Week 2: RSS, Wikis, My Space, and Other Online Communities

Zhar and I are perched companionably near the SJPL Staff Development & Training blog, which we have graciously been permitted to visit even though we aren't employees. "Very useful," Zhar concludes from his experience working for theatre and opera companies, while I attend to cleaning my claws. It's been a busy seven days darting from wiki to wiki, chasing RSS feeds, and hanging out on MySpace branches. We searched Hennepin County Public Library's Catalog for cookery (an excellent breakfast choice); darted back to Ohio University to see the Biz Wiki (good resources); hopped over to St. Joseph County Public Library; roosted briefly in Roc Wiki, then zoomed back to Davis Wiki in California. Having flapped through several thousand birthdays, one's wings will ache after such overexertion. So, why wiki? There seem to be many reasons to do so. I've been swinging thoughtfully on our bough by the library, listening to Zhar's musings on the value of blogs and wikis. "A wiki is like a larder where one stores supplies. Suppliers can pop in and put goods on the appropriate shelf." "This century, humans would think of a refrigerator," I amend. "Whether you call it a larder, pantry, or refrigerator, we can't do without a place to put food. Now a blog gives me a stage from which to discuss something, preferably of immediate concern, such as what are we having for dinner tonight, while providing you, the audience, a way to express your opinion. Let's take this San Jose Library. It's got a lot of goods stacked up in its website; the problem may be to find out on which shelf in which pantry. Keeping stock fresh isn't a difficulty since designated staff can add content to the various refrigerators (or databases). Would a wiki system offer a quicker way to retrieve the ingredients for one's meal?" Zhar pauses for dramatic effect. "It's easier to blog-talk, than to wikiize information. Now, how about a bit of San Jose farmers market research while stalls are still open before we go on to the topics of RSS and MySpace?"