LibrarianInBlack

Google at the Cineplex

Google now has a "movie:" operator which allows users to more quickly find information related to cinema.  You can search by keyword (title, actor, plot, etc.), or zipcode or city/state (for showtimes).  This is moderately useful, in my humble movie-going opinion.  I already know my local movie theaters and go straight there for movie showtimes--makes more sense to go right to the source.  As for finding titles, actors, etc., I'm still sticking with IMDB.  The only real use I would have for this is if a patron remembers the plot of a movie, and that's it...perhaps this targeted search within Google will allow me to find the title of the movie faster.

MP3 players & libraries

If it's a new idea for technology outreach in libraries, Michael Stephens is on it.  He writes about some of the neat things that libraries are doing with iPods: an academic library using iPods to hold audio class reserves and a public library loaning out audio books in iPods.  Michael also comes up with some additional iPod ideas for libraries.

As Michael points out, the big names in audio e-books don't support iPods--and from what I've heard on the down-low from various company representatives, it doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon.  That's a shame.

All of Michael's ideas (and what any of these libraries are doing) can all be expanded--not just for use on iPods, but on any MP3 player.  And there are tons.  And, actually, most of them are cheaper than the iPod (less storage space, it's true, but enough to hold a book on tape or a course reserve).

Cites & Insights

The March issue of Cites & Insights is available for your devoted reading.  The new issue also uses Acrobat 7 in order to support both bookmarks and text-to-speech functions.  There are also a few more HTML files in the issue--for your easy online reading.  In "The Dangling Conversation," Walt addresses the brouhaha caused by the last C&I regarding the usefulness and validity of different communication and publication tools.  Rather timely, given the other brouhaha from recent days...

Michael Gorman is Irresponsible

Incoming ALA President Michael Gorman's article in the latest Library Journal, "Revenge of the Blog People,"  is an example of irresponsible leadership at its worst.  He wrote:

It turns out that the Blog People (or their subclass who are interested in computers and the glorification of information) have a fanatical belief in the transforming power of digitization and a consequent horror of, and contempt for, heretics who do not share that belief.

and

Given the quality of the writing in the blogs I have seen, I doubt that many of the Blog People are in the habit of sustained reading of complex texts. It is entirely possible that their intellectual needs are met by an accumulation of random facts and paragraphs.

Many people are upset, and not just library bloggers.  Library patrons and supporters who value libraries are upset to see a library leader adopt such a poorly reasoned stance.  See the reactions at Instapundit, The Virtual Chase, and Slashdot (particularly the comments) for examples.

His canned response to several individuals and councils included the following statements:

The piece was intended to be satirical...

and

Rest assure that my views on "blogs" have nothing to do with my activities as ALA president-elect or president.

I'm not going to add to the Gorman-blasting in general.  I'm tired of reading it all, frankly, and you can find plenty of it elsewhere if you're interested.  And I'm not going to refute his statements, point by point.  That would give credence to statements which I believe have no credence.

However, I will say that Michael Gorman is highly irresponsible.  His comments do indeed reflect upon the American Library Association, and upon librarians in general.  The general public now has one more reason to (falsely) believe that libraries and librarians are not digitally minded, do not embrace new technology, and are stuck in the mid 20th century.  His claim that the piece was intended as satirical doesn't strike a note of truth in my mind.  Library Journal doesn't publish satirical pieces as a rule, and if the bulk of your readers don't perceive it as satire, then whose fault is that?  His piece was poorly researched, biased, and quite reflective of the closed-minded professional he seems to have become.

I am ashamed of Michael Gorman.  How can ALA possibly unify behind a leader who so clearly shows disrespect for both technology and those who have worked so hard to better our libraries through its use?

Yahoo! Images is bigger than Google Images

Wow, it's a Yahoo day.  The Yahoo! Images database just grew a bit.  Yahoo now claims 1.5 billion images.  Just for comparison's sake, Google is claiming 1.1 billion.  There are also some new features with Yahoo! Images, including the ability to use natural language limiters.

