There are 23 things

Improvisation No. 23 by Wassily Kandinsky

But not more.

My library system is participating in the Maryland 23 Things Librarians Should Know About Web 2.0. I signed up for it, hey, you bet! You're supposed to start a blog, get a Flickr account, etc. etc. And you can win a prize! I want the prize, I totally should get it, I do all the 23 things all the time, sometimes at the same time, sometimes without even meaning to, and sometimes in public (that can be embarrassing). But I was informed it is a random drawing.

I read through the 23 Things last year when it was first published, by those smart librarians at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library System. I saw a mention of it in American Libraries, and thought, oh crap, I have no idea what they're talking about with this 2.0 stuff. Lucky for me I was doing it already and just didn't know that's what it was called.

So one of the things we're supposed to do is write a blog post about some aspect of technology. I never use this blog to write about work. I don't want to get fired and I don't really need total strangers knowing where I work. But I think I can do this on the QT.

Here's a technology thing I would like to see:

I would like my system's ILS to work correctly with Aquabrowser, the web interface they have chosed to lay on top of the catalog. When you do a search, you cannot capture a persistent URL for the item you have found, so you can't link to it. Also, you cannot sort your search results by call number. I have seen the demos of Aquabrowser that are available online, and these features do work in the software. It's just apparently a clumsy fit with the ILS we have.

And you know, it's a good thing I'm doing the MD 23 Things. I have learned something new - nowadays you can change your template colors in Blogger! Dude! I'm blue!

My only regret about going to the BEEEEACH! tomorrow for a week is that I'll miss the red-carpet premiere of my friend Kate's sister's movie, The Hollywood Librarian. Kate had even asked me to walk the red carpet as her date! Here's a behind the scenes look, to make myself feel better.