North Texas Regional Library System Regional Meetings Set

Here is our schedule for the next NTRLS regional meetings. We had to hold them at a later date this year due to the close proximity of the two System Assembly meetings earlier in the year. I will post a meeting agenda by the end of the month.

REGIONAL MEETINGS SCHEDULE
SUMMER 2007

July 18, Wednesday – Region 2, Bowie - Meeting Set 10 - Noon

August 2, Thursday – Region 5, Kennedale - Meeting Set 10 - Noon

August 15, Wednesday – Region 4, Watauga - Meeting Set 10 - Noon

August 16, Thursday – Region 3, Denton – South - Meeting Set 10 - Noon

August 21, Tuesday – Region 6, Mineral Wells - Meeting Set 10 - Noon

August 30, Thursday – Region 1, Henrietta - Meeting Set 10 - Noon

August 31, Friday – Region 7, Dublin - Meeting Set 10 - Noon

TSLAC Call for Trainers

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission is looking for trainers for an upcoming Spanish Language Outreach workshop series. Here is the email that I received from them.


The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) invites you to submit a letter of interest to be a trainer for an upcoming Spanish Language Outreach workshop series.

This series will focus on providing library staff with the knowledge and resources to reach out to the Spanish speakers in their communities and access to technology.

Each trainer selected for the series will conduct a minimum of 3 full-day (6 hours or more) workshops on the topic of Spanish language outreach. Each trainer will receive training and be required to use the curriculum created for the program. Trainers must live in Texas and be available from October 2007 through May 2008. Fluency in Spanish is not required.

Details on the workshop series are included in the attached documents. Please feel free to forward this message to others who may be interested.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: JULY 2, 2007
Email letter of interest, resume, and any additional documentation to mzatopek@tsl.state.tx.us.

For more information, please contact:
Myra Arredondo Zatopek, State Program Coordinator Special Services Consultant Texas State Library & Archives Commission mzatopek@tsl.state.tx.us <<TSLACspecspanish.doc>>

A Race to the Bottom - Privacy Ranking of Internet Service Companies

Web search leader Google's commitment to consumer privacy has come under fire from Privacy International, a British activist group that has previously singled out Google for criticism.

The London-based group released a report on Saturday entitled "A Race to the Bottom--Privacy Ranking of Internet Service Companies" that rates Google, alone among 20 sites, as having an "entrenched hostility to privacy."

With each search on Google, the company gathers information about a customer's tastes, interests and beliefs that could potentially be used by third parties such as advertisers. But the company says it never passes on personal data.

While the preliminary report details a handful of specific concerns, the main threat Privacy International spells out is Google's growing size and scope as the world's largest provider of Web searches, along with the consumer data that the company collects as it delivers ever more personalized Web services.

"This is in part due to the diversity and specificity of Google's product range and the ability of the company to share extracted data between these tools, and in part it is due to Google's market dominance and the sheer size of its user base," the report finds.

The rankings were arrived at after a six-month probe of privacy practices at key Web search companies, e-mail providers, and e-commerce and social networking sites. Privacy International promised to issue a fuller report in September, after further consultation with the companies involved.
Google said the latest report was mistaken.

Link for the complete Reuters article.

Denton Public Library to host “Benjamin Franklin” Traveling Exhibit

This ALA press release announces which libraries will be hosting the “Benjamin Franklin” traveling exhibit. Denton Public Library is listed.

Congratulations to the Denton Pubilc Library for being one of the 20 nationwide selected.

Here is a little more about the exhibit as copied from the ALA press release.

The exhibition for libraries will consist of six sections of colorful, freestanding photo-panels incorporating representations of artifacts from the original Franklin exhibition, and a new text written by the curator. Exhibition content is arranged in thematic sections showing Franklin in the Boston of his youth, Franklin’s family and personal life, as well as the years when he built his business as Philadelphia’s premier printer. The exhibit also looks at Franklin’s commitment to public service, his interests in medicine and public health, and his work in science and philosophy. Franklin’s political career in England, France and the United States, and his contributions to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and other major documents are the subjects of the final two sections of the exhibit.

New Budget for FY2008 Released

I received an email this morning with a new budget total for FY2008. It will be $626,706 which is about $9,362 short of our plan of service request. It is just over a 1% cut. Our anticipated reduction in lease payments will be around $14,000 so I do not believe we will have to cut any other line items.

The reason for the decrease is the Federal Legislature did not give as much to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) as the Texas State Library and Archives Commission originally anticipated so the amount Texas received was less than fore casted.

The budget recommendation will be discussed at the June 15th TSLAC meeting in Austin. I will be attending this meeting and blogging about it.

Please Pardon Our Dust

The North Texas Regional Library System will be doing some office reconstruction beginning Wednesday, June 13th. We will be extending our current workroom into the adjacent vacant office to give us a meeting room/workshop space. It should take two weeks for the work to be completed. If you stop by the office during this time, please excuse our dust.

FYI, we have been advertising the current meeting room and storage space for rent since February after we performed a space needs assessment and discovered that we did not need all of the space we currently lease. We have someone willing to take over the space beginning July 1st pending NTRLS Board of Directors approval at the June meeting. If everything works out, the System will save $28K over the next two years by releasing the space.

Is Web 2.o Safe?

As users store more data online, hackers are finding ways to break into the new service sites. Experts say the problems are deep-seated.

Samy Kamkar was really just trying to impress girls. Instead, he made Web hacking history.

Kamkar created what is considered the first Web 2.0 worm--a virulent bug that no firewall could block, and which ultimately forced MySpace.com to temporarily shut down. The Samy worm (named after Kamkar) was among the more prominent of a new generation of Web attacks that some security experts fear may slow the fast-evolving collaborative model of Internet development known as Web 2.0.

For complete article link to PC World.

Robert McMillan, PC World
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 4:00 PM PDT

Microsoft Surface Computer

This video will show you a new computer prototype being released by Microsoft in the next year. It is straight out of the movies. Specifically, if you ever saw Tom Cruise use his computer in Minority Report then you have seen this computer before.

I wonder how libraries can use these???

Loan Star Libraries Program receives an additional $1 Million a Year

Great news! The legislature passed a budget that included an increase of $2 million for the Loan Star Libraries Program over the next two years. This news means libraries will get more in direct aid from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC). Here is an excerpt from the latest Texas Library Association's Texline.

Direct Aid for Public Libraries ($2 million over the biennium)The state has appropriated an additional $1 million per year for the Loan Star Libraries grant.

Here is an analysis from Texline of the overall TSLAC budget.

Overall TSLAC Budget- The state did reinstate most of the 10% cut (requested of all agencies last fall), although some administrative funds were not restored in various areas in the budget. The state increase of $1 million for Loan Star Libraries per year represents almost a 38% increase in the program funding level of 2007. (As a point of comparison, the proposed federal increase for grants to libraries, through the Library Services and Technology funding, represents approximately a 4% increase over last fiscal year.)

For the latest in Texline issues, check here. Note: The latest issue is not up yet, but hopefully it will be soon.

I am very pleased with the results. I frankly did not expect us to get anything this session. I commend all of those who who contacted their state representatives about library issues. The results of this legislative session has restored my faith in the process and I can only hope it gets better from this point forward. Take a deep breath and relax. You deserve a break before we start again in 2009.

Governor Signs Bill to Continue the Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Governor Perry signed a SB913 on Saturday to continue the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Included in the bill, there was some language to allow Systems to raise funds outside of the System grant. This is great news for NTRLS as we can raise funds in the following ways:


(a) The commission may


authorize a major resource system or regional library system to

receive money in addition to the system operation grant, including

money from:

(1) gifts or grants from the federal government, local

or regional governments, private sources, or other sources;

(2) contracts for services;

(3) cost-sharing arrangements; or

(4) other fees.

The NTRLS staff has already started to think of ways to raise additional funds without taking away from the core projects of consulting and continuing education. I will begin to write grants in September for projects. If you have any ideas in this area, please let me know.

To read the bill, go here.

