Feeding the RSS dragon

So RSS feeds huh? Good stuff. I've been using Google Reader as my homeplace for RSS feeds for over a year now. I find it very convenient to have on my Google homepage along with the weather, news headlines etc., so that its all in one place. I have a lot of different blogs that I am subscribed to in RSS format and I see some benefits to having them compiled in one place- less clicking!! However, I still have a set of Favorites both at home and at work that I could put on my Google Reader but just keep in link format cause there is something comforting about the scrolling on the favorites list to find what I'm looking for and to check each blog in the same order each day. Wow... crazy much?
Anyway, I'm pretty addicted to blogs so I can see how patrons could be as well and would want to include the library in their addiction. Hopefully we will be able to see how some of these possibilities work with Aquabrowser... we should be able to allow patrons to sign up for RSS for their favorite authors or favorite topics when we recieve new items. It would also be effective if we EVER get a library blog for reader's advisory etc. etc. so that they could sign up for that as well. We could do a similiar thing for upcoming events at "your" branch- get notified 2 weeks in advance or something like that.
Oh the possibilities...

Flickr (or why I can't remember how to spell things without the right number of vowels- see del.ici.ous etc.)

I think there are many upsides to Flickr. First, its free- at least the basic account. Another plus is the fact that you can set some pictures to private while others are shared publicly. This especially would be a consideration for the library if we decided to post program pictures because some things we may not be able to share publicly if they are tagged with names or other identifying information. That being said, I do think there are other uses besides posting program pictures. Recently, our branch has formed a marketing team to look at branch displays and arrangement of materials to increase circulation and attractiveness. I have done a couple of searches on Flickr using keywords like library displays and marketing and other words I've found in people's tags of pictures. There are a lot of great examples of library displays and signage- even some from Howard County and Pratt. I think we could also potentially search for things like "Summer Reading Club" and get ideas about what other libraries are doing.
I like Flickr and can envision us putting it into better use at the library. I hope we will.

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back...

Well hello there! I was just sitting here at my desk, wondering what was going to get me through this New Year's Eve workday and that's when I remembered Web 2.0! The slow winterness of the recent days begs for something that builds some sort of momentum and this assignment has the potential to provide that. A step-by-step process to attain the goal? Check. Other people consistently (perhaps) checking my progress? Check. A procrastination tool for all the other things begging for my attention? Check. Guess I better figure out where I am in the activities....

I'll be back soon, promise!

Frederick Co PL computers seized by FBI

Interesting story from pretty close to home:

MD PL Director Accedes to FBI Computer Seizure; Possible Anthrax Link

What would we do if this happened at one of our branches? Makes you really think about the Freedom of Information stuff and everything. Oh our world...