11/29 Reading Responses

Weblogs: their use and application in science and technology libraries

I enjoyed reading this article, because I thought it provided a thorough and informative history of weblogs and their many uses in different fields of study.  I found the sections about reference desk blogging and student blogging to be interesting, because before this semester, I had never created my own blog before.  I do think that weblogs are in many ways better than e-mails, because people can respond to each other’s post without having to send each other individual messages through the Internet.  On weblogs, people can communicate on the sites themselves, as can access the site by using the permalink.  I think that within the near future, more people will be using weblogs for science and technology libraries because of their convenience, and because weblogs allow people to communicate in larger groups more easily. 

Using a wiki to manage a library instruction program: Sharing knowledge to better serve patrons

I think that using wikis for library instruction programs could allow for better means of communication and understanding between library staff and students.  If the people allowed access to the wiki are the ones that are allowed to contribute to the information shared within the wiki, then I think that this will allow for easier access to important information that could not be easily accessed without a wiki.  I think that many professors could become much more organized if they were able to collaborate with other librarians on a wiki, and more students would be able to develop their technological skills faster with the management of a wiki.  Generally, I think that this article described the benefits of wikis for libraries very well, and provided a convincing argument for wikis to be used to manage library instruction programs. 

Creating the academic library folksonomy: Put social tagging to work at your institution

I do think that if more people become accustomed to using social tagging, then tagging may become more beneficial to social and academic institutions such as libraries.  Due to the increasing size of the Internet, I think that folksonomies are an interesting option to help organize and specify websites on the Internet.  I do think that social tagging could be ideal for finding “gray literature,” because of the vast amount of important and useful information that can be lost or incredibly difficult to find on the Web.  If more academic and social institutions are willing to contribute to social tagging to make it more effective, then I think social tagging is a good idea.

How a ragtag band created Wikipedia

I think that Wikipedia can be a good source of information, although I do not think that

Wikipedia should be considered to be a truly reliable resource for important information.  The example used in the video of the Bush/Kerry controversy is one instance of the lack of reliability on Wikipedia, although the amount of specific and arcane information contained within Wikipedia is remarkable.  Wikipedia provides people the opportunity to contribute online information for the general public, and I think that this opportunity is beneficial to online communities.  Despite Wikipedia’s lack of academic integrity, I think that many of the articles contained within Wikipedia are rather objective, and even if there are articles that are inaccurate or conspicuously bias, moderators and/or administrators can edit the articles to make them as objective as possible.  I think that the creation of Wikipedia is something that is truly beneficial to the general public, despite its lack of scholarly integrity, because Wikipedia allows for common individuals to contribute to the distribution of knowledge that can benefit others in many ways.