Why Libraries Rawk!

@organ_printer (that’s his Twitter Handle) and I spent today working at the Rice University Library. There is something amazing about libraries. For starters they are quiet. The minute you enter a library you instantly start to whisper. It’s sacred ground. Libraries also house all the world’s knowledge. Which is pretty amazing if you think about it.

The Rice University Library is currently displaying the Artwork of Mike Stilkey in an exhibit entitled: When Animals Rebel. The exhibit is part whimsical - part activist. Stilkey paints the spines of popular books to depict wild and domestic animals “taking back their land”.

Influence vs. Popularity

Do you think there is a formula for Influence vs. Popularity? And if so - what is it? Where do influence and popularity intersect? There’s been a lot of talk today in the blogosphere and on Twitter about Popularity. There are people who are Popular - or in some cases Infamous - who aren’t necessarily influential. On the other hand there are extremely influential people - who aren’t necessarily Popular or well liked. Yet because of a position of power or stature can be very effective within a community. I think part of this discussion was prompted by TwitterPoster - a dynamic site that is a visual application based on the Twitter API. It claims to “provides a visual representation of the degree of influence of the Twitter users”.

Serendipity

Tonight on my way home from the Rice University Library I got a call from an old friend. It turns out she was actually sitting at a restaurant at the crossroads of Westheimer and Sage. Strangely enough - I was stopped at a stoplight at the exact same intersection. So after almost a year of not seeing each other - we met up for dinner :o) It’s great getting to meetup with old friends.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!