[Will Wood]

Hi Jill!

I just went back through my forum and saw that you had commented on my intro post so I wanted to do the same.

I think children are fascinating and hope to have some of my own one day when I am more financially secure and have pursued a few of my own interests before they tie me down with responsibility and adorableness.

A creative talent that could make a profitable business is a great superpower! Like the ability to knit highly sought after jackets at lightning speed! Etsy knitters wouldn’t stand a chance. 😉

Also I wanted to say that when I read this in your reply to Stacey:

I remember at school being so scared to create and express originality incase I was ‘wrong’.

It took me right back to school where I never put up my hand because of that very same fear only to have other kids say the answer that I had in my head anyway. Crippling. Still a little bit of a hang up of mine to this day. Who stays pretty quiet in lectures? This guy does.

[Will Wood]

I only just checked this post now in week six to find a heap of lovely comments from you all!

Thanks for taking the time way back in the starting weeks to drop by and say hello!

I have been doing a bunch of commenting tonight as I actively procrastinate and hope to return the favor by dropping in on your posts and saying nice things! See you all online here soon!

[Will Wood]

Thanks so much for your comments everyone! Glad you all enjoyed my post.

Ruth – Great question! I like to think of myself as a humanist and believe strongly in the value and agency of individuals and communities so selfishly I would hope that we as a race are not completely absent in our future and only to be represented by the robots or AI we had a hand in creating. I would like to think that through technological advancements we may dramatically change in form and capability but that we would retain some sense of humanity throughout that development. Who is to say what will happen though? Very exciting stuff to contemplate.

Shannon – I agree that there is a long way to go before ‘robot story time’ or alternatives like it come anywhere close to one on one interactions with kids but that got me thinking that as robotics develops we could end up seeing a technology that fuses a physical form with skype-like technology that could allow children to be interacted with and read to by distant relatives in a more visceral way than current tech allows for which while not providing a comparable experience to face to face interactions it would open up some pretty cool options.

Robynne – Cheers for the image advice! I will look into doing that for my next post as the photos I took and would like to add to this post are stored on my phone and I don’t have an imgur or other similar photo sharing account that could give me the url I would need. Thanks again!

[Will Wood]

I found your post to be very well researched and really thought provoking Ruth. It introduced me to some concepts that I was unfamiliar with like wiki-lobbying. Microsoft paid for positive entries?! Geez, did Bill know? I missed out on that whole saga completely. You’ve inspired me to go and do a bunch of reading and procrastinate instead of working on my essays. I was particularly intrigued by the notion that algorithms could be systemically marginalising minorities as I had never even considered that concept before.

I am one of those people who doesn’t like to be approached by helpful staff when I am shopping and much prefer to serendipitous-ly stumble across interesting products and I like to think that I when I shop online I treat the suggestions of the algorithm with the same level of avoidance but if I end up buying a few things and others like me have bought the same then I am contributing to a formula that is seeking to remove those moments of happy chance and replace them with shoppers who all by the same things because Amazon told them they would like it. I don’t really like the sound of that.

Thanks for the excellent post!

[Will Wood]

You had me grinning the whole time I read your post!

I laughed out loud when I read:

I was certain that my role as ‘undercover shopper’ would be found out and I would be asked to leave, with dozens of genuine patrons looking on in outrage.

The image of a host of library patrons being upset about anything other than changed library hours or a copy of a book that the catalogue says is there but isn’t really cracked me up. Great to read that you had such a positive experience even with the guilty feelings and it makes me keen to conduct my own sneaky review. I’m sure my trench coat and large fake mustache can only serve to help me. You’ve inspired me to get all Carmen Sandiego on my victi- *cough, I mean local library staff. Thanks for the comment on my post too!

[Will Wood]

Hey Samantha,

I thought I would have a read of your twitter chat experience as I am one of the champions for the discussion next week. I’m glad I did stop by because your first paragraph expressed how I am feeling about it so clearly I could have written it myself! I also just sat back and watched the first twitter chat because I am in no way a twitter native and the tweets were flying thick and fast! Hopefully I can prepare enough and get my fingers limbered up to speed for my session on Monday. Unfortunately I couldn’t sit in on the readers advisory one as I was at work so it was great to read about it here from your perspective rather than go back through the storify. I definitely agree with you on your point about how a readers advisory service conducted by someone who is not themselves widely read makes for a limited service that lacks the depth and scope the user would expect. Its good that RA resources other than the librarian exist though as it would take a lot of dedication and an incredible memory to recall most of a collection! Cheers again for the confidence boost for my upcoming twitter chat, glad to know I wasn’t alone in my apprehension.

[Will Wood]

Hi Kate,

I seem to be missing the add media button too. Glad it isn’t just me!

 

[Will Wood]

Glad you enjoyed it Shannon! Thanks for letting me know! His article was one of the most engaging required readings I’ve had to read in ages.

[Will Wood]

You’ve really nailed that great mix of humour, personal interest and fact that makes blogs a pleasure to read! I totally agree too that though the reference collection has adapted and changed to suit the times the experience of the reference librarian should still be valued. The sheer volume of information that patrons can access online can be overwhelming and the one on one interactions with a professional can go a long way in easing that I feel. I found Verdesca’s article really insightful.

One question for you though…how did you add the images?! I tried so many different ways..even some basic html and couldn’t get it to work for me. What did I miss? Something easy I bet.. :p

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