I have really enjoyed pretty much all of the 23 things. The new technologies and the collaboration and openness they promise are great new tools in the evolving mission of libraries. So, i humbly present 23 More Things: for your desktop, your Web 2.0 jones, and for (in the words of the gurus of 2.0) the future of libraries. Because the future of libraries, like the past, is one of putting information in people's hands, before people's eyes, and into people's minds.
I begin with 11 Desktop things for all you PC users out there in television land...
PS Please don't try to get thru these posts in one sitting -- save your eyes!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
23.01 Click=Select, Double click=open
As Windows versions advance, Windows is becoming more Mac-like, so this may be out of date soon. When in the Windows operating system (which is your desktop, folders, and many other areas such as Accessories and Control Panel), it’s good to know that: When you bring your mouse over an icon, one (left) click selects that icon. A (left) double-click opens that icon. So double-clicking over your Word icon will open Word. Try clicking once, then double-clicking, on various icons to see the difference.
In general, double-clicks are rarely needed once in programs – MS office and Internet Explorer.
In general, double-clicks are rarely needed once in programs – MS office and Internet Explorer.
23.02 The Right Mouse Button
The Right Mouse Button is magic on PC’s. It does many things, and, of course, different things in different programs. But I like to think of the right mouse button as “that thing I use to pop up additional choices.” It does that in Windows operating system, in web browsers, and GroupWise. And lots of other programs too.
23.03 The Taskbar
The taskbar is the small bar that goes across the bottom of the screen. It features, left to right, the Start button, the Quick Start icons, the program panes, and the system tray (including the clock). Select (one click of left mouse) on a Quick Start icon to start a program. Left mouse on a program pane and you can jump from program to program in windows. Boring you say? Because the start button, and the clock, you already know? Well, wait till we see the system tray…
23.04 The System Tray
The System Tray is in the far right bottom of your screen. It shares space with the clock (and let’s face it we all love the clock, it’s how we see when it’s time to go home). In the System Tray are icons for processes that are running on your computer, and tools that will let you change some computer settings. When you mouse over a System Tray icon, a little popup will tell you what that icon is for. ‘Round here you will usually see Netware Services (big red N), Volume (to adjust your speaker volume), Remote Management (so DIT can fix your computer without driving all over everywhere), icons for your graphics card, for Novell Desktop tools, and for McAfee Anti-Virus, and a couple more. The System Tray is where wireless users go to pop up the “View Available Wireless Networks” feature. The System Tray is the quickest way to get to Print Manager (when there’s a print job in process). The System Tray is one part of your Windows desktop you will be glad you got to know.
One thing to remember – different computers will show different icons in the system tray. Use your left mouse, and right mouse, to explore the processes and tools in the System Tray. Especially…
One thing to remember – different computers will show different icons in the system tray. Use your left mouse, and right mouse, to explore the processes and tools in the System Tray. Especially…
23.05 NetWare Services (the Big Red N)
Right mouse on the Big Red N in the System Tray. Any of that sound interesting? Well, probably not. But if you are in a branch, and so perhaps sharing a computer, there is one important skill here. Right Mouse on the Big Red N and choose NetWare Login. Up pops a new login window. It’ll have, in the Username field, the username of the last person to log in to Novell on that computer. If it isn’t you, this is the way to relogon to Novell using your username. Unlike Horizon, doing this won’t close open windows – it’ll just work. And it’s handy because it lets you get to your personal Novell space. Your what, you say?
23.06 Your Personal Novell Space
Each Novell user has a personal folder on the F: Drive. Yours can only be accessed from a machine that you are logged into (and by DIT administrators, of course). It is backed up, and therefore a great place to put documents you don’t want to lose. Once logged into a machine, click the “My Computer” icon on the desktop. Under the Network Drives heading, you should see a folder with your user name. You can save files there, drag and drop files there, or just enjoy the emptiness. But don’t share files there – Novell has another place for that.
23.07 Share Drives (or, the G: Drive)
The share drives for the branches, and for specific projects, are easily accessible from any computer logged into Novell. Again, click the “My Computer” icon on the desktop. Under the Network Drives heading, this time, look for a folder called Lcg on Colmain 2. Double-click to open and look for LIBADMIN. Double click again and look for LIBRARIES SHARED. Then double click again. (I know – lotta double clicks. Making a desktop shortcut is # 23.09). You should now be looking at the main folder for all the library’s share drives.
The nice thing about share drives is multiple people can work on documents together, and you can share out a finished product without having to use email attachments, which clog up the strained GroupWise servers. Not that there’s anything wrong with attachments. The share drive space for your branch, like your Personal Novell Space, is backed up by DIT. As with your Personal Novell Space, you can save files there, or drag and drop files there – as well as accessing the documents others are sharing with you.
The nice thing about share drives is multiple people can work on documents together, and you can share out a finished product without having to use email attachments, which clog up the strained GroupWise servers. Not that there’s anything wrong with attachments. The share drive space for your branch, like your Personal Novell Space, is backed up by DIT. As with your Personal Novell Space, you can save files there, or drag and drop files there – as well as accessing the documents others are sharing with you.
23.08 Portable Storage Media – or, why you really ought to use the backed up spaces on Novell
There are three types of portable storage media commonly used here: diskettes (often called floppies), CD, and USB or flash drives. Diskettes are an old format: they hold little, fail easily, and the quality control, both on diskettes and the drives they use, has really gone south. Stop using these! CD’s come in two flavors “Read only” and “Read/Write”. Files written to a “Read only” CD end up on a medium with a nicely archival feeling, since they cannot be overwritten and edited. But “Read Only” is not much use if you want to modify a file later. “Read write” is more flexible. I tend to think use of CD’s as storage media has peaked, though, because of USB/flash drives. Also called “dongles” and “key drives,” these devices plug into a USB port on your computer (usually on the front of the CPU) and in most cases, proceed to map themselves to a drive letter. To use a USB/flash drive, plug it in, wait while some popups keep you informed, and, when it’s ready for use (it’ll tell you), open it as a folder not unlike the way you opened the two Novell folders above.
USB/flash drives rule because they have the capacity of hundreds or thousands of diskettes, they are built to be rugged, and they are extremely portable. They’re getting less expensive all the time too. They aren’t that hard to lose, though, so if your files are important, they are still much safer on a Novell drive – yours or a share drive.
