RSS - New Aquisitions

I am really delighted to see that libraries are already using this feature to keep patrons informed of new additions to their collections. As a team selector of music cds for the BPL, I have always wished that we had some way of keeping our users up-to-date and well aware of our new purchases. So, when I came upon the MIT catalog and saw what they were offering in the way of just such a service, I promptly subscribed to their RSS feed for newly purchased music cds. Even though I can't check them out myself, I now have the opportunity to experience this service through the eyes of a patron via Google Reader!

As you can see, their RSS subscription page for new acquisitions is all nicely broken down by subject category to accommodate individual user's interests. Another feature of their's which I really like is the added option of recieving updates by email for those who do not have or wish to use RSS feed readers. I would really like to see this service offered at the BPL. Imagine how much better our patrons would be served if all of our new titles of interest came to them automatically in a nice neat little list, available by the simple click of a mouse! They would also be constantly reminded of all the wonderful materials we have to offer and thus further encouraged to borrow them more often. I would also like to see, as an added feature, links from each title to reviews and in the case of a-v materials sound or video clips as well.

Craigslist Ad - Check Out This Concert!

I've posted this ad in support of an exceptional artist by the name of Pius Cheung who will be appearing at the Boston Pulic Library on 10/25. If you can make this event, you will be in for a wonderful treat, I assure you!

It's Classified - Craigslist vs Boston.com

I discovered that getting somewhat of an actual feel for these two sites worked better for me when I took a more general approach to this assignment, hence, here are some of my first impressions. I liked the format of Craigslist much better from an organizational standpoint. One can readily find their main search categories as they are all conveniently listed on a single page. I had no trouble finding a successful starting point for a search, no matter what I was looking for. Boston.com, on the other hand, was a bit confusing and not nearly so straight forward. I found myself often rather guessing in which section I should start. Once I located a general category for my search, however, I discovered that both sites had their stronger and weaker points as far as a further breakdown into subcategories was concerned. For example, within the personal ad category, Craigslist offers more subcategories of specific types of relationships, but as far as searching for concerts in the Boston area is concerned you will find it much easier to specify your search by music genre in Boston.com. Both sites offer keyword searching, but an added feature which Boston.com includes, at least in some of their listings, is that of tags which are extremely useful when keywords don't get the job done.

As far as the variety of listings is concerned, I would give the edge to Craigslist but that may be due, in part, to the fact that one can get a pretty clear idea of all that they have to offer via a quick scan of their homepage- not so, with respect to Boston.com. The latter however, provides more in depth coverage of topics within each category. Aside from listings, articles on appropriate subjects and other types of pertinent information are also included as useful supplements.

Reviews/Ratings - Yelp

I love world music and so its no surprise that this passion of mine carries over to ethnic cuisine as well. One of my favorite spots for Indian food is the Bombay Club in Harvard Square (See my review on Yelp).

I think that rating/review options for library patrons would be a great added feature to any library web site. It would be most useful if a patron could look up a title and see what others had to say about it, complete with its average ranking among those who had commented on it. At the Boston Public Library, patron suggestions are a huge factor in determining which materials we are to purchase for our collections. Such suggestions would be more helpful to the selector if they were accompanied by a short personal review.

Ratings/Reviews - QVC

I make some of my purchases via the TV home shopping channels. One in particular that I use is QVC which deals in quite a wide range of products. These folks can be quite good at times in convincing you that you really "can't live without" certain of their offerings! I have a particular weakness when it comes to those products that will save me time or make my life easier in some fashion or other. Therefore, I try not to buy anything without first checking out the customer reviews/ratings on their web site, which are made available for all merchandise which they sell. There have been quite a few instances when I have been thankfully detered away from making what would have probably been an unwise purchase, thanks to the advice of my fellow QVC consumers. (See my review for Spray-N-Grow micronutrient, posted by swati on 10/12/08)

Vacation

I'm going to be on vacation for awhile, so I will resume actvity when I reutrn.

Social Networking - A Library 2.0 Community

As I am currently involved in material selection for my institution, I see this particular social networking opportunity as a basic resource of new and improved ways for me to accurately ascertain our patrons preferences in this area. I am in the process of designing my own personal blog in hopes of reaching the Boston community and informing them of the many and varied titles which are available in our world music cd collection for their listening pleasure. To date, through this site, I have subscribed to Pro Blogger a neat little resource for blog design tips. In addition, there is ample opportunity here for interaction with my colleagues. Not only will I benefit from their ideas on ways to effectively use Web 2.0 technology within the library setting, but to also from their feedback with respect to some of mine. In my opinion, this site is a comprehensive and extremely valuable resource on this topic.