Thing #20: Find a "Folksonomy" and Describe it on Your Blog

Description:

Not too much in terms of description, though I can promise that this one is pretty simple. I want you to find out what a "Folksonomy" is, find one on the internet and describe it on your blog.

Hints:

• Google (and other search engines) and Wikipedia (and other encyclopedias) are your friends. :)
• Folksonomy is very much related to "tagging." So, do thing number 18, and you'll be well on the way to thing #20.
  
• Go as far as you want with the description. Like Calculus, it takes a little bit of time to really understand why this sort of thing would be useful. So, if it makes no sense, do what you can to describe it and then that's enough for me.
• Wouldn't asking a question in a quiz on folksonomy be a good way to find out if you really did the "things?"

Resources:

• Folksonomy -- Daniel Pink in the New York Times.
  

Thing #19: 'Friend' Someone on a Web 2.0 Service

Description:

"Social" software cannot be social until you have some way to create a network. That's why I'm asking you to "friend" someone using a service. You choose the service.

"Friending" is just a way of noting that you have common interests on a web tool.

Some websites that offer "friending":

• Linked-In is a professional networking site (ie for jobs).
• Facebook is a social networking software originally designed for college students.
• delicious offers a "network" tool that is pretty good for anonymity.
• flickr has "contacts" which is that same as "friends."
• LibraryThing has a networking tool as well.
  

Hints:

• I realize identity/privacy etc. is important to many of you. Use a "nickname" for your identity for this "thing" please.
• You can friend me if you like:
• http://del.icio.us/Greebie on del.icio.us
  
• Ryan Deschamps on facebook and linked in.
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/greebie/ on flickr.
• You can friend some library accounts around:
• http://www.twitter.com/hpllearning
• http://del.icio.us/hplinfodesk
• You could friend a co-worker if you like and they could friend you as a pay-back.
• I'll accept "tried and failed" on this one as well.

Resources:

• MySpace: Friending is the New Ad
  

Thing #18: "Tag" Something on a Web 2.0 Service

Description:

A "tag" is label that can be applied to a photo, bookmark or anything else so that it a) can be described and b) may be put aside for later. This "thing" asks you to try out a tag on a service of your choice.

Here are some popular services that offer tags:

• Blogger, Wordpress (although don't you think this is cheating a little)?
• LibraryThing, and Bibliophil
• del.icio.us
• Flickr, YouTube and related sites.

Hints:

• You may need an account with the service you are using to create tags.
• The collection of tags used on a service is called a "Folksonomy." Remember that: it will help you complete Thing Number 20, and has one other use you will discover later.
• Think of tags as like storing something in a folder, except the folder is "applied" to the object instead of the object being put in the folder. The main advantage is that tags work as if you had the same file in a number of different folders at the same time.
• Tagging is also helpful because it can be unique. For instance, maybe you need a certain photo for a course or program -- you can tag the photo with the program/course name!

Resources:

• The Flickr Tagging page.
  

I'm Running Late!

I will be releasing the next "things" today. Until then, I thought I'd add some notes:

• I had a few more questions about how I will see people's blogs when this is all over. What's going to happen is that, in the next few days, I am going to ask you to answer a brief "quiz." This quiz will be easy for anyone who is familiar with the "things," and even if it is not, a quick search through this blog will probably uncover the answer.
• A number of savvy folks have commented that the "social" aspect of the social software is missing from a number of the "things." I think this is a fair comment. The difficulty here is trying to balance between the social interaction and respecting people's comfort level where their privacy is concerned. But here are some things I will propose:
• If you want your blog listed on this website, send me a note via email, or through the anonymous feed back form. If you do this, I will link to you in a "wrap up" post on The Other Librarian, which gets quite a good amount of traffic.
  
• One of the "things" this week will have a limited "friending" requirement.
• I will have another "mini challenge" related to the last series (Internet Messaging and Chat) that should encourage collaboration as well.
• A number of people are seriously missing chocolate. Mea Culpa, I didn't know my kitchen would be flooded, then sold (we moved to a new house), then renovated. I still have all the ingredients for fudge, I just haven't made it yet!
• More t-shirts will be leaving my office for some wonderful tech sharers this week! Check your mail box, you may already be a winner!
  