2007 NTRLS Award Ceremony

274
Originally uploaded by ntrls2006

The North Texas Regional Library System celebrated its 2007 Awards Ceremony at our May 24, 2007 System Assembly Meeting in Wichita Falls. Allison Long of the Haltom City Public Library won the Library Employee Award. She is pictured here with friends and family who attended the event. For a complete listing of award winners, please go here.

The event was covered by two local news channels so our award winners gained a lot of recognition for their efforts in assisting libraries. Congrats to all of them!!!

To see additional photos, check out our Flickr account.

Update: Here is one of the news reports on the event.

Web 2.0 Explained

I have shown this video several times at workshops with great success. Even if you know about Web 2.0, you might want to check out this video. It is very entertaining. BTW, the video is stored on YouTube which can be addictive.

Two New NTRLS Board Members

At the March System Assembly meeting, the membership voted to modify the bylaws to include two at-large members on the NTRLS Board of Directors. This modification increases the number of NTRLS Board members from 7 individuals to 9 individuals. Due to the close proximity of the spring System Assembly meetings, there was not enough time to organize a nomination committee, which is required to submit names to the System office thirty days before the election of the at-large members at a System Assembly meeting. In situations like this, it falls to the Chair of the NTRLS Board of Directors to assign individuals to serve in a temporary capacity until the beginning of the next elected term(September 2008).

With this mind, I am proud to announce the appointment of Cecil Carter and Meg Barrow to the NTRLS Board of Directors. You can find contact information on our Board of Directors page at ntrls.org.

Our next board election will take place at the Spring 2008 System Assembly meeting.

Reader's Version of Netflix

Booksfree.com is the reader's version of Netflix.com. For a monthly fee starting at $8.50, you can "test-drive" paperbacks, then send them back in a prepaid envelope. An internet lending library that delivers?
Source: The Week Magazine

LibraryThing for Librarians

For those who know me, know that I speak very highly of Librarything.com. This site is a social networking site for book lovers. It allows individuals to catalog their personal collections and connect up with others based on what is in their library collection. Here is the latest news about how you can integrate the social networking components of LibraryThing into your OPAC.

We're happy to announce that the Danbury Library in Danbury, Connecticut has become the first library in the world to put LibraryThing for Libraries on its live catalog. The Danbury Library—already breaking ground with an active blog and a MySpace page—continues to innovate and experiment. And we finally have something to show people!

For more information, check here(Thingology)

Google can't pay to give away broadband...

Interesting article posted on Go West blog.

An interesting piece in the San Francisco Chronicle today details the problems Google (GOOG) and its partner Earthlink (ELNK) are having in getting its proposed free Wi-Fi service approved by San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors. Apparently the left-wing members of the board (yes, that’s left-wing of a left-leaning organization in a liberal city) don’t think Google and Earthlink are offering to pay enough for the privilege of providing free broadband to its citizens. The supes are probably being smart. Whatever Google is offering, it can probably afford to pay more. Watch for a raised bid.

Free Wi-Fi is experiencing growing pains, to say the least. When Google started poking around supporting these services, there were rumblings that Google wanted to operate a vast Internet access network. (The one and only Om Malik speculated as much here back in September, 2005.) Since then, well, not much has happened, at least not in San Francisco and at least not by Google. The company that Does No Evil operates a free service in its hometown of Mountain View, Calif. And that’s about it. Earthlink seems to be sputtering as well. Recent articles in BusinessWeek and The Oregonian details some of Earthlink’s travails.

Perhaps free Wi-Fi is best explained by a time-tested adage: You get what you pay for.

Filed under Free Wi-Fi, Earthlink, Google
Posted by Adam Lashinsky 12:27 pm 22 Comments Add a comment

New Possible Member Libraries in NTRLS

I always find it interesting how everything in my life comes in waves. I never do anything once. Once someone asks me a question, I soon have three other similiar questions. In the last month, this has been the case for new members in our System.

Last month, I spoke with Tina Williams from the Forest Hill Public Library and was excited to hear that she is shooting for an opening day sometime next year with System membership starting in FY09. Forest Hill has been attempting to build a library since I started in the System in 2002 so I was very happy to hear about this latest development.

This last Wednesday, I drove up to Saint Jo in Montague County where some very eager ladies were shooting for an opening date in the Spring of 2008 with System membership in FY09. An interesting sidenote, Saint Jo, Bowie and Nocona, our member libraries in Montague County, are going to attempt to share a catalog using Book Systems Atrium product. I am going to heading the effort to make this a reality.

Today, I spoke to Jerry Hunkapiller, Superintendient of the Millsap ISD, about his effort to open a joint public/school library in Millsap. If the bond issue passess tomorrow, they will build a new elementary school next year with the library opening in Fall 2008. System membership would come in FY10.

In these times where libraries are straining to stay viable to their communities, it is very pleasant to be involved in three projects where the library is so highly valued. Here is to hoping that it spreads...

North Texas Regional Library System - Request for Proposal for Library Technology NOW website

I sent out the following cover letter to several web development companies and library-related listservs. Please pass this to anyone who might be interested. Thank you.

The North Texas Regional Library System (NTRLS) seeks responses from proposers offering web development services to build a website for the Library Technology NOW website.

Library Technology NOW has served as a website portal that serves as the one-stop resource for libraries searching for feature/function comparison of library technology products. The project is now at a crossroads as its readership established different needs. From the results of a LTN Needs Assessment Survey, it was discovered that most people want assistance with their basic maintenance and troubleshooting issues. However, they do not have time to read about it. Instead, they want to be quickly shown how to do this. With this knowledge in mind, LTN is moving towards providing instructional videos online for library staff to utilize. The website will also have social networking aspects.

You will find a timeline within the RFP. Please address all questions to me before the end of the pre-inquiry period on May 21, 2007. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

To access the RFP document, please go to http://www.ntrls.org/RFP/ltnrfp.pdf

Wikipedia is popular

New from Pew
Originally uploaded by mstephens7.

36% of online American adults consult Wikipedia. We already knew that Wikipedia was popular with our patrons. Here is a Pew Study that confirms what we already knew.

Two New NTRLS Staff Members

I am proud to announce that the North Texas Regional Library System has filled its two part-time positions. Judy Daniluk started as our Web/IT Specialist on May 1st. She will be responsible for the NTRLS website and assist with IT in the System office. Dona Weisman will begin as our Continuing Education Consultant on May 15th. She will partner with Carolyn Davidson on the management and administration of our CE program. Please join me in welcoming them to the staff.

Friends of the Library

Hint: Don't forget to sign up your local businesses as Friends of the Library. Many libraries have a special business membership for $50 - $100. The business is then highlighted in the library newsletter or publicized somewhere in the library.

Texas Library Association Conference - Highlights

I attended the 2007 Texas Library Association Conference last week in San Antonio. Overall, I felt the conference was very good and addressed a wide variety of continuing education needs. I was only able to attend two programs. The first one was "If Libraries Are So Loved, Why Are We So Irrelevant." Kerry McGeath, Director of the Southlake Public Library and Michael Baldwin, Director of the Benbrook Public Library, spoke along with Dan Rooks, University of Houston and Caroline Kienzle, library consultant. Each panel member had some interesting things to say about the relevancy of libraries. Michael Baldwin took us on a trip to the future where libraries are nothing more than "Pop Culture" institutions. The rest of the panel spoke very strongly about addressing community needs and adjusting library services based on these needs. Kerry McGeath spoke about how it was to address the needs an affluent community.

The other program event was "Let's talk about Fundraising for Public Libraries." This program was labeled as a work session where the attendees contributed as much as the facilitators. Kathryn Sturtz, Coordinator of the Alamo Area Library System, facilitated the session. Some of the fundraising ideas shared are listed below.

