by the light of the moon

The ALA's use of MySpace is interesting. The space itself is quite unattractive, though the content, including a video interview of Laura Bush on libraries and librarianship, is engaging.

The BL's use of FaceBook is an interesting contrast. the website is much less cluttered and more attractive, conversely with less accessible and/or useful information.

Ning looks like it proved a useful way for the Beyond Hype participants to communicate with each other before and during their conference.

The use that worldwide hotel chain Starwood makes of Second Life could be a useful application of this technology by libraries.

Starwood have built a mock-up of their new hotel concept that functioned as a laboratory. The company observed how people moved through the space, and even how they used the furniture. Virtual hotel customers also posted feedback on a blog.

runcible spooning 1

The lastest Flickr photos labelled State Library of NSW are lovely shots of the Shakespeare statutes outside the Mitchell Wing. This one's called Portia's Book and it is by a photographer with the nomdeplume Lemon Sunrise.

too long have we tarried...

Wow. That wasn't too bad...

An interesting post came in this morning from internet guru Gerry McGovern about organisational responsiveness to customers. He says in part:

Organizations are used to saying to customers: "Here's what we
have. If you like it, you're going to have to adapt to how we do
business." But on the Web, the customer has much more control.
The customer is saying to the organization: "Here's what I want.
If you have it, great, but adapt to me."
The organization needs the customer. The customer needs the
organization. So, shouldn't that lead to a perfect marriage? No.
What's at play is complexity and change. Most people and most
organizations are inherently conservative. We resist complexity
and change.
This world is a swirl of ever-increasing complexity and change.
So, the questions become: Who changes? Who takes on the
complexity?

For more, see link below:

http://giraffeforum.com/wordpress/category/organization-centric/

Respondents to this post make interesting points about automated communication channels versus human interaction. Here at the Library we offer a range of communication channels. Too many? not enough? the 'right' ones?