USB/flash drives rule because they have the capacity of hundreds or thousands of diskettes, they are built to be rugged, and they are extremely portable. They’re getting less expensive all the time too. They aren’t that hard to lose, though, so if your files are important, they are still much safer on a Novell drive – yours or a share drive.
23.09 Desktop Shortcuts
Remember all that double-clicking to find the share drives? Really, you only need to do that once, and then make a desktop shortcut. If you’re using a network resource frequently, shortcut it. Just browse to the drive/folder that contains the folder you want to shortcut. Select the folder. Then, right mouse. From the pop-up menu, choose the “Send to” option, then select Desktop (create shortcut) from the pull-down menu. Then, you will have that shortcut on your desktop and won’t need to go searching each time you need the resources. (Note, like many things in Windows, there are other ways to create a desktop shortcut. The above is one way, but others are just as good).
23.10 Helper Apps and Plug ins
Sometimes you will get an email, or be using a web resource, and it will prompt you to download (or perhaps update) a program in order to view a file. The most common programs this will happen with are Adobe Acrobat Reader, Flash, Quicktime, Windows Media Player, and Shockwave. In an ideal world staff computers get these downloads (like our operating system and Office) automatically overnight. But if you’re using these at home, or haven’t gotten the upgrade automatically, panic not. Just follow the on-screen directions and the required programs will almost always download/update just fine. Watch out at the end of all these, they tend to want to install Yahoo or Google Toolbars. Just say no (unless you are at home, not the office, and know you really want these toolbars, which are, to some degree, spyware).
23.11 Application files in email or web browser windows
Again, just say no. Save these files to your My Documents folder by right-mousing, then using a Save As dialog. Once the files are sitting on your computer, you can open them in their native application (or at least, Acrobat Reader). You will get more printing options, more viewing options, more editing options (on editable files), and a ton more stability if you don’t view application files through GroupWise or a Web Browser. This is easy to do once you get used to it, and honestly, it works a lot better. (Because of how our public computers are configured, it’s less of a “slam-dunk” on those stations – using the in-browser viewer may be the best choice there).
23.12-20: More Web 2.0 Stuff
More web 2.0 stuff that we left out of the 23 things. Some of this you can explore, other stuff I am talking about because it seems to be big in the blogs on Library 2.0. For the record, this series is also my much delayed Thing 15 post.
23.12 Putting it Together: MySpace, Facebook, Hi5, etc
MySpace is the 3rd most popular Internet site in the US, and it’s pure Web 2.0. It combines features of blogging, wikis, audio and video sharing, and other technologies, and it’s whole reason for being is to bring together social networks (which leads to collaboration). Of course, since most of the social networks that live on MySpace are fairly small, it can be bewildering and tribal … it’s a web 2.0 site that only bands and teens can get, sometimes. Musician’s MySpace pages give a pretty good feel as what is possible on MySpace. If you’re exploring, keep in mind that vulgar speech is the norm.
23.13 Content focused social networking: Ning.
To generalize, Ning is MySpace for adults. Because adults don’t so much want to put forward their personality and see what social networks develop, but rather to join/create networks based on specific interests. So you’ll see Ning networks focused on Library 2.0, bicycling, management, and thousands more topics. Because there are more social networking features built in than one finds in blogger, for example, Ning could often be a better choice than blogger if you want your blog to be the center of a collaborative community – working, playing, or whatever else a community might choose to do. In the Web 2.0 Awards, Ning is listed as the winning Mashup. I don’t really see what makes it more of a mashup than MySpace or Facebook, but it does bring together content from different sources, and presents it in a compelling way.
23.14 Old-school Mashup You Can’t Beat: Google News
Mashups are not that new (Shakespeare’s tragedies are mashups of historical sources, perhaps), and even on the web some have been around for awhile. I really can’t live long without Google News, which mashes together content from newspaper/news websites into a straightforward, easy to grab list of headlines. It doesn’t replace the newspaper itself (too many good or important stories don’t appear unless you search for them), but for a quick check of the headlines? A look at the zeitgeist? What’s hot in technology and new in science? Google News can’t be beat. Check out the other nation’s Google News pages at the bottom of the US page … interesting to see how Canada, Australia, and the UK look at US stuff. Also check out the News Archive Search near the top of the Google News US page. But before you pay for an old newspaper article…
23.15 Mashup or Archive? Historical Newspapers from ProQuest
Google News Archive is a great tool, but it will push you to pay-to-view articles. LCPL has a subscription to ProQuest Historical Newspapers, which has full-text and image historical newspapers for free. New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor and Los Angeles Times. So before you follow a Google News Archive link to a pay for an article from one of those newspapers, try your search in Historical Newspapers. It’s amazing how much can be found in a more than a century worth of daily papers. But I hear you cry… what’s Web 2.0 about a Proquest database?
23.16 Cross-Database Search: The Brain Wave Breaks!
If you haven’t tried the new improved cross-database search on the LCPL homepage, now’s the time. Someone (I presume someone who also takes Zoedoodle for a walk, perhaps along with my fellow Jefferson County commuter) has added categorization to the cross-database search. Now instead of a proof-of-concept, it is much more of a user-focused mashup of LCPL’s valuable database material. It has a Newspaper category – and also categories for Business, Health, Kids and Students. And the results display has been improved too. A mash-up of terabytes of data – sounds 2.0 to me. Useful for research, and yet fun to play with too.
23.17 Console gaming
Speaking of playing, a lot of Library 2.0 fans point to console games – Xbox 360, Wii, Playstation and their forbearers – as a feature of L2.0. LCPL has some experience using console gaming at the Cascades Teen Centers. Now, I can hear the question, what does video gaming have to do with libraries, exactly… and I can’t say that I really have an answer. Except that for our young users (and for us old users, if we are lucky) all experience has the potential to be a learning experience. The cognitive tasks associated with getting good at Pokemon Diamond, Madden 2007, or God of War are not small; and in many ways a lot more complex than those associated with being a power user of Horizon’s Information Portal. So why do games belong in libraries? It’s not the game, it’s the playing. And if they belong in the library for teen center, why not always?