• Used Jewelry Sale
• Food Events - Taste of ...
• Book Sales
• Raffles
• Estate Honorariums (make sure to contact all the lawyers in your community to let them know about the library)
• Salad Luncheon
• Breakfast feasts
• Calendars
• Tour of Homes
• Scholastic Book Fairs (Public Libraries can now take advantage)
• Library Week Events
• Christmas Angels
• Letters to Businesses
• Endowments
• Galas/Silent Auctions
• Chocolate Event
• Stay at Home - Read a Book Ball (People pay to be allowed to stay at home versus going to a Gala Event)
• Online Sales - Amazon
• Water Bill Inserts
• Craft Shows
• Historical Photos
• Book and Author presentation
• Themed dinners
• Community Theatre Nights
• Parking
• Golf
• Naming Rights

All very good ideas. I do have to point out that NTRLS does expect to have a similar fundraising brainstorm at its Regional meetings in July/August so start thinking about those fundraising ideas.

I also attended meetings. I went to the Texas State and Library Archives Commission (TSLAC) meeting where they approved the publication of the new Loan Star Formulas and System Funding Formula. People will have 30 days to comment on the new formulas before they have a final vote on June 15th.

One interesting side note: It was revealed at the TSLAC meeting that the funds coming from the Institute of Museum and Library Services would be about $250,000 short of what was anticipated. TSLAC expected 10,915,000. They received 10,660,000. As many of your know, these federal monies fund Systems. At the June 15th TSLAC meeting, the commission will discuss what budget modifications should be made.

Mark Your Calendar for the first CYC!!

What is CYC? It is the first ever Childen and Youth Conference for Librarians. This event is open to anyone but the focus is for public and school librarians that work with children and teens.

It is August 10, 2007 at the Lockheed Martin Recreation Area in Fort Worth. There will be multiple sessions throughout the day. Our keynote speaker is Lori L. Dixon. She will be speaking about brain research and how it relates to our children.

Plan to browse vendors, choose the sessions that interst you most - and the best part is it is absolutely free!

For more information or to register, click here.

LSAA Board Recommends a System Funding Formula

I attended the LSAA Board meeting yesterday to voice NTRLS support for their chosen System Funding Formula. If you remember, the board selected a formula that would allocate the System Grant according to the following formula: 34% number of member libraries, 33% population, and 33% base. For FY2008, NTRLS will receive $631,143. This amount matches the Plan of Service approved by the NTRLS Board of Directors. For FY2009, the LSAA Board decided that none of the Ten Systems should have a budget of less than $300,000. Because of this stipulation, NTRLS will receive about $11,000 to $12,000 less than we had anticipated for FY2009. Our total amount for FY2009 will be around $531,000.

None of this is final as of yet. TSLAC staff will make this recommendation available for public comment over the next few days. When it becomes available, I encourage everyone to make comments. You will have thirty days. The Texas State Library and Archives Commission will consider the LSAA Board recommendation at their June 15th meeting.

Dealing with Difficult People

Pat Wagner of Pattern Research, Inc. presented a workshop last week on dealing with difficult people. This was a great workshop with practical information. Be sure and check out her sessions at TLA in San Antonio.

One exercise she mentioned that would be eye-opening for any work environment, was to ask each staff member to write down policies and rules they feel are not being followed - either by co-workers or customers. Often when this is done, it is realized that many "rules and policies" are not actually official rules or policies. This exercise helps identify these ad hoc rules which will help in limiting library confusion. Try it at your next staff meeting!

The CD Is Dead!

Slate magazine has an interesting article about the slow death of CD's.

By Daniel Gross

Mozart wrote only one Requiem, but in recent years, music journalists have written about 80 requiems for the compact disc, mostly in the key of boo-hoo major. Data from the Recording Industry Association of America show that between 2000 and 2005, the number of CDs shipped fell 25 percent to 705.4 million, while their value slipped 20 percent, from $13.2 billion to $10.5 billion. During the first six months of 2006, CD sales dropped 14 percent more. And as Ethan Smith wrote in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) last week, CD sales are down another 20 percent in the first quarter of 2007. On Monday, Jeff Leeds, writing in the New York Times, penned an obituary for the CD, which has been driven into oblivion by consumers' preference for digital singles over albums. Last year, hundreds of music stores closed, among them the 89 outlets of the greatly missed (subscription required) Tower Records.

Conclusion: The CD is dead!

Except, it's not. Last Sunday, Paul de Barros of the Seattle Times chronicled the growth of Silver Platters, a local chain of CD stores that just took over an old Tower Records space. Meanwhile, savvy new-era businesses are jumping into the CD business. The same day Smith's piece appeared in the Journal, Starbucks announced its record label would issue its first CD this summer, from Paul McCartney. Earlier this month, Amazon launched a classical music retail outlet, capitalizing on the genre's impressive 2006 comeback, which was driven by massive CD sales from the unholy trinity of cheesy, nonclassical classical artists: Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, and Il Divo.

For the complete article link to Slate magazine.

NTRLS Awards

It is time to recognize those hard working individuals and libraries that are making a difference in our communities. There are many differenet categories including staff, volunteers, government officials and specific projects at your library. The application is online. Send this link on to your Friends, Board of Directors, government officials and others that might be interested in nominating someone.

NTRLS Awards Application

March of the Librarians

Watch the March of the Librarians video on You Tube- taken from ALA in Seattle. Very creative!! It is worth your time - take a 5 minute break and enjoy!

After Hours Book Pickup

The Library Administrator's Digest (February 2007) spotlights the Springfield Public Library's innovative solution for after hours material pickup. The materials are waiting for the patron in a secure locker located near the library's front doors. It's easy to use and available 24/7 for pickup. The patron uses the last seven digits of their library card barcode number to access the locker. The coded system will only open that patron's locker when the barcode is entered. This is a great way to offer after hours service without the expense of keeping the doors open.

LSAA Board Selects a System Funding Formula

The Library Systems Act Advisory(LSAA) Board met last Friday, February 23rd. During the meeting, the LSAA Board selected a System Funding Formula to recommend to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. The formula uses three criteria. First, it divides up 34 percent of the System Grant evenly among the Ten Systems. Thirty-three percent is allocated based on capita. The final 33 percent is divided among the Systems based on the number of member libraries in each System. NTRLS will receive $631,500 in FY08 and $548,094 in FY09 under this new formula. This is a slight increase for NTRLS over what we would have received under the old formula. The LSAA Board is looking for public comments. Please take a few moments to make comments here.

Communicating Your Library's Value

This link will take you to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website where you can request materials to assist you in expressing your library's value to your communities and local governments. You will get a DVD and ten free brochures.

On the Road to Libraries.........

I have spent the last 2 days traveling the road visiting various NTRLS libraries. This is always good for my library lovin' soul - seeing what is going on out in our communities.

The Justin Public Library had a generous donation that allowed for a new front door - that was badly needed. The city was inspired to add a new sign out front and a covered area for the front door. It is amazing what simple changes can do.

I also visited the Newark Public Library and was graciously welcomed by an iced cold coke and chocolate chip cookie at the Book Café out front. It was a beautiful day and they had their front door open with sunshine streaming into the library. They have a very generous selection of DVDs so if you're in the area and need a movie - run by the library.

Finally, I visited the Pilot Point Public Library. Their building is in an old bank building - vault and all. They have been extremely creative and turned the vault into a children's reading area - it is designed as a park. There is green carpet for grass, murals all around the walls and even a glider to sit and relax. What a great idea!

Loan Star Libraries Funding Formula

At the System Assembly meeting on March 22, Kerry McGeath, Director of the Southlake Public Library and co-chair of the Lone Star Libraries Funding Formula Task Force, will speak briefly on the new proposed formula for the Lone Star Libraries program. TSLAC also sent me a document explaining the new formula including how much library will receive if the formula is adopted. You can find this document here. The document includes ways you can express your opinion about the new formula. I encourage everyone to look over the document carefully and be ready to ask questions at the System Assembly meeting.

Letter from TSLAC on the System Funding Formula Process

Deborah Latteral of the Texas State and Library Archives Commission asked us to post the following letter about the System Funding Formula Process.


