Delicious

I'm tired. I don't get it. I can't get it to work. I don't want to log in to one more *&^%ing thing in order to save a bookmark that I can either just (1) remember, (2) put in my favorites, (3) RSS feed to myself, (4) put in my google reader, (5) write on a post-it note, (6) not use if I can't be bothered to remember it anyway.....

I give up on this one. I have no idea how a librarian could use it and don't care.

TAG You're "It"

Tagging. Using spray paint to cover a wall of library books.....
no wait.

Tagging. Adding little notations to items (in the library world) that can link like things together.
The trick is that "like things" means different things to different people.

So, a Harry Potter book could have tags of Fantasy, England, Rowling, etc. But it could also include Wizards, Dragons, Reluctant Heroes.

The idea is that users could "tag" items in the libraries catalog and thus create links between items and suggestions of places to go to find more items like that one.

So we could have the LC headings of Cookery AND we could have users' Tags linking cookbooks to other items on entertaining, gardening, nutrition, health, chefs, etc.

I think it is a fun idea and one we might want to explore. Users would participate in the process!

Instant Messaging

The new 23 Things topic is Instant Messaging.
I have used AIM before and it has been okay.
I have used the new communicator at work as well.

Libraries could use some form of IM for quick reference questions. For longer responses or more involved conversations, a librarian could always take the question via IM and then respond later via email.

Does usage ever get so high that it would be difficult for one librarian to be the designated IM reference librarian for an hour or so? Probably not. But you wouldn't want to try to keep up with it when you are on desk since we get called away from the desk by patrons now and then.

Another advantage of IM over a phone call is that you could copy and paste into an Instant message. We could have some "Canned Responses" that we could drop into the IM reply. Everybody would get the same "official" response to recurring questions that way.