Creating versus Consuming

The Director of the Westport Public Library, Maxine Bleiweis, often speaks of how libraries have changed and how they must continue to change if libraries are going to continue to serve their patrons.  One point she has made is how people now no longer simply consume information; with various web 2.0 tools at their disposal, they also create information.  Anyone who blogs understands this.  After all, we are blogging so others can read our thoughts.

But this point was truly brought home to me over the Christmas break from school.  I created a Goodreads account about a year ago.  For those of you unfamiliar with Goodreads, it is a Web 2.0 cite for books, just as Ravelry is a web 2.0 tool for yarn.  I had been using LibraryThing to catalog the books I read, but when I got over a certain number (one or two hundred), it was going to cost me money!  So I abandoned LibraryThing and moved to Goodreads.

I like these cites.  They help me to recommend books for friends, keep track of books I plan on reading (no more little slips of paper!) and avoid those horrible times when I get 200 pages into a book to realize I read it a few years ago.  Goodreads gives you the option of adding your own review.  Sometimes I do that - particularly if I want to remember what I liked or disliked about a book.  I never never thought of that as "creating content", it was a memory aid only.  Yet over the winter break I got 3 emails from Goodreads about 3 different books I had reviewed, notifying me that other Goodreads members had marked that review as one that they liked.

So yes, Maxine, we are creators of content.  Whether we know it or not!

Revel in Ravelry and Organize Your Stash

If there is one thing most librarian's love, it is applying order to their collection, whether it is a collection of books or a collection of yarn.  There is an amazing free website out there to help you do this.  Ravelry is a social networking site that has a place for you to "catalog" your stash.  It will allow you to add your own pictures, notes and projects.  You can keep a list of the needles and hooks (yes, it's for crocheters as well as knitters) and print it out for when you go shopping.  To give you an idea of how this site can change your life, here's a screen shot of some of my stash.

Yes, it has the name of the yarn, a picture of the yarn and how many skeins I own.  What you don't see are the notes:  where the yarn is stored, what I may have planned, etc.

Once you have your yarn "catalogued", you can click on Projects within the yarn and you will be able to see what projects other Ravelry members have completed with this yarn.  It will tell you the pattern, and if the pattern is available online, you can download it for free or for a price.  If nothing else, you will get ideas for things to make.

This website is definitely worth a few hours of your time exploring.  For the first time, I actually know all of my stash and can start working through it, instead of buying new.  Okay, I probably will keep buying new as well.  I think I may have a bit of a problem.