Wanna see librariesinteract.info now? Obviously the rather high hit rate on the site was noted when we let the domain registration drop<\/a> and it is a very odd kind of link-bait site now…<\/p>\n A few years ago now I outlined a bit about my history and gifts received from library blogging (What has blogging done for me ?<\/a> ) and why blogging to me is not just posting, but is hard work and involves a lot of time and being part of a conversation ( blogging and being a node in the conversation<\/a> )<\/p>\n Meredith (We are atomized. We are monetized. We are ephemera. Do we deserve more online<\/a> ) and Fiona (What’s so amazing about really deep thoughts ?<\/a>)\u00a0 posted in the last week, remembering the impact of this on them personally and (more importantly) on their effectiveness and growth as library professionals. Morgan reflected similar themes when he restarted his (now 16 year old blog) in April this year after a five year hiatus (Restart<\/a> ).<\/p>\n These are smart, clear thinkers whose ideas heavily influenced my ideas of myself as a professional.\u00a0 All three modelled how to be a little less hotheaded, a little more measured, a bit more logical and how to edit, edit, edit to blow away writerly chaff. I would love again to read their posts weekly and engage in the comments on their blogs like before.<\/p>\n There were others from around the same time. Several. I am not naming names because I would miss someone out.<\/p>\n My recollection is a group of very passionate, tech-savvy professionals who found each other online and expressed very strong opinions in ways that tried to show respect for each other. A lot of our energy went into smoothing off our rough edges, and I am so grateful for those early experiences that forced me to find a philosophy of charitable reading<\/a>, that I now find incredibly rewarding and that I try to apply to “reading” people’s actions as well as words.\u00a0 I am sure it would have taken several years to develop this otherwise.<\/p>\n I am not sure we privately showed a lot of respect for those who had gone before in the profession and seemed to us to have limited tech skills, or were not engaging in the same way or seemed to not realise the implications of All These Things.<\/p>\n And the toys!!!! This was a time where several newer technologies, and ideas about how to use them, had converged to stimulate those who could code, think and hope to create all sorts of free online tools. Last semester I went looking for a Soundcloud replacement<\/a> for assessment in my units, and there really was no free, likely to stick around platform where students could record and save audio straight from their webbrowser. I felt like some kind of pioneering gold miner who was looking at the now empty and industrialised gold fields in Kalgoorlie saying “I remember when gold lined the streets”.<\/p>\n Hands up all those who remember Google’s attempt at a Virtual World, Lively??? Where I could meet up with colleagues in Canada and stream in movies from YouTube<\/a>?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/librariansmatter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/2018-06-15_09-14-43.png\")
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