Week 10 - Mashups

Marshups are an interesting tool. I hadn't realized that I had seen so many of them already and just didn't know that they had a formal name. Beth's introduction on the podcast held the caveat that I've long felt needs to be posted at every computer workstation: be sure of the veracity of the site you are accessing! Don't just rely on Uncle Bob's favorites, as she said.

That said, there are some very interesting ways mashups are being used to provide information. I find government sites combining zip codes, maps, and pie chart graphics interesting and easy to digest. I looked at a number of the listed sites - Daily Mashups, Netvibes, Meebo Map, PlaceOpedia, Zip Code Census Dashboard, Libraries 411, Barns of Winnebago Co., MeL Deliveries, Hot Titles Carousel, Learning 2.0 Throughout the World (and yes, I found OWLS PP!), and Go-go Google gadget (which I didn't really follow).

I watched the screencast for Mapbuilder and added Thimbleberry Books (a fabulous used bookstore in Marshfield, also home to 2 bibliocats). I mistakenly added it to the first automated map and then went back and added it to the Project PLay map. This was pretty easy to use.

My favorite mashup, though, was the Library Thing for Libraries(LTFL) and how it's being used in the Danbury CT public library. I went through the LTFL tour and FAQs and think it sounds like a fabulous idea to add to a library card catalog. Basically, it's a subject catalog with recommendations for similar items. The only problem I see is having to export your catalog info to LibraryThing. That would take staff time and the results might be 50-65 % overlap of titles, meaning that some of your titles might not be listed in LTFL. But, with millions of titles already listed, and many being added daily, I would imagine the coverage would be worthwhile, especially with newer titles. Because you've provided the data from your own collections, you aren't sending the user outside the library, so you're utilizing your own collection even more - what a great way to get more bang from your book acquisitions buck! I especially liked the format of the Danbury Library's catalog page with the similar title recommendations listed right on the same page - I used Gone With the Wind and found a nice listing of similar titles. What an easy way to provide reader's advisory service without having to access additional databases/reference books. Of course, some folks may question using recommendations from "regular" vs "library" folk, but so often people just want suggestions, no matter who gives them. You could still use other tools to find titles through ILL if you wanted to. I'd love to see this kind of feature added to our library's card catalog!