Update on a few of my ongoing projects

Just an update on a few of my projects.

I have decided to go with MODx Revolution for the new site. I looked at several CMSs but they just wouldn't be easy to do what I needed.

I have developed my new look for the site and begun work on the meeting room management system. This is being done with the xPDO php framework and ext.js 3.4. Those two were selected by virtue of being provided  as part of MODx and being the recommended way to create a custom module.

xPDO I love. It makes it very easy to interact with the database as opposed to writing custom php for every query and update. Later I may look at doing a little project using just xPDO without the MODx system, just for the chance to play with it more.

Ext.JS I'm less enthusiastic about. It's a javascript UI framework and it does produce some pretty results. However, after using it for a couple of months I'm still relatively in the dark about how it works. I can take an example and modify it enough to get the result I want, but it's still more like plugging in new values for a variable than programming.

We're starting our annual video series earlier this year which will grow to take up a large portion of my time I'm sure.

Also in the hopper, is a set of tutorial videos for our OverDrive service and software. I have most of my screen cast recorded, now I just have to go back and add captions and narrations. I'll post the videos here as I finish them, in addition to on the website at work.

Can't See the Forest of Information for the Dead Trees on the Shelf

This was going to be a comment box response to David Lee King's article here ( http://www.davidleeking.com/2012/01/17/hey-milwaukee-youre-doing-it-wrong), but it took on a life of it's own so I'm posting it on my own blog.

Yes the signs are reading centered if not book centered. This does imply a judgement upon the activities suggested by the altered logos. Reading's primacy comes mostly from it being either the only way, or the only economical way information could be transported and archived. 

Is reading truly a better experience when online video/audio can accurately transmit audio or visual subtleties rather than relying on my imagination to be able to reconstruct them from a description? Will even the only semi-static text of an ePub or PDF (eBook file formats) help me connect with my friends unless they happen to be authors.

What I want to know is why aren't librarians at the forefront of indexing, categorizing and cataloging online videos, blog posts, and websites? Libraries already deal with subjective areas (e.g. humor) and controversial areas, and already try to sift signal from noise or information from conversation. If there's one group of people I could trust to put together a better tool than Google and Wikipedia combined, it's librarians. Is it time for libraries to invest in creating a digital collections department that focuses on more than eBooks and databases?