Thing 13: Tagging

I'm afraid I haven't gotten the hang of tagging yet. Where I can categorize (blog, libguides) I just use categories. I opened a Delicious account last year, but didn't get the hang of it and never returned. I find tag clouds a bit confusing. I suppose social tagging is a skill that requires practice.

I like the idea of collective intelligence. I believe that a group can create something greater than the sum of its parts. For that reason, I think tagging could (and does) result in some wonderful and surprising connections among disparate ideas. (Check out Twine, which I mentioned in my Ning Thing, for an example of what could turn into collective intelligence in action.)

I understand why many librarians it uncomfortable to imagine users tagging content, especially as a replacement for librarian-created subject headings. We can see the problems with a lack of authority control when we try to find content organized solely by user-created tags. (How badly should we mis-spell words to attempt to get all relevant returns?)

But I don't think we have to resort to an either/or scenario. Several applications are available that allow users to add tags to catalogs. I haven't heard or read much yet about how well that's succeeding. I suspect it will take some time to determine the results. I consider myself cautiously optimistic that tagging could result in a richer experience for our library users.

Thing 12: Twitter

I have to admit, I'm a bit perplexed about Twitter. I set up an account last week during a class on social networking. I follow 16 people and have seven followers.

I think the reason it's not clicking for me is that I follow most of these people on Facebook and most of them have set up to show their tweets on FB. For that reason, it appears to add no value for me, so I rarely remember to check it.

I'll play around with it to see if I can find people or groups to follow who are new to me, and I'll see if I can figure out a simple way to check Twitter regularly so that I don't have to remember to check it. Can it be added to Google Reader, for example?

Since I wrote this more than a week ago, I've started following some of my favorite public radio shows and added a few colleagues. I have found myself much more interested in checking Twitter regularly since doing that. I'm still waiting for it to grab, though, so that I look forward to checking it throughout the day.

I didn't discover an easy way to follow Twitter using Google Reader, but I added a Twitter gadget to my iGoogle page. It turned out to be too confusing, so I removed it and just put a link in my Google Bookmarks gadget, which sits prominently at the top of my iGoogle page.

At the moment, I'm committed to giving Twitter a try. I'll keep looking for content that's relevant to me and thinking of ways to make it a regular part of my day.

Thing 11: Instant Messaging

I've been using instant messaging for many years. I started at my last job (2000-2003) using ICQ to communicate with my co-workers. Currently, I am using IM at work using Spark (the official UT Arlington IM client).

We are also using IM for online reference. The Science & Engineering Library uses Meebo to login to Yahoo, Google Talk, AIM, MSN and Meebo accounts. At the moment, the person manning the reference desk monitors the Meebo account. We have widgets set up for users to contact us (on our blog, on our subject guides, etc.). So far, we get very few IM reference calls (1-5 per month), so it's working. We have discussed, should use pick up, whether we ought to have a dedicated monitor for the reference IM client.

I rarely use IM for personal use. I do have accounts, but as a rule I don't log in, since few people I know use it regularly. It also conflicts with IM reference, knocking me out of being logged in to the library's shared account. I do not accept users I don't recognize, but I will accept anyone who identifies themselves with NT23. If you can catch me logged in, I'll definitely reply!

Google Talk: cdwalter
Meebo: cdwalter
Yahoo: c.walter@prodigy.net
Spark (Jabber): cdwalter (might need to be cdwalter@uta.edu)

Thing 10: Ning

I did not join Ning, but I did play around with it. I watched the tutorial, looked around in the ALA network and searched for a few topics of interest to me.

What I like about Ning is that networks connect people interested in a particular topic as opposed to just creating an ever-widening network of people based on your friends, family and colleagues like on Facebook. Not to say I prefer it over Facebook, but it appears to fill a different need. It is also much more customizable than FB. Not only does each network differ from all the others in looks, each one provides different features, depending on the needs of that network.

Ning reminds me of Twine, which provides a means for people to share information on a specific topic (a twine). It seems to focus less on social networking and more on idea networking. Ning seems to combine the features of both Twine and Facebook to provide a complete networking tool.

I intend to play around with Ning some more. I might be induced to join if I find (or think of) a network that I simply must join.

Thing 9: More Facebook

As I wrote in the Thing 8 post, it took me a while to warm to Facebook. Now it is my home page at home. It reminds me to see what my friends are up to before I go on the task at hand.

I rarely contribute thoughts to the “What’s on your mind” field, mainly because I can't seem to come up with anything funny/profound in the few minutes I'm in there. I would like to post more, though. It seems a bit one-sided to get to keep up others and not let others keep up with me, if they want to. Sort of like lurking on a LISTSERV--receiving a lot, but giving little back.

For this assignment, I posted two comments, one with a link to my favorite library site, Unshelved. I also became a fan of the ALA. I also joined three groups. I joined a group called "Really cool people from Rapid City Central," which is the high school I attended in Rapid City, SD. It's an embarrassing title, but I thought it might be a good way to connect with old friends.
I also joined Dead King's Pillow, a now defunct band of which my brother was a member, and American Library Association Members (though I'm not one yet).

Overall, I enjoy Facebook. It seems to be a good way to follow friends, public personalities, groups, and causes of interest.

Thing 8: Facebook

I've had a Facebook account for a couple years now, so I'll talk about how my relationship with the site evolved over time.

I joined reluctantly because my daughter asked me to. At first, I couldn't get the point. Why did she have to poke me or write on my wall? What was wrong with good old fashioned email, after all?

For the first year or so, I went in only occasionally. Then I discovered that several of my co-workers were on, so I "friended" them. Now, I'd say the majority of my colleagues, all my family and many old chums (even from elementary school) are in my friend list.

I love keeping up with the activities of my friends and colleagues, but I'm ambivalent about all the "fun" activities. Some of the games are fun (Lexulous!), but sometimes I find it tedious to wade through all the fish, plants, farm animals, mafia weapons, etc., etc., etc. So I am often way behind on that stuff. I can see how it could be fun, but most of it seems like a tremendous waste of time.

Wish I could have the one without all the other.

Thing 7: RSS Feeds

I've had mixed results with keeping up with Google Reader, so I'm glad to have a chance to work on it some more. My main problem with keeping up with Google Reader is remembering to go there. Since I have added the Google Reader gadget to my iGoogle page, I find myself visiting the Reader more often (once or twice a day).

I think the danger is in subscribing to too many things; then it becomes overwhelming to visit the Reader. I have pared it down to the sites I'm MOST interested in, hoping that I will find it easier to "just take a few minutes" more often without being afraid of being inundated with infomation or wasting too much time.

I subscribed to most of the suggested blogs, and organized them all in a "Lib Info Sci" folder. I also added a wiki (on another topic). I'm greatly looking forward to keeping up with LIS news and info.

Thing 6: Blog Readers

I had registered for Google Reader about a year ago and subscribed to several news blogs. I think I went back once or twice, but found that I preferred to just go to the news sites. This time, on top of subscribing to the two 23 Things sites in the assignment, I joined a few other blogs and set up folders to organize them.

Organizing my subscriptions helps a lot. I found myself reading through the blogs. I also added a Google Reader gadget to the main page of my iGoogle page. We'll see now if I find myself using it more often!