My Yahoo! e-mail

I received an e-mail in my Hotmail account (which is ironic) touting My Yahoo!, which for those not aware, is a customizable portal page for Yahoo, including a simplified aggregator of RSS feeds.  Users don't even know they're using RSS--they just know that new stuff from websites is coming to them.  And that's okay.  Good to know they're getting the word out!

Hennepin County is ahead of the curve...

A notice on Web4Lib went out about the Hennepin County Library redesigned presentation of recommended websites & subscription databases on their Subject Guides page.  It's great--bringing together all the online librarian-selected information on one place.  They also offer "blog-like" librarian notes, links into the catalog & e-Book collections, links to related library classes & events, booklists, and RSS feeds from outside sources.  They even have a Databases vs. Websites page, explaining the difference between the two in easy to understand terms.

I would absolutely love to do something like this for Marin.  Of course, they do have 40 librarians working on these pages...and I'm just one person.  But the way they've tackled integrating online information is admirable, and an example for those of us trying to improve our own library's website.

Pandia's Awards

Congrats to ResourceShelf for being named Pandia's Best Weblog on Searching.  And congrats to Tara @ ResearchBuzz for her book, Web Search Garage, being named Best Publication on Searching.  Cheers!

Subscribing to listservs via Bloglines

Geoff over at the Blog Driver's Waltz has a nice set of simple instructions for subscribing to listservs via Bloglines.  I really should do this...

Eating Meat = Need for Orthodontic Work

National Geographic News has an interesting story about how the human body has changed to adapt to a meat-eating diet.  From the story:

Our fondness for a juicy steak triggered a number of adaptations over countless generations. For instance, our jaws have gotten smaller, and we have an improved ability to process cholesterol and fat.

Our taste for meat has also led us into some trouble—our teeth are too big for our downsized jaws and most of us need dental work.

I hear that!  I'm a vegetarian, but since my ancestors decided to chow down on turkey legs and ham hocks I've been left with crowded teeth :/  Bah!  Really though, the story is pretty interesting.

More news on Google Print from Stanford

Eli Edwards (aka Mad Librarian) has posted more details about Stanford's participation in the Google Print project.  There are a lot of details about the ins & outs of the project in her post, and a good amount of thoughtful comments, including a discussion of why no needs survey of any kind is being done to assess which books to scan.

The Beauty of the Mix CD

It's funny, I still think of it as a mix tape, but alas, it is truly a mix CD.  I was recently re-introduced to the wonders of the mix CD by a friend at work who gave me one of hers for my birthday last month.  I learned about three new (to me anyway) artists from it--all of whom I now have full-length albums for. 

So, now I try my own hand at it.  Introducing: Sarah's Mix CD of Random Tastes (which shall be going out shortly to 6 of her closest friends & friend/relatives, but no just plain relatives...just wanna be clear on that).

1. Atmosphere—Joy Division
2. Trouble—Shawn Colvin
3. Cantara—Dead Can Dance
4. What Do You Think?—The Sundays
5. Radian—Air
6. Sound Check (Gravity)—Gorillaz
7. Music to Look for Something Lost By—Michael Masley
8. Subliminal—They Might Be Giants
9. Ren 2—Photek
10. A House on Fire and Massacres All Over (alt mix)—Keiichi Suzuki
11. The Atheist Christmas Carol—Vienna Teng
12. All These Things That I’ve Done—The Killers
13. Well You Needn’t—Miles Davis
14. Reason Why—Rachael Yamagata
15. Exit Music (For A Film)—Radiohead

RedLightGreen Update

RedLightGreen (oh happy union catalog!) has added links to thousands more libraries, and a Firefox search plugin.  This is some good stuff, people, and makes this already "super-awesome" site even better.  I must admit, I often think "Why can't vendors' library catalogs be more like this in terms of relevancy ranking and usability?"  Then I think, "Oh yes, RLG is a non-profit.  That's right."  If you haven't checked out RedLight Green yet, do so immediately.

Blogs by Location

Chandu Thota has started a site that will give you blogs by location, both browseable & searchable.  And there's an API for it too.  As of this writing, there are 631 blogs listed with the site.  But you can submit your own site to help the database grow. 

