Words to Live By

Not sure where this originated, but my Dad wrote this to me on May 1, 1987. Thanks, Dad!

Tomorrow and as many tomorrows as you can. Mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a love letter. Share some treasure. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word or deed. Keep a promise. Find the time. Forego a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Listen. Apologize if you were wrong. Try to understand. Flout envy. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Appreciate. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little. Laugh a little more. Deserve confidence. Take up arms against malice. Decry complacency. Express your gratitude. Go to your house of worship. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty of the world. Speak your love. Speak it again. Speak it still once again.

Creating a Wiki

I had fun making a Wiki for the music of Franco Battiato and putting an MP3 and my photo on there in a sidebar. Great fun. Since I have purchased several CDs of his music I don't feel guilty sharing some of it here. It's a pretty standard piece of music for him. Let me know if you want me to add some more.

here's the link to my Wiki
http://battiato.pbwiki.com/

Wikis

Share things, learn more. Good idea, but how accurate is the information if everyone and anyone can tweak it? The success of wikis will depend, I guess, on the comfort level of the user accessing the information.
I can see how library wikis can be useful. Our BCPL Virtual Book Club could be a wiki. How about the statewide training program for new librarians? Since this would be accessed by learners and their trainers almost exclusively not too many folks out of libraryland would be much interested in playing tricks here. How about a Readers Advisory wiki of recommendations for special hard-to-please populations like reluctant teen readers? Teachers and other educators could contribute.

Sharpening the Saw

How fortunate to be among those who remember the "traditional" library and its managed collections, and to experience Web 2.0 and to witness everything about data retrieval that those science fiction books only hinted at!

I read Dr. Wendy Schultz's article To a Temporary Place in Time, Chip Nilges To More Powerful Ways to Cooperate, and Rich Anderson's Away from the Icebergs. What resonates throughout these powerful essays is the realization that librarians need to communicate, share ideas, collaborate, and teach what we know to our customers, those who ask. Why settle for Google when there are better ways to search. Maybe we need to adjust our reference interview as we tweak our materials collections. What responsibilities do librarians now have as the Internet matures? I'm grateful that I can still be a part of this, and know that the younger librarians are already running with it as only they can.

Favorite Blog

For all of you out there who can't get enough of this, make me a favorite by going here:

Claiming My Blog

I feel a little like a 49er staking a claim, except that there will be no gold to pan here. Also not sure how many folks outside of BCPL will really want to read my blog since it is only concerned at the moment with the fulfillment of the Learning Libraries 2.0, so I guess that this is like an experiment.

So I claim it thus: Technorati Profile

Thing 13 Del.icio.us

A good friend who started a new career as a web designer years ago shared his many bookmarks with me on Del.icio.us and I remember looking them over and just marveling at the time at how many technology sites there were, and I had fun then, as now, playing with them. It's a little strange to see my familiar bookmarks displayed this way, but I like being able to choose who sees them and keeping some private, since a few are personal log-ins for other email accounts. Using the cloud feature should be familiar to all of us who play with BCPL's public catalog and instruct customers in its use! Again, great fun here. If you want to check out my bookmarks, here they are: http://del.icio.us/jtsanford

Bear in mind that some of there are old and not visited for a while, but I hope you have some fun with them.