Wikis

Ah, Wikis, who doesn't love doing a Google search and getting all of their information from Wikipedia?

I think Wikis are both good and bad. When used for groups such as friends planning a trip like we saw in the YouTube video or for Libraries, wikis are a great thing. When used for research, etc. I'm not so sure if I like them. I'm worried that the fact that anyone can edit a wiki might mean there's a lot of misinformation out there.

Another problem with wikis (and blogs, etc.) is keeping them updated in a timely fashion. I took a look through some of the wiki links and noticed that one said their book club ended in 2006 and they didn't do one in 2007. Um, we're now in 2010 so I'm not sure how current that wiki is.

In general I don't think they're a bad idea, but to me, it's just another thing you have to keep up with. If you're not willing to spend all of your free time maintaining it, why do it in the first place?

Library 2.0 & Web 2.0

A lot of the articles make sense on what Libraries should be doing. I love that WorldCat is open to all and free to search so someone looking for a book that may be more academic in nature can see that it's available at Stony Brook or Hofstra and although they might not be able to check it out since they're not a student, they can travel to the Library to browse through it and make copies if necessary.

I also recognized some of the new aspects in out updated catalog from talking points in the article "To a Temporary Place in Time." The author says that catalogs should be fluid and use 2.0 aspects to appeal to all users with such things as tag clouds, digital downloads and recommendations. These are all things that SCLS has done by subscribing to Suffolkwave and adding tagging and reviews to the current catalog. Although I don't think everything is perfect, I do think we're definitely taking a step in the right direction.