I think this is a great idea, and one that perhaps that larger blog search sites should pick up on.  I'm in the process of gathering a list of Marin County blogs together, and it's a tough thing to do.  This kind of mapping service would help.  Does anyone know of any other sites that do this?

link via Poynter

Ah, the sweet touch of oak...

Want a wooden keyboard?  Have $2,500 to burn?  Then you're in luck!

Google Toolbar Updated

The Google Toolbar has been updated (in beta at least).  It's still IE-only (grumbles).  There is a new spelling-checker feature that checks your entries in web-forms.  As Tara @ ResearchBuzz points out, "I can see this getting real useful or real annoying."  It also has "AutoLink" which turns U.S. street addresses displayed on webpages into links to maps.  Finally, there is a WordTranslator which will translate words into a handful of other languages when you hover your cursor over it. 

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to download it...That AutoLink map thing might be rather handy though...

Smarter Child is Scary

SmarterChild is an automated IM chatter.  Just add SmarterChild to your buddy list, and chat away.  It asks you questions about yourself, answers questions about lots of things, and shows you ads too (come on, you expected that, didn't you?). 

I had tried it out some time ago, after SmarterChild was mentioned in a Wired Magazine article.  I didn't like it for two reasons.  #1: It didn't understand half of what I said to it and #2: Privacy concerns, hello?  I don't want some automated computer, posing as a benign chatter, remembering what my cat's name is and where I live.  Sorry.

I had forgotten about my foray into automaton-chatting until I saw Infopeople's post on it, in which it's asked "Could this be the next generation of reference librarians?"  I would have to say "no."  Not until the knowledge base grows, the robo-chatter becomes better with sentence structure and not just focused on keywords, and privacy concerns are addressed.

Another public library offering IM Reference

Joining the legions of the few, the proud, the hip...the Homer Township Public Library is now offering IM Reference!  Congratulations! 

As Aaron quotes Brian, a HTPL librarian, one good rule regarding IM Reference is not to advertise it to all the high schools & middle schools on the same day.  I would concur with that, though we didn't see nearly the craziness that Brian did.  We did, however, see 15 students log in within one hour (study hall) after their teacher had told them about the service during class.  Buuuuut....I'm not one to question good publicity!

California's State Librarian is Webcasting!

California's new State Librarian, Susan Hildreth, is going to be delivering quarterly webcasts, starting on March 9th.  The webcast also gives participants a chance to ask her questions via chat.  Attendance is limited, and only California library folks are invited to the live event, but anyone can view the archived webcast after the live event.  For more information, see the Infopeople website.

I want to offer my most enthusiastic kudos to Susan for taking this wonderful step.  This webcast will help inform many of us of the State Library's activities, and give us a chance to ask our own questions.  This is just great!

LITA Forum Top Ten

Are you going to the LITA forum in San Jose this year?  If so you can try to find LiB, as she'll be there with bells on.  The forum runs from September 29 to October 2.  Karen Schneider has posted her top ten reasons to attend the LITA forum on her blog, Free Range Librarian.

I particularly agree with #8: "Some of the best food on this planet in our polyglot Bay Area..."

See you there!

CLA's blog gets even better

The California Library Association's new blog now has its feeds posted.  Here's the RSS 2.0 feed, but three others are also posted on the site.  The site is also now named "News/Weblog" instead of just "News."  Oh, and will you look at that?  Some nice librarian has posted something on the blog about what RSS is and how to use it to aggregate content ;)

Whether or not the site will remain open to all, or become a members-only feature has yet to be determined.

Integrating RSS feeds onto your website

Here's a PPT presentation (in PDF) from Darlene Fichter about using RSS to keep your website up to date.

link via beSpacific

Ranganathan is in the house

Ranganathan has a posse.  And he's not the only one, but he's the coolest by far.

Google Out of Print

Roy Tennant has a wonderful article entitled "Google Out of Print" in the recent issue of LJ, which discusses Google's plans of mass-digitization of selected libraries' out-of-copyright books.  He gives some good advice to participating libraries...From the article:

What is to be done? Those libraries that are participating in this project (Stanford, New York Public, Harvard, Oxford, and Michigan) should choose items judiciously. The potential impact of surfacing large portions of pre-1923 materials in their entirety, while leaving newer materials behind the copyright wall, should be carefully considered.

