Tagging

Some time ago I set up a Connotea account to store my work-related bookmarks so I could find them if I needed them when I was away from work. I know I could have use Delicious just as easily, but somehow the name put me off, although I could be tempted to store my recipes there.

Connotea has the subtitle 'management for all researchers, clinicians and scientists' has a decidedly non-popularist connotation, but I like it for its simplicity, look, and ease of use. Like Delicious it allows you to bookmark a website, give it a few keywords and tags, and share them with the rest of the world. You can also see who has bookmarked the same site, and then visit their library to see what else they might have found interesting.

One of these days I will export my IE7 bookmarks to Firefox, and then I can upload them all into Connotea.

RSS

RSS was something of a mystery to me before I actually signed up to some to see how it worked. Now I am at risk of being over subscribed:

For work-related things I have 'Library link of the Day' which serves up a daily article relating to developments in the information industry; In Through the Outfield put together by the manager of the British Library's Business & IP Centre - interesting for following developments in the business information world and what the BL is doing to encourage entrepreneural new businesses. I also subscribe to Mary Ellen Bates's monthly Bates InfoTips, but that's by email.

For tango-related things my favourite RSS feed is to 2xtango, devoted to tango goings on in Buenos Aires. It's updated daily and nearly always includes a YouTube snippet. It's love these little videos for their inspirational value.

ABC Radio National and the BBC are my other sources of RSS feeds. They both offer a cornucopia of audio via podcast rss feeds. Nearly all ABC RN programmes are offered as podcasts, including my favourites - Background Briefing, Ramona Koval's Book Show, Lingua Franca, Street Stories and Radio Eye. BBC Radio 3 offers Arts & Ideas as podcasts to which one can subscribe via RSS. BBC World Service has the Interview which is also interesting. All these programmes now flow into my laptop as if by magic, get transferred to my elegant diminutive Ipod by more magic known as 'synching', and taken to bed for feast of late night listening.

Social Networking

Recently I was forced to reassess my feelings about social networking sites. I joined FaceBook and LinkedIn a few years ago, at work, as an exercise in becoming familiar with social networking sites. I didn’t really make much progress with either of them, short of signing up and adding a few details, and visiting sporadically which usually meant accepting requests to be someone’s ‘friend’ on Facebook. Of course I only agreed to be a ‘friend’ of someone I actually knew, which seemed odd to me given that were already were friends. The others I declined, which invariably induced an unsettling feeling of being mean and anti-social. I admit to not having much enthusiasm for this way of expanding my contacts. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer talking to people I actually know rather than to people I’ve never met. But blow me down, two people I know but haven’t seen for years, both of whom live abroad, found me – both via the more business-related Linked In site which is where I had given the name of my current employer. Without the enabling technology of these social networking sites, this would have been impossible, as I didn’t have any of my real-world contact details on either site.

As for Facebook, I still don't really get it. It does seem to be full of blather. I'd much rather have a one-on-one correspondence at length with my friends, rather than have the feeling that I'm eavesdropping on all of their friends. I also steadfastly refuse to sent anything virtual - whether flowers or kisses or anything else - it's too silly for words (perhaps that's the whole point - no words necessary). Nor have I used either site to contact friends of friends, but I know when the time comes, there will be plenty of opportunity. Six degrees of separation and all that.

State Library of Queensland - Wikipedia

While we're on the subject of libraries, I decided to have a look at the Wikipedia entry for State Library of Queensland.

The entry is quite dry, and cries out for some extra colour and flavour. I decided it needed some extra information about the architecture, so have added details about the accolades received by the architects for their wonderful refurbishment of the building, and given some suggestions for further reading in the architectural press. I've also added the bit about offering a free reference service at the top of the list under 'Services', given that that's what I've spent the good part of my adult life doing. We all know that Wikipedia's strength lies with the collaborative power of volunteer editors who are passionate and knowlegeable about their subject, but that we musn't refer people to it on account of its 'untrustworthiness' as a source. Here we have an opportunity to create an entry that puts the lie to that notion.

I notice the Wikipedia entry for the British Library has some topics that could be adopted to enhance the entry for SLQ - Highlights of the Collection, Legal deposit, Exhibitions and Newspapers. Any takers?

"There is no institution that matters more than a library" - David Malouf

Photograph: Peter Marquis Kyle

Last Saturday David Malouf was in town – an opportunity not to be missed. In the morning he spoke to a gathering in the privileged upstairs space of the West End Public Library, on the occasion of its 80th birthday.

The charm of this little library, officially known as the Kurilpa Library, is due to its pleasing neo-Georgian proportions and interesting bell tower, which honours the fallen from WW1. It was opened in 1929, making it the first purpose-built public library in Queensland - something I gleaned from it's entry on the Queensland Heritage List. It continues to thrive as a busy community resource today.

David Malouf spoke in his intelligent and refreshingly modest way about the libraries in his life, their cultural importance, about reading, and about his childhood memories of growing up in West End. I remember scribbling down in my notebook one of the things he said that morning - "there is no institution that matters more than a library". It left me with decidedly nice warm fuzzy feelings about my chosen profession.

I am now in posession of a signed copy of his most recent work Ransom whose genesis dates back to a reading of The Illiad by one of Malouf's primary school teachers on a rainy Brisbane afternoon in the mid 1940s.

Borges and libraries

The Borges Cultural Centre is on the top floor of the Galería Pacifico in the centre of Buenos Aires. It's a space for concerts, exhibitions and the Escuela Argentina de Tango. I noticed this piece from Jorge Luis Borges, Argentina's great literary luminary and Librarian of the National Library of Aregentina (how often does that happen in Australia or anywhere else for that matter?), etched into the ceiling of one of the levels. I discovered that it's an excerpt from his 'Poema de los Dones' (1959) and translates as 'I, who had always thought of Paradise in form and image as a library'. Nice. Also ironic, as the poem is about recieving the gift of books at the same time he was going blind. The full text of the poem, together with a recording by Borges himself, can be found at the PalabraVirtual site.

Twitter

On the weekend, after swimming, I love to read the papers and have my little espresso on the back verandah. A particular delight last Saturday was Richard Glover's piece about 'twitter' in the SMH. Now I discover that our PM 'Kevin 07' and our Premier Anna are both twittering.. it looks like so much puerile vanity publishing to me.

If I was going to follow anyone's Twitter, it would be Mary Ellen Bates (independent information pro and guru of search). Her pronouncements are always interesting, as is her piece on twitter from her Bates InfoTips newsletter.

I wonder what the correct term is for one who twitters? Just for the record, if anyone's interested, it's 9.45pm, I'm back from Spanish class, and am making dinner - stir fry, greens and rice.