23.18 More gaming: Madden NFL 2007 (for example)
I really don’t know that much about console gaming. I’ve played earlier editions of the football videogame Madden NFL and it was fun – the game is updated each year, so you can play using real football team rosters, and the videogame characters are programmed to have some of the skills and flair of the real people. And, it may go without saying, but I’ll say it, the graphics are stunning. But Rust’s former guard James Walker, a true devotee of Madden NFL 2007, tipped me off to features that I never knew, never dreamed, the game has. You can create your own player, and choose skills and abilities, which will grow (or diminish) based on in-game experiences. You can create whole teams using a part of the game that functions like the NFL draft. Of course, you can take on the game, or take on an opponent sitting next to you, but you can also take on opponents or teammates from around the world. This is because the console (Xbox 360, Wii, Playstation) is an Internet device, and with that comes almost unlimited possibilities for collaboration. So if the playing makes games a library thing, it’s the collaboration thru web technology that makes gaming a 2.0 thing.
23.19 Collaborative Gaming
With the collaborative features built into Madden NFL Live, the old school console game has, to some extent, turned into a Massively-multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game, or MMORPG. MMORPG’s are clearly part of Web 2.0, and a walk past the public Internets during non-school hours will tell you, MMORPG’s are part of libraries, too. Our users are usually playing Runequest (a free, no-downloads required questing game), or Habbo Hotel (a free, no-downloads required game that is mostly about making friends and hanging out). In some ways, Runequest and Habbo are like the “junior” versions of market leaders World of Warcraft and Second Life … which can’t be played at libraries because (1) they require a software download and installation (2) they have limits on what can be done unless you’re a paying member and (3) they are, in general, not suitable for younger users.
23.20 Say it, don’t prepare it. And say it as a cartoon
Many Library 2.0 ponderers wax eloquent about getting their presence in MMORPG’s, and if this guy can do his talk show in the MMORPG of Halo2, why not? But I’m not entirely sold on the idea that the social MMORPG’s are really the “next Internet.” They are proprietary, hard to search, and seem a poor substitute for a walk along the C&O Towpath when the Virginia Bluebells are in bloom.
A couple of things libraries might take from MMORPG’s: (1) Spontaneous communication can be compelling: MMORPG users go on the web (their game) and every word and action they experience is new, in real time. (2) Avatars are good. In an MMORPG, your character is an avatar. Even the help can come from an avatar. People don’t seem to object to interacting and learning from avatars. Perhaps Dewey the Fox and Zoedoodle have bright futures in our 2.0 world.
A couple of things libraries might take from MMORPG’s: (1) Spontaneous communication can be compelling: MMORPG users go on the web (their game) and every word and action they experience is new, in real time. (2) Avatars are good. In an MMORPG, your character is an avatar. Even the help can come from an avatar. People don’t seem to object to interacting and learning from avatars. Perhaps Dewey the Fox and Zoedoodle have bright futures in our 2.0 world.
23.21-23 The Present of Libraries: 3 things from Web 2.0 about organization
Many Library 2.0 ponderers in the blogs speak of the future of libraries, and that’s the direction to look for sure. They speak of how technology will change our missions, our tools, and our organizations. With the caveat that in meeting LCPL’s mission, we need not so much to change it as to recommit to it, I do have some sympathy with the idea that as collaboration, openness, and user-focus become more possible due to technology, we must take advantage of the strengths of these tools. I hope we can apply lessons from library 2.0 to the here and the now.
23.21: Collaborate. Now.
Blogs, wikis, flickr, tagging -- all those tools in the Web 2.0 awards - collaboration is the most easily identified common thread. For me, what I try to remember is that collaboration towards a common goal is what teams are made of. And LCPL has good teams all over the place. If the 2.0 world of collaboration is going to make things better, we need to keep in mind that as teammates work together, expertise and responsibility become shared, and every one becomes a leader. The more of that, the better.
23.22: Make it transparent
I wrote earlier that radical transparency is major shift in perspective, and I’m not putting my SSN on the web (or even my Horizon record). But as a professional practice, transparency has the potential to cut off the oxygen of many of the most pernicious practices in business organizations globally. When processes and decisions are in the open, there are no fiefdoms, no robbing Peter to pay Paul, no vindictiveness, no private agendas, no prejudice. And focus on how to explain, spin, and portray initiatives is replaced by focus on the initiatives themselves.
Utopian? Well sure -- but it seems a bir more grounded to be Utopian about the potential of transparency in organizations that to be Utopian about the potential of say, a gaming console or of flickr.
Of course, as AskAway shows, transparency does require respect… courage… candidness ... and shared commitment. But if we collaborate fully, those are things we’ll learn.
Utopian? Well sure -- but it seems a bir more grounded to be Utopian about the potential of transparency in organizations that to be Utopian about the potential of say, a gaming console or of flickr.
Of course, as AskAway shows, transparency does require respect… courage… candidness ... and shared commitment. But if we collaborate fully, those are things we’ll learn.
23.23: And it’s all about … the patron
Or the user, or the client or the consumer. Or the taxpayer. It’s funny how the Library 2.0 literature often makes this point as if it’s novel…since I was a volunteer at Woodrow Wilson library in 1973, I have known hundreds, maybe thousands, of library people who demonstrated this every day (well every work day – we all need time off).
I love books, I but I am not a bookseller. Yes, most of what we get into people’s hands is media objects, but we are not a media-distribution outlet – businesses do that. We are here to get information (be it data, knowledge, information, entertainment or wisdom) into people hands… or heads. The format doesn’t matter – a lecture or a Babygarten or an old-fashioned hardback, it is all good. We are an idea distribution outlet, and what matters is the people we are privileged to get the ideas to.
So I can only be enthusiastic about new ways to reach our users, collaborate with them, and become a community of ideas in partnership with them. The patron is more important than the format, as the Library 2.0 gurus say.
The patron is also more important than the process. Whenever a decision is made, the question library people need to ask is: Am I putting the process ahead of the patron? There are times this has to be done, but not nearly so many times as one might think.
If we are serious about keeping the library user at the center of what we do – and pretty much all the advocates of Library 2.0 start there – let’s be serious. Look at everything we do with the user’s eyes, and work together – collaboratively and openly – to develop the means to deliver to the user the information they need.
Some say Web 2.0 leaves us no choice, that collaboration and openness are inevitable, and perhaps so. But why would we choose any other path?
I love books, I but I am not a bookseller. Yes, most of what we get into people’s hands is media objects, but we are not a media-distribution outlet – businesses do that. We are here to get information (be it data, knowledge, information, entertainment or wisdom) into people hands… or heads. The format doesn’t matter – a lecture or a Babygarten or an old-fashioned hardback, it is all good. We are an idea distribution outlet, and what matters is the people we are privileged to get the ideas to.
