And the Award Goes To...

Check out the daily and monthly Mashup Award winners (also subscribe to their RSS feed).

What is a "mashup" anyway...

"In technology, a mashup is a web application that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool; an example is the use of cartographic data from Google Maps to add location information to real-estate data from Craigslist, thereby creating a new and distinct web service that was not originally provided by either source.
Mashup originally referred to the practice in pop music (notably hip-hop) of producing a new song by mixing two or more existing pieces. Mashups currently come in three general flavors: consumer mashups, data mashups, and business mashups.
The best known type is the consumer mashup, best exemplified by the many Google Maps applications. Consumer mashups combine data elements from multiple sources, hiding this behind a simple unified graphical interface." [Wikipedia]

Three of the most common editors to use to create mashups are Google Mashup Editor, Yahoo Pipes and Microsoft's Popfly. There's a great section on the Mashup Awards page about the process of creating a mashup.

Have you seen a mashup lately that you think would really help library customers? Have you used any mashups with library customers?

We are so 2.0!

Here's John Russell's post today from his blog ...Best!...Dream...Ever! This is really what web 2.0 is about, sharing ideas, posting from one blog or website to another. Are you reading any of the blogs by the our staff? Take a look through them, find a few that interest you, and add them to your reader. Don't forget to read the comments on the posts on this blog (and others). This is how a conversation gets going, and when the conversation is about library services, this is how change happens.

10 Ways Libraries Can Use RSS

Cheryl Wolfe from JFG added the following great post to her blog, The Moxie Librarian.

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Because using RSS is about sharing and delivering information, it seems perfectly natural for libraries to adopt this technology for library services. Here are my 10 ways for how libraries can use RSS.
10 Ways Libraries Can Use RSS
1. Create an RSS feed for new additions to the online catalog.
2. Create an RSS feed tied to a library card account for hold notifications and/or overdue materials.
3. Create an RSS feed for new programs and events posted on the library website.
4. Create an RSS feed for the library’s electronic newsletter.
5. Create an RSS feed for press releases and other media advisories.
6. Create an RSS feed for library closings, including emergency closings.
7. Create an RSS feed for library job openings.
8. Subscribe to a few RSS feeds, such as local news websites, and share the content on the library’s website. This could be included on a page containing other local resources and local links.
9. Subscribe to RSS feeds of interest to library customers and share the content on the customer’s personalized library webpage. Customers can choose to access selected RSS feeds, their library account information, subscription databases, and email/chat with a librarian all in one spot.
10. Subscribe to a few professional RSS feeds and share with library staff on the library intranet.

Finding RSS Feeds

Now that you've been exploring news feeds, you might wonder - "how do I find more?" or "does my favorite web site have one?"

Internet Explorer 7 (standard throughout the library) looks for feeds, also known as RSS feeds, on every webpage you visit. When it finds available feeds, the Feeds button, located on the Internet Explorer toolbar, will change from gray to orange.

To view available feeds...
On the Internet Explorer toolbar, click the Feeds button .
If multiple feeds are available, you'll see a list of available feeds. Select the feed you want to view. When you click the feed, you'll see a page displaying a list of items (topics and articles) you can read and subscribe to. Copy the URL to your feed reader to subscribe.

What formats do Feeds come in? The most common formats are RSS and Atom. Feed formats are constantly being updated with new versions. Internet Explorer supports RSS 0.91, 1.0, and 2.0, and ATOM .3, 1.0. All web feed formats are based on XML (Extensible Markup Language), a text-based computer language used to describe and distribute structured data and documents.

Learn More about RSS

Learn More is a series of Web 2.0 lessons posted on yet another library blog called Library Stream.
Here's a new one on RSS.
Several supervisors have asked if we can alphabetize the growing list of staff blogs on our hcplc=lib 2.0 blog. Well, we could, but they'd be sorted by blog name since that's how we entered them, not by staff name, so I'm not sure it would be all that helpful. But if you want to follow a few blogs, those of people whom you supervise, or just blogs you find interesting, why not subscribe to them on your news reader?
Need help? Take a look at some of the blog postings since we started this lesson last Monday, or look at the comments and ask someone who has already set one up to give you a hand.

This Week's 2.0 Book

For more examples of how libraries are using blogs and RSS feeds, take a look at Blogging & RSS, a Librarian's Guide by Michael P. Sauers (Medford, N.J : Information Today, 2006).

Libraries increasingly use blogs and RSS feeds to reach out to users, while librarians blog daily on a range of personal and professional topics. The way has been paved by the tech-savvy and resource-rich, but any library or librarian can successfully create and syndicate a blog today. In this readable book, author, Internet trainer, and blogger Michael P. Sauers, M.L.S., shows how blogging and RSS technology can be easily and effectively used in the context of a library community. Sauers showcases interesting and useful blogs, shares insights from librarian bloggers, and offers step-by-step instructions for creating, publishing, and syndicating a blog using free Web-based services, software, RSS feeds, and aggregators.

Michael P. Sauers is the Internet trainer for BCR's Member Services Division, and a part time reference librarian for the Arapahoe County Library District. He is currently on the Board of Trustees for the Aurora Public Library and the board of the Friends of the Aurora Public Library. He is the author of seven books on technology for librarians and has written dozens of articles for library industry journals. [Amazon.com Review]

Web 2.0 and the Twelve Days of Christmas

Well in the world of 2.0 I posted to the wrong blog. So here is the poem about Web 2.0 and the Twelve Days of Christmas! Lets try this again....

Here is a poem for the season that also helps illustrate all the aspects of Web 2.0. This poem was actually written by a business person, but it still illustrates how 2.0 has touched every aspect of the work world.Enjoy!http://www.smallbiztrends.com/2007/12/12-days-of-christmas-in-a-web-20-world.html

RSS Feeds

RSS (formally "RDF Site Summary", known colloquially as "Really Simple Syndication") is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed", "web feed", or "channel", contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually.
RSS content can be read using software called an "RSS reader", "feed reader" or an "aggregator". The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.
The initials "RSS" are used to refer to the following formats:

Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)
RDF Site Summary (RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.90)
Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91)
RSS formats are specified using XML, a generic specification for the creation of data formats.

If you would like to sign-up for an RSS feed with BookLetters go to the Databases & Websites page and click on the link for Find a Good Book. Look at the bottom of the page and you will see the link for BookLetters RSS. When you click on it, you will be able to get news delivered to your desktop! So if you are feeling adventuresome try it!

International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media

Conference Dates-March 26-28, 2007
Yes, they have whole conferences on this sort of stuff...

There are plenty of interesting papaers to read - see a wrap up from The Resource Shelf.