60 Sites in 110 Minutes

Mike Baldwin, Director of the Benbrook Public Library, asked me to post a link to this website. He attended this program at TLA in Houston last month and was very impressed with the sites outlined in the presentation. Jenny Levine, The Shifted Librarian, and Michael Stephens, Tame the Web: Libraries and Technology, are long-time bloggers in the biblioblogosphere and I hear do a great job presenting at the various library conferences around the world. If you are not a library blog reader, but are looking to get into it, I recoomend these two.

LibraryThing: Future of OPACs

If you have not heard of LibraryThing, I highly recommend you take a moment to check out the website. It is amazing tool that allows people to catalog their own personal book collections by downloading MARC records from the Library of Congress. Users can search the entire librarything.com collection for books, which numbers of 2 million volumes. Once you find a book, its record includes tags, book recommendations, member reviews, a rating for the book and other users that own the book. It feels like a combination a library OPAC and Amazon.com but it is all controlled by the website users. Tim Spalding, the creator of LibraryThing, has recently hired a librarian and is looking to hire a librarian-developer. Once you begin to use the tool, you can quickly tell that a librarian had some input on it. It really is amazing tool. I only hope libraries can offer OPAC as rich in functionality as LibraryThing.

Internet Searching: Librarians Do It Better

Interesting read from Reuters. Although the article focuses on medical librarians, I believe it is relevant for librarians in all types of settings. I am currently preparing to teach an Internet class for TWU SLIS this summer. This class will be include non-LS majors and I hope to instill in them the importance of good solid internet research skills. This article reinforces my thoughts that librarians can serve the role of teaching others to become information literate in this information age. We do Internet Research daily so it comes second-nature to us, but for a majority of people, searching the Internet can be a very frustrating experience. They are often faced with too many results and not enough knowledge to know what information is credible. IMHO, information literacy should be a goal of all public libraries. Let's teach them to fish instead of giving them a fish.

Records Management 101

Have you ever wondered how long you have to keep each email you receive? How about those patron records? Often people are very unsure of the legal requirements for record retention. The State and Local Records Management Division of TSLAC is here to help! Each county in Texas is assigned a Records Management Analyst that can answer state, county and local questions. They are just a phone call or email away. To find your analyst, go to http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/slrm/local/countylist.html.

The Big Read

The Institute of Library and Musuem Services and the National Endowment for the Arts are teaming up to have a One Read, One Nation event which they are calling the Big Read. Libraries can apply for grants for up to $20,000 to help defray participation costs. http://www.neabigread.org.

DVD Storage and Retrieval

Recently I was visiting a local library that is using the Imation Disc Stakka to store and retrieve their DVD collection. This library is still in the testing phase, but is positive about the results so far. After searching several sites, I have found mixed reviews - but mostly positive. DVD storage and retrieval seems to be a time consuming and costly library task lately. Do you buy locking cases? Do you have them on the shelves where they are easily "borrowed" without a library check-out? Or do you use something like Imation? This is still an area in discussion. Please share any experience you have in DVD storage and retrieval.

Proposal to block social sites from libraries, schools

Here is an interesting post on the LJ Tech Blog about blocking social networking sites like MySpace from libraries. The proposal defines a social networking site as any site that allows a person to create a profile and contact others.

The term ‘commercial social networking website’ means a commercially operated Internet website that—
(i) allows users to create web pages or profiles that provide information about themselves and are available to other users; and (ii) offers a mechanism for communication with other users, such as a forum, chat room, email, or instant messenger.

You can read the whole text here.....

Should the Internet Remain Neutral?

Congress is moving to give Internet providers the ability to regulate who gets what bandwidth. Check out my post at Library Technology NOW.

EngagedPatron.org: Free Library Website Enhancements

Glen Peterson of the Hennepin County Library System has put together a neat service for libraries called EngagedPatrons.org. Small to Medium sized libraries, less than $1 million per year in total income, can use the services for free (large libraries have to pay a fee). You can add the following to your website: Library Events, Library Blogs, Library RSS feeds, Contact Your Library and Customized web enabled databases. Neat!

