Google to allow Downloading of Public Domain Books

I read on Techcrunch today that Google is going to allow users to download books that are in the public domain which seems to go against what Google has said in the past.

Until now, Google only allowed people to read the out-of-copyright books online (and only snippets of copyrighted works). To search the database of available full titles, go to books.google.com and click the “full view books” option when searching. This new move contradicts earlier statements by Google that scans of out-of-copyright books would not be made available for printing.

For those libraries who are hurting for Collection Development funds, this would be one way to offer the classics to your community with no cost.

Librarians at the Gates

This article from the Nation made me proud to be a librarian!

Courage, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. And in an era of increasing controls on the gathering and dissemination of information, many Americans are unaware of the courageous stands librarians take every day.

Bookmooch - Trade Books Online

Bookmooch is an online trading community for books. You get points for giving away books and you can recoup the points to receive books from others. I emailed them to ask how public libraries could take advantage of the site. Here is the reply:

Two ways:
1) by participating, ie getting rid of the books they no longer want in order to earn points, which they could use to get free books they'd otherwise buy
2) as a charitable cause: I have a small number of points received to the "library fund" http://bookmooch.com/charity as donations that I can give out to public libraries. This is not big yet (we've been up only two weeks) and is around 10 book points.

If you are weeding, you might want to take a look at this site as an optional way to discard your books and get something in return.

Why have an "About Us" Link on your Web Page?

“An About page should provide context and necessary facts, but should also give the reader compelling reasons to do what you want them to do.” Like the rest of your website, your About page is a robot. You load it up with information, give it directives, and send it out to represent you in the world. Although forums, blogs, and other two-way forms of online communication help bring humans back into the equation, you’re pretty much stuck with the robot model for relatively static essentials like the About page—but you do get to decide what kind of robot you want to use.

An interesting article posted on A List Apart examines how to build this section into a more robust area. And I have to admit after recently perusing several library webpages, there is some room for improvement.

Public Libraries - Are they going private?

From the Idaho Statesmen:

BoDo developer Mark Rivers began marshaling his forces Tuesday in a bid to sell Boise Mayor Dave Bieter and Capital City Development Corp. on his $130 million Library Blocks neighborhood development.

At a breakfast with Downtown business leaders, Rivers asked for their support in building the "political momentum" needed to overcome civic leaders' caution and propel his vision for a new Downtown urban neighborhood consisting of homes, stores and offices, plus a new $42 million public library. Construction of the library would be privately financed.

The building would be sold to CCDC, the city's urban renewal agency, which would then lease it to the city for almost $2 million a year. Government watchdog Dave Frazier has labeled the plan unconstitutional and compared it to "a man that buys City Hall, then offers to lease it back to the city."

Do You Charge Tourists to Use Your Computers?

Six bucks and hour,
originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

This picture has caused a lot of conversation in the biblioblogsphere this afternoon. I cannot imagine a public library being this unfriendly to outsiders, but apparently it happens. What about you? Do you charge to use your computers if the person is not a resident?

Handheld Devices in the Library

This article made me contemplate how libraries can take advantage of the fact that the younger generations who like to use cell phones, Ipods, Portable PlayStations, etc to communicate with each other through text messaging and instant messaging. The article details a new handheld device from Sony called "Mylo" which stands for My life online. The device comes with built-in IM services from Google, Yahoo and Skype.

The mylo is meant to operate on Wi-Fi wireless networks, which are increasingly available on college campuses, in busy public spaces and in homes with wireless broadband connections.

Since more and more public libraries are establishing Wi-Fi networks(those busy public spaces mentioned above), it seems like a logical next step would be to market to the younger generations about their ability to use these Wi-Fi networks for their text messaging and IMing. In my mind, it would be a great way to get this generation to come to library.

Yelp.com: Getting User Reviews for your Library

Yelp.com is an online social networking site where users can write reviews on local businesses and government services. I learned about it on the Librarian in Black Blog.

Here is what they write about themselves.

Yelp is...
...the ultimate city guide that taps into the community's voice and reveals honest and current insights on local businesses and services on everything from martinis to mechanics.

As advised on the Librarian in Black blog, I did a search using the term library with the zip code 76109 and received several possibilities, including one for North Texas Regional Library System. No one had written reviews for any of the NTRLS libraries. What a great, easy way to collect feedback on your library. The service is at no cost and if your patrons start to write reviews, you might receive some helpful feedback on how to improve your library.

Now all we need is someone to create a online social networksing site exclusively for library reviews. What a boon of data that would be!

Amazon.com's Library Processing Service

Wouldn't it be great if you could get library processing with your Amazon.com purchases? Well, now you can.

"Libraries already use Amazon.com when they need fast and reliable delivery of products at competitive prices, but our library customers have told us they would like Library Processing in order to better serve their patrons," said Greg Greeley, vice president of books, magazines and corporate accounts. "Amazon.com is proud to offer libraries this seamless, end-to-end processing service which will make it even easier for libraries to shop with us."

I know several of our member libraries will often use Amazon.com because it is so easy and quick. This adds an additional value to using the popular online retailer.

