In Conclusion

The 23 exercises have led me to explore sites that I would not have come across myself. Thank you!

#22. Explore Web 2.0 Award winners

Some of the award winners are actually old friends. Like all of us I've visited a number of sites for the 23 exercises, but beyond that I've also been using Yelp on a regular basis, Craigslist (of course), Google Maps, iGoogle, Farecast, all extremely useful sites for various private endeavors. I couldn't really think of any library application, but of course it's good to know that these sites exist.

Not very library relevant, either, a site called "realtravel" caught my eye since I'm about to go on a trip to New Mexico. According to the introduction "realtravel is the travel guide and trip planner powered by advice from real travelers." The sites most prominent feature is a searchable collection of travel blogs. The keyword "Albuquerque" conjured up two, uhm, not very exciting travelblogs. "We didn't have a lot of time... we ordered in a pizza and went to sleep," while the other one informed me that "We had tire trouble... We picked up a bungie [sic] cord and the hook stuck in the truck tire. The rubber part did a little cosmetic damage to the passenger side." Relevance? To pick from the "Featured Travel Plans", or "Featured Travel Bloggers" on the front page seems a better approach. I hit on a very well written & informative blog that way ("United States by little haxby"/New Mexico).

Browsing...

Coverpop is colorful, amazing, but at the same time I cannot figure out what it could possibly be good for...

Ning on the other hand, is finally a winner! I remember Helen Blowers pointed out the site at her presentation. The keyword "library" brings up some nice examples how this site can be used to create a website for smaller libraries, for units within larger libraries, or as a forum for staff.

Lulu, which allows you to "publish your own manuscript" could also conceivably be used for library purposes. Special Collection issues small quantity, limited edition books (for instance local, or oral history). Lulu might be a fast and inexpensive way to print them, maybe even present them to the general public.

#21: Audio eBooks

I have a Mac, so my only option was to try Project Gutenberg. I couldn't find any information on the homepage, or under FAQ, as to what formats would be available, so I decided to pick the book/file first, and then see if I'd be able to download it. Audio books are an absolutely perfect medium for poetry, so I chose Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Apple iTunes Audiobook was one of the formats available, so at first it seemed that this exercise was moving along quite nicely. I was really looking forward to hearing the poems. Unfortunately, trying to download the book turned out ot be a rather frustrating experience. The Main Project Gutenberg site delivered a useless text file, and a listed mirror site (knowledgerush.com) doesn't even offer audio files. I was finally successful downloading from Seattle's "Project Gutenberg Reading Room," but soon noticed that instead of the whole book, my download only contained the editor's notes. I realized that I had to download every chapter separately. The editor's notes were followed in the second download by the author's preface; the third file, believe it or not, offered the editor's notes to the author's preface! The forth download finally brought me to Part 1, poem 1-4. Awkward.
Meanwhile I had discovered that MP3 worked faster and more reliably than Apple iTunes Audiobook. The files on Gutenberg greatly vary in length and quality, and I kept hitting the odd ones. Ezra Pound's Cathay disappointingly was only one poem from Cathay, and Winnetou I by Karl May (in German) started with chapter 6! It's fun to browse, to listen to Basho in Japanese, Pushkin in Russian, but unfortunately the collection seems very inconsistent.