Inspiration Across the Nation

I was perhaps overly harsh in my assessment of the Library of Congress Experience below. LC can endure a little criticism from a knowbody, but I'd like to make amends nonetheless. While Topical (below) represents a useful application of web2.0, useful is not the first descriptor that comes to mind for LC's Inspiration Across the Nation. Not everything has to be useful however, and something that is inspirational, and celebrates humanity, is arguably better than useful! Inspiration Across the Nation invites anyone over 13 years of age to submit their creative impressions in the form of a photo, videos, songs, artwork, essays, along with a description of what inspired the work. The submissions - due by May 30 - will form a mosaic of "inspiration across the nation." Far be it from me to say bah humbug to a web2.0 project as noble as this! And best of all, LC requires submitters to list their local library branch! Why? Because "The Library of Congress Experience is also a celebration of libraries. Because our local libraries play such critical roles in providing open access to knowledge-and thus inspire and foster imagination-we ask that you recognize the creative power of your local branch by listing its name here." God bless the Library of Congress!