Welcome

Welcome, Reader. This semester I will be blogging my experiences as an intern at the Jefferson Library at Monticello in Charlottesville, VA. I am excited to work with the Jefferson's technical services staff on a cooperative project called Libraries of Early America which is taking place online in LibraryThing. It seeks to present the libraries of individuals influential to early American history, such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.

This project interests me for several reasons. It is a real-world application of abstract library school discussions concerning implementation and use of collaborative Web 2.0 tools. How might LibraryThing be useful for libraries? Instead of many projects existing in disparate locations, the Libraries of Early America centralizes information in an easy-to-use platform that is easily accessible on the internet. Likewise, this type of project bridges contexts to support information discovery by a variety of users. When I met with Endrina Tay, Associate Foundation Librarian for Technical Services at the Jefferson, she described the possibilities for LEA to aid scholarship. Bibliographies and tag clouds will allow scholars to quickly identify works and ideas that were relevant to the zeitgeist of this fledgling nation in new ways. Cataloging makes this information available in useful ways, and I look forward to contributing to the Libraries of Early America in this manner.

This semester is sure to be an adventure. I welcome the challenges and opportunities that will come with my internship at the Jefferson. Check back for weekly updates from Monticello.