Technology Trends and Terminology for Librarians

I did a presentation on this topic at TLA last week. Here it is.

Networking and Learning!

One great benefit of TLA is seeing so many other librarians from around the state. I have met several librarians that I first met last year in Austin. It seems that everyone has bags and carts full of free stuff and are beginning to look a bit tired. Me too!!

I started today at the Technology Sampler Platter workshop present by David Whelan from the Cincinnati Law Library Association. Kudos to David for making technology understandable and interesting to those of us non-techie's. I overheard several people saying how great of a presenter David was - which unfortunately is not always the case! Anyway, I haven't had much time to explore tech sites that he shared, but plan to look at Plone - a Content Management System, and Open Source Systems for Libraries to stay abreast of developments with integrated systems and Open Source. It is hard to make it sound exciting here, but this is really beneficial information for libraries.

At the Leaders in Libraries workshop, David Bendekovic shared tools on assessing yourself and your library. At first, we took a quick overview of our leadership style - I am "Human Resource", which is a leader that thinks people first. The other three types of leadership styles were Structural - all about logic, facts and data; Political - the importance is building networks and allies; and Symbolic - the main task is providing vision and inspiration.

He also challenged us to look at the library's mission statement - and make it short enough to fit on a t-shirt. All staff should know the mission by heart. He gave several corporate mission statements as examples of being short, but powerful such as Disney's - We're here to make you smile.

My day finished with the presentation by actress Marlee Matlin - very inspiring! We all count and we need to be the library for everyone!

Happenings at TLA

I am busy once again at a conference - this time TLA (for those of you not in Texas, this is the Texas Library Association annual conference). We are meeting in Houston this year - surprisingly it is not too hot!

While I had many meetings today, I did manage to make it to several workshops. I was lucky enough to be on a panel discussing multicultural library programs with many talented librarians and community leaders. It was especially fun to meet author Pat Mora, the author of many books, including Tomas and the Library Lady.

My connection tonight is very slow and therefore I will make this entry short and sweet. I attended workshops on search engines and current trends in this arena, CE programs and how to make them stronger and finally advocacy - mostly dealing with current Friends groups. All were well presented and have me pondering my role in all of these areas. The day ended on a fun note - I watched several of the Book Cart Drill Teams - those Book Divas were in neon pink and really let loose. It was inspiring - I might just have to try their routine back at the NTRLS office!

Weeding Your Library Books: Turn them into Art

This article tells how The Portland Public Library in Maine has found a unique use for their old books. They gave them to artists who turn the books into works of art.

Mr. Whittaker works for the Portland Public Library in Maine, where a small portion of such ill-fated books are given a new life as art. And this art can now be checked out at public libraries across the country.

The article goes on to state how other libraries can check out the works.

(To borrow a work, go to the Portland library's Web site, catalog.portland.lib.me.us/. Under the subject heading Altered Books, find the title of a work you want, its artist and call number. Take that information to the reference desk at your local public library and request an interlibrary loan.)

The Dallas Public Library has already requested some of the pieces. Why not your library? If you are about to weed, why not invite local artists to do the same to your weeded collection?

Garland Library Offers Downloadable Movies

Late fees on movies from the library could be a thing of the past for some library users as the city of Garland's library becomes the first in the state to offer free downloadable movies.
Nicholson Memorial Library on Thursday began offering a service on its Web site that allows library cardholders to download from 170 educational, classic and IMAX titles, said Mignon Morse, library services manager. For more information, see the article in the Dallas Business Journal.

Think It, Then Plinkit

If you are going to TLA next week, you might want to check out this program. Plinkit is the content management system that the Texas State Library and Archives Commission will use for its website project this fall. If you have not heard about this program, TSLAC is going to allow member libraries to establish a web presence for free through the Plinkit software. It should start in the Fall.

