Technorati

After checking out Delicious and tagging the next thing on the list (Thing 6) was blog directories.  I went ahead and tried out Technorati, which was the original blog search engine.  I created an account and did some searching to try and check it out.  Personally it was nothing all that impressive to me.  I'm not sure this is necessarily something I would use often, unless really looking for a blog about something.  Even then I may go to Google first just out of preference.

The concept behind Technorati is pretty cool though.  It is basically a place where people can register their blogs and then people can search through them for topics they are interested in. It is also a good way to get your blog out there and maybe gain a few followers.  They are categorized in different fields which the author can choose when setting up their account.  For example when I went to register this blog I registered it under Technology and Info Tech.  If you are doing a quick search and want to find something recent that has been blogged about in the field of technology you can do a search in Technorati.  It also provides you with links to other sites that are similar. 

If you are interested in finding blogs about libraries you would type that into the search box and click blogs or post depending what you are more interested in.  Then a list of results will come up and you can find one that works then from there it will link you to other related sites.  It seems like a quick and easy thing but when I did a search it came up with a lot of material that I found to be irrelevant.  There was one blog that came up that had "library" in the title of the blog, but it was about fashion and had nothing to do with libraries. 

By looking at some of the tags people have put on their blog may also give you other ideas of what to use as search terms.  The terms are supposed to be folksonomies which are words we use in everyday language, which might be different than what a cataloger might use. I know personally I have had trouble with search terms while looking for a book or an article.  I have had to try several different ways to say one thing just to get results I am looking for.  I always found that to be annoying.  Floksonomy tags seem to make that easier on the searcher, becaus ethey are more commonly used terms. 

I think that it could be used in a library for a quick and dirty search maybe to get some good current information on a topic where if you did a google search it may not necessarily be new.  But if a student had a paper to write on a current issue this could be a good tool to help them get a start and see what is relevant now on their topic.  It also gives you the opportunity to see what online conversations are going on about a certain topic.  To keep up with current events I can see this being useful.  That is true in means of helping students with a paper or even trying to find out the latest about library issues.  Say you wanted to know more about current e-book policies and what other people were saying and thinking, this would be a good place to start a search for that. 

I'm not sure if this is my cup of tea, but I won't give up on it just yet. 

Thank you Blog!!

    I have been having this issue with seeing all my subscriptions on Google Reader and have yet to figure it out but I have found an alternative solution for now, at least that will get me through this class and this last paper I have to write about the blogs I have been following. 

    I was able to stream the RSS feeds from the blogs I am following straight onto my blog.  Now I can always see which ones I am following.  It also does the same sort of thing Google Reader does and shows the newest entries on the sites.  Now if I really wanted all I could do is just come to my blog and have everything here I need!  That is even one less step.  I can read about things then write about them without ever leaving the web page!  I think that is pretty darn cool!  I'm so glad I looked at other people's pages who were doing the 23 Things project because that is where I saw I could stream my feeds right through my blog.  I'm quite excited about this if you can't tell.  :)

RSS (Simple?)

     Before I actually set up this blog was set up an RSS feed. (Things 10 and 11 from SLA's 23 Things) http://wiki.sla.org/display/23Things/Welcome+to+23+Things%21+%282%2C120+SLA+members+registered+so+far)

    I did this to follow two blogs for my LIS 5020 class.  Before this class I had not even heard of RSS.  RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.  RSS feeds help you keep up with updates on websites or blogs you follow.  This can be done through email or a reader.  As it turns out you can even stream RSS feeds in blogs, which I just figured out how to do today and added to my own blog.  Now the blogs I follow in my RSS reader I can share through my blog too. 

   I decided to go with Google Reader because that is what was suggested in the 23 Things program as well as being mentioned in a few information articles I read about RSS.  Before I set up the RSS Reader I went to Common Craft and watched the tutorial.  I found this to be really easy to follow and very helpful.  It made actually setting up the reader easy! Trust me I was relieved at this.  Personally I wish setting up my blog had been this easy, but I managed. 

    After I set up the reader I used a few lists provided by my professor along with a Google search on blogs by librarians to pick a few blogs to follow and put in my reader.  We only had to follow two for class but I ended up added a few different ones that sounded interesting to me.  I even picked one thaat dealt with space planning because I am on a space allocation committee at my library.  I thought this was a great way to learn and keep up with the different things going on in libraries.  This definitely beats trying to just do Google searches on the topics. 

