Based off of the “23 Things,”  SLA’s Transportation Division is in the process of encouraging it’s members to try “7 Things.” That is, seven things that librarians should know about online tools and resources. I’m already familiar with them, but in the spirit of sharing I’m going to try and help others through the process by displaying my work.

Blogging - This is my blog. In case you are interested, I bought some server space last summer (2008) and installed WordPress using PHP and a MySQL database. WordPress is free open source software . My “microblog”  (Twitter account)  feeds into my “Currently” page. You can visit it separately for a more detail view.

RSS Feeds – Personally, I’m less interested in RSS feeds as a tool to keep updated with than I am in using them to build websites and other cool stuff. RSS stands for “really simple syndication” and is basically data formatted in XML. The cool thing about XML is that it is awesome for data interchange. My point? Well, not only does RSS let you update information using feed readers but it also lets you pull out information  from other RSS feeds… and manipulate it! My blog’s RSS feed is available here.

Photo Sharing – I have a mixed relationship with photo sharing. On one hand I like photos and they are an ideal media format for sprucing things  up (like my blog). On the other hand, since digital cameras are so easy to get a hold of many people just slap random content online. Case in point: here. Sorry Mr. Powell. You’re usually more photogenic.

Social Bookmarking – Social bookmarking is a handy tool for people “on the go.” Delicious lets you create an account, save hyperlinks, login, and share information from computer to computer. It also allows you to view items by popularity. As part of the “7 Things” I created a Delicious account (my second one in two years), but dunno if I’ll keep using it.

Social Networking – I am on Facebook. You can visit me there. You can also visit MoDOT too. :)

Wikis – For those of you unaware, “Wiki” is Hawaiian for “fast.” Publishing online usually requires HTML and other markup languages, but a wiki doesn’t even need that. Wiki’s simplified markup make it where almost anyone can use them. They’re also very useful for collaboration. The SLA Transportation Wiki serves as the SLA Transportation Division’s webpage, and I personally use a password protected one to document my daily work.

Working in the Cloud – Cloud computing refers to working with Web 2.o tools. Originally the web was static. Now, it’s much more interactive. Things that were desktop based several years ago are now online. This can be a little daunting, but once people realize that working in a “cloud” envrionment is a more transparent than most people seem to adapt.

Over at the Angry Librarian there is a really sobering debate going on about Libraries, Google, and the efforts of librarians to provide the best possible service to patrons. For those of you unaware, librarians have had mixed feelings on search engines for quite some time. On one hand they make our jobs easier. But, on the other hand they’re little more than tools. Very effective multi-million dollar tools, perhaps, but still them nonetheless. Our patrons like to use them instead of us too!

Anyway, the Angry Librarian brings up something called the “Reference Abstract” which is basically a search engine that returns accurate information for it’s users in a Googlesque manner. Think of it as Wikipedia, Yahoo, et al. with an academic checking up to make sure the sources are always valid. But there’s a catch and it’s a big one. The Angry Librarian notes:

An obvious rant, for sure, but as someone with a background in digital libraries she makes a really good point! Librarians just can’t expect to create the neat stuff that most of the private sector does. It’s not our job. We don’t have the technological talent and we don’t have the money. That said, I’m curious as to what the rest of you think. Is this necessarily the case? If so, does that mean libraries are going to start dying off? Did I waste two years of my life in library school?