Friday, April 18, 2008

Thing 13- del.icio.us

I like del.icio.us, but much like bloglines tend to find it less useful on a personal level. I don't care terribly for the layout. The tagging of bookmarks is interesting and could be useful, though I will admit that I have an overall distrust for the accuracy of information provided by internet users on such open websites (this, of course, excludes Wikipedia which I find to be strictly monitored!). I will also admit that before going through the tutorial I never thought about it for research purposes. When I was working on my senior thesis and travelling between locations this would have been much more useful than my ragged list of links that I carried around. Although I do not have any immediate uses for this, it is definitely something that I am going to keep in mind!

Thing 12- NetLibrary

I am very accustomed to NetLibrary, having used it througout my undergraduate and graduate education. That being said, it's a great tool but not always the easiest resource to access! I find the NetLibrary interface very sticky; it tends to hang up on a variety of browser configurations. For instance, on my work PC in my office, it freezes every time without fail. However, it works seamlessly on the reference computer where I currently am. I love the accessibility of the tool and the fact that after an initial registration the books are available anywhere. I have recommended it several times in my three months working for OCL.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Thing 11- LibraryThing

I've known about LibraryThing for a long time and I do find it quite neat to see how other people rate the books I like (and hate!). I think it's a really good way to keep track of what you've read- I always have a problem with this since I read very quickly. Sometimes a short novel will disappear in the abyss of my mind without a trace and I'm left desparately searching for the title!

Come see my shelf!
http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=samtheteenlibrarian&shelf=list&sort=title

Thing 10- Gaming in libraries!

If there is one thing that I am really passionate about, it's gaming in libraries. I guess that's appropriate as a teen librarian! I think gaming in libraries is going to be big as time goes on, and not just for the younger age groups. As games become more and more interactive (like the Wii, but I think it will continue and go much farther than just that) they also become more natural and accessible. Hence the use of the Wii for the senior community to get them active and even rehabilitate some. The Nintendo DS is also great for this- brain traning games have really caught on with the older set and have been proven to help mental agility.

How does this really matter to libraries? Lots of ways! For one, our motto here is building community and games really bring people together. I have teens who will come to any club or event if I break out the video games. Not only does it get them into the library, it helps them to socialize with new people. Additionally, as my generation ages and has children, I really think that we will be more receptive to gaming in libraries and more interested in interacting with peers. Not to mention I know my kids will be exposed to games from a young age in the house and will likely have a particular liking for them!