Read more (Business Wire)

Library Terms That People Understand

This nice presentation is about usability of library websites. Lots of data and good explanations on different usability tests. If you are looking to redesign, or create, your library website, I recommend this.

Intellectual Freedom Course

LibraryU has announced a new course: Ensuring Access: The Rights and Responsibilities of Intellectual Freedom. This course is recommended for all levels of library staff.

How are the First Amendment rights of your library patrons impacted by CIPA, the USA Patriot Act and other challenges to information access and privacy? Do your personal beliefs ever come into conflict with your library's intellectual freedom philosophy? As library staff on the front lines, we protect the intellectual freedom of our patrons by ensuring their access, not by defending the content of what is accessible.

I encourage you to bookmark this site and take the free, online training courses. Other course titles include: Special Needs Children @ Your Library, Budgeting 101, Cataloging and Automation for Trustees. The focus is based on the Illinois Library System but much of the information is helpful for all libraries.

TLA Response to TSLAC Sunset Review

Please find it here.

Books replace drugs as treatment

Patients with certain mental health problems are to be prescribed library books instead of medication as part of an innovative scheme.

This news bit is from BBC News. Anyone going to their doctor in north Essex with certain psychological problems will be directed to the public library to check out certain books. It is a pilot program, but one worth watching as this might be another way to do outreach. I can see librarians and Doctors working together. Doctors suggest certain titles to patients who then go to the library to check out the item. Librarians could get a list of recommended books from the doctors to make sure plenty of the titles are on hand. It would add value to the libraries in the minds of both the doctors and the patients.

Connecting Your Library's Collection and Amazon

Do you use Amazon.com® to locate books? Wish you could easily find out if the Library owns a book you have located? The Hennepin County Library in Minnetonka, MN has that capability now. So far the feedback looks very positive. This is a great tool to bring in new patrons that tend to purchase most of their books from Amazon.

SearchforVideo.com to Launch Video Podcast Directory

FUSA Capital Corporation, parent company of SearchforMedia Network and a leading innovator of video and audio search engine technologies, today announced the addition of a video podcast directory to SearchforVideo.com beginning Wednesday, July 12, 2006. The popular video discovery and sharing site will now offer users an easier way to find video podcast content from among the site's thousands of sources.

Search Engine Submissions

As always, Search Engine Watch has great guidance in helping you get your library's webpage more visible in search results.

It covers search engine submission, placement and marketing issues. It explains how search engines find and rank web pages, with an emphasis on what webmasters can do to improve their search engine rankings by properly submitting, using better page design, HTML meta tags, and other tips.

ALA praised for meeting in New Orleans

Travel Daily News reports that the ALA Annual Library Convention helps New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina. With the eyes of America on New Orleans’ recovery from Hurricane Katrina, nearly 17,000 librarians, exhibitors and library supporters attended the first citywide convention held in the Big Easy since the storm. Widespread news coverage praised ALA members for their "intrepid" spirit and impact on the local economy by going to New Orleans.

First Lady Laura Bush made an appearance at a national town hall meeting on school libraries on Monday, June 26. Her keynote address helped place a spotlight on the plight of school libraries throughout the United States. he town hall meeting was hosted by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the ALA, and Scholastic. The event included a distinguished panel of school library experts who discussed the problems faced by school librarians.

Altered Books - Get Creative with Your Discards

Altered books provide a way for creative staff and users to continue the life of a withdrawn book. There are many sites for guidance in creating altered books. This could be a program in the library. Find a local artist that will undertake the planning of the program. Some libraries' friends' groups are creating purses, furniture and art out of withdrawn books and then selling them for $20 and up. A quick look on ebay even found some altered books going for over $100!

A great place to start is:
http://www.creativity-portal.com/howto/artscrafts/altered.books.html

Superpatron - Friends of the Library, on the Net

Superpatron is a blog run by a patron. The author posts entries about events and articles relevant to the library community, but does it with a patron point of view. Here is an example of one of his blog entries:

7 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do at the Library (via Pop Goes the Library)
7 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do at the Library - MSN Encarta, from superpatron Martha Brockenbrough. Here's thing two:
Even if my local branch doesn't have the book or movie, it's no problem. I just have it sent where I want it--free of charge. This is the second amazing library secret: They're happy to move things from one library in the system to another if it makes it easier for you to get what you want.
Thanks to Pop Goes the Library for the link.That blog has some great ideas about DVD discussion groups (using a special collection to make sure everyone in the group can see the movie without fear of late fees), tips for libraries who want to circulate comics (hint: clear tape reinforcement), and a pointer to Mother Reader's 48 Hour Book Challenge.

This superpatron is great. All libraries should have one and get the person online writing a blog. What a great way to bring awareness of the library to the community!

A New Survey on Public Attitudes Towards Libraries

Here is a blog post from the Librarian in Black:

From Public Agenda (a non-partisan opinion research organization): A Fresh Look at Public Attitudes About Libraries in the 21st Century. This survey finds that "Americans prize public library service and see libraries as potential solutions to many communities’ most pressing problems, from universal access to computers to the need for better options for keeping teens safe and productive." The finding most interesting to me, and one that flies in the face of most libraries' marketing and technology plans, is that higher-income families use the library more than lower-income families.