Nicole C. Engard

More Library Mashups continues the idea first started in Library Mashups: providing librarians ideas on combining some library data they have with free web services to provide something seemingly new. This volume offers over twenty recipes for further enhancing library data. Those new to mashups may want to start with the first book, as this one assumes a greater familiarity with the concept. There's a little something for everyone -- there are some very theoretical chapters, and there are show more some chapters filled with code snippets. Few of the chapters will walk you step-by-step through the process the originating library went through; instead, the aim is to give a broader view so that the features discussed may be more widely used.

I was grimly pleased to note two chapters did point out the "danger" of using free web services for mashups or services, as they could become pay-to-use at any time, or they could disappear completely without any warning (goodbye, Google Reader). I'm not anti-mashup -- I've created a number of projects, like timelines and Google maps -- but there's a big risk when, after spending a lot of time fiddling with APIs and learning specific programming languages, suddenly something breaks.

Librarians who have at least experimented with programming should enjoy this book. But I'd be a bit cautious about loaning a copy to a librarian who, without any experience, wants to jump in and try something -- there's just a little too much in this book to overwhelm a newbie.

[Early Reviewer book]

-------------------------
LT Haiku:

Libraries always
feel the need to prove themselves:
Show off your data! show less

Libraries interested in using their data to improve service should get More Library Mashups: Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Data edited by Nicole Engard. It is a strong book that balances both highly technical developer-grade projects with ones that any library could do with basic technology skills and the ability to follow instructions.

The book defines mashups as mixing two or more data sources to create a better service. Some of the examples rely on consumer cloud services like show more IFTTT.com (a triggering service), Yahoo! Pipes, and Google Drive. Others require infrastructure - often Ruby on Rails or PHP - to deliver more complicated results. Whether you are a developer or just a tech-curious information worker, you will find interesting options. All the projects are well-documented, almost like recipes, but individual authors frequently also provide their own code.

I was particularly struck by the Umlaut, Rapier, Search with Twitter, and News Awareness projects. But there are many more examples in the book, particularly focusing on catalogs and maps. These held less interest for me but emphasize an important point about the book. Few readers will find everything applicable to their library environment. But every information pro who leafs through this will find more than one good idea that they might be able to do, whether it's improving presentation and serendipity of calendar information or better kiosk desktop management.

Librarians should buy this for their own professional development and library directors should look at as an investment in their people. Whether you complete the projects listed or are just inspired - as I was - to think about how to apply their concepts to my own library, this book is worth your time. show less

I enjoyed reading the 2nd edition of _The Accidental Systems Librarian_, by Nicole C. Engard with Rachel Singer Gordon. Among other things, the book covers what a systems librarian is, some general skills systems librarians probably need to learn, and how to continue growing professionally. I felt the chapter on personal networking was particularly good. I also liked the extensive appendices at the end listing additional reading and resources.

The one area I didn't feel the book spent enough show more time on is the importance of backups. It was briefly mentioned but I feel backups deserve at least a chapter by themselves. I understand that not every systems librarian is going to be in a position where they are directly in control of the backup environment. However, I've heard horrible horror stories of libraries losing six months of data, and sometimes more, due to inadequate backup schemes.

Overall, I thought this was a really well-written book. It's particularly helpful for those just entering the systems world but more experienced systems librarians may enjoy browsing through and checking out the resources in the appendices.

Note: I requested, and received, this book through LibraryThing's Earlier Reviewer program. show less

As with any book with multiple contributors, no one is going to find every chapter applicable to them, especially when the topic is something specific as this. That said, I found much of the book quite good. The first section in particular provides a great introduction to library mashups. For less technical readers, the first chapter exploring IFTTT (If This Then That), a mashup generator that doesn't require any programming, is a great way to begin the book. It introduces the topic and lets show more people try their hand at some mashups using their own social media data to get a feel for what the book is about.

There were only two chapters which I didn't find at all helpful. The rest were decent to very good. As you would expect, there is a lot of content about maps mashups, what with geographic data being easily available and maps being a well understood visualization.

My only complaint is with the combination of the book's dimensions and the formatting. The book itself is tall and narrow. Unfortunately, this means that code samples often have their lines wrapped. In some cases, this could cause some confusion as comment lines which begin with a '#' character, when wrapped, aren't always obvious. If would've been better if the book were physically wider and/or the font for the code snippets was slightly smaller. show less