Gaming for Libraries & Librarians

The most recent issue of VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) focuses on games and gaming in libraries.  The article "Gaming for Librarians: An Introduction" is a great place to start for those librarians wanting to use gaming as a way to bring more teens into the library.  Another article, "Video Games as a Service," discusses hosting a tournament at your library (like a LAN party).

link via Tinfoil + Raccoon

Sooz...

The winner of my free Typepad account, Sooz.net, is a good-looking clean site with occasional library posts.  Take a look!

Berkeley is RFID-ing

The Berkeley Public Library is going to be spending $650,000 on RFID tags for their collection.  The purpose is to save patron time in check-out lines and to reduce repetitive-strain injuries for staff.  But...

...in Berkeley, the home of the Free Speech Movement, concerns about Big Brother are emerging. Some worry the radio-frequency identification technology — used by other libraries, the government and as a retail tracking device — could become a surveillance tool compromising the privacy of everyone.

I must admit to being surprised by this news myself.  I'm very curious to see how this plays out in the Berkeley public sphere.  My library system is located in a very privacy-oriented community, and I think that if/when we imlement RFID, privacy will be a major factor.

Students need a Life Preserver

From the New York Times, an article about students and online research: "Teaching Students to Swim in the Online Sea" (registration required).  This article is interesting to me for two reasons.  It points out that students, even college students who have the skills to do Boolean searching, still don't have the skills necessary to evaluate the credibility of online resources AND the following paragraph from the article made me think of something else entirely...

Up to now, librarians have taken the lead in developing information literacy standards and curriculums. There's a certain paradox in that, because a lot of people assumed that the digital age would require neither libraries nor librarians. But today, students have only limited contact with librarians, particularly because they do most of their online information-seeking at home or in the dorm.

Hmmm...students do most of their research from home.  So, let's bring the library (& the librarians) to them!  If they're not going to be coming into our physical buildings as much, we need to make our resources and services accessible to them from home.

So, how do we do this? 

1) Provide a solid collection of subscription databases across subject areas.

2) Make students aware of these databases and the resources they have to offer (an up-front Metasearch tool would do that nicely)

3) Can students request that print resources from one branch/location (academic or public library) be sent to another?  For free?  Through the online catalog?  And easily?

4) Does your library provide online reference services to help students with their research?  E-mail?  Web-based chat?  Instant Messaging?

I wish I could say that my library is doing all of the above things, but I can claim only #4 and part of #3 (not free or easy).  What I'd like to tackle next is #2--getting a metasearch tool to help our users find the wealth of information in our subscription databases.  What's next on your list?

Taking OPACs to the Gallows

Andrew K. Pace has written a very thoughtful article about the state of the OPAC.  He takes the stance that librarians are just as much to blame as the vendors are (a position I happen to agree with).  From the article:

Besides two decades of tunnel vision with the über-feature of keyword searching, librarians could blame vendors. But, to a great extent, vendors develop what librarians ask them to, so part of this is a matter of asking for the wrong things, or not asking for them at all.

He also gives us a "Hope on the Horizon" section, which mentions three projects that may provide salvation for our OPACs: RedLightGreen, AquaBrowser Library, and Endeca.

1000+ Free Books, MP3 Books

1000+ Free Books, MP3 Books (yes, that's the name of the site) offers just what its name promises.  The books are presented in MP3 format, and are read by a slightly irritating voice synthesizer....but still.  It's free!  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jane Eyre, A Christmas Carol, and about a thousand more titles are available for everyone, for free. 

I'm still at a loss about how we, as librarians, can make our patrons aware of all the free e-books out there on the web.  When a parent or schoolchild is looking for a copy of a classic that has to be read over the weekend for class on Monday, and all our copies are checked out (by similar parents & schoolchildren), I make a point to direct them to our e-books as an alternative option. 