Dear library directors:
The Sunset Commission has recommended that the funding formula for the systems be moved from statute to rule. This change in the law will be part of the agency's Sunset bill that will be filed this session. In order to have a new rule in place in time for systems to plan and to have contracts for next fiscal year we need to start now and move quickly. We have a website that gives you information on the process and also has some sample formulas to consider, along with a comment box to register your comments and see what others have said. These are sample formulas only; please send in your thoughts and ideas. The website is http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/pubs/libsysact/background.html
Please contact me if you have any questions. Thank you.
Deborah Littrell
Director, Library Development division
Texas State Library and Archives Commission PO Box 12927 Austin, TX 78711-2927
512-463-5456
512-463-8800 fax
deborah.littrell@tsl.state.tx.us

Enhancing your Website Using Web 2.0 Workshop

I presented a workshop on enhancing your library website with Web 2.0 tools to 12 wonderful people yesterday. I went over about 45 tools that they can use with their websites including Flickr, Youtube, Delicious, Thinkfree, box.net, etc. We also discussed how a public library can better position themselves to improve their website. As many of you know, public libraries often face challenges from both their city technical staff, who are security conscious, and the political realities of being a city entity. The library must conform to the city standards for websites and be embedded within the city's overall website. This arrangement limits what a library can do to make its website better.

One idea from the workshop attendees that I thought was pure genius was that the library can create a "Gadget Garage" on their website where patrons can go to test out new website features and tools. For example, you want to place a search box on your website for Worldcat. You would place in in the Gadget Garage before placing it on your library's website. In this way, people can test it out and let the library know what they think. The library can then turn around and use this feedback as justification to permanently add the tool to their website.

One attendee, Richard Posey of the Arlington Public Library, sent me a email after the workshop.

couple things I thought you might want to include in the future ...

Look for the November 18 post on http://www.acplinfo.blogspot.com/ This is the Allen County, Indiana library site: http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/

This is the mashup: http://blog.acpl.lib.in.us/amzamash/book_wall.php Very cool concept ... making books visual in a way that a catalog doesn't. It always seemed to me that since the catalogs "know" the sequence of the books, that they could allow you to "browse" the covers as though you were browsing book-by-book down the shelves.

Great sites. Thanks Richard.

If you want to access the handouts from this workshop, you can get to them here.

Photo Story 3 from Microsoft

If you haven't discovered Photo Story 3 - take a look. This presentation tool is very quick and the results are professional. The download is free as long as you have other Microsoft products on your computer.

Photo Story 3 includes features that enable you to create a slideshow with your digital pictures, edit your pictures, create your story with original music, add narration, and share them with your family and friends.

Create a photo story. You can create a photo story that includes motion, narration, and music. Photo Story 3 includes dramatic pan and zoom effects, picture rotation, and cropping tools to customize your photos. You can also compose an original soundtrack from directly within Photo Story 3, narrate your story and add special effects, transitions, and much more.

Edit and save your photo story. The new smart touch-up features make it easy to instantly remove red eye, and correct the lighting in your pictures. There are also several different options for saving a story and its associated project so that you can edit the story later or share it immediately.

Import pictures. If you have a collection of pictures on an MSN Group Web site, you can import these pictures into your photo stories.

Altered Books and Other Creative Tidbits

NTRLS just hosted Julie Ousley from the New Braunfels Public Library for an altered books workshop. Do you have books leftover from your booksales? They can still make money for the library. Julie makes altered books, book purses and furniture that is sold at the library. She gets many of her ideas from Crafters. Here are some of her designs. What a creative way to discard those books!

Internet Funding Study Survey

If you have a moment, please read the text below and fill out the survey. Thanks!

The answers you provide will provide public libraries, state library agencies, the American Library Association, policymakers, and others with extremely important data regarding public library computer and Internet access issues, what it takes to sustain public access computer and Internet services in your library, and the impacts of such public access services on the communities that your library serves.
You may access the survey at http://survey.pnmi.com. The survey is web-based and has a total of 21 questions that will take you about 30 minutes to complete. PLEASE COMPLETE THE SURVEY BY MARCH 1, 2007.
You will need your state assigned Library ID code included in the survey announcement letter that library directors received to initiate the survey. If you have lost that ID number, you can look it up on the survey site. If you have any questions, or need further assistance, please e-mail PL2006@ci.fsu.edu.
We appreciate all your help with this important study. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks again.
Deborah Littrell
Director, Library Development division
Texas State Library and Archives Commission PO Box 12927 Austin, TX 78711-2927
512-463-5456
512-463-8800 fax
deborah.littrell@tsl.state.tx.us

Customer Service

Kerry McGeath, the library director at Southlake Public Library presented two workshops on customer service for NTRLS. Kerry has over 20 years of experience in the retail world and is bringing that experience to the public library arena.

One comment that really stood out to me was to remember that your patrons do not know your rules. Even if you have signs posted, know that people often miss the signs. We might get irritated at having to answer the same questions over and over, but just remember the next time you walk into an unfamiliar environment - how do you feel? Do you know who to ask questions, where to go, or what the policies are?

At the end of the day, and I know it sounds cliché, but it all comes down to treating people with respect, professionalism and courtesy. Treat everyone as if they were your mother, child, spouse, etc... - well that is, if you like those people!

System Funding Formula Under Review

The Texas Library Systems Act Advisory Board(LSSA) met yesterday. This board advises the Texas State Library and Archives Commission(TSLAC) on the Systems and they have been tasked with the responsibility of revising the System funding formula. As a reminder, TSLAC uses the funding formula for the distribution of grant funds to the ten Texas Systems. For additional background information, please check the background document TSLAC provided to the LSAA for yesterday's meeting. The LSAA approved this timeline and is looking for public comments after the new proposed formula is finalized at the February 23rd meeting. TSLAC gave the LSAA some funding formula examples for their consideration. If you look at the examples, the first one given is what our FY2008 budget would be if the formula did not change at all ($619,077). If one of the other examples is adopted, we could receive anywhere from $569K to $631K. I highly encourage anyone interested in how the Systems are funded to look at this process very carefully and take a few minutes to comment on the proposed funding formula. I will post the URL for public comments as soon as TSLAC makes it available.

Two New NTRLS Board of Directors Members

Hi. The NTRLS Board of Directors met last Thursday and appointed two new board members. Carl Campbell will represent Region 6 libraries while Patricia Jefferson will represent Region 2 libraries. You can find their contact information here. Welcome to our new Board members!

Library Round-Up!

Welcome to Tanya Ochoa, the new library director at the Betty Foster Public Library in Ponder Texas! Tanya comes with vast customer service experience.

Yesterday, I met with Tanya and changes are in the air. The library has been rearranged and new furniture highlights the updated design. While this library is small square footage wise, it is outreaching its community well.

I also visited The Colony Public Library and received the grand tour from Joan Sveinsson, the library director. The library was remodeled in 2000 and like so many of our libraries, is growing fast and needs space. While I was there, around lunch time, all of the computers were full, there were many parents with their children, and staff busily helping patrons. I was surprised to learn that The Colony was incorporated in 1977 - so it is a relatively young "official" community. Joan and her staff are busy working on a local history project to coordinate the community's history - including details of original landowners and gifts. Once completed, this will be vital resource for the community.

Second Round of NTRLS HELP Mini-Grants

The NTRLS Services Planning Committee has decided to offer a second round of HELP Mini-Grants to member libraries in the amount of $18,000. Extra funds became available when NTRLS staffing levels fell to six employees. The applications for this second round of grants are due by March 15, 2007. Awards will be given in April 2007. All grant funds must be spent by August 11, 2007. As a reminder, the scope of the grant has been expanded “to fund projects that are enhancements of existing services; however, first priority will be given to projects that request the assistance of paid consultants for specific library development projects (taken from the HELP Mini-Grants Application form found on the NTRLS website).” In the first round of funding, the Services Planning Committee gave awards for a variety of projects including: (1) producing a video to introduce children to library services; (2) hiring a consultant to perform a space needs assessment; and (3) renewing an electronic subscription as well as purchasing equipment to process books. I must stress that Grant applications will be evaluated heavily on the ability to meet the spending deadlines specified above. If you have a summer project needing funds, please do not hesitate to apply. Applications can be found on the NTRLS website under Featured Links. If you have any questions, please call me at 800-856-3050.

