Week 9 Thing 23 - Library Thing

Well, this is very frustrating. In Week 8 Thing 19 I posted a Library Thing widget. I made a new post with a Library Thing search widget. I used both. They worked well. I was enthusiastic. But today the widgets are gone. Poof. Disappeared. Did I miss something? Is there some fine print somewhere that explains that widgets expire with time? I had the same problem in Week 5 when I first tried out Library Thing.
Hey, I just went back, and the widgets are showing up in week 5!. I opened Library Thing to see if that made a difference. Now that I see Week 5 is back, I looked again and Week 8 is back too. Maybe it just takes awhile for them to load? I'll test that if I close Library Thing account if the widgets stay or not.
Yep, I closed it and they are still there. I guess it is a matter of time. They must take longer to load than video or music, which were there when I searched for Library Thing book covers.
All is well.

Week 8 Thing 19 Library Thing

I am pleased with the ability to post book covers (compliments of Amazon) and to easily connect to LibraryThing where I can have an easy-to-accumulate list of titles with a variety of ways to display them.
However, I have been looking for the catalog information and have been able to find only some on the API: reviews (by posters, not known reveiwers), title, author (which display on my library page anyway), LCCN, Dewey, subjects (very helpful), but no summary or professional reviews, my main goal.
However, the link to Amazon.com supplies some more information.
I am back to getting catalog information from public libraries. I was hoping Library Thing would be easier and replace the cumbersome search.
What I dislike about Library Thing's search widget is that I enter a title and get anything that has a word of the title in it. It is like trying to search Google using words without quotes and getting way too many irrelevant hits to wade through. Aha! Maybe that was my mistake. I'll try again.
I have come to the conclusion that Library Thing is not what I'm looking for to help with my cataloging, but is great for easy access to titles to display the books online. I will use it.
And its FREE!

Week 8 Thing 19 Library Thing more

I already used a widget in my earlier posts. Now I added a search widget from Library Thing to compare the difference. I am looking for a connection that shows more information about the books, rather than who's reading them

Week 7 Thing 16 - Wikis

At least I'd heard of wikis before because of the high profile of Wikipedia. As soon as I read and heard (podcast tutorials) more about wikis, I thought of a use for a project we've been wondering how to approach.

We want to set up a calendar that lists members' schedules to try to minimize time conflicts to meetings. Each member should be able to add their schedule to a master. A wiki sounds like the way to go, once I figure out where to find a free one, and then how to get an editable calendar onto it.

I enjoyed reading from links from various wikis you had links to. The wiki of a school library had some resources I can use and I bookmarked them with Delicious.

(Yes, Delicious has become the bookmarker of choice because of its shortcut on the toolbar. I still need to explore Magnolia more before I make a final choice.)

I enjoyed the CSLA wiki where I read blogs from someone who had already completed Library Learning 2.0. I already agree with some of her week 9 summary, such as liking blogging when I didn't expect to.

The request for someone living in the area to add local restaurants to recommend to the CSLA conference's unofficial wiki guide is a good example of community imput and networking.

I also was glad to read the reply to the common question/fear (which I shared) about people messing up the common work. I guess it is like vandalism. People who take pride in their community help to prevent it or clean it up.

I wondered what the difference was between a blog and a wiki, or a Ning and the vaious definitions clarified it quite well, although uses can blur the lines.

I feel quite confident that if anyone mentions blogging, Nings, social bookmarking, or wikis, I'll have a real good idea what they are talking about now. I'm not sure I've heard of anything except blogging and role playing (I mean, haha, RPing of course) before, so maybe my acquaintances and co-workers don't know about them either.