Eureka!

Wednesday a library customer asked if we "had a list" of volunteers to help catalogue a small collection. I was able to suggest LibraryThing to the customer. Knowledge is out most important product! Thanks to PlayAway

del.icio.us Popular tags

Finally for this week I looked at the del.icio.us site (in lieu of creating yet another account; as I'm weary of accounts). But a look at the Popular tags on del.icio.us was interesting (as is learning re social networking). I tried history, and found a link to a NY Times article re The Manhattan Project of WWII and how it got its name. A family member of mine had worked on the project in Chicago, but the article described how the name was taken from Army Engineer offices at 270 Broadway in New York, which was the first headquarters for the project. The name was developed from the standard bureaucratic method then in use and was simply named for the location (Manhattan Engineer District -- later shortened). Thus, no secret spy name; just administrative naming.
Interestingly, while using the back button the link didn't appear again; that is, the link to the del.icio.us subscriber. Clicking the Tag Cloud brings up different links at different times. I think. Alas, it's a continually morphing world.

Delicious Tags

Have added labels to previous posts; labels are the equivalent of tags. Editing the layout for the blog, I preferred to post the labels list below outside sources.

Libraries can use social tagging much as the example libraries given in the instructions for this week. For my particular niche, I have been thinking of the Madison Community Grant Foundation DVDs at Lakeview. This collection is for film studies; and film studies in the myriad senses that such studies can be conducted. Tagging/Labeling is a "prime suspect" for how to do such in the public sphere. Users of the collection could comment at a library blog or del.icio.us site and form a Tag Cloud that maps out the collection as conceived by the users. This is quite different from a strict, formalized structure (say only watching films in chronological order) that a syllabus might provide.

Concerns: Would customers respond to such a process; and if so, what is the meaning of their tags? As with WIKIs, must we beware the chronic overuser, who might load tags on the site (perhaps silly, or nonsense tags)? As with GOOGLE hits, which can be loaded with advertising vocabulary, how do we limit responses to the Tag Cloud?

Week 7 learnings

The widget at LibraryThing for creating a link to this blog was certainly a "thin description" of what to do. I guessed that the (to paraphrase) copy and past this HTML was the clue. Then in the blog I found a place to paste the HTML. Interesting, LibraryThing instructions assume that users would somehow know that copying the HTML would allow users to paste it somewhere on the blog. Even knowing that HTML probably stands for hyper text markup language I was only guessing when creating the link. I also, found LibraryThing not as useful for a DVD collection as I would like (what about e-books on a Sony book reader?). Interesting.

HTML from LibraryThing

Lakeview Madison Community Foundation Grant

The Lakeview branch will have a special collction of DVDs and books devoted to film history and film studies ( in its myriad definitions). LibraryThing offers the possibility of linking a set therein to this blog. I've listed five of the special DVDs ordered for the collection and hope to see how it would work with a LibraryThing file.
Tags chosen so far are: Lakeview, DVD, film studies, and Criterion.
Books will include studies of film (such as books by renowned UW professor David Bordwell); and the special film genre of Bollywood will also be part of the collection.
The goal is to have a special and unique collection for the branch.

Lakeview Madison Community Foundation Grant

Created a five item list at LibraryThing for five of the Criterion DVDs ordered for the new grant at Lakeview. The topic of film studies (including film history [perhaps in all its possible ramifications {i.e. tags}] is the goal of this grant. Along with Bollywood titles, original Criterion editions (all of which are important to film studies) will be added to the collection. The focus is to have a collection at the location that is very, very special. Books on the topic have also been ordered (such as books by UW renowned film scholar David Bordwell).

Perhaps the LibraryThing concept can be used to feature this collection. I need to try to link it now to this blog.

Tags chosen so far are: Lakeview, DVD, film studies, and Criterion