Bedford City Council Decides to Look into Outsourcing Library

This article explains the situation in Bedford concerning the possible outsourcing of the library operations to a private company. I attended part of the city council meeting last night and was impressed with the support the library received from the Bedford residents. Maria Redburn, director of the Bedford Public Library, did a fantastic job presenting her business plan to the council. I lasted through four of the presentations done by the citizens. All of them were very passionate and logical in their arguments against outsourcing, and it surprised me that the council voted in favor going forward with the RFP process. NTRLS will be watching, and reporting, on developments over the next few months.

Strengthening Library Staff Through Training

The North Texas Regional Library System held the third meeting of the ad hoc Continuing Education Provider's Committee on January 9, 2007. This committee was created for resource sharing and idea brainstorming. With shrinking funds for libraries, it is often difficult for librarians and other staff to develop skills and tools for professional growth. NTRLS strives to provide relevant workshops which are presented throughout our area, and are open to anyone - free of charge.

If you would like to check out what workshops we currently have available, check our CE Portal. If you would like to be involved in the CE Provider's committee, email Carolyn Davidson at cdavidson(at)ntrls.org.

New Jersey Library Locks Doors After School

I read about this article on Michael Stephen's Tame the Web. It states that the Maplewood Public Library has decided to lock its doors between 2:45 pm and 5 pm to keep rowdy teens out of the library. These teens apparently descend upon the library and cause chaos.

In consultation with a lawyer, the library board came up with behavior guidelines in May 2005 that prohibited activities like “hairdressing or grooming of another person” and “refusal to leave the building.” The policy includes some politely precise language common to those who speak softly from behind a reference desk: “If a patron seems to be placing a staff member in the position of providing a nonlibrary-related function, the staff member may bring the interaction to a prompt conclusion."

But library officials felt that a bigger stick was needed. Last week, the board posted a notice on its Web site and library doors saying it had “struggled with this problem for over 10 years” and voted “with great reluctance” on Dec. 20 to close after school.

When I worked for the Houston Public Library, I worked at a branch located between a elementary school and a middle school. Everyday, we had 50 to 100 children come to our library. At my branch, we worked hard to provide a structured environment for the children so it was just an extension of their school day. We met the children at the door, walked them into the library and gave them assigned seats. We then monitored the stacks assisting children when needed. Did it work all the time? No. We often asked children to leave because of their behavior. I find it hard to believe that a library would be forced to close its doors to avoid dealing with children. There has to be a better solution!!

The Lifelong Library Experience (L2E)

I have written an featured article on ntrls.org about The Lifelong Library Experience (L2E). Here is snippet:

"As we move into a new age where libraries are evolving, It is essential that the different types of libraries, school, academic and public, come together to continue to offer consistent services to our patrons throughout their lifetimes. I am calling this the Lifelong Library Experience, or L2E for short."

Check it out.

Bedford City Council Meeting

Last night, I attended the Bedford City Council meeting. As you might have heard, the City of Bedford is considering outsourcing the library management to Library Systems and Services, Inc (LSSI). dona weisman, President of the Bedford Public Library Advisory Board, made a statement against privatization. From my conversations with dona and Maria Redburn, Library Director of the Bedford Public Library, this will be the first time that LSSI has taken over an established library that is not in a dire financial crisis. dona mentioned in her statement to the City Council that LSSI would be experimenting with Bedford. dona also mentioned that City would only save .2%($100,000) of the overall City Budget if they outsourced the management of the library. dona also praised the leadership of Maria pointing out the fact that none of the Bedford Public Library staff has left since Bedford was reopened and Maria took the helm. dona related that the advisory board felt it was too risky for the library to be an experiment for LSSI, and she mentioned a fear of a degradation of services and the loss of community if LSSI succeeds in their efforts. The City Council will vote on the measure on January 9, 2007. I plan on being there.

Library Service in Nocona

Yesterday, I visited the Nocona Public Library. Nocona serves a population of 3,230 in Montague County.

The library is decorated for the holidays and is very welcoming and festive. A big children's Christmas party is planned for this Saturday - and the goodies are ready to go.

It is amazing to me to see how much rural libraries provide for their communities. The Library Director, Mary Norman and Alicia Walker, Assistant Librarian, are expanding programs to bring adults and children into the library. They have worked together this last year, to update the collection and create a welcoming atmosphere.

If you are ever in Nocona, stop in and say hello!

Lessons Learned from an Infocentre Upgrade

As part of my duties here at NTRLS, I consult with our member libraries on their Integrated Library Systems (ILS). I was at the John Ed Keeter Public Library of Saginaw yesterday assisting them with their migration from Sagebrush Athena to Follett’s Infocentre. Saginaw uses Novell, which was a challenge because Novell is not my primary area of expertise. Here are some lessons learned from the experience.

1. Test, Test, Test. I encouraged Saginaw to set up a test environment before attempting to migrate their “live” system. I did this because if something goes wrong in a test environment, you can easily recover whereas if something happens when migrating a “live” system, it can be devastating.

2. Call, Call again and Call one more time. Follett’s customer service was backed up with phone calls. We called at 11:15 am when we encountered our first issue with the migration. We didn’t hear anything back until after 2 pm and this was after we called them twice more. We, of course, continued to troubleshoot the issue while we waited, but it was still frustrating to have such a poor response time.

3. Download from a faster location if available. Saginaw does not have the fastest Internet connection so I had downloaded some of the required software the night before from my house where my connection is much quicker. Despite this, I still had to spend about an hour downloading some other software. If you have access to a fast connection, I highly recommend you use it.

4. Patience, Patience and more Patience. I hate to report that we never did get it to work correctly. This was actually my second visit to the library to attempt the migration in the test environment. I wanted to try again because Follett released version 2.2 of the Infocentre product. My hope was the newer version would fix whatever was causing the connection failure. We haven’t given up. Follett has upgraded our support request to the next tier and I am going to be on the hunt for a Novell expert who might be able to give us a hand.

Economic Benefit Study Released November 29, 2006

A new study released November 29, 2006 shows that nine public library systems in Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, and Warren counties in Southwest Ohio create an annual economic impact of nearly four times the amount invested in their operations. While this report covers Ohio libraries, much of the resulting information and analysis can be replicated for Texas libraries to determine economic value. The report from Levin, Driscoll & Fleeter in Columbus concludes that, using a conservative measure of value the libraries' cumulative expenditure of about $74 million returned a quantifiable direct economic benefit of $238.6 million, or $3.81 for each dollar expended in 2005. The study also recognizes that these libraries add significant value to their users and communities that cannot be assigned a dollar value including, "improved economic prospects and an enhanced quality of life."

Spanish for Librarians

NTRLS just provided the workshop "Spanish for Librarians" for library staff and volunteers. The instructor, Dr. Maryjane Dunn, the Director of Training at Command Spanish, taught two days of intensive Spanish language verbal drills and exercises. Many attendees commented they were amazed by how many phrases they were able to retain in just two days. This workshop will be repeated at a later date since there is such a demand and seating is limited. Please watch for the flyer (it is anticipated that the workshop will be held in early 2007).

To share a little bit of the knowledge learned, two phrases that we might all find helpful are:
Baje el volumen, por favor. (Lower your voice, please.)
No hablo mucho español, pero trataré de ayudar. (I don't speak much Spanish, but I will try to help.)

TALL Texans Leadership Institute

Texas Library Association is seeking candidates for the 2007 TALL Texans Leadership Institute.

The TALL Texans Institute is a week-long intensive workshop on leadership and management in the library profession. This transformational program is intended to enhance leadership skills in diverse participants. Many librarians have found that this program has changed their careers in profoundly positive ways.

Topics covered include * Improving your effectiveness as a leader * Key components for effective communication * Understanding personal power *
* Styles of influence * Process for making risky decisions * Diagnosing sources of conflict and disagreement * Negotiating skills *
* Principles and Practices of working in collaboration * Leading effective teams * Appreciative Inquiry: an innovative approach to change *
* Coaching and mentoring * Developing commitment to change * Planning your development

The seminar is taught by Maureen Sullivan and Jack Siggins.

