Liveblogging the WebWise 2009 Social Media Conference: That's all folks

Second session presenters are wrapping up now. Lots of food for thought.

Shout outs to catalogers for putting the information into the library catalogs in a standardized way, now users and technologists can take that information and make new things happen with it that haven't been seen before. The MARC records are still there, still safe, but putting them into circulation through XML and API gives them new life and new uses. We can't envision all of the potential uses of data that anyone might want, and most of the time we don't even take the time to ask them. David Lankes claims that scripting languages such as PHP have a steep learning curve but are then infinitely adaptable and can be adapted quickly through the application of open-source tools and languages. That allows users AND institutions to extract ANY information that they might need or want from THEIR information- and not be constrained by the Reports-type modules and templates that their vendor makes available.