Tuesday, May 08, 2007

The Mashup Competition for '06

Paul Miller has written an interesting article on creating mashups for a library contest. A total of eighteen entries were received for the competition, spanning everything from very simple enhancements to existing library functions right through to a collaborative effort to provide library services inside the Second Life 3D online digital world. Entries came in from public and academic libraries, as well as from the commercial sector. As is the trend with Mashups more generally, map-based Mashups proved common.It's a fun read! Here's an excerpt:
The 'mashup' is a point in time; a means to an end. Our purpose is not, necessarily, t encourage the neverending development of small tweaks and hacks around existing systems. Our purpose is to create a safe and incentivised environment within which the whole sector can begin to give serious thought to what they actually want in the future. Should we continue to change the systems we have incrementally, or are we approaching the point at which some revolutionary change is required? Mashups are 'easy', mashups are quick. Mashups free their creator to think differently, and to try the unexpected. Some of that which they learn will inform our collective thinking as we move forward.

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