So I can only be enthusiastic about new ways to reach our users, collaborate with them, and become a community of ideas in partnership with them. The patron is more important than the format, as the Library 2.0 gurus say.
The patron is also more important than the process. Whenever a decision is made, the question library people need to ask is: Am I putting the process ahead of the patron? There are times this has to be done, but not nearly so many times as one might think.
If we are serious about keeping the library user at the center of what we do – and pretty much all the advocates of Library 2.0 start there – let’s be serious. Look at everything we do with the user’s eyes, and work together – collaboratively and openly – to develop the means to deliver to the user the information they need.
Some say Web 2.0 leaves us no choice, that collaboration and openness are inevitable, and perhaps so. But why would we choose any other path?
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Thing 22: Ebooks
As the person who invented "Ebooks Week at Rust Library" I think this one is just a little unfair. Like every ref person in LCPL (and many circ and YS staff also) I have helped many a user create their netlibrary account, as well as help them learn to use Overdrive, Tumblebook Library, Gale Reference Library, and Learning Express (which are really interactive versions of their books, and therefore closely aligned with ebooks).
The ebooks that are most popular in LCPL are either best-best seller types in Overdrive, and tech/academic/business/computing titles in Netlibrary. The early adapters to ebooks are in tech/academic/business/computing, but that may also be because we don't own the material they are seeking in print, and they're just displaying the "platform agnosticism" that the millenial generation is known for. And our "agnostics" are millenial, genX, boomer and greatest, judging from people who ask to know more about our ebook offerings.
A shout out, too, to some of our databases that are full of text books, though they are not listed as ebook sources. History Resource Center US, History Resource Center World especially included thousands of full books in their primary sources tabs. Take a look sometime! And read an ebook today :) (or, you know a print one, because we are platform agnostic).
The ebooks that are most popular in LCPL are either best-best seller types in Overdrive, and tech/academic/business/computing titles in Netlibrary. The early adapters to ebooks are in tech/academic/business/computing, but that may also be because we don't own the material they are seeking in print, and they're just displaying the "platform agnosticism" that the millenial generation is known for. And our "agnostics" are millenial, genX, boomer and greatest, judging from people who ask to know more about our ebook offerings.
A shout out, too, to some of our databases that are full of text books, though they are not listed as ebook sources. History Resource Center US, History Resource Center World especially included thousands of full books in their primary sources tabs. Take a look sometime! And read an ebook today :) (or, you know a print one, because we are platform agnostic).
Two Bluebirds, a podcast poem
They roost first, then bolt on their fast wings
Churr churr lee she sings ah at last spring
Their perch-to-perch sally
I wish you could all see
Yourselves, or by using podcasting
Churr churr lee she sings ah at last spring
Their perch-to-perch sally
I wish you could all see
Yourselves, or by using podcasting
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Thing 15: Library 2.0
It's interesting to read that Rick Anderson's UN-Reno library's circ has dropped 50% -- but that's a bit different I think than what public libraries are experiencing. Loudoun's circ isn't dropping, and though population growth plays in, and the very high quality of work that comes from Loudoun's Collection Development efforts in selecting new material for purchase plays in. But there's a more fundamental factor in play too. People still want media (books, dvds, audio) in fixed physical format. Not everyone likes reading on a computer screen, and downloadable audio (and video) take work and time. People like the new things, but they like comfort too. When people stop wanting books, dvd's, and cd's, we'll know -- the manufacturers will stop making money, and stop making them.
The best thing about Library 2.0 is how engaged library people get when it comes up. VLA Region V Committee held it's Spring Program today, Library 2.0: Delivering the Promise. Like Learning 2.0 itself, the focus was primarily on the getting to know the technologies. But what I walked away from was a sense that many of these technologies -- and the responses that libraries undertake -- are no less than (and no more than) new means of continuing a conversation.
So let the conversation continue...
The best thing about Library 2.0 is how engaged library people get when it comes up. VLA Region V Committee held it's Spring Program today, Library 2.0: Delivering the Promise. Like Learning 2.0 itself, the focus was primarily on the getting to know the technologies. But what I walked away from was a sense that many of these technologies -- and the responses that libraries undertake -- are no less than (and no more than) new means of continuing a conversation.
So let the conversation continue...
Monday, April 23, 2007
YouTube: Don't look back (except those funny commericals)
Back in the day (midnineties), Mr. Khan would drive his Geo Metro to Boston to see Baby Ray, or Bettie Serveert or Mary Lou Lord, or hop SWA at BWI to see Kathy Mattea in Nashville. He'd see friends, swap stories, an' maybe some friends would give him concert AVI files which he'd put on his webpage (by storing them on his CUA VAX account in a folder that allowed sharing with the ftp protocol). Those files moved to a commerical account when CUA was done, and all was well, until someone at the ISP company decided to start charging for storage. A bill for $180 (three months) followed. Bye bye, avi's.
Now, YouTube makes that all better. YouTube stores your videos for you, and in exchange you just have to be willing for the world to see them. Which is the kinda the point all along, really. It's super. And it gives businesses and public institutions a platform for getting content out there in video form like never before.
The question is probably not "What can libraries (in general, or specific) do with YouTube?" It's probably "What could libraries have done with YouTube, for two or three years?" One thing is for sure, spending time regretting that we didn't get on the bus more quickly isn't going to move us. But getting on the bus, now? Then we are rolling.
Now, YouTube makes that all better. YouTube stores your videos for you, and in exchange you just have to be willing for the world to see them. Which is the kinda the point all along, really. It's super. And it gives businesses and public institutions a platform for getting content out there in video form like never before.
The question is probably not "What can libraries (in general, or specific) do with YouTube?" It's probably "What could libraries have done with YouTube, for two or three years?" One thing is for sure, spending time regretting that we didn't get on the bus more quickly isn't going to move us. But getting on the bus, now? Then we are rolling.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Thing 19: I'd like to thank the academy. Or curse it, say the 2.0 gurus...
Thing 19 is the 2006 Web 2.0 awards and the tools revealed therein. I have to admit that one of my best laughs of 2006 was when I read, in the Web 2.0 Awards publicity that "one thing is for sure, these tools will be around a long time." Because of course, that's not how the web works. Things change constantly, and good ideas tend to be quickly adapted by corporate players like Google, Yahoo, Micrsoft, News Corp, etc. This tends to leave the creators of the ideas holding the bag. For the the YouTube folks, the bag was filled with cash, though, but a lot of web 2.0 award winners probably don't go on to web 3.0 quite as rich.
