Scriblio is truly in beta form. We released it before it was all polished and buffed in order to get some feedback and start building some community around it. That, of course, comes with some frustrations. Despite my own involvement with the project, when you first saw it, I first saw it too. And, like many of you, my download/installation/configuration had a few false starts. But, as of Friday I am proud to report that I’ve successfully conquered the beast. Here’s my experience:

First, my goods: I’m running Apache 1.3.33, PHP version 5.2.0, and MySQL 5.0.24.

Here’s an annotated process:

1. Be sure your Apache installation has mod_rewrite enabled.
2. Download and install WordPress 2.2.2. Note that 2.2.2 is NOT the current release. The current version, 2.3, is brand new and includes a bunch of changes that need to be accommodated in Scriblio – more on that later.
3. Take time to get familiar with the dashboard components and set your permalinks. Do this through Options -> Permalinks; personally, I like Numeric. When you save, pay attention to the prompt regarding the .htaccess file – if it says that you must update it yourself, do so! (this may mean you have to create it.) If it says it’s been updated, you’re good.
4. Download bsuite_core and place it in your wp-content/plugins/ folder. Then enable it in your blog’s dashboard/Plugins/.
5. Repeat that process with bsuite_btags.
6. Repeat again with the Scriblio plugin. I recommend getting the files from the svn depository, either by installing Subversion or by copying all the files in the trunk into a scriblio folder in your plugins folder. If you go this route, be sure to get them all including the import directory and all its contents.
7. Create a Page that will provide the foundation for your catalog data. I went with ‘catalog’.
8. Go to Options -> Scriblio and select that page as the browse base.
9. I passed on the Scriblio theme and stuck with Default, but be sure to enable the Scriblio widget. That’s in Presentation -> Widgets. I dragged the Search widget into ‘Sidebar 1′, followed by the Scriblio widget.
10. Download the starter content to your local desktop.
11. Verify that your wp-content folder is writable by the server and import demo_content.xml via Manage -> Import -> WordPress. When prompted choose ‘Submit’ and 61 records should be imported.
12. Check out the front page and you should see a default Welcome post and a Harry Potter Series post that comes with the starter content. Try a search on ‘potter’. The default is to search both blog and catalog content, so all should show. Then limit to catalog items, then limit to blog & pages. (There’s only one result, so it automatically shows that post. If things don’t look right, go to Options -> bsuite and Re-initialize tables and Rebuild bsuite metadata index in that order.
13. That should do it. If you’re feeling brave, try and import some MARC records. They must have a .mrc extension and be placed in the wp-content/plugins/scriblio/import/data. Mine is 030807.mrc. Then go to Options -> Scriblio -> MARC File Importer. The file name is data/030807.mrc; the second field is any two letter for identification; the last is the map to the unique id. Import and wait for it to finish, and then ‘Import harvested data’ to make the new records show in the system.

Gosh, I love my job.

My Web 2.SO? or Why Libraries Should Care, repurposed from BIGWIG, served as the day’s introduction. Jessamyn then offered a practical introduction to Flickr and del.icio.us. She even inspired me to rekindle my del.icio.us account. (btw, The Delicious Bookmarks extension has come a long way = yay!) With context well established, I returned to offer a taste of the way some libraries are adding 2.0 elements to their catalogs – our collections continue to be one of our most precious assets. Implementing 2.0 tools within and around it is essential. At 11a, Jessamyn offered an adapted presentation by Eric Goldhagen offering a survey of open source tools.

Lunch was awesome! I can’t remember the name of the place the sandwiches came from, but I would happily cover the nine miles to Hooksett for more tuna and a giant white chocolate and cranberry cookie. *ahem*

Andrea skillfully prepared us for the chilling effect of reality by reminding us what challenges would face us when we returned home and how to overcome them thoughtfully. It was an excellent way to wind things down. In the post-presentations discussion, a couple NH libraries of all sizes seemed truly interested. Meeting some of my new colleagues was just an added bonus. Days like these make me proud to be in NH.