But what can we do as a concentrated effort, short of devoting massive amounts of cataloging time to developing MARC records for every free e-book out there?  Then you have the problem of sites that come and go, and URLs that no longer work.  Alas, this is a problem bigger than my little head can handle in one shot.

London calling...

Internet Librarian International is being held in London again, in October.  Sadly, LiB cannot attend, but would love if some of her readers could--and send postcards ;)  They're also looking for speakers, and if you speak you can get free registration.

MS Paint--bah!

Marc Orchant of the Office Weblog posts information from a Home Computer Magazine article, which reviews four alternatives to MS Paint (which is pretty much one of the most useless programs ever, except for entertaining 5-year olds by letting them draw on the 'puter).

Photofiltre 

Paint.NET 

IrfanView 

The GIMP 

The author notes IrfanView and the GIMP as his favorites, and I would definitely concur with that.  Paint Shop Pro is still my favorite image editor, but you have to shell out a few bucks for that one.

Googlimedia

Google is offering to host some of the Wikimedia projects.  The Wikimedia folks do note that the arrangement will not require them to place advertising on the site.

Podcasting 101

Interested in podcasting?  Watch this four-minute video tutorial on podcasting from Lisa Williams.  I just love the fact that she says, in all seriousness, "the heck with the man" :)

via Dan Gillmor via Free Range Librarian

Is that a Dentist in your Pocket?

Having just had braces (for the second $#%* time around), I'm awfully aware of mouth hygiene.  Introducing the Pocket Dentist!  A swiss-army-knife like tool with a magnifying mirror, between-teeth toothpick, scaler, interdental brush, plastic toothpick, and a tongue scraper.  And it's only 7 bucks. 

link via BoingBoing

RSS Compendium

Check out the RSS Compendium, for all you could ever want to know about RSS.  This is a great one-stop shop page.  Somebody should gather up a list of these "all you could ever want to know" pages (RSS, blogs, wireless in libraries, IM, etc.) and put them all together.  Too bad I'm too lazy to do it myself ;)

Google, ye olde Registrar of Domains

Google is now an ICANN-accredited domain registrar.  What are their intentions?  The article speculates that one option would be to sell low-cost domain names to their Blogger clients.  I'm sure there are dozens of others...any other ideas?

link via ResearchBuzz

Ayn Rand Cookbook Marginalia

From The Daily Objectivist, Ayn Rand's thoughts on cooking.

Bloglines is bought out

AskJeeves just bought Bloglines.  I must admit that I'm not thrilled about this.  Bloglines makes me happy, and despite some folks who don't like it, or say their feeds don't update (which I'm sure is true), I've found it to be a very valuable tool in my "keeping current" toolbox.  I just hope that AskJeeves has the good sense to leave it alone.

3 more library podcasts

Karen Schneider (Free Range Librarian) offers a free verse version of the Top Tech Trends: http://freerangelibrarian.com/archives/podcasting/freeverse.mp3

Michael Stephens (Tame the Web) offers some good advice for techie librarians: http://www.tametheweb.com/podcasts/TTWPodcastTest.mp3

Greg Schwartz (Open Stacks) offers Open Stacks #3: http://openstacks.net/os/os_podcast_3.mp3

Thanks to all three for providing some good listening during my lunch hours :)

e-Books folder, begone!

I like e-books.  Really, I do.  But I am irritated by that "My e-books" folder that shows up in my "My Documents" folder--and that I can't get rid of.  Until now, that is.  Here are some simple instructions on how to get rid of that folder--and they work!

link via J-Walk

Two blog articles

Take a look at "Weblogs in a Nutshell," a brief explanation of what weblogs are and why they are important (thanks to Steven for the link).

And, take a look at Greg Schwartz's article on WebJunction: "Blogs for Libraries."  He covers some of the same ground as the above article, but focuses on why libraries should care about blogs.

Pop-up instructions

I am a pop-up freak.  I love pop-up books and cards.  From Robert Sabuda, a wonderful page with instructions on making some simple and complex pop-ups.  I am partial to the white rabbit pop-up...could be my Alice leanings.

Thanks to LII New this Week for the link!