In the Webby listings, I tried out the two "winners" for personal planning, "hippo cal" and "planzo". The idea is that they give you a web-sharable, easily updated and flexible calendaring utility. Since the awards, hippo cal was bought by Yahoo. And not to be critical, but both were pretty weak. Hippo Cal had real user interface problems setting up recurring events... which is not hard to do in outlook, groupwise and other 1.0 resources. Planzo was more or less laughable -- it says to add an event, click the "add event" button. There was no "add event" button. I asked the contact us. They never answered. I think Planzo is a ghost ship at this point.
But hey, you want web 2.0 calendaring? Try Google. Gmail has a calendar feature that is awesome. You can share your calendar with the world, with people (using their email addresses, no google account required). You can color code (wish that was in Groupwise). You can attach documents. You can use an event search and one-click add events to your schedule. (You're thinking, why would I do that? How about seeing when the Nats are going to play the Braves this year? Or concerts? Or professional conferences? How'd you like to get the events you're gonig to on your personal schedule with one click?).
My point, I guess, is that the web has always had plenty of folks trying to break big with new applications. But those innovative ideas are subject to market forces, and those forces tend to concentrate resources. So the useful ideas will eventually (and this is web time -- eventually is months) be integrated (co-opted?) into offering that will enhance the position of the biggest market players. The Long Tail exists, yes. It's true that the web challenges institutions to be innovative and to collaborate and to mash up, and to let go control. But that doesn't mean that major players will not seek more control by glomming on to the good stuff they see. A net plus for users, for innovators (again, rich YouTube guys), for everyone, because it makes the web into a lab, with low R&D costs. If Parmaceuticals or Renewable Energy research could work the same way, think of the possibilities.
In the Webby listings, I tried out the two "winners" for personal planning, "hippo cal" and "planzo". The idea is that they give you a web-sharable, easily updated and flexible calendaring utility. Since the awards, hippo cal was bought by Yahoo. And not to be critical, but both were pretty weak. Hippo Cal had real user interface problems setting up recurring events... which is not hard to do in outlook, groupwise and other 1.0 resources. Planzo was more or less laughable -- it says to add an event, click the "add event" button. There was no "add event" button. I asked the contact us. They never answered. I think Planzo is a ghost ship at this point.
But hey, you want web 2.0 calendaring? Try Google. Gmail has a calendar feature that is awesome. You can share your calendar with the world, with people (using their email addresses, no google account required). You can color code (wish that was in Groupwise). You can attach documents. You can use an event search and one-click add events to your schedule. (You're thinking, why would I do that? How about seeing when the Nats are going to play the Braves this year? Or concerts? Or professional conferences? How'd you like to get the events you're gonig to on your personal schedule with one click?).
My point, I guess, is that the web has always had plenty of folks trying to break big with new applications. But those innovative ideas are subject to market forces, and those forces tend to concentrate resources. So the useful ideas will eventually (and this is web time -- eventually is months) be integrated (co-opted?) into offering that will enhance the position of the biggest market players. The Long Tail exists, yes. It's true that the web challenges institutions to be innovative and to collaborate and to mash up, and to let go control. But that doesn't mean that major players will not seek more control by glomming on to the good stuff they see. A net plus for users, for innovators (again, rich YouTube guys), for everyone, because it makes the web into a lab, with low R&D costs. If Parmaceuticals or Renewable Energy research could work the same way, think of the possibilities.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Google Docs & Zoho Writer
Well, if these catch on, there will be no more computers just for typing (application workstations). And GoogleDocs and Zoho are better than, say, Microsoft Works. Microsoft Works is my nemesis! More users save files in works format and then cannot open them on our computers than read James Patterson! I think the best plus to network productivity tools like these is that one can always open the resulting files.
Always, except when the Internet is down. Or the power is out. Or the company goes away.
I'll be hangin' on to a pencil or two, I think
Always, except when the Internet is down. Or the power is out. Or the company goes away.
I'll be hangin' on to a pencil or two, I think
pbWiki: writing on the wall
PB Wiki is a bit like writing on the wall -- not the bathroom wall (heaven forfend!), but say, the wall of the yearbook office in high school. Or, it's like a forum, but without threads. I think the fact that the pages look entirely inconsistent is coincedental; a half hour in the plcmc pb wiki and we could fix that all up.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
I'm Out of Order? This Whole Court Is out of Order!
Having skipped #15 for awhile (it's a big topic), I looked at the library wikis in #16. They are interesting ideas all -- I remember suggesting using blog technology for subject guides in what, 2004?
St. Joseph's went wiki instead. I'm curious how often it's used -- is it rarely used, like most library link collections, or does the wiki format make it more accessible, and more used? Ditto for Princeton's Book Lover's Wiki.
The Library Success Wiki is great -- although a collection of links remains a collection of links, whether it's in wiki or web page format. I also wonder when the library profession stopped using peer-reviewed research as it's sources for how to plan and deliver services, and chose instead to rely on blog postings referring to blog postings. It might work; maybe the speed of change overwhelmes traditional academic practices; but I doubt we'll see doctors and lawyers and engineers jump on the bandwagon in quite the same way.
Bull Run's Wiki is great too, but isn't it really a blog, using wiki structure and software? It's nature reifies something that has bothering me throughout the 23 things -- the technolgy, the formats, the tools, are not necessarily relevant -- it's the Data, Information, Knowledge (including Entertainment), and Wisdom transmitted in the communication that actually matters. I want a blog, I want a wiki, I want a podcast -- not. I want to know, to learn, to enjoy, to grow. The tools that help me do that? Good.
St. Joseph's went wiki instead. I'm curious how often it's used -- is it rarely used, like most library link collections, or does the wiki format make it more accessible, and more used? Ditto for Princeton's Book Lover's Wiki.
The Library Success Wiki is great -- although a collection of links remains a collection of links, whether it's in wiki or web page format. I also wonder when the library profession stopped using peer-reviewed research as it's sources for how to plan and deliver services, and chose instead to rely on blog postings referring to blog postings. It might work; maybe the speed of change overwhelmes traditional academic practices; but I doubt we'll see doctors and lawyers and engineers jump on the bandwagon in quite the same way.
