A del.icio.us new librarything

Lots to get through in week 7 of the learning 2.0 course. Del.icio.us is new to me, I have used google bookmarks but in a the same fashion that I would use the favourites tool on internet explorer. The one benefit that I gain is that I can access my bookmarks on any PC. Del.icio.us offers a lot more functionality (or perhaps I have not utilised fully google bookmarks). I am particularly impressed with the way a number of library services have deployed del.icio.us; Sutherland is a good example. Also the Cleveland Public Library has set up a straightforward links site. Yet another project for our library.

I have come to the conclusion that I need to reassess our Library's technology plan. Rather than make adhoc changes to our site I think it best to develop an integrated approach. One thing that has impressed me of late is how Sutherland library have utilised blogs in a seamless fashion; unless you look at the url you would not know if you were viewing a website or a blog. This has obvious advantages for the web designer with regards to utilising the layout tools of blogger. It's great to see the speed of which public libraries are embracing library 2.0 and creating some fantastic sites for their patrons ultimate benefit. Web 2.0 has created a rather competitive environment for those interested in what their neighbours are up to; all good as long as we always keep the end user in mind.

Librarything; this with out doubt is the best new site I have encountered. Why because it's so much fun to use and it works so well. I read some pretty obscure titles and it was interesting to cross reference other people's libraries based on the shared books in our collections. Indeed I found the recommendations of Librarything to be very pertinent more so than the user pay databases that exist. I would love to integrate librarything into our catalogue, it's on the to do list!