California Library Association Blog

The California Library Association now has a blog!  There is no RSS feed for it yet, but I'm told they're working on it.  This is a great move for the organization, and will help keep its members informed of statewide activities and organization events.  Congratulations CLA!

Free TypePad Subscription gone

The TypePad subscription has been given out already.  Thanks for playing, everyone!

Free TypePad Pro subscription

I'm renewing my TypePad Pro account, and can give an equivalent subscription (1 year of TypePad Pro) free to anyone who wants it.  Just e-mail me at sarahfaery@hotmail.com with the subject line "FREE TYPEPAD ACCOUNT" and your full name & e-mail address and I'll send it on.

Free is good.

Wanted: Tech-Savvy Administrators

Michael Stephens has some valuable things to say in his post, aptly titled "Training with the Branch Heads (Library Administrators Please Read)."  From his self-summary:

Adminstrators: look for teaching/learning opportunities for your librarians and encourage them. Lead by example as well! A plugged-in, "in the know" adminstrator can really sell new technologies and plans to the staff. And don't be fooled -- if you are afraid of your computer - your staff knows it!

Darn tootin'.  It's one thing to have technical staff plugging technology to the rest of the staff.  It's another thing entirely if 1) the administrators are comfortable and familiar with technology and 2) the administrators encourage technology developments and skills. 

Not every new "tech" idea should have to come from the tech staff.  Just as administrators will often come up with community outreach ideas or collection ideas for the rest of the staff, so too should they be coming up with technology ideas. 

How?  Be involved on technology listservs.  Read the "tech" sections of library publications.  Read some good library technology weblogs or online publications.  That's where the good ideas have been coming form as of late.  Administrators don't have to know every little thing about technology, but at least (pleeeeeease) be familiar with it and discuss it with your staff.  If you don't, you are turning a blind eye to a huge area of librarianship.  And your staff will know.  Believe me.

Why Newspaper Archives Aren't Free

Mark Glaser's latest article for the Online Journalism Review, "Pay or Free: Newspaper Archives Not Ready for Open Web...Yet" discusses why newspapers aren't making their historical archives free online.  From the article, a quote from Martin Nisenholtz, CEO of New York Times Digital:

We're not about to give away something that the marketplace is paying a huge premium for already -- unless you could get a lot more than that premium in some other way, which you can't, believe me, there's no way. There's no analysis to show that Google AdWords gets you anything close to what we make on archives on the Web -- never mind all the money we make on the after-market sales. It's so ridiculous as to be laughable.

Mike's posting on Techdirt about the article is right on, challenging many of the assumptions made by the article and its interviewees.  From his post:

What's most interesting about this article though, is that it reveals where the real money is in closing up archives behind a fee gate. It comes from deals with content database companies like LexisNexis and ProQuest.

I feel like someday there will be a revolution about all of this, but when, from where, and from whom....I don't know.  Is it us?  Is it libraries?  Probably...  But many of us are backed into a corner.  Do we cease providing online newspaper databases to our patrons, in protest of having to pay for it?  Do we deny our patrons the information they want and need?  I know that our newspaper database is the 2nd most used database of our two dozen offerings.  I imagine that if I pulled the plug, the uproar would be unimaginable.

Accessibility 101

Check out "Accessibilitly from the Ground Up," an article from Digital Web magazine that talks about the basics of web accessibility.  You're a web designer, and you want to know where to start with accessibility.  What's important, what's not?  What scripting languages can you use, what can't you use?  This is a great intro for anyone new to accessibility.

link from Creative Librarian

If they're IMing in Qatar...

A job description for a Reference Information Technician in Doha, Qatar, includes instant messaging as one of the major duties.  Aaron Schmidt points out that if libraries in Qatar can do this, so can libraries in the US.  Period.

Second Open Stacks Podcast

Greg (Open Stacks) has a second podcast up now.  He talks about podcasting, audio syndication and libraries, Google, and more.

Instant Messaging Reference @ My Library

My library launched our Instant Messaging Reference service January 3rd.  We staff the desk from 3-5, Monday-Friday, and anytime I happen to be at my desk (which isn't that often anymore). 

