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?

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.

Librarians need to be wildly outside the box so we can create new ways to connect to people and connect people to literature or else we are going to fade.

It’s great that more and more libraries are starting to embrace and integrate online services, but my favorite thing about the Portland Press Herald article? The comments at the end… a newspaper that we, as readers, can add content to? That’s just car-azy. What’s next a sense of community based in geography but through the miracle of collaborative tools includes all interested parties? And one of those interested parties might just be a glamorous blogger with humble beginnings as a circulation assistant.