Photosharing Video/Tutorial

For those of you on Thing #17, here is another of those great tutorials on what Flickr and Photosharing is all about.

Innovative Idea from Alderney Gate: 23 on the 23rd!

If you are working at Alderney Gate, or may be you want to look at doing one at your own branch, Linda Langille and Helen Hughes got the idea of doing the 23 things on the 23rd as a way to promote the program and work together.

I found this out via Alison's blog and couldn't resist sharing it. I think it's a great idea. Thanks to Linda and Helen for thinking it up, and thanks to Alison for being a "sharer." The only problem is that Alison already has a shirt (did I mention that they arrived and they have begun their long trek through our delivery system to already nominated "sharers?") from the Wiki War!

Social Software -- What is It?

The next four weeks will be dedicated to services called Social Software. In answering the question "what is Social Software" the obvious question is "what does social software do?"

That's the problem: there really isn't a single "do" that can describe all social softwares. There are some fairly common threads, however.

• Social softwares usually cover a particular theme or purpose. For instance, del.icio.us is about website bookmarks, Library Thing is about books and Flickr is about photographs.
• Social softwares usually offer something called "tags." Tags are common words applied to objects (like photographs, or bookmarks or books) in order to describe them and trace them for later.
  
• Social softwares usually encourage you to add "friends," "contacts," or whatnot so you can easily share information with others in real time.
• Social softwares are usually developed using something called an "API" or Application Programming Interface. That's technical jargon, but the main thing you need to know is that people who understand code can use a service's API to create websites that use multiple social softwares in a mashup. For example, flickr.no-end uses flickr to create large-scale mosaics based on search terms. Flickrvision takes Flickr pictures and applies them to a Google Map. If you think about how "widgets" can be put on to your blog, that's an "API" at work (although some bright young coder already did the work for you).
  
• Social softwares usually encourage users to add, edit, and change the content on the website. This is different from standard websites, of course. Take, for instance, how the library's website currently does not allow users to "change" the information there.

In the end, I'm saying that social softwares are complicated and varied. There's a social software for just about every interest.

That's why the "Things" for this week are vague. I want you to try them out, in whatever way you want to. After that, I will ask you to try out a few "tasks" (tagging, for instance) using a social software that matches your own liking.

Have fun!

Thing #17: Give Flickr a Shot

Description:

Flickr is a photo sharing tool. You can create an account and upload photos (which can be made seen by public or made "private"). You can have a list of "contacts" on your account, so that you can see your friends photos as they upload them. You can even add little notes to your pictures that can more easily describe what is going on in the photo.

As with Library Thing and del.icio.us, I would like you to just "try it out." What that means is up to you. You can get an account or just look at the photos. Just let me know what you thought of it on your blog.

Hints:

• One of the more interesting sections of Flickr is the Creative Commons, which is a repository of photos with licenses automatically offering permission to users to copy them, with certain restrictions (usually related to attribution -- ie. giving the photographer credit).
• Flickr is a Yahoo! product, so you may need to get a Yahoo! account in order to use it. As I think of it, del.icio.us is a Yahoo! product too.
• Flickr utilizes RSS as well -- so you can grab feeds of your favorite collection of pictures and have any updates sent out to your RSS aggregator.
• Next week you will learn about tagging which will definitely make these tools make more sense as you go along.
• "I tried and I failed" works as a successful completion for Things #s 14-20. Just give it a shot and if you don't understand it, try it when you are interested.

Resources:

• Flickr + Libraries = scary, scary, scary to some (Michael Stephens)
  

Thing #16: Try Out del.icio.us

Description:

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking website. Your task is very simple. Try it out and tell me what it does on your blog. I do not care how far you got, or even if you just read the wikipedia article about it -- I just want you to play around with the site to see what it does.

