showcase than at a showcase was definitely a first for me. I am not usually the least cowed by technology, but I really didn’t want to feel my way around something in front of a whole bunch of avid pros. I sort of wish I had dived in more, after watching the videos. I’ve been twittering to myself, which really is inane! I guess a technology that requires I invite my existing friends is a bit much for me.

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