NetFair on Wednesday, April 26th at 4:00 p.m.
The title: Think It, Then Plinkit
Two presenters: Eduardo Loera (Library Technology Consultant at TSLAC) and Len Borowski (Linux System Administrator at TSLAC)
Plinkit is a Web authoring system designed for public libraries that shows what open-source software and a collaborative approach can accomplish. In a nutshell, this tool makes it simple for library staff to create and maintain a dynamic, professional Web presence.
for more information on Plinkit
http://www.plinkit.org/

Outreach to your Virtual Patrons

The Alliance Library System and OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries) are taking outreach to whole different world. These two organizations plan to hold programming for people participating in the online game called Second Life.

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by nearly 200,000 people from around the globe. There are shopping malls, events, homes, lands of different types, and best of all, participants can contribute content, buildings, and other digital creations. (taken from the email I received about this event)

They have two events currently planned: Getting Along with IT staff for Librarians and Educators and Second Life Library2.0 Book Discussion. They are looking for volunteers to help out. If you are interested, check out their blog.

Books via RSS

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is an XML standard that allows bloggers and website creators to syndicate their content for distribution. You can then subscribe to these RSS newsfeeds via a News Aggregator. It has been used for about everything you can imagine, but this post might be of interest to Librarians. It is the timeline of RSS book publishing. If I understand the concept correctly, authors will allow readers to subscribe to a RSS newsfeed that sends them part of the author's book on a regular basis. The recent book, Pulse, is one example of this type of RSS book publishing. It reminds me of the old serialized novels written through magazines. Neat utilization of a neat technology!!!

Understanding New Learning Technologies

Amy Finn discusses assessing and integrating new learning methods. She defines some of the current technologies below.

It’s important to make new friends and become acquainted with new technologies for a variety of reasons. Understanding what they are all about can help practitioners envision when, how, and where to incorporate them into our businesses. Below is a condensed, high-level overview of some of these newer technologies.

Blog
Weblog (blog), web-based publication consisting primarily of periodic articles
Accessible to large audiences, diaries, communication and collaboration (blogstorming)

Moblog
Blend of words mobile and weblog (mobile weblog)
Content posted to Internet from mobile or portable devices, instant access to real time information.

Wiki
Web application that allows users to add content (as on an internet forum) and edit content.
Easy way to develop private and/or public knowledge bases; sharing vast amounts of information simply and cost effectively.

VLog
Weblog that uses video as primary presentation format.
Distribute video content, audiovisual communication via internet.

Pod Cast
Technologies that enable automatic distributing of audio and video programs over the internet; publish and subscribe models available.
Enables independent producers to create and deliver self-published broadcasts.

RSS
Real Simple Syndication is a way to track blogs.
Updates to blogs are automatically sent to user computers; approximately 6 million people--5 percent of the U.S. online audience--use RSS.

Live Homework Help Webinars

Lewis Maurer from tutor.com sent me this email about some exciting CE opportunities.

Hi Adam -
We have scheduled Live Homework Help webinars for April, May and June that your members may find interesting as they consider renewing and joining the NTRLS group. Would you please consider distributing this info:
Online demonstrations (webinars) of Live Homework Help are open for April, May and June. The webinars allow you and your staff to find out more about Live Homework Help, ask questions and see a live tutoring session. Two of the webinars have librarians offering LHWH as guest presenters. You can attend right from your office with a high speed internet connection and telephone. Please click on "See LHWH" at the Raving Fans website: http://www.tutor.com/ravingfans/ to see the schedule and sign up.

Librarians Input Wanted: Microsoft Windows Live Academic Search

If you have use Google Scholar, you know how handy it is to search academic journals via a web search tool. Microsoft has decided to launch its own academic search tool. It is in beta, but has a very nice user interface that enhances the search experiences. I recommend you try it out and provide feedback to the creators via the feedback button.

Academic search is committed to working with librarians to continually improve the academic search experience. The most important thing you can do is provide us with input and suggestions. We want to hear from you, the experts who work every day with people who are seeking information and conducting research. We value your expertise and encourage you to share ideas on how we can make a better product for the academic user community. Please send your feedback to wlasinfo@microsoft.com.

It took bad press for Google to realize librarians exist. Microsoft has always valued the librarian profession much more than Google. I applaud Microsoft for taking this extra step to reach out to librarians.