Maureen Sullivan is on the faculty of the annual ACRL/Harvard Leadership Institute and is a professor of practice in the new Ph.D./Managerial Leadership in the Information Professions program at the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science. She received her MLS degree from the University of Maryland.
Jack Siggins is the University Librarian the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. His career in academic and research libraries has included positions at the Library of Congress, the University of Chicago, the University of Maryland, Yale University. He is a graduate of Princeton University with a B.A. degree in Romance Languages. He also holds advanced degrees from American University and the University of Chicago.

The course will be held at Highland Lakes Camp, approximately 35 miles west of Austin within Pace Bend Park. Participants will stay in dormitory rooms on site and all meals are included in the cost of registration. TLA members are encouraged to seek financial support from their employers and TLA units to cover the costs of the workshop.

To apply for candidacy to the TALL Institute, please complete an online application form before January 2, 2007, at
http://www.txla.org/groups/talltex/apply.html

Applications will be reviewed by the TLA Leadership Development Selection Subcommittee. Most participants will be required to have 5 years of professional experience, current employment in the library field, and membership in the Texas Library Association by the date that applications are reviewed (please see application instructions for details).

Job Search Site

SimplyHired, a search engine focused on employment launches Resume Post, which allows job seekers to instantly post their resumes to 5 major job boards, including Monster, Career Builder and Job.com.

These two resume posting services will help you to increase your visibility among the companies hiring for the jobs you want most. Before Simply Hired, you'd have to visit different sites one by one to post your resume. And each site would require you to enter your resume in a different format. Now, with our new resume posting services, you don't need to visit a dozen different sites to get the job done. We'll submit your resume to multiple job boards at once to help you on your hunt for the ideal "new gig".

Simply Hired is a great resource for job seekers using your library's computers.

Free Subscription to Playhouse Disney Preschool Time Online

In the November 20th issue of Library Hotline, Disney announces that public libraries can receive a free subscription to Playhouse Disney Preschool Time Online.

"The ad-free, interactive learning program for preschoolers offers story-driven games and activities focusing on building skills in letter and number recognition, shape and color identification, and counting." (Library Hotline, 11/16/2006, p.5)

Email library@preschooltime.com to receive a welcome kit.

Libworm: Search Library Blogs

Libworm is a site I discovered through delicious. It is a search engine for library blogs. Here is what they have to say about themselves.

Frankie Dolan, a UK-based IT engineer, built the infrastructure for MedWorm.com. David Rothman, a medical library paraprofessional and blogger in Syracuse, NY, suggested to Frankie that this infrastructure would also work very well for making the biblioblogosphere more searchable. Frankie liked the idea, and said she was game if David would take on the day-to-day administrative tasks. David collected the feeds, applied categories, proposed some pre-set searches, and made suggestions about functionality and interface design; Frankie built everything that makes LibWorm work.

It is a wonderful site. I used it to search for North Texas Regional Library System and it showed me all of our blog postings and any other blog that mentioned us. Sweet! I then added the search to my My Yahoo news page so I can monitor the biblioblogosphere for any mention of us.

I think the tool would be especially helpful for newcomers to the biblioblogosphere. You can monitor your favorite feeds with it and even store articles on your account. You can easily create an account and they make a point of mentioning that the service is free.

If you need to find out what they are saying about a hot library topic in the biblioblogosphere, this would be the first place I would go.

North Texas Regional Library System Releases New Website

Please check out our new website. We welcome all feedback. Thanks.

IM Slang: Websites to Translate them

I have been asked quite a lot lately about whether I know the IM and Text Messaging Language. I have to profess that I do not. However, thanks to Stephen Cohen of Library Stuff, I was able to find three sites that will do the translation for you.

Here is the quote from the Cnet Article that Stephen mentions in his blog.

Despite the secrecy, Internet-savvy parents have more and more tools to decipher the code, causing a kind of chat-and-mouse game. Befuddled by lingo seen through monitoring software or over their kids' shoulder--like "wu" for what's up, or "plox" for please--parents are turning to sites like NoSlang.com, Teenangels.org and Teenchatdecoder.com for their acronym dictionaries--much to teens' chagrin.

I checked out NoSlang. It lists the top 25 for Parents to know.


ASL(R P)
Age Sex Location (Race / Picture)

BF / GF
Boyfriend / Girlfriend

BRB
Be Right Back

CD9
Code 9 - means parents are around

GNOC
Get Naked on Cam (webcam)

GTG
Got to Go

IDK
I don't know

(L)MIRL
(Lets) meet in real life

LOL
Laugh Out Loud

MorF
Male or Female

MOS
Mom Over Shoulder

NIFOC
Naked in Front of Computer

Noob
Newbie - often an insult to somebody who doesn't know much about something.

NMU
Not much, you?

P911
Parent Emergency

PAW
Parents are Watching

PIR
Parent In Room

POS
Parent Over Shoulder

PRON
Porn

PRW
Parents Are Watching

S2R
Send To Recieve (pictures)

TDTM
Talk Dirty To Me

Warez
Pirated Software

W/E
Whatever

WTF
What the ####?

How Many Web Sites Are Porn? Feds Count

About 1 percent of Web sites indexed by Google and Microsoft are sexually explicit, according to a U.S. government-commissioned study. Government lawyers introduced the study in court this month as the Justice Department seeks to revive the 1998 Child Online Protection Act, which required commercial Web sites to collect a credit card number or other proof of age before allowing Internet users to view material deemed "harmful to minors."

Michigan High Court to Hear Case about Public Library Privileges

This article, which I found on the Library Link of the Day, details a case the Michigan Supreme Court case is hearing about a resident of one community suing to be allowed to use the public library of another community. Something for all us to monitor.

At issue: Can some municipalities decide to invest more in their libraries, providing extra services that only local residents enjoy? Or should any citizen of the state be able to check out books from any library, from Sault Ste. Marie to Saugatuck?

....

The case began when the Bloomfield Township library told George Goldstone of Bloomfield Hills that he couldn't check out books there.

If Goldstone's attorney prevails in his argument that the Michigan Constitution gives all residents equal access to any public library, then librarians fear that the local taxes some communities now assess to enhance their libraries will disappear -- along with the special programs that the taxes fund.

Calculating the Value of Your Library

The November 6, 2006 Library Journal highlights The Maine State Library's "Library Use Value Calculator." This calculator answers the questions "What is your library worth to you?" and "How much would you pay out-of-pocket for your library services?"

You can customize how to figure the value of the calculations and use on your library's website. Seeing the figures based on my usage of my local library was eye-opening.

Public Libraries - Share Your Stories About Public Access Computers!

Hi. I am on the steering committee for the MaintainIT Project. We are looking for some information. Please see below for more details. Please help if you can. If you can't share a story, pass it on to someone who can. Many thanks.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The MaintainIT Project ( www.maintainitproject.org) is gathering stories on how libraries maintain computers and Internet services for their communities. From the information collected, the Project will create best practice guides tailored to different types of public libraries and will distribute the free guides beginning in Spring 2007.

Librarians, IT staff, and technology consultants are invited to share both challenges in keeping public computers running as well as successes and lessons learned. Stories can be submitted online at www.maintainitproject.org or by contacting the project at maintainit@techsoup.org, or 415-633-9390 and 800-659-3579 x 390.

Until December 15, the emphasis is on gathering stories from small, rural libraries, as the first guide will be oriented towards your needs.

The MaintainIT Project is a three-year project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. MaintainIT is a project of TechSoup (www.techsoup.org), a nonprofit serving fellow nonprofits and public libraries with technology information, resources, and product donations.

Booksprice.com - Compare book prices online fast and easy

Booksprice.com is a neat tool to use to compare prices of online retailers for books, DVDs and music. The webmaster emailed me and asked if I had ever used her site. I decided to give a go and blog my impressions.

Overall Impression: Although most of the prices do not compare to the discounts received through our preferred vendor, Brodart, it is a handy, easy-to-use tool to see if an item can be found more cheaply online. I was pleasantly surprised by the tool and will be returning to it when I go shopping for a book online.

Here is what they write about themselves:

What is BooksPrice? What do you do? BooksPrice is a free service that searches for the best deal in books, cds and dvds among the main on-line stores. BooksPrice is specializing in price comparisons on several books, cds and dvds together. BooksPrice is an independent web site, not owned by any bookstore. The search result is therefore totally objective.

