Thing #13 Tagging & del.icio.us

I set up a del.icio.us account. Now I can keep track of all my bookmarks. The bookmark file in my computer was working fine, but that ability to tag sites and access them remotely, admittedly, is an advantage. Right now I'd rather discuss tagging and how it could be used to our advantage with our own CML catalog.

The other night I was watching PBS and caught the tail end of an interview with Magic Johnson about a new business book he has coming out (1). Since I habitually look up books and music I hear about and since it sounds like a book CML should own, I get on our website.

Doing a quick catalog search for "Magic Johnson" yielded plenty of results. Now I narrow things down to books, then non-fiction, then items from the last 3 years. Result: nothing BY Magic Johnson.

Off to amazon...Since CML seemingly does not own the book, perhaps I should get the info and make a suggestion for purchase. Amazon lists the book as, "32 Ways to Be a Champion In Business." I try the catalog a couple more times. Magic Johnson 32 ways. Nope. Magic Johnson business. Nada. So far I have been searching like most of our customers probably do, using keywords that make the most sense. Finally I try searching like a librarian. Author: Johnson, Earvin. Limit by publication year and sure enough there's the book in our catalog listings.

What is my point in describing this? Simple. The functionality of our catalog could be improved by allowing customers to create tags in our catalog. Here are the keywords that are included with the title: Success in business, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Work ethic, Social values and Earvin Johnson. Our catalogers did not include the author's nickname "Magic" in the MARC record. Like it or not, customers search our catalog in the same way they search the Internet: with prominent keywords that make the most sense to them. Before AquaBrowser I would find abandoned webpac searches all the time. "Your search did not produce any results." Something to that effect. AquaBrowser is a means of adapting to how people conduct their searches.

Wouldn't it be interesting to go one step further? Let customers add to the effectiveness of our catalog (2). What if I had been a customer at home that eventually found the catalog listing for the new book by Earvin Johnson but had the ability to tag the search record with his nickname Magic? Perhaps the next search by a customer would go smoother.


1) After his career as a basketball player Magic Johnson flirted with a career as a talkshow host. He sucked at this. However, he is a pretty savvy entrepreneur. He has thriving businesses in Los Angeles neighborhoods where others have been hesitant to invest. Movie theaters and coffee houses stand out as some of the things I've read about.

2) This has reminded me of a title I have run across at work: The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki. Perhaps I'll mark this down as 'plan to read' on Shelfari.

Thing #12 Twitter

My Twitter was briefly useful in documenting the incredibly stylish outfits of a man we will refer to as "Al." Al is an impeccable dresser and has been witnessed in as many as three different outfits in one day (see footnote 1). He is well known among Whetstoners and it is my hope that he will one day achieve the level of minor local celebrity (see footnote 2). Twitter's usefulness was brief due to Al being banished from the land for a total of four months (click on the above cartoon for a dramatized version of this event). The eviction was warranted. His behavior should not be encouraged. His wardrobe should.

1) The only more impressive example of such frequent wardrobe changes I have witnessed would be Prince in concert. Larry Graham & Graham Central Station opened the show and Prince sat in for most of their set which lasted about 1 1/2 hours. Then Prince performed his own headlining set for 2 1/2 hours. During his time on stage he had no less than three different outfits. Could this show have been any better? Only if he challenged me to a pick-up game of basketball and then offered to make pancakes.

2) Like Zach Allan Starkey, but different. Obviously.

Thing #11 LibraryThing/Shelfari

For Thing #11 I explored LibraryThing and Shelfari. When researching these sites I found that both had received investment from online book dealers -- one from an online bookseller that specializes in used, rare and out of print books and the other from an online bookseller that offers books and pretty much everything else (see footnote 1). If you compare the composition and design of both LibraryThing and Shelfari it is easy to guess who initially backed them financially (see footnote 2).


I liked the idea of using LibraryThing, but balked at the idea of paying for the service if I cataloged over 200 books. Some co-workers use Shelfari, now I do too. Shelfari even had an option to customize my "bookshelf" with rosewood, my favorite of all woods (see footnote 3).



1) Amazon's original investment in Shelfari was $1 million and recently purchased them outright. AbeBooks was an investor in LibraryThing. The developer of LibraryThing, Tim Spalding, has been quite critical of Shelfari. (Perhaps rightly so, but to me he comes across as snarky.) Here's where the world of LibraryThing/Shelfari gets interesting. Amazon, in addition to having recently purchased Shefari, has now purchased AbeBooks. Since AbeBooks owns a 40% share of LibraryThing and Amazon just bought AbeBooks it's almost as if Amazon owns both of these competing book networks.


2) LibraryThing is quirky and esoteric. The design isn't too flashy, but they are high on substance. It's not too surprising that they found venture capital from a business specializing in used and rare books. On the other hand Shelfari is visually appealing. The layout and design contributes to its ease of use. Again, not surprising that Amazon (a retailer skilled at making things easy to find) controls Shelfari.


3) Rosewood is useful in the making of musical instruments, especially guitars. My favorite guitars, Fender Stratocasters, feature necks made of solid maple or maple with rosewood fretboards. Maple has a brighter, punchier tone. Rosewood produces a slightly warmer, more mellow tone. Emphasis is added because if you recorded two different guitars and listened back to them you might not be able to tell the difference. Rosewood fretboards feel better to me and perhaps the difference is as much psychological as it is sonic. On a side note, I have noticed that the overall quality of wood from guitars made today differs from those made even ten years ago. There is often a visible difference in the grain and darkness of materials such as rosewood. A quick ProQuest search led me to an interesting article on the topic of timber used for guitars and how manufacturers are trying to reduce their environmental impact. See: "The Future of Tonewood." Acoustic Guitar, February 1, 2008, 80-86.

Thing #10 Image Generators

This was supposed to be the year for the Cubs. For the most part it was, then it wasn’t. I was at Wrigley late in the season to witness an incredible game where they came from behind in the 9th to tie, then won in the 12th. The post season was another story entirely. Oh well, like the sign says, I’ll be back for more next spring.