Article #5

"Mashing up the Library 2006: Announcing the Winners." Computers in Libraries 26.9 (2006): 59-59.


Written by Paul Miller, this piece is a recap of a competition sponsered by Talis Company. This article annouces winners of a recent library mashup competition. Defined by Wikipedia, a mashup is "a website or web application that uses content from more than one source to create a completely new service."

Miller explains the logic of the competition stating that information specialists (librarians) must take content and create systems that create interlocking mechanisms rather than stand alone entities. Creating a networked information tool better alllows users the ability to thread several information sources into one portal for practical use. In the end these tools should add value to the user experience wherever and whenever they access the web from. Miller cites examples of Google, MySpace, and Amazon.com as places where such tools could be beneficial.

First place in the 2006 competition went to John Blyberg of Ann Arbor District Library, Michigan. His creation Go Go Google Gadget shows how Google gadgets can be added to a users Google homepage to mesh topics and services together.

Second place was awarded to the Alliance Library System from Peoria, IL. Their creation Alliance Second Life Library 2.0 was a combination of international collaboration among librarians with a shot of traditional services through non traditional means.

The concept of a mashup is a relatively new concept for users. However anyone with a login page at a portal such as Yahoo or Google are probably familiar with the tools of building one's homepage to suit their needs. Many of these such service / search engines have provided such service for years. The concept of libraries using this "mashup" concept is central to the Library 2.0 movement.

When I started to develop the PPL homepage for my intern project I attempted to mashup the page with static elements as much as possible. Case in point the WorldCat search mechanism and the Google search. The Google search tool I created was a true element in that I created code to copy and paste into my design. I made sure my element searched just the pages in the "...plymouth.lib.in.us" domain. Hence users could keyword search the entire PPL website for what they were looking for.