Spacebook

Social networks are great for some people, and I don't see a problem with libraries using them. Personally, however, I don't find them as convenient as email. Some of my friends are on Facebook, some are on Myspace, others only have email. I'm not going to spend my time going from social network to social network to keep tabs on people. I go to one place, my email, that is it. And yes I know that the social networks will send notices to your email when things "happen" in your network, but you still have to go to their site and login to find the details. That's too much work. Maybe once I have my own computer, but until then email works the best for me.

Mee-mee

I think IMing could be a great tool. Imagine being a patron at a PAL and being able to get your question asked without having to get up and stand in line at the Reference desk? Or better yet, being online at home and getting your question answered without having to actually drive to the library or looking the phone number up and calling? Also, with rooms, other people could visit and see other questions that they hadn't thought of asking perhaps. Or, why not have themed IM rooms ("Genealogy databases" or "How to use Microsoft Word") or even IM classes? The one downside to IM is that someone has to be at the computer and remember to log on and off (that is the reason I gave up on IMing my friends. They would forget to update their status on their computer when they left or returned).

I added a picture of the Roadrunner because Meebo reminded me of the beeping sound he makes (mee-mee). Anyways, Meebo is nice because if you are like me and don't own a computer you can still instant message people, if you want to. I use email and don't instant message, but if I did I would use Meebo.

The RSS Titanic

I looked at the RSS search tools but I can't comment much on the search, because I don't have any favorite sites to search for or anything, sooo, yeah. As for how patrons could use RSS, I think there would be interest in subscribing to feeds from their favorite authors, so when a new book is about to be released, or to be added to the catalog, they could know right away. Other than that I have no ideas.

RSS=Really Super Sophisticated...

...as in NOT simple. It is a neat idea, but boy it's a good thing my smart coworker was nearby to help me figure it out. When all is said and done, if you read lots of blogs and news sites regularly, RSS is a great timesaver. I, however, don't, nor am I about to start (lack of time as always being the reason). After compiling a list of RSS feeds that I was interested in, I realized I wouldn't use RSS because, though I spend a goodly amount of time surfing the web, the surfing I do is mostly research and not the type of surfing that would be helped with RSS feeds. I could see how RSS feeds could be used at work-related tasks. Perhaps there are certain emails sent out to everyone regularly that could be RSS feeds so that people who need to see them could subscribe and those who don't wouldn't have them in their inbox.

So, on to item 8.

Like I said, my favorite habit is PLAY

Fastr is a fun Flickr mashup that gives you several pictures from Flickr and has you guess what the common tag is. Flickr Sudoku is also quite fun.