    The feature that was most attractive to me about an RSS reader is that it sends the new entry for the blog or website as they are updated and it is all in one place!  Instead of trying to bookmark each blog and then visit each page and see if there is a new entry, the reader highlights when there is something new.  All I have to do is check my reader  two or three times a week and see if there are any updates, and if so I can read them then.  It makes keeping track of everything, and keeping up with everything I am interested in much more easier. 

The only issue I have had so far is being able to see all my subscriptions when there is nothing new.  I'm not sure why this is but I am still on the hunt for an answer.  In my search for the answer I did come across a very helpful site about Google Reader.  As a new user to Google Reader I was happy to find this guide.
 http://thesocialmediaguide.com/social_media/ultimate-google-reader-guide 

RSS feeds area great way for librarians to keep up with the newest trends in the field.  You can choose areas that interest you, your limited only by your choices.  If you have an interest in technology you can follow different technology blogs and maybe even come up with a way to use certain technologies in your library to improve either your services to the patrons, the community, or even just among the library staff.  It is possible to use an RSS feed to follow what other librarians are doing and saying; you might find that you encounter some of the same issues.  Using an RSS feed to follow these blogs or websites could be helpful because it keeps everything in the same place and organized.  It is a great way to save time because you are not going from website to website just to see if there are any changes or updates.  In a busy schedule that most librarians have this could be a great convenience.  Plus libraries are all about the organization of information, why not organize your personal sources of information?

Here Goes Nothing!

Well this is it, my first blog post.  Whew, getting here was not quite as easy as I thought, but not real hard either.  I think the biggest issue is that I haven't really done this before.  That is why I am going to work on the 23Things project.  For one this is a project for class, but I really like the idea of it and I plan to keep learning new things and sharing my experiences.  Until I took this intro class for Library Science I had not even heard of Web 2.0.  To be honest I am still trying to grasp the concept but I think I am getting there.  I've got that is is about technology on the web - a small basic understanding but you got to start somewhere right? 

When I was back in middle school I had a Xanga, and I think from comparing what I am doing here on this blog with that, I think that must have been a blog too, I just didn't know it.  I never really thought of it that way but it had the same components.  I wrote posts, my friends subscribed to my "blog" and I to theirs.  This just seemed a bit more complex to me, but anything new is at first. I suspect that given a few weeks this will feel natural (or so I hope). 

I looked at both Blogger and WordPress as blogging hosts.  I decided to go with Blogger because it just seemed simpler.  WordPress looked a bit more complicated and professional to me.  I like the laid back simple look and feel that Blogger offered. 

I have to say I didn't understand the concept of naming my blog.  I had come up with something to call it like Eager to Learn or something boring like that and my friend laughed at me and said I couldn't name it that, it wasn't catchy.  So what do I do?  I google naming a blog.  I was amazed to find the results I came up with were advice from other bloggers about naming your blog.  There were several rules and tips that a name should follow.  One was be four syllables or less, mine is three.  The Internet really is an amazing information source.  Not everything is reliable, but it is a great place to at least get you started.  I've been told the same thing about Wikipedia which I was always hesitant to use, but now it is generally a place I start at just to get an idea of what I am about to deal with and where to look. 

I picked Tech-A-What as my title because people always talk about these new technologies and I always say, "what," "huh,"really","it does what?"  Technology amazes me and I don't understand most of it but I am going to try.  If I go into the field of Information Science I better know a thing or two.  I don't want to be living in the dark ages.  I've gotten by so far but I think it is time to step it up and get with the times.

So far, for my blog I don't think I have done anything fancy, just some basic stuff.  There are all kinds of features I can add, and I may do so later down the road, but for now simple is good.  I think I will take on this challenge one step at a time. 

This is a great tool for use in libraries though I think.  I have subscribed to a few blogs by librarians so far.  Blogging is a great way to keep up on things of interest.  I'm on a space allocation committee here at my library so one of the blogs I subscribed to is a blog about space planning.  libraries could set up a blog just for their library and make it private so that they could talk about issues in just their library.  I think it could be a helpful way for committees to communicate as well. If meetings are hard to organize due to every one's schedules a blog could be a way to get around that.  people could post their ideas, concerns, information they find, and everyone in the committee could view it and talk about it in the comments.  Blogs are a great place to stay connected with libraries around the world and find out what is going on.  Where better to see what is working or not working in libraries than through a blog from another librarian? 

I like the idea of blogging and although keeping up with it may not be so easy when my schedule gets busy, I'm going to try.  Even if no one else reads this it is a good way for me to get my feelings out about all this technology and my struggles and hopes and beliefs about it.