LibrarianInBlack

Loretta Lux

I am a huge fan of BUST Magazine, and the latest issue included a spread from photographer Loretta Lux, a German artist living in Ireland who creates some pretty haunting shots of children.  Absolutely beautiful.

Jybe enters the VR fray

Bloggers Greg Schwartz and Michael Stephens have (respectively) podcasted & posted about their good experiences with Jybe, a free small plug-in for Internet Explorer and Firefox that lets you cobrowse the web and chat in the same window.

I think this is nice--a lightweight version of the heavy-software that is web-based chat (QuestionPoint, 24/7, etc.).  But I do have reservations about using third party software (privacy, etc.), plus the fact that downloading something (a plug-in, in this case) is still required.  Online users will often not bother with a service if it involves an extra download.

But still, I think this is a step in the right direction.  I just hope that the companies like QuestionPoint & 24/7 really take notice of these issues and modify their products accordingly to keep in step with the market. 

tech for small libraries (sort of)

WebJunction's Technology Watch Committee has posted its list of technologies for small libraries to watch.  I was disappointed to see:

1. In the "Blogs & RSS" section, no differentiation was made between providing a blog & RSS feeds on your library's website AND using blogs & RSS to keep up to date professionally.  I think those two things are important enough to call out.
2. The "Thin Client" section is wrongly placed, imho.  I don't think small libraries will benefit much from thin client technology, frankly.
3. In the "Virtual Reference" section, no mention is made of IM Reference, which is of great benefit to small libraries.  Unlike the high-cost, hard-to-use, and clunky web-based chat options (which they plug heavily), anyone can start up an IM service with no cost and minimal training.  This is a glaring omission.

Not too impressed.  Sorry WebJunction!

Independent film resources

Another thank-you is due to Sarah for this site: a list of resources for independent cinema, provided by the good folks at PBS.

National Libraries of the World

Big thanks to Sarah (not me, but a different Sarah) for pointing out this site: a list of the National Libraries of the World from IFLA.

I'm a poet and I didn't even (ok, ok, I'll stop there)

Via Choriamb via Bookslut, I bring to you the Love Poem Generator! 

Your skin glows like the strawberry blossoms, luscious as the iris in the purest hope of spring.

My heart follows your lute voice and leaps like a cat at the whisper of your name.

The evening floats in on a great lark wing.

Wow, I really am a savant poet ;)

IT Accessibility: An Online Resource Guide

Gary Anthes has posted a brief list of accessibility resources for IT on the Computerworld website.  What I like about this list is that it covers not only web design accessibility, but hardware & software as well.

Historical Maps of Britain

The British Library has launched a new collection of over 800 digitized (or digitised, if you're British) historical maps of the British Isles from Saxon times up until the reign of James I.  Part of the "Unveiling of Britain" project, these maps are an online treasure.  LiB just spent much more time than she should have oogling at these beautiful creations.  Sometimes I think I really do belong in a historical archive, working on a massive digitization project.

link via ResourceShelf

Philip K. Dick in Sci Fi Hall of Fame

Philip K. Dick is going to be posthumously inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on May 6th of this year.  But, as Bookslut points, out: "what the hell took them so long?"  The Science Fiction Hall of Fame used to reside in Texas Kansas, but is now housed in the new Science Fiction Museum in Seattle.

Cellphone e-books in Japan

Apparently cell phone users in Japan are increasingly using their cellphones (along with their 1" by 2" screens) to read e-books.  I can barely read the screen on my cellphone well enough to use my Contacts list, much less intentionally read pages and pages of a full length book. 

Someone (I believe it was Walt Crawford) said to me once that text e-books won't really take off until screen resolutions can match or at least approximate the resolution found on the printed page.  I hold to that principle.  But even with matched resolution, a cellphone screen is still the size of a postage stamp!  Perhaps I'm betraying my growing curmudgeonliness, but you won't catch LiB reading an e-book on a cellphone.  My little eyes simply take priority over my techie coolness.

Blogger/Patron asks for RSS @ his library

Edward Vielmetti asked his library (the Ann Arbor District Library) about providing RSS feeds for their new items.  They responded, and stated:

Rest assured that useful, flexible, and broad RSS support is a major design goal of our new website, and we hope our feeds will find good homes in aggregators throughout the district... and beyond! Watch for the new aadl.org coming in early July [2005].