In our first month of offering this service, we answered 63 questions! 

This is an impressive showing, and it makes me glad we did as much publicity for it as we did.  I'm guessing our usage will only grow from here, which could become a staffing issue in the future.  But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  For now, glasses raised and cheers!

A huge thanks to the five librarians who have worked tirelessly with me to start this service up and to staff it.  I won't mention names (unless you guys want me to), but you know who you are, and thank you!

Also, a big thanks to Michael & Aaron for inspiring me to start this service.  Without their rocking Internet Librarian presentation on IM, I wouldn't have done a darn thing.

Submissions wanted for California Library Association's Conference

The California Library Association's call for presentations for the 2005 conference in Pasadena is up on the CLA website, www.cla-net.org.

All submissions have to be in by February 28th, and you have to submit the proposal using the form:
http://www.cla-net.org/included/docs/Callforpresentations.pdf
You can fill out the form online, or you can print it out and fax it in.

I am submitting proposals for three sessions: What's New in Technology, Blogs & RSS, Virtual Reference 101. 

I need at least one more person to work with me on the Blogs & RSS panel, and at least two more people for the Virutal Reference 101 session.  Anyone interested?

Praise for our Library's Blog

My library's blog, simply titled the Marin County Free Library Blog, received some raucous praise from Sophie @ Pop Goes the Library.  I must say, it made my day and after passing it onto our staff bloggers and our administrators, I think it perked them up a bit as well.  It's funny how much a simple "you're doing a good job" message, even if it's not from your supervisor or co-workers, can do for one's job satisfaction.  Thank you Sophie--you made me smile :)

Cites & Insights

Walt Crawford's Cites & Insights (February edition) is up and ready for your info-hungry eyes.  There's a good article on blogging ethics which tracks the discussion up to this point, and a great article on Wikipedia.  I also noticed that chums Aaron Schmidt & Michael Stephens received some very nice compliments as well.

Ariadne

The new issue of Ariadne is up.  Articles include "Making the Case for a Wiki" and "A Librarian's Experience of e-Government." 

Saving the world before bedtime

I always liked that tag line :)  The Powerpuff Girls Portrait Studio lets you design your own Powerpuff Girl, say, in your likeness (see right). 

via The Real Janelle via Lady Crumpet's Armoire

Project Gutenberg MARC testing program

Project Gutenberg is conducting a MARC records tesing program and they want libraries to participate in it.  I just love it when I complain about something and then it gets fixed (or, starts to get fixed at least).  Not that I, in any way, credit myself or LiB with getting this to happen.  On the contrary, I credit the wealth of library bloggers & writers who have brought this issue to PG's attention.  And thanks to PG for gettin' a move on to help our patrons access these wonderful free books.

A9 Yellow Pages "how we did it"

Let's start by saying that if you haven't tried the A9 Yellow Pages yet, you need to do so immediately.  Even if you don't live in one of the cities they've covered so far.

That being said, there's a nice article (with video!) about how they did it.  This is actually pretty cool.

link via J-Walk

Library sites for Librarians, not Users

Erica Olsen (of Librarian Avengers fame) has a great post about a website that is supposed to be for children (the International Children's Digital Library), but has usability issues up the wazoo.  Erica says:

This is a perfectly good children's resource that is absolutely hidden from children. What is the focal point of the page? The word "Advanced" fergodsake. Why are there four search options? Do they actually think children care enough to distinguish between different search criteria? Who are these children? Can I have one?

She's right on target.  Too many sites these days are being designed by librarians who think they're designing them for patrons, but in actuality are only designing them for other librarians.  As Roy Tennant says, people like to find.  It's only librarians who like to search.  We need to design for those people.  Design for the Googlers.  Design for the

The International Children's Digital Library is probably pretty cool, and useful.  But I'm turned off of it immediately, so won't stick around to see what's in there.  And if I'm prejudiced against the site so quickly, just think about children trying to access it!

Again, from Erica Olsen:

We need to run everything we do through a filter that asks: "If I click on this without an MLS, will it piss me off?"

True enough.