LibraryTechtonics

I’m giving an online presentation on WebJunction Wednesday morning on how libraries can use Flickr (described here), which will include some bits from the article I wrote, as well as some practical application stuff from my experience with the Reading Public Library Flickr photostream. In trying to really solidify my presentation into the 15 minute time allotment, I’m happy to report that I am not lacking in content. If anything, I’ve got too much, and I need to cull out enough to keep it tight, but not so much that it isn’t interesting.

I love being able to talk about Flickr as a tool (I just recently taught a class on using Flickr at my library), but it’s hard for me to move away from the toy aspects that make me want to just sit and play with it. Flipping through the photos on the library’s account, and skimming my current draft notes on our policies-in-progress, I’m finding it really hard not to want to upload photos, play with the photosets, tag to my heart’s content, and check out all of the nifty tools that are coming out of the Flickr API development pool. I often wonder if the playtime syndrome is just a geek/power user/millenial habit, or if other librarians do this, too? I see my inner geek is pretty much fused with my librarian core, so sometimes it’s hard to decipher if my behaviors are typically librarian or not.

I also need to get the swing of using Microsoft LiveMeeting from the presenter side. I’ve attended many online seminars using LiveMeeting, and I’ve often wanted to play with the advanced features , so I’m excited to finally have a chance to do that. Giving an online presentation does lack the audience feedback that you get when you present to a live crowd, which will be interesting. I will also need to apply a good deal of restraint from my normal computer multitasking tendencies ;).

Even with all of the interesting peril of something I’ve never done before taken into consideration, I’m very excited about Wednesday. I’m on a panel with two other awesomely interesting people, Aaron Schmidt of the Thomas Ford Memorial Library and Regan Robinson of the Stevens County Rural Library District, and I think we all have interesting experiences to share on using different online community tools in libraries. Since I hear registration is full, I’ll post a link to the archive of the online event when it goes up.

Listening to talk radio this morning, a host was bemoaning the fact that no one was calling into his show to say *anything* about the hearings to appoint Judge John Roberts to the Supreme Court, and that he really felt like no one cared, because it appears to be a slam dunk appointment. The host was practically begging listeners to call in and say that this appointment mattered to them. Only one caller addressed the issue, and only after she had originally called to ask a different question, and the host decided to ask her what her opinions were.

I wasn’t originally going to watch the hearings. I haven’t been keeping track of the lead-up to the hearings. But after this host made such a fuss, I decided to pay very close attention. And I’m glad I did.

Privacy seems to be a big issue on the docket for questioning in today’s hearings (I’m watching streaming video on CSPAN.org). While the privacy issue in most people’s minds applies mostly to the looming fear that Roe v. Wade may be repealed by the court, Sen. Kennedy’s remarks seemed to allude to how privacy is a huge issue in terms of civil liberties and freedoms, and I’m wondering whether or not USA PATRIOT Act issues will figure prominently. I’ll reiterate, I haven’t been tracking the lead-up on this (or reading my feeds, for that matter), so political pundits and other librarians may have already commented on this, and I just haven’t seen it.

Another interesting comment was made by another speaker (I didn’t write down the name) about how blogs on the Internet have made quite the fuss over released documents about the candidate, and how many political bloggers have made commentary on the inaccuracies of those documents, as well as on the records which have not been released. It’s crazy and cool for blogs to actually be on transcript in a government hearing, even if through a somewhat disparaging remark.

The third comment I’ve heard so far that caught my ear (since I’m writing this up as a listen to the streaming video) was made by Sen. Joseph Biden about how the chances were very good that Judge Roberts’s court, should he be appointed, would hear cases on issues such as the constitutionality of micro chipping your kid will be presented as a case, and that other such technology- and Internet-related issues may befall the first justice appointed in the Internet age. After recently starting the book Radical Evolution (I had to return it because there was a hold, but it’s on my list to get it back and return it), I’m not surprised that this might come up, but I’m also surprised that the hearing committee member had the foresight to present it as an issue.

OK, I didn’t mean to blog the hearings real-time, but I keep hearing interesting things. One more comment, then I’ll add more comments later as necessary.

Sen. Herb Kohl just mentioned that one of the past writings of Judge Roberts referred to the “so-called right to privacy”, and how on the whole, his past judgments and writings have had a someone belittling view of civil rights in general, which could certainly mean something for USA PATRIOT Act cases that make it to the Supreme Court.

Wow. I’m impressed. If you’re not listening, you should be. If you can’t listen or watch right now, check for transcripts and archive video and audio streams on CSPAN.org later. If Roberts is indeed appointed as chief justice, as is the current plan, librarians should be paying attention.

I love Target. *Love* Target. However, I’m not a big buyer of books, CDs, or DVDs, so I never really browse those departments of the store.

I think I was showing my SO a book that’s been a big hit with readers lately (for the life of me, I can’t remember the title, but I bet if I was standing at a circ terminal, I could type it in my sleep :D), and I saw a sticker on one of the books that had the logo of what apparently is Target’s book club.

Bookmarked [http://bookmarked.target.com/] is a book club site that offers everything from the list of bestsellers at Target to ideas for helping your book club stay connected.

To start a book club with your friends, sign up for an account, invite your friends to join, and you have your own online book club house, where you can keep a list of future books on the club’s agenda, create a poll for your group, add events (which could very well be anything from meeting at a friend’s house to logging in to the same chat room on IM or Skyping it), and see other book-related events all over the country (there’s a listing for a children’s book book festival sponsored by the Boston Globe at Faneuil Hall in Boston September 17).

Users can access the book reviews, book club meeting food and decor tips, and meeting theme sections of the site without a login. The Book Overview offers a summary of the book with a cover shot, as well as links to book reviews, author information, meeting and food ideas, and discussion questions. Clicking on the link to the author’s name or the genre shows you other titles with Book Overview listings, and each search result gives you Club Actions options to add the book to your club’s Book List, create a poll for your group, or simply email an item to a friend.

I was pleasantly surprised at how non-salesly this site is. It would be quite easy for Target to add “Buy Now” links to everything, but they don’t. Perhaps it’s an effort to a) not compete with their partner, Amazon.com, and/or b) get people to buy books in their stores. I’m just speculating.

The selection of Book Overviews seems somewhat limited to best sellers and items featured by Target, but you can manually add books to your list that aren’t in the Target book database, you just might have to come up with the summary and questions yourself, or, alternately, ask your friendly neighborhood librarian.
Also nifty is the Breakout Books section, a list of the books that aren’t your average best sellers, featuring new authors, contemporary topics, and award winners. The selection is very diverse genre-wise, which is nice, but it is very Literature & Fiction heavy, like the rest of the site.

The Promotions do show up as tasteful ads on different pages of the site, and are accessible through a link in the top navigation. Current contests include a chance to meet Jodi Picoult and winning copies of books for your book club.

The site is heavily chick-oriented, with gals pics on most pages. I’m hoping the target audience (no pun intended) isn’t an indication of why the site is lacking in non-fiction reading materials. I don’t actually know how long the service has been around, so I don’t know how long they’ve been growing things out, or where it’s headed, but it’s a nice free service, and I’d like to see it grow. Overall, I am quite impressed, and I’d love to hear from anyone who is using it, or has used it in the past.