My slides for the day are Web 2.SO? [pdf] and Catalog 2.0 [pdf].

Tamworth is a town of 2500 in the rural white mountains of NH. Yet, TheGoodPeasant, tamworth resident, took a video of the Cook Library‘s 4th of July float and posted it on YouTube.

It’s not just kids or geeks. People in all types of places are using social tools online and they’re doing so to represent their physical communities to their virtual communities… isn’t that an appropriate place for libraries large and small to be?

This made me giggle for obvious reasons; our patrons are screaming out! Dance with me! Dance with me!

But TheGreatIndoorsman speaks for too many of us:

Dammit! Does she have any idea how much effort it takes to keep a card catalog organized!?

Thanks to Casey for the heads up.

Today I’m speaking to the Merri Hill Rock Library Cooperative on Social Software.

I’m impressed that among them are two really innovative and exciting blogs:
The Cutler Library in Litchfield has made an entire website with a series of free blogs from Blogger AND each is represented as a community space: BoaRD RooM, FRieNDS’ CoRNeR, INFoRMaTioN BooTH, KiDS’ RooM, ReaDiNG RooM, ReC RooM, ReFeReNCe RooM, TeaCHeRS’ LouNGe, and the TeeN RooM. What a FANTASTIC idea!

Also Nashua Library empowers teens w/ Teens Review It @ Your Library

My notes are available now.

The latest version Michael Habib‘s Academic Library 2.0 Concept Model comes to me this morning by way of Jennifer. I find it one of the best and clearest explanations of why we, as librarians should care about the current online social trend. I wonder, though, how does it change when applied to public libraries of all sizes? My first inclination is just to point out that it gets longer. Communities that public libraries serve are so diverse – how can you reach both the house-bound elderly who’ve grown to use the library as their main social contact and now can’t as well as the college bound student? The tutor and his pupil? The answer is that Library 2.0 doesn’t mean that Library 1.0 (or Library B.C.?) stops – it simply embellishes. It provides tools for reaching out to more patrons in a way that you haven’t done before.

I’ve been accused of talking about myself too muchbut I’ve been so busy, I haven’t been able to develop any good posts. I do have a story, however… if you’ll indulge. Have you ever tried to describe the internet to someone who has never even used a computer? My grandmother, for example, thinks I sit behind a desk stamping circulation cards ala The Librarian and I let her think it, no harm done. That’s why I found it so touching to receive a magic wand – complete with flashing lights – in my Christmas stocking with a note in my dad’s scratchy writing:

A magic wand for our techie to cast spells on the nerds.

My dad is a forester. He’s good at it; well-respected, honorable, trustworthy, all good stuff; but his profession does not take him near the internet. He knows more than his mom; he knows what it is and what it does, for the most part. He can navigate a google search (as long as nothing goes wrong between booting and clicking). But his eyes glaze over fast when it comes to the alphabet-scripting-soup of my daily life – he has even actually retreated when faced with my *ahem* enthusiasm about social software and Library 2.0. (Aside: I think I should start calling myself a ‘Technology Evangelist’ ala Paul Miller – that would get Gram’s eyebrows even higher on her face.) But dad believes in my super powers, even if he doesn’t know what they are.

I wonder how other people manage to describe their web-based livelyhoods to the supremely analog? Do we simply distill it into the closest non-techie professional-cousin? Ever been to Plimoth Plantation and told one of the characters you work with computers? They reel and say something like, “oh, I love pewter – can’t afford much though”.

Anyway, perhaps it doesn’t matter since during a particularly aggressive mid-day recline, I managed to knock my wand off the back of my desk and shattered it. Guts falling out and everything. Maybe when I graduate next month I’ll qualify for more durable equipment. But in the meantime I must point out, gentle readers, that the ‘nerds’ about which he speaks? That means you so look out.