Bull Run's Wiki is great too, but isn't it really a blog, using wiki structure and software? It's nature reifies something that has bothering me throughout the 23 things -- the technolgy, the formats, the tools, are not necessarily relevant -- it's the Data, Information, Knowledge (including Entertainment), and Wisdom transmitted in the communication that actually matters. I want a blog, I want a wiki, I want a podcast -- not. I want to know, to learn, to enjoy, to grow. The tools that help me do that? Good.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Technorati
Wow, my blog is ranked Rank: 2,929,066 (0 links from 0 sites) in technorati. Now, that makes you proud!
I do it for the fame.
I do it for the fame.
Another thing that makes me hungry: del.icio.us
Perhaps I am not eating right -- just the mention of del.icio.us makes me hungry. Who knows, that may be part of my problem with the site in general; the word delicious for me has a lot of power, and promises something that the site (for me) doesn't deliver.
I think it's key that del.icio.us is seen as a social bookmarking tool. Making your bookmarks/favorites portable is an old need (and really, most hompages in 1994 were in nature not unlike a user's del.icio.us page). But it's a need that can be filled with numerous tools. I suppose the greatest value of del.icio.us is that it shares out those bookmarks and the tags that go with them. When scaled up to the size of the Internet, that becomes powerful. I am not convinced that it regularly outperforms Google in general research. An example we're in here lately is looking for primary source material from pre-1900 eras. Looking in del.icio.us for tags {primary source} and {primary sources} gives useful results (although, it should be clear, different results due to the little "s" -- which makes anyone who's used library catalogs with LCSH shudder a bit). But really, Google gives the same results. To sum up the practice search (actually, a real user question from 3/27):
in del.icio.us
search (in tags) for Primary Source Augustus: no results relevant to the Roman emperor
search (in tags) for Primary Sources Augustus: a good source http://virgil.org/augustus/primary-sources.htm on the Roman Emperor comes to the top, and that's it
in google
search for Primary Source Augustus, or Primary Sources Augustus and the good source at http://virgil.org/augustus/primary-sources.htm comes to the top. Plus lots more.
So I suppose del.icio.us is most useful for depth on topics of interest, and, of course, for those web 2.0 stalwarts, discovering RSS feeds and linking up with users of like interest. With users I'd still probably be more inclined to use Google... the nature of the Google search engine is that it's going to pick up on things that are tagged frequently in del.icio.us unfailingly.
A note about tags: at least they give many users a language with which we can explain how MARC fields allow field searching. But the lack of rules for applying tags make them only so useful, especially when not scaled to net-wide implementation. I think I'd be excited it Horizon could implement user tagging for bib records that would then be used to facilitate new, user-centered search options for the HIP -- but unless we were sharing the tag database with the entire customer base of Horizon (and perhaps ibistro as well), the small scale of taggers would make that data completely idiosyncratic. Probably pretty interesting, but probably not that useful for information retrieval.
Tagging is to cataloging as humming a half-remembered jingle is to symphonies
but
Tags are to cataloging as (not-by-numbers) painting is to photography
{i will write metaphors for food. if it's del.icio.us}
I think it's key that del.icio.us is seen as a social bookmarking tool. Making your bookmarks/favorites portable is an old need (and really, most hompages in 1994 were in nature not unlike a user's del.icio.us page). But it's a need that can be filled with numerous tools. I suppose the greatest value of del.icio.us is that it shares out those bookmarks and the tags that go with them. When scaled up to the size of the Internet, that becomes powerful. I am not convinced that it regularly outperforms Google in general research. An example we're in here lately is looking for primary source material from pre-1900 eras. Looking in del.icio.us for tags {primary source} and {primary sources} gives useful results (although, it should be clear, different results due to the little "s" -- which makes anyone who's used library catalogs with LCSH shudder a bit). But really, Google gives the same results. To sum up the practice search (actually, a real user question from 3/27):
in del.icio.us
search (in tags) for Primary Source Augustus: no results relevant to the Roman emperor
search (in tags) for Primary Sources Augustus: a good source http://virgil.org/augustus/primary-sources.htm on the Roman Emperor comes to the top, and that's it
in google
search for Primary Source Augustus, or Primary Sources Augustus and the good source at http://virgil.org/augustus/primary-sources.htm comes to the top. Plus lots more.
So I suppose del.icio.us is most useful for depth on topics of interest, and, of course, for those web 2.0 stalwarts, discovering RSS feeds and linking up with users of like interest. With users I'd still probably be more inclined to use Google... the nature of the Google search engine is that it's going to pick up on things that are tagged frequently in del.icio.us unfailingly.
A note about tags: at least they give many users a language with which we can explain how MARC fields allow field searching. But the lack of rules for applying tags make them only so useful, especially when not scaled to net-wide implementation. I think I'd be excited it Horizon could implement user tagging for bib records that would then be used to facilitate new, user-centered search options for the HIP -- but unless we were sharing the tag database with the entire customer base of Horizon (and perhaps ibistro as well), the small scale of taggers would make that data completely idiosyncratic. Probably pretty interesting, but probably not that useful for information retrieval.
Tagging is to cataloging as humming a half-remembered jingle is to symphonies
but
Tags are to cataloging as (not-by-numbers) painting is to photography
{i will write metaphors for food. if it's del.icio.us}
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Rollyo? Rollo? Oh no...
Hmm, I created a search roll for Virginia Law. Rather slow, and please don't actually use it, as the mish-mash I put in is not an effective search, for real purposes. Despite Debra Messing's excellent roll for shopping, the utility of this is not immediately clear -- why not use the google advanced search and limit to domains there? It's a lot faster. Example search of VA code
But something about Rollyo makes me hungry -- did candy used to come wrapped in those colors? In the sixties and seventies? And would life be easier or harder if one could remember such things clearly?
Monday, March 19, 2007
Library Thing
I'll admit to being in the group that's not bothered by having an out-of-control home library. I can see the social networking fun of Library Thing (LT), although I'm not sure if I'd really want to know the people whose libraries are most like mine. Actually I own a few more books than that...
I am really fond of the use of Z39.50 to scoop data from Amazon and LC... it's elegant and cheap and many a public library could probably use this as their main catalog utility, especially ones that have collections without much local and/or unique material. (Well, it would fail badly on serials and continuations, too).
It's almost cheating, and who knows how long LT will survive, but, ya know, full MARC records. For free...
