LibraryThing « Thoughts of a [wannabe] librarian

A Welcome Break

September 1, 2008 at 2:16 pm | In Studies | Leave a Comment
Tags: beer time, Distance Learner, libraries, LibraryThing, Royal Danish Library, Spain, Study, The Raw Shark Texts

Studies have taken a bit of a backseat for the moment while I enjoy the brief respite of two weeks holiday in Spain. After the terrible summer in England, a bit of sun is no bad thing! One of the many good aspects of taking a break from studies, is the ability to read something other than books on library theory. Not that there is anything wrong with that you understand, it’s just sometimes you long to read something that does not refer to Dewey numbers or reference sources. So I have been enjoying the chance to catch up on some reading, including, shock horror, a work of fiction (click on my LibraryThing link and you will see I tend towards the factual) – The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall. A strange little book, I have a feeling it will become one of those cult classic things.

Anyway, whilst I am here, I intend to check out the local library (even when I am on holiday….) and see what it has to offer. Depressingly, it appears to be as underused as library services back home as my wife (who has lived here almost her entire life) couldn’t actually tell me where it is. The only other library that I have ever visited outside the UK was the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen a couple of years ago. Sadly, I suspect the library here will not be as visually striking. Still, we can but hope.

Web 2.0 and the Library

August 18, 2008 at 8:23 pm | In Web 2.0 | Leave a Comment
Tags: Facebook, flickr, last.fm, LibraryThing, LibraryThing Local, promoting libraries, social networks, Web 2.0

One of things that has really interested me since starting my course all those months ago, is the use of the wide variety of Web 2.0 tools to develop the library service. As you can see from my sidebar, I have a number of profiles with various social networking sites including Flickr, LibraryThing and Last.fm(I also have a Facebook account, but that is for another post). Of all these sites, the one that has interested me most of late is, of course, LibraryThing.

I am always eager to identify opportunities to utilise the internet for the good of the library service, and LibraryThing certainly seems to have the potential to add an extra dimension to the library service. This is particularly true in the case of LibraryThing Local. LibraryThing Local, in case you didn’t know, is a database of libraries, bookshops, book fairs etc in your local area. By adding your library to the database and obtaining administrative rights, you suddenly have a page to connect with users. You can add events, information about the library, people can ‘favourite’ your library and comments to a comment wall. This all sounds fantastic, but I wonder how useful it is to actually have a profile on LibraryThing local. Although it seems to be a fairly popular site, even the most famous libraries have very few ‘fans’. So, is it an interesting gimmick or a useful tool to develop the service? At this stage, I reserve my judgement. I have had a chance to add a couple of libraries to the database, and I will wait and see what develops. Meanwhile, I would be interested to hear any views from anyone who has used this tool to promote their library service. I am willing to experiment with sites such as this, but I wonder how valuable it really is.