I did a search on the title Wisdom of the Crowds and received a listing of different media types of the item. Once I figured out which listing was for the book, I clicked on the Compare Prices button. This took me to a page listing several online retailers and their price for the item. It even included the shipping price which was handy. Some of the choices were for used books so I checked the New Books checkbox at the top and got a shorter listing of the vendors offering the book new. I clicked on the Buy link and was taken to the vendor's website.

Some of the vendors I did not recognize so I went back to FAQ and here is a listing of the retailers they currently search. Nice list!!!!

Abebooks bookplace.co.uk Blackwells Parable.com page1books Buy.com CDUniverse Alibris Half.com Barnes & Noble.com BiggerBooks A1Books Tower Records Family Christian Stores Overstock bookpool HKFlix christianbook Bunches of Books eBooks.com ClassBook allbooks4less BookFellas.co.uk iChapters textbookx Ignatius DVDEmpire.com Chapters halfvalue Abebooks.co.uk iUniverse ValoreBooks Wal-Mart ecampus PhatCampus BestPrices BookCloseouts halfpricecomputerbooks Biblio Powells BOOKS A MILLION Amazon MarketPlace bookbyte Amazon Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk Pickabook Countrybookshop JeannieMay IEShop Footprint Press B&N BookQuest amazon.ca Marketplace amazon.co.uk Marketplace Alibris Market

You can search by ISBN number as well which I believe some librarians will love. They even have an API so you can place a search box widget on your website if you so desire.

Internet Librarian 2006 - Day Three

I am back in Fort Worth. I didn't have Internet Access the last day of conference so I putting this last blog entry together in hindsight. Let's hope my notes are good....

I devoted the majority of my last day to Mobile Handheld devices since my knowledge was really lacking in this arena. Overall, the presentations were really good. Here are some tidbits of knowledge I gleaned from them.

• There are so many wonderful devices now available in the marketplace. My favorite was the cell phone that opened up to a television screen. You could watch videos on it. It even had Picture in Picture.
• Most websites do not render well for small screens(called Mobile Optimized Web). If you want to offer your website information services to the small screen crowd, you will need to design your website using another scripting technology such as WAP. This scripting technology strips down the website to just text and a few graphics.
• There are tools that will take sites like the ntrls page and strip it down to its component parts. The one mostly mentioned is squeezer.com. I have yet to try it, but plan to soon.. Of course, some companies hate these tools because they don't render their website well.
• Text messaging is the most popular way to convey information on a cell phone. If you want to reach the younger crowds, you have to figure out a way to get the information to them in this fashion. 4Info has done a really great job of this. This company has an open interface at http://open.4info.net that allows people to open their data services up to SMS inquiries. You can select a keyword such as NTRLS and then tell 4Info what information to send if they receive that keyword in a text message. For example, for NTRLS we might send them data about our member libraries. A user then would send the code @ntrls to 4INFO's text messaging number and 4INFO would send a response back about our libraries. Pretty slick material....
• Ask.com and other search engines have WAP enabled websites for handheld devices. Try them, practice them and then let your patrons know about them.
• Ball State University built a WAP version of their website including their catalog. Lot's of development time and effort, not to mention, they received a grant to do it. Still, it is nicely done. You can access their work at http://www.bsu.edu/libraries/mobile/.

Overall, I think handheld devices are gaining prominence in the US and public libraries need to begin to address them. In my mind, the public libraries should collaborate with university libraries to build mobile interfaces. Since so many students today are exposed to this type of service at the University level, it would be nice for public libraries to say, "Hey you don't have to lose this type of service just because you are not at school anymore. We offer the same." In fact, this is a good reason to collaborate with University libraries on any of the services offered.

The closing keynote was about gaming and libraries. Elizabeth Lane Lowley from RIT gave it. Very interesting. She gave some examples of how games are being played today. Traditional game playing is being mixed with an online environment. People are given game directions online to do something in the real world. Cruel2bekind is an example. People are given points based on the good deeds they do in real life. Another one is called tombstone Hold Em where people get poker hands based on the type of tombstone they can find in a cemetery. Gaming has always been so popular and it has taken off online in the last twenty years. It is time for public libraries to look at how they can engage their patrons using games. Anybody up for a library scavenger hunt!!!!

Try out 42 entertainment for some ideas on gaming.

Internet Librarian 2006 - Day Two

Hi again from California where sea otters munch on food in the water while you eat your lunch at the Fisherman's Wharf....

I decided to focus my efforts today on social computing. Podcasting and Videocasting was the first session. We heard from several people. I highlight the ones that really impressed me. Greg Schwartz from the Louisville Public Library introduced the crowd to podcasting. His definition of podcasting was the "distribution of audio files over the Internet using RSS technology." The beauty of podcasting, according to Greg, is that patrons can subscribe to content and receive automatic downloads. Greg mentioned that it takes commitment of time and staff to offer podcasts and libraries should analyze their communities on whether it is a service worth offering. Libraries offer podcasts of programming events, upcoming events, library news and bibliographic instruction. It can also be used for visually impaired sector as well as staff training. Greg mentioned nine steps to podcasting.

1. Determine content and format
2. Assemble equipment and people.
3. Record
4. Edit and export to mp3
5. Listen!
6. Upload file to server.
7. Generate your RSS feed using feedburner.com
8. Publish feed URL.
9. Promote. Respond. Repeat.

Jeff Humphrey of INCOLSA spoke of how they are migrating their streaming online videos to videocasting. Instead of paying for the cost of steaming, they have decided to go with the latest trend and have their users download their CE videos via a RSS stream. I spoke with Jeff at length at the break on how they were accomplishing this and I believe this is something NTRLS should explore doing with its CE program. I will research it and see what I can do.

David Free of the Georgia Perimeter College talked of lessons learned from his podcasting experience. Here is his list:

1. Make sure it feeds.
2. Promote, then promote some more.
3. Keep it short (6 to 10 minutes long)
4. Use music sparingly
5. Multiple voice rock.
6. Podcast events work best.
7. Consider your web presence (make the links readily available)
8. Listen to your listeners.

He said the best format for the podcasts is 96 kbit/s in mp3 format. Finally, buy a good microphone, it makes all the difference.

David King of the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library talked about videoblogging. Videoblogging allows people to subscribe to video feed versus the audio feed subscribed to with podcasts. He showed some really great footage from some of the more popular videoblogs. One video showed a gentleman trying to open a can of soup and not being able to do it. It was a great commentary on the product. Rocketboom is the most popular videoblog online today. They often show advertisements and get $40K for it. The difference with regular commercials, however, is that they get to do the commercials themselves. The net changes everything doesn't it?

David listed several ways libraries could use videoblogging.

1. booktalk
2. bibliographic instruction
3. cultural memory project
4. collaborative project with schools and other organizations.
5. environmental
6. Library- behind the scenes
7. travel segments
8. political debates
9. hobbies and lifestyles.

After a lunch with the otters, I then attended a session on Flickr and Libraries. Flickr is one of the better Web 2.0 tools available today. The two speakers, Michael Porter of OCLC Western and Michael Sauers of BCR, showed some neat usage of Flickr. The National Library of Australia was by far the most impressive as they asked their citizens to upload their pictures to Flickr for historical reasons. They currently have 1.2 millions photos for this project. If you want to explore some neat ways to play with Flickr, go to Fd Flickr Toys.

My last session of the day was on RSS and Javascript. It was a good session on how you can place RSS newsfeeds on a website. I learned that I could use a site like RSS Mix to combine several feeds together and then use Feed2JS to place this mix on our website. If you are worried about time lag on loading the RSS newsfeeds, you can download the Feed2JS software to your server. I also learned about RMail which is a free service to allow people to have RSS news headlines sent directly to their email accounts. You can create widget to place on your blog to allow your readers to do this.

Overall, it was a good day. Tuesday night, a Farmer's market set up shop down the block from the hotel. It was great fun to walk up and down the street looking at all the booths. Finally, if you are ever in Monterey, you have to try Rosine's. Best food I have ever had at a conference event.....the pies are fantastic.