I am really fond of the use of Z39.50 to scoop data from Amazon and LC... it's elegant and cheap and many a public library could probably use this as their main catalog utility, especially ones that have collections without much local and/or unique material. (Well, it would fail badly on serials and continuations, too).
It's almost cheating, and who knows how long LT will survive, but, ya know, full MARC records. For free...
Monday, March 5, 2007
Thing 10: Generators: priceless. And not in the good way
Adobe Photoshop CS 2: $649.00
Corel Paint Shop Pro: $68.79
Microsoft Photo and Paint: Free for windows users
Seashore, Gimp, and Pixel: Shareware (for Mac users)
Image generators: not really worth that much
Once you have an image editing program on your computer, it'll take a short amount of time to get to the point where you can do so much more than these generator tools. Generators are the mircowave cuisine of computer imagery. Free stuff can beat them; the relatively inexpensive Paint Shop demolishes them.
Look at pretty much any .com website. Bloglines. The White House. The Sri Lanka Tourist Board. The graphics there were created using tools for creating graphics. It's heterodox in the 2.0 context to advocate learning desktop tools over sliding thru using web-based apps, but, um, look for yourself.
My disclaimer is that I'm no Picasso -- but real image editing tools are really not that hard to learn. In a pinch, ask your kids -- they probably know MS Paint backward and forward. They'll tell you -- not only are the real tools more useful, but they're more fun for play, too.
Corel Paint Shop Pro: $68.79
Microsoft Photo and Paint: Free for windows users
Seashore, Gimp, and Pixel: Shareware (for Mac users)
Image generators: not really worth that much
Once you have an image editing program on your computer, it'll take a short amount of time to get to the point where you can do so much more than these generator tools. Generators are the mircowave cuisine of computer imagery. Free stuff can beat them; the relatively inexpensive Paint Shop demolishes them.
Look at pretty much any .com website. Bloglines. The White House. The Sri Lanka Tourist Board. The graphics there were created using tools for creating graphics. It's heterodox in the 2.0 context to advocate learning desktop tools over sliding thru using web-based apps, but, um, look for yourself.
My disclaimer is that I'm no Picasso -- but real image editing tools are really not that hard to learn. In a pinch, ask your kids -- they probably know MS Paint backward and forward. They'll tell you -- not only are the real tools more useful, but they're more fun for play, too.
Monday, January 29, 2007
number nine. number nine
Feedster and topix are fine, despite their slapdash interfaces... but most users probably don't so much need more feeds as more time to follow the feeds already identified. syndic8 has a very "dorm room basement" feel but it's still pretty interesting. As for technorati...
technorati has a featured link on many Washington Post stories labeled "see what the bloggers are saying about this article". Previous experience following those technorati links suggests that while my committment to freedom of speech is unlimited, I don't really need to process all speech myself. Blogs can be a social networking tool -- witness the blog features of myspace, etc., but technorati's links from the Post suggest that blogs can also be an antisocial dispersal tool, too -- providing the means for people to talk without listening, split into brittle self-reinforcing camps of opinion, and just generally be mean. A walk thru featured sites on technorati's own website does not change this impression...
I donno, I know a lot of people with a lot of different views. I do not generally seek out the company of people based on their ability to make others cry, to seem like fools, nor to act superior. Usually, it's more the ability to make people, me 'specially, laugh. Whether it's religion, politics, or the Rosie/Trump feud, it's hard to find humor in the blogosphere. I wish there was more.
technorati has a featured link on many Washington Post stories labeled "see what the bloggers are saying about this article". Previous experience following those technorati links suggests that while my committment to freedom of speech is unlimited, I don't really need to process all speech myself. Blogs can be a social networking tool -- witness the blog features of myspace, etc., but technorati's links from the Post suggest that blogs can also be an antisocial dispersal tool, too -- providing the means for people to talk without listening, split into brittle self-reinforcing camps of opinion, and just generally be mean. A walk thru featured sites on technorati's own website does not change this impression...
I donno, I know a lot of people with a lot of different views. I do not generally seek out the company of people based on their ability to make others cry, to seem like fools, nor to act superior. Usually, it's more the ability to make people, me 'specially, laugh. Whether it's religion, politics, or the Rosie/Trump feud, it's hard to find humor in the blogosphere. I wish there was more.
Thing 8: RSS and Bloglines
I've used bloglines for awhile -- it is the app that makes me want a different computing device -- the very light yet indestructible screen about the size of a composition book, with touch screen mouse and (well, obviously) everywhere wireless. Because i could see sitting down at Roy's or Ledo's or Deli South and reading the news via RSS/bloglines on that device. At this point I have a much smaller list of feeds than I would if I had a more portable device...
As for posting my bloglines account, I could do that, but I'm not gonna...because my fondness for comic strips some might consider corny (Unshelved? Red and Rover? Mary Worth? OK not Mary Worth) is covered, I think, by patron confidentiality. And I'm not just Radically Transparent enough yet...
As for posting my bloglines account, I could do that, but I'm not gonna...because my fondness for comic strips some might consider corny (Unshelved? Red and Rover? Mary Worth? OK not Mary Worth) is covered, I think, by patron confidentiality. And I'm not just Radically Transparent enough yet...
Monday, January 22, 2007
Jackson County Oregon
Jackson County Oregon, population pop. 190077, home of Southern Oregon State University, Ashland Shakespeare Festival, Harry & David, some great looking new library branches and some not great news: http://www.jcls.org/infoblog/?p=3
Friday, January 19, 2007
So you’re blogging – keeping a web diary. Your thoughts and feelings about business, technology and life are on the web. If you’re a teen, your blog has likely replaced the diaries and journals kept by previous generations. Remember diaries? Those personal documents bore an aura of secrecy strong enough to spur countless brother-sister spats, “you just don’t trust me” screaming matches with parents, and Young Adult Novels. Those have been replaced by blogs, repositories as private as today’s Washington Post.
And you’re flickring – posting photos from your world to the world’s most famous photosharing site. Time was, your snapshots were carefully wrapped in opaque envelopes at the Rite Aid. The clerk would hand them to you and you would inspect them with a certain sense of circumspection. If someone was standing behind you, would you hold the pictures close, because your photos, your life, was private?
