Twitter loves Sharks?

Twitter has been all over the news lately. Has it become so over popularized that it has gone out of trend? As in has it jumped the shark? Author Mark McKinnon wrote Twitter Jumped the Shark This Week where he thinks Twitter has become a thing of the past. He makes valid points which encourages me to stop posting so many foolish thoughts.

Some may agree Twitter is on its way out and then again it may just have reached its peak of discovery. Prior to all this media attention Twitter was used by very few, most of which were tech lovers and library professionals, and now it's getting crowded. For some this social media has indeed become useless because it has lost its elitism. Come on now, think about it, think some more. We like elitism especially in DC the land of never ending politics. We like using something few have heard about and even fewer use. Once that shiny feeling fades the next new product is sought. I'm not bothered by this sudden surge of users nor the nay-sayers moving on. Yes it is a distraction yet far less of a distraction than Facebook, MySpace, or even the water cooler gossip. Twitter still remains what it was: a way to communicate briefly. I'm still going to use Twitter. It is my IM connection and there are several others who have done the same. I find it less bothersome than those IM products out there because I am able to chat with folks but not feel like I'm being overwhelmed with the messages. For others it has replaced the chat rooms of the past which to me felt so confined and strange. There are several reasons why this will continue to fascinate people and several reasons to repel people. I am wondering what are your thoughts?

If you use Twitter:

Do you use it often?
What do you like about Twitter?
Why do you use it?

If you have used Twitter and do not anymore, why? What did you dislike about it?

Image finder search engine

I'm behind the times on this but it's still a very useful tool especially for those in the medical professions. The Yale Image Finder search engine is a great way to locate biomedical images. The Bioinformatics article: Yale Image Finder (YIF): a new search engine for retrieving biomedical images explains the reason for its development. David Rothman gives a great brief review of this that you might find interesting.

Electronic Books

I read this article* as well as this related one* and had mixed feelings. Where I understand the incredible fascination with new gadgets I am somehow put off by the almost obsessive desire we have developed for them.

*Articles

Well Read
Feb 12th 2009
The Economist

An iTunes Moment for Readers?
Feb 12th 2009
The Economist

Wikis should think about this

I read an article about an interesting development in the world of Wikipedia. There has come a time when it can't be both reputable and open source. I'll be following this as I am wondering how this is going to shape the nature of other wikis out there.

Article: Doomed: Why Wikipedia Will Fail
Nate Anderson
Ars Technica 2/12/09

Strange things patrons do

This is an example of one of the many strange things I experienced while working as a Service Desk Manager. There are so many more to share but this one was odd. What I like most about this incident was my colleague's sense of humor as she described the situation. Having great people to work with when you encounter strange events does make the day brighter.

A stranger barged into the library passed by the service desk and made himself welcome in the closed reserve room. This greatly distressed my desk staff as they were very baffled by this person's brazenness. He began to pace around in the small room while talking on his cell phone. He paused at various times looking at several things books, microscopes, slides until he found the corner where we keep the anatomical models. There, then, that's where he stood and proceeded to feel up the skeletons. We could not determine why this man was there. It was a very unusual way for someone to enter the library. He was asked several times what he was doing and if we could help him with something but he did not respond. He just continued to talk on phone. He departed only after his reception dwindled. Which was not unusual as that room is in the worst place possible to be talking on a cell phone.

I wanted to know how did he know the skeletons were back there? The best response for summing up the situation was from a colleague she put it this way "I don't know if he knew that the skeletons were there or if he was just delighted to find them."

Amazon's Kindle

How does Oprah's endorsement of Amazon's Kindle affect the way libraries will provide services? Oprah is a very persuasive person and this show (Oprah's Favorite New Gadget) she devoted to promoting the product will certainly influence people. The hefty price is going to cause many people to not go out and buy it now, though it won't be long until the price comes down. Yet this is going to impact libraries. Where do we go from here? Are we thinking of ways to encourage these and other forms of technology to be used by our patrons? It's something to ponder.

Worlds colliding?

This is a fascinating read about how technology does affect your lifestyle. Getting Found Out, Web 2.0 Style. I wonder how would Ferris Bueller would be able to do what he does with today's teenage usage of technology.