Web 2.1 - Site of the Week

Name: Myxer
URL: http://www.myxer.com/

This site allows you to create, upload and share original ringtones. I used it to create a ringtone for my phone using public domain music. You can also use copyrighted material to create a ringtone, but I cannot encourage this practice as it is illegal. If you want to create original ringtones, you can do it here through the web browser with no additional software. You upload the audio file to their servers, cut out about 30 seconds of it for a ringtone and then send a text message to your phone. This text message will include directions on what to do to get the ringtone on your phone. Be forewarned, you will be charged for the text message and the data download unless you have an unlimited plan.

You can also sell ringtones at Myxer so if you are looking for an interesting fundraising idea, why not sell ringtones.

Web 2.1 - Site of the Week

Site Name: Meebo
URL: http://www.meebo.com/

Instant Messaging has become an accepted way to communicate for all of us (not just those born after 1994) Meebo is a way for us to IM each other without having to worry about proprietary software. You can IM through a variety of IM services including Yahoo, AOL, Google and MSN. You can do all of this through a web browser. Very slick...

If you develop websites, you might want to also check out the Meebo me widget. A widget is a small application that you can place on your website by copying generated code from the widget producer. Meebo has created one for IMing. You can place the Meebo Me widget on your website and have people IM you through your website. It is an inexpensive way to provide virtual reference.

A Library Programming Challenge

Watch the news! Check out the community blogs! Look at the local newspaper!

Find out the "news" for your community and plan programming for those topics. I often hear that people do not attend adult programming, and honestly, they don't - unless the topic is very important in their life.

One idea that came to my mind this morning as I read the newspaper, yes actually a print newspaper, was "staging your home to sell." The real estate market is tough and many in your area are probably trying to sell their home. There is a great article about staging that could be used to create the program or contact a local agent and see if they will present for you.

ALA Announces Outreach Grant Program

American Library Association Announces Outreach Grant Program for Federal Writers' Project Documentary

http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/rfp_item.jhtml?id=212100018

Deadline: July 11, 2008

The American Library Association, in partnership with Spark Media, a Washington, D.C.-based production and outreach company, has announced an innovative library outreach program to enhance and increase the nationwide impact of Spark Media's documentary film, "Soul of a People: Voices from the Writers' Project." Major funding for the program has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The film and library outreach program is designed to acquaint public, academic and special library audiences with the story of the largest cultural experiment in U.S. history — the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration — told against the backdrop of the Depression and 1930s America.

Following an application process, 30 libraries will be selected to each receive a $2,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to present five different public outreach programs during the period of the national broadcast of "Soul of a People" in the Spring of 2009.

The grants will be used for scholar honoraria, book purchases, publicity and other program-associated costs. Libraries will be asked to enlist from a local college or university a lead project scholar with expertise in American history, the WPA and/or the WPA era to help present and plan programs, ensure that program content conveys intended humanities themes, and work with local media and other partners in planning.

Librarians applying for "Soul of a People" grants must register their institution at Grants.gov. Prospective applicants are advised to register with Grants.gov as soon as possible, since the process can take up to two weeks to complete.

The application and guidelines for "Soul of a People" and complete instructions for registering and applying through Grants.gov may be found at the ALA Web site.

Contact:Link to Complete RFP

LISWire - The Librarian's News Wire

Blake Carver has started a new site, LISWire - The Librarian's News Wire (http://liswire.com). You can probably guess what the site is about from the name, but it may interest you to know that there are also 2 mailing lists and a bunch of RSS feeds. Blake Carver and Robin Blum are running the show and are looking for press releases and other news items of interest to librarians to get things going. You can sign up for an account and submit things you'd like to announce to the library world. Blake will be cross-posting most announcements to LISNews for a little while until they see how much traffic they get at LISWire.

"It's just out of beta, so there might still be some bugs floating around," Blake explains, adding, "Let me know if you spot something that needs fixing! I'd love any and all feedback you can provide."

Blake has also started work on a similar site that still needs quite a bit of work, but you can check it out: LISEvents - The Librarian's Events Calendar (http://lisevents.org/) You can probably guess what that's all about, too!

Web 2.1 - Site of the Week

Site Name: Trooker
URL: http://www.trooker.com/

This week, we are introducing Trooker, a Web 2.0 search engine for online videos. I am a sports fan and I often hear about fabulous sports plays that I did not get a chance to see. I would search for the clip online through the main search engines to no avail. I could never find it. I was so frustrated until I discovered Trooker.