One thing seems clear, the definitions or personal and private are changing. It isn’t the tools themselves that change our understanding of privacy, it is the human behaviors and choices that the tools enable. Some bloggers hold personal information, and personal insight close, others become publizens or open humans. Some flickr users protect their photos to ensure only friends and family will view them, others, including those who are working as artistic or professional photographers, post photos that let the Internet look quite closely at their lives and interests. More and more, people are choosing transparency over privacy. The tools make this choice easy, but I don’t think they actually motivate it. If you’re moving towards Radical Transparency, it is offering you some value – intellectual, emotional, professional, business.
So for 23 Things there’s the value of the prize, the value of the learning, and the social networking value of others reading your posts. For flickr-ites, there’s social networking, potential selling of photos/services, and the coaching you’ll see in the comments of high-end pictures. For blogs? Well, perhaps we all dream of being the next Wonkette, or Daily Kos, but for most bloggers I think it’s more that people want to be heard. They say 51% of the Millenial Generation plans on being famous-- and perhaps they will be.
The tools make it easy, the zeitgiest makes it acceptable, the variety of blogs diminishes shyness (as bloggers must think, “oh, I’ve seen goofier blogs than mine”), and the downsides are not immediately evident - especially not to Millenials. So if there’s value to you, be transparent.
And you’re flickring – posting photos from your world to the world’s most famous photosharing site. Time was, your snapshots were carefully wrapped in opaque envelopes at the Rite Aid. The clerk would hand them to you and you would inspect them with a certain sense of circumspection. If someone was standing behind you, would you hold the pictures close, because your photos, your life, was private?
One thing seems clear, the definitions or personal and private are changing. It isn’t the tools themselves that change our understanding of privacy, it is the human behaviors and choices that the tools enable. Some bloggers hold personal information, and personal insight close, others become publizens or open humans. Some flickr users protect their photos to ensure only friends and family will view them, others, including those who are working as artistic or professional photographers, post photos that let the Internet look quite closely at their lives and interests. More and more, people are choosing transparency over privacy. The tools make this choice easy, but I don’t think they actually motivate it. If you’re moving towards Radical Transparency, it is offering you some value – intellectual, emotional, professional, business.
So for 23 Things there’s the value of the prize, the value of the learning, and the social networking value of others reading your posts. For flickr-ites, there’s social networking, potential selling of photos/services, and the coaching you’ll see in the comments of high-end pictures. For blogs? Well, perhaps we all dream of being the next Wonkette, or Daily Kos, but for most bloggers I think it’s more that people want to be heard. They say 51% of the Millenial Generation plans on being famous-- and perhaps they will be.
The tools make it easy, the zeitgiest makes it acceptable, the variety of blogs diminishes shyness (as bloggers must think, “oh, I’ve seen goofier blogs than mine”), and the downsides are not immediately evident - especially not to Millenials. So if there’s value to you, be transparent.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Mashups: One I like, One I don't
There are a lot of flickr mashups, and it makes sense -- flickr mystique is one of it's main assets, and that mystique includes a willingness to focus with obsession -- makes sense for a photo site, right? Most of the mashups are tricks and treats without a lot of practical use but they demonstrate the skill of the programmers and the fleixbility of flickr's structure. That seems small but contrast it to the way Microsoft and Apple hold their API's tightly. (I know, Apple has a much groovier reputation, but the reason there are no eaudio vendors for libraries that vend material to use on the iPod is because Apple holds it's Digital Rights Management structure so tightly). And you can bet that the programmers who do the mashups -- especially the ones that rise to being "hits" on the web -- get attention.
I don't, myself see much in Mappr. It relies on tags (or perhaps the user profile) to determine geographic place, and then thumbnails pictures based on that. Putting in a zip 25425 deals a deck of pictures connected in some way with Harpers Ferry West Virginia yes. But it's hard to see that the mappr interface advantages a user much over just using flickr's native search.
On the other hand retrievr is cool. You sketch a simple design in a box, and it pulls back flickr images that look something like what you drew. It has more sophisticated tools built in that let you upload an image to find a match from the rest of the flickr corpus. The basic idea probably has a much more powerful implementation at the National Reconnaissance Office and the FBI; but this little trick seems quit innovative and sharp (and doesn't rely on tags or captions to generate results). Of course, the similarity of the sketch/uploaded image to the retrieved images is not always clear. But interesting nonetheless, and you can't go wrong with a seascapes, cats and monkeys.
I don't, myself see much in Mappr. It relies on tags (or perhaps the user profile) to determine geographic place, and then thumbnails pictures based on that. Putting in a zip 25425 deals a deck of pictures connected in some way with Harpers Ferry West Virginia yes. But it's hard to see that the mappr interface advantages a user much over just using flickr's native search.
On the other hand retrievr is cool. You sketch a simple design in a box, and it pulls back flickr images that look something like what you drew. It has more sophisticated tools built in that let you upload an image to find a match from the rest of the flickr corpus. The basic idea probably has a much more powerful implementation at the National Reconnaissance Office and the FBI; but this little trick seems quit innovative and sharp (and doesn't rely on tags or captions to generate results). Of course, the similarity of the sketch/uploaded image to the retrieved images is not always clear. But interesting nonetheless, and you can't go wrong with a seascapes, cats and monkeys.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Lazy Hippo
Woo hoo, this would be the entry for thing 5, where I blog on an interesting flickr photo. Now, about Lazy Hippo himself, there is only so much to say ... he's in a zoo, he's used to exposure. We humans, perhaps less so.
About flickr, it should be remembered that it is a commercial enterprise, and one that has competitors in it's market. Smugmug, photobucket, pbase, webshots, and more. Including many out there whose operations and interface use other languages. Tho' I drink Coke (a lot of it) I as a librarian am probably not inclined to recommend to users Coke over Pepsi because it's more cool. And it is more cool, really.
I used smugmug myself for my last vacation pitcures because I find their interface easier and faster.
Taken as a whole, these photo sharing sites simplify the process of posting photos to the web so much that it changes everything. Lots of people point to YouTube as having an impact on the last election; the larger corpus of photos out there has the same kind of impact, just not as headline grabbing. For examples (1) its documented that people have been fired, hired, disciplined at school, etc., for photos from these sites, (2) for pro and pro-am photographers who don't have their own (expensive and hard-to-keep updated) websites, these tools provide a front door to their business. Seems to me that as bands from the international stars Oasis to local tidewater rockers Rooks must have myspace pages now, those photographers seeking to enhance their reputations, get new clients, and work in a community on their art, those folks have to get on flickr. And it's in the communities, the conversations, and the high end photos that flickr seems to pass it's competition. For good phtoographers, it must be a great place to share.
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