David Weinberger (Small Pieces Losely Joined) has an interesting blog post on a recent stint as consultant to the CIA on social software. It turns out David and six other experts* were called in to engage some 50-odd CIA analysts about wikis, blogs, tags and “linking linking linking.”

“This was a totally fascinating set of sessions. The CIA folks there included visionaries (e.g., Calvin Andrus), internal bloggers, the people behind Intellipedia (an in-house wikipedia), folks from the daily in-house newspaper, and some managers not yet sold on the idea of blogs and wikis and tags. … The people we met with are serious about understanding the opportunities, experimenting, piloting, and evangelizing.”

First thought: The CIA has an in-house Wikipedia!?

Second thought: When CIA analysts—a process-oriented, authority- and expertise-driven profession if ever there was one—get serious about social software, isn’t it time for mainstream librarians to get interested?

And the water-boarding? Okay, maybe librarians should avoid following everything the CIA does.

*My invitation lost in the mail, I’m sure.

Tim gets points for blogging his trip to Denver before he’s even home, while I’ve been back from Library Camp East for two days now. Better late than never? I had a great time in Darien (which, by the way, is a looong drive from Boston). Don’t worry, I wasn’t neglecting LT while I was gone – you’ll notice the computer on my lap in this somewhat blurry picture (play Where’s Abby!)…

John Blyberg (winner of Talis’s mashup contest!) talked about making library content available in outside the catalog, and showed off PatREST, Casey Bisson talked about OPACs, and demoed his WPopac. I got to meet people I’ve had conversations with, but never met in person, like Dan Chudnov of Library Geeks fame (who talked about OpenURL and COinS), and Jessamyn West (who’s a LibraryThing Author to boot!). Oh, and Sharon, I promise, I can help you find your old LT user name. I’m a great detective. Lichen blogged all day, and lest I forget anything, there’s a good summary of the blog coverage at Life as I Know It.

All in all, it was a great mix of people, and well worth the drive. The only downside was the moment was in my car, halfway home, getting off the phone with Tim (did you know you’re not supposed to talk on a hand held cell phone while driving in CT?), when I realized that I ran out without getting my mug. And it used Blyberg’s catalog card generator! I’ll have to settle for pining for it. Sigh.

UPDATE: Alan Gray, the head of technology at the Darien Public Library, and organizer of LCE06, is mailing me a mug! Because, as he says, they are “berserk about customer service.” How great is that?? Now I can stop pining and get back to work.

I flew out to Denver for a few hours, to present to the The Library Corporation‘s annual CARL Users’ Group. TLC and LibraryThing haven’t inked any deals, but TLC’s customers, like the customers of other library ILS and OPAC systems, are hearing a lot about “Library 2.0,” and the ideas around it–tags, user generated content, FRBRization, and so forth. I was glad to fly out and do the LibraryThing dog-and-pony show. The site went down in the middle of my presentation, but it didn’t turn out TOO bad. I hate demoing products, but love talking about the “issues” of LibraryThing. It reminds me of being a graduate student instructor. I wish I could demo LibraryThing on a blackboard, with chalk.

For the next ten days, Abby and I will be hopping between speaking events. Next up, we’re at Tufts for “The Dawn of the Embedded Library: Integrating Library Services into People’s Trusted Networks” (thrown by NEASIS&T). Then I’m off to Germany for the Frankfurt Book Fair. But don’t worry, we’re working on features night and day. To get back to Portland, I somehow lucked into a 12-hour overnight layover in LaGuardia. Nothing to do for twelve hours but drink coffee and program!