Hints:

• Maybe you want to see my del.icio.us account.
• No "www" before the del.icio.us in the web address. Just http://del.icio.us .
• If you want to add bookmarks to the account, you will need to create an account. There will also be a "step" where you will be asked to upload the Firefox or Internet Explorer extension. That's up to you if you want to do that. It is not necessary for the thing.
• For Things #s 14 through to 20, I will accept "Tried it and Failed" as a successful completion.

Thing #15: Find a Similar Reader on Library Thing

Description:

LibraryThing may be the most relevant-to-libraries Web 2.0 service out there. It is a service that lets you catalogue (yes, with Library of Congress headings!) your own collection of books. Once you have a collection yourself, there are lots of things you can do, the most fun (I think) is use the Suggestions button to find people with similar reading interests. Or if you want to be even more social, you can look at your profile and see who has the same books that you have.

Hints:

• You will need to create an account with LibraryThing and this will require an email address.
  
• You will need to figure out how to add some books (say about 3) to your library to do this.
• Similar readers will be shown on your profile page.
  
• You do not have to put in books that actually exist in your real library. Put in whatever you want.
• On things #15-20, I am willing to accept "I tried and failed" as a successful completion of the thing. No need to spend hours on these if you get stuck.
  
• I am "Greebie" if you want to see my collection.

Resources:

• Tag Your Books with Library Thing
  
• Library Thing the Best Website Ever!
  

The Anonymous Feedback -- How is it Going, one-month in?

Since we are back in the new year, I thought I'd go over some of the big issues that have been raised so far with the program. Some of these came up as comments, others from the anonymous surveys, some from blog posts I've seen around and so on.

1. I can't seem to find time to get any of the "Things" done.

Unfortunately, I knew that finding time to get the "23 things" done would be a challenge for many. Not only that, but the people who are apt to find off-desk time to do a "thing" are also likely to be the same sort of people who would find the "things" quite easy.

• I tried to give as much time as I could (6 months) to finish the things.
• I tried to make the things as simple to do (with room to learn more) without making them seem useless.
  
• I asked branch managers to do what they can to accommodate requests for off-desk time for the 23 things.
• I left the month of December and the first week of January "thing-less" so people could catch up.
• I provided a list of hints and, in some cases, step-by-step instructions on how to do the "thing" and linked to these hints from the side bar (look to your right) and on the timeline post.
• I will be offering an explicit opportunity to call or email specific "gurus" in the month of march to help anyone finish up their things.
• The last "thing" was help someone else. I still think this is the best way possible to learn any of the things.

In the end, if it is a chance for the laptop (or other prizes) that you want, please remember to use any loophole you can find just to finish the 23 things. I *want* you to qualify for the laptop!

If it's the learning experience, and not so much the laptop, how about just choosing one or two "things" and learning them well?

2. These things are a waste of time. . .

A few of you felt that the social networking sites I've introduced so far were a waste of time. In particular, the blog seemed to some of you a passing fad.

I think I might have started with something besides the blog to illustrate that the "web 2.0" fad (and it may still be a fad) is not just about offering a wide-ranged confessional to the huge internet public.

I think a good analogy for Web 2.0 is as a "buffet" versus the standard restaurant. A buffet may include things you do not like, but that does not mean the buffet as a whole is a wash. While blogging may not be your thing, I think something like RSS or online wordprocessors/spreadsheets might be. If someone at the desk was looking for up-to-date information on their favorite pet subject, I think it is good to know that blogs exist and that they can be accessed pretty efficiently via RSS. In short, I'm just asking you to give this all a try. In the meantime, I'm hoping that one or two people in every branch will take to this stuff and be able to provide tips to those who are experts on other things.

If you think something I chose really is stupid or a waste of time, let me know and better, let me know why. We need to know what out there in the "buffet" that is Web 2.0 will work for us. Conversely, if you really think something out there would be really valuable to use, I'd like to hear about that as well. Libraries are using these sorts of tools with a wide spectrum of success and failure.

3. Person X has really been helpful to us while we were completing the "things," I just wanted to let you know.

Hey! Thanks for letting me know. Now I can let a secret out of the bag. I am going to ask each branch manager to give me the name of someone who has been really helpful to others during this process. Those person(s) are going to get a Denis Cunningham original t-shirt (pictures to come soon)!