Internet Librarian 2006 - Day One

Hi from Internet Librarian 2006 in Monterey California where the sea lions wake you up in the morningÂ….

My purpose in coming to this conference was to learn some new tricks for our System and for our member libraries. Here are the highlights of my first day at conference

Two speakers really wowed me Monday morning. The first was Michael Stephens from Dominican University and the author of the tametheweb.com blog. He really pushed to the audience that Web 2.0 created many offspring. Two of these offspring are Library 2.0 and Librarian 2.0. For those of us who are Librarian 2.0, we are embracing our patrons and making them the center of our planning. We are also the trendsetters and not the followers. For Library 2.0, Michael gave the following rules that all public libraries should follow:

1. LetÂ’s expand our brand.
2. Break down the barriers. Here he was talking about policies that prevent our users from experiencing all we have to offer in public libraries.
3. Go where the users areÂ…
4. Adopt a 2.0 philosophy. We need the ideals of the masses..
5. Its about experience and play. Its okay to fun to do what we do.
6. Create a culture of trust.

The second speaker that wowed me was Helene Blowers, director of Information Technology at The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County. Helene and I have a connection in the fact that we serve as board members for the MaintainIT project. It was nice to put a name with a face.

Helene’s library has initiated an intensive “training” program for their staff called Learning 2.0. She stressed that it was not a “training” program, but a learning one. Their library did nothing to assist their staff in this endeavor other than give structured exercises to learn some Web 2.0 tools. The tools they introduced to their staff included blogging, digital photos, RSS, tagging, wikis and podcasts. Each week, the staff had to learn a Web 2.0 tools. When the staff member was done with the learning, they received a MP3 player with a chance to win a brand new laptop. She called the prizes her carrots. The program had three objectives:

1. Introduce staff to new technology.
2. Encourage staff to take responsibility for their learning.
3. Reward the staff for taking the initiative to complete the exercises.

I found the new twist to CE very interesting. It put more of the responsibility of the learning in the hands of the staff so they took more ownership of their own training. I can actually envision having them come to NTRLS to teach us how they put together this innovative program so we can use it in our own libraries.

If anything, I believe I am going to explore putting together an online course for member libraries to use to help their staff learn the new Web 2.0 tools.

Monday afternoon was highlighted by a session led by Sara Houghton of the San Mateo County Library. Sara writes the Librarian in Black blog, which is one of the best on the web because of the original content she posts. Her session was by far the best of the day. She gave advice on how to reach patrons online and it was great advice. I think all libraries should follow her advice and start to reach out to their online patrons. She gave a 20 item checklist.

1. Ensure you are findable in the major search engines.
2. Make sure you are listed in the library directories.
3. List your library in Wikipedia.
4. Make sure you are listed in Wikimapia.
5. List your library events and services in local community websites and calendars.
6. Ensure that your library has a presence on local government, school and community websites.
7. Monitor local blogs, technology boards, CE boards and other forums.
8. Create a profile for your library in social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook.
9. Offer assistance via Instant Messaging.
10. List your library in free WiFi directories.
11. Check reviews olibraryr libary on social review sites.
12. List your library's blog on geography blog search engine.
13. Are your items listed in Worldcat?
14. Make sure you are on Local Google.
15. Push out newsletters via RSS and email.
16. Consider being present in Second Life and other online game environments.
17. List your staff as experts in various free expert-finding tools.
18. Make your audio and video findable.
19. Make sure you library blog is in blog search engines.
20. Subscribe to feeds to find discussions about your library.

Other highlights of the first day:

• Mystery Writer J.A. Janice gave the opening keynote. She talked about how she writes and where she gets her inspiration. Apparently, if you make her mad, you will end up in one of her books as the bad guy. Also, she sang two songs for us. A first for me.

• I received a tour of a library created in Second Life. Second Life is online simulation game where you can create an online version of yourself. This is a real library where the virtual people go ask questions of the reference desk and attend programming. Strange as it sounds, this might be one way to reach our patrons online. Fascinating stuff!!!!

Presentation - Enhancing Your Website using Web 2.0 and the New Web

Please find the presentation I did for the Public Library Administrators of North Texas (PLANT). It focuses on Web 2.0 tools libraries can utilize for their websites.

Expanded Books - Update

I have an update from a previous post about the vendor Expanded Books. Friday, I spoke with Skye Van Raalte-Herzog from Expanded Books. She told me that Expanded Books is looking to form partnerships with libraries and library organizations as publishers have asked them to reach out to libraries. If you are interested, you should contact the company directly through their website.

For NTRLS member libraries, you should expect a fax sometime this week asking about participating in a pilot program. Expanded Books is willing to send us looping DVDs for each of our member libraries willing to show the Expanded Book Videos. These videos are really nicely done so please sign up for the pilot program.

Expanded Books - Selling Books through Online Video

Expanded Books is a new service that videotapes interviews with authors about their latest works. The company then places the videos on sites like Yahoo, MSN, etc. People can watch the videos to get a better idea of a book. I watched my first one on MSN about Bobby Thompson Homerun in the late 1950s. Here is what they write abou themselves.

WHAT WE DO:
Expanded Books uses the power of the Internet and video to reach millions of potential book buyers, attract new readers, and boost book sales. Expanded Books’ edgy entertainment style has never before been applied to books and broadens both awareness and the market for featured titles With our unique approach, our videos have the potential to reach younger, tech-savvy audiences who have turned to alternative media sources. The production team behind Expanded Books has years of experience producing network comedy and entertainment television and brings this high level of expertise to each production.James Michael Tyler, Expanded Books’ celebrity host, is well known by millions of people both in the U.S. and abroad because of his role on Friends as Gunther. He’s warm, friendly, funny, and he appeals to younger audiences.

I contacted them about what they could do for libraries. I was told that they had just brokered a deal with Overdrive, the online audio/video vendor. I don't know any of the finer details yet, but will pass them on as I get them. I hoping NTRLS can broker a deal with them for our member libraries.

I think this would be a nice readers advisory service to provide to patrons. You might keep an eye and ear out for future devleopments.

Adult Programming Wiki

NTRLS has created an Adult Programming Wiki. This wiki was created by The North Texas Regional Library System to be a one stop shop for adult programming ideas for public libraries. The best source for successful programming ideas is the front line librarian who is out there creating, planning and facilitating programs. Please add your program ideas that have worked, share what you would have done differently, and give any helpful hints you deem appropriate.

This wiki is open to all library staff that would like to share programming ideas. You will need to log in to the site to add new ideas. The password is available on the sign-in screen.

Libraries are limited, obsolete (?)

There is an interesting editorial in the Lawrence Journal-World from a citizen debating the need for a new central library. These points are not new to most of us, but it is time to come up with our judicious counterpoints.

1. Libraries are inefficient. Like me, kids seek fast, convenient access to up-to-date information. That’s available on the Internet. In this new information age, libraries are an obsolete place to store and disseminate information. Rather than speed access to reliable, up-to-date information, libraries provide only remote, slow and inconvenient access to limited and often outdated information.
Go to any library. The stacks are empty; it’s the computers that are busy. Then ask yourself if it makes sense to locate those computers in one central and remote location, like a downtown library, or instead locate the computers where kids, seniors, and everyone else wants to use them.

2. Libraries are limited. Everybody wants access to reliable information. The Internet is a gateway to unlimited data and information about government, business, and the community. Multiple information providers on the Internet make fact checking easy and reliable. No single person, such as a librarian, can or should be relied upon to verify accuracy. Single sources for information verification are inefficient and potentially dangerous. (emphasis added).

3. Libraries are obsolete. Modern information technology involves two-way communication between providers and users of information technology. With instant messaging, blogs, message boards, and email, the Internet fosters information sharing among virtually unlimited numbers of information providers. Computers are communication devices that bring communities together.

The editorial ends with "Before the City of Lawrence commits to wasting millions of dollars on a new downtown library, ask yourself a few questions. When was the last time you were at the library? When was the last time you logged on? Why is that?" I think this is a good question we need to be asking our patrons also.