Here is how they describe themselves on their website.

Trooker is an up-to-the-minute video viewing community. With Trooker you can find and watch videos continuously, get alerts when there are new videos on your topic of interest, and create your own sets of videos from anywhere on the net. With Trooker, you can trook your friends and share your watching experience by instantly exchanging videos with them.

You can create an account with Trooker. An account allows you track your favorite vidoes and then you can even create code to embed them on your own website. You can also email your favorite videos to your friends.

By far, the most useful aspect of the service is the search feature. Trooker search Youtube, Brightcove, myspace and several other video sharing sites. If you do a search on the keyword, Librarian, you get some interesting choices. Make sure to click on the button "Add to Set" if you want to save the video as a favorite.

Circulating Video Games

There is a great article in the April 2008 School Library Journal on the effects of circulating video games at the library. It is also mentioned that book circulation has gone up since games were added to the collection.

Check it out!

Teen Resource Center

The website for the Office of the State Attorney General of Texas includes an area targeted specifically to teens. The site, http://www.oag.state.tx.us/teens/index.shtml, includes information about leadership, money matters, relationships, and crime & justice. Teens can find information there about such things as getting a job, dating violence and staying safe online, and they can find a list of additional resources for still more information.

Why IT Departments Hate Web 2.0

An article in the current Information Week uses "Herding Cats" to describe attempts by corporate IT departments to control users enamored of Web 2.0 tools for collaboration. The article explains why IT departments don't like the online collaboration tools and suggests some alternatives that are more acceptable in a corporate environment where information tends to be sensitive or proprietary.

Since I'm in a position of promoting the use of Web 2.0, I found it useful to see a description of the specific risks that make IT departments wary, and I was encouraged to see that most of the risks are directly related to the protection of sensitive information. We certainly need to exercise some discretion about the types of information we publish in our wikis, blogs, and social networking sites, but that still leaves us a lot of useful applications.

Some of the specific risks that were mentioned in the article are:

• When sensitive information resides on a third party's computer system, its security depends on the soundness of the third party's security practices and integrity.
• Access to proprietary information might be granted on a casual basis to individuals who should not be authorized, and access might not be revoked promptly when an individual leaves the company.
• Blogs, wikis, and such tend to exist without the knowledge and control of corporate management. In a litigation situation, where a company is required to produce all relevant information (including digital information), there can be serious legal consequences if these uncontrolled information stores escape notice.

Commercial in-house collaboration tools such as SharePoint are easier to control, but slow to set up compared with the freedom of the common Web 2.0 tools. As an alternative, some Web 2.0 vendors such as PBwiki and Google Apps offer company accounts where an administrator can set access rights for individual users and prevent the disclosure of information to outsiders.

The conclusion is pretty much the same as what we tell our teenagers about MySpace and Facebook – think before you put something online. It doesn't have to stop you from using the tools wisely.

Mrs. Janie Rector's Donation: The new Azle Public Library

The 2008 TLA Outstanding Services to Libraries Award was presented last week, in recognition her successful advocacy of the library to the community, to Mrs. Janie Rector of Azle (population 10,000).

In 2000, Mrs. Rector informed Azle Public Library Director Judy Whitt that she wished to do something for the community in memory of her husband, specifically A NEW LIBRARY ON MAIN STREET! After finding and purchasing land for not only the library, but also a substantial portion of a new park, she made her proposal to city officials.

Next Mrs. R formed a committee of Friends of the Library, and they visited at least 25 libraries in the area and out-of-state. Armed with disposable cameras and taking pictures of these facilities (with permission), they compiled four large annotated scrapbooks with typed notes for future reference. Then Mrs. R joined TLA, attending conferences in Austin and San Antonio to get ideas for the new library. She hired an architect and a contractor and saw that Judy Whitt was included all phases of the building project.

In her hands-on mode Mrs. R. volunteers every Monday afternoon in the present library to get the feel of library operation—working in circulation, shelving books, assisting patrons. She attends various NTRLS workshops to better understand public libraries.

In addition, this extraordinary library patron plans to furnish the building and purchase RFID technology and self-checkout in the new facility, which will open later in the year.

(The information above comes from a presentation prepared by TLA Awards Committee Member and Councilor Alternate for LiFTA.)