Good for him for asking for what he wants, and good for AADL for having such an excellent response to this patron's request.  Kudos all around!

link via Library Stuff

Search Engine Chart

This has been bandied about in the blogosphere lately--Infopeople's Search Engine Chart.  I actually use this chart when I teach people about search engines and web searching strategies.  It outlines Boolean defaults, wild cards, truncation, phrase acceptance, and what the engine is actually searching.  This is a great tool, and I'm glad to see that it's rearing its head again :)

Seniors and File Sharing

The Pew Internet & American Life Project reports that while their survey showed only 22% of older Americans (65+) had internet access in January 2004, a March 2005 survey shows that that number has jumped to 26%.  I think we'll see this number continue to go up as baby boomers start to fall into that age bracket.  Many of them have had to become familiar with computers for their jobs, so as they age, I'd be willing to bet that we'll see more home computer use too.  They're also reporting that 27% of internet users overall say they've download music and/or video files.  To be honest, I'm surprised that number is so low.

Who2 has R2D2

Who2 is a website exclusively devoted to finding information about celebrities.  You can search (full text keyword searching) or browse by last name.  This site provided useful short biographies, vital stats, and links to outside sites (official sites & semi-scary fansites alike).  And it's not all real people either -- it covers fictional characters (like R2D2) as well. I like it!

Thanks to Phil Bradley's Blog for the link.

Google Print results streaming in...

Google Print results are starting to show up in search results.  Easy way to find an example: type "book" and then the title or subject of a book you'd like to see.  Above you see the results for "book romeo and juliet."

I first heard about this on Slashdot, and there's now this huge discussion about copyright, usability, etc. in the comments section of the original post.  Makes for interesting reading.

License plate scanner catches library patrons with fines

Forbes reports that Arlington County (Virginia) is using a highway camera called the BootFinder to "nab people who are on the county's rolls for just about anything, from late park and recreation fees to overdue library books."  I wonder if they'd nail you for 30 cents, or if you have to be over $10 or something.  Jeebers, I think I have 50 cents in late fees on my library account.  Run, LiB, run! 

Seriously, though, how do they know that the James Smith who owns that rockin' GrandAm is the same James Smith who owes the library $50 for a lost book?  Puzzling...

link via BoingBoing

To Block or Not to Block: Belligerent IM Patrons

We're three months into offering the IM reference program I'm coordinating here at my library, and an issue is emerging that I'm not sure how to deal with. We have people coming into the service and being flat-out abusive to staff. We think they’re mostly kids, but you never can tell. Here are a couple of sample situations:

1. Patron sends us a message with a real honest-to-goodness question (usually homework-sounding). We give the patron an answer, patron replies “That’s not what I {expletive} wanted! {expletive}! {expletive} you.” Sometimes in this situation, the patron will then apologize, ask another question, and then be abusive again.
2. The first message we get from the patron is abusive: “{expletive} you and your {expletive} mother, {expletive}!” or “Hi, do u like sexxxx with girls?”

With either situation, our librarians send one of our “inappropriate” scripts (e.g. “If you have a question, please rephrase it with more appropriate language.”) or write our own messages to cover the specific situation. Often though in the second situation, when we send a reply, the patron has already logged off. So, they log in, send the message, and log off. New version of crank calling, I guess.

I’ve only had this happen a few times on our web-based chat reference service (AskNow), and never on e-mail. Why is IM so different? Perhaps the targeted group is younger, and more apt to this type of behavior?

I also want to differentiate between the above inappropriate messages and the casual curse word thrown into the conversation, like "{expletive}, this site rocks!”

Currently, we’re sending the inappropriate scripts, telling the patrons goodbye, and then ignoring them. But is that enough?

I am loathe to keep a "naughty list" and block patrons after repeated inappropriate use. Besides, if we block the screen name, the person can just spend 5 minutes and get another one. However, it really is becoming a hostile-work-environment issue at this point. I don’t want to put our librarians in the position of being assaulted or insulted on the job.

If we did keep a naughty list and block people on it, what would the criteria be? Would we be legally obligated to keep transcripts for each naughty interaction, so we would have documentation about who did what? Would we have to warn the patron that we’re going to block his or her screen name? Would we block infinitely, or just for a week, a month?

I would be very interested to hear from other libraries offering IM or other chat reference, and how you deal with these kinds of interactions.

Collaboration & IM: Breaking Down Boundaries

Aaron has posted the presentation he gave with Michael Stephens at Computers in Libraries: Collaboration & IM: Breaking Down Boundaries.  They do a great job of pointing out the pitfalls and considerations in planning an IM project, either internal or external, at your library.

Google Code RSS feeds

The Google Code website now has two RSS feeds so you can keep up to date on current news & featured programs. 

National Library Week Greeting Cards

Thanks to information maven Jenny for pointing us to these National Library Week themed e-cards from American Greetings.  Send one to your favorite reader or library supporter today!

Library Journal's Movers & Shakers

Congratulations to all of Library Journal's 2005 Movers & Shakers!  But especially to those folks that I actually know: Aaron Schmidt, Shinjoung Yeo and James Jacobs (in the Reference Visionaries category) and Michael Stephens (in the Educators category).  These people are doing amazing work for libraries, and we should all value their contributions to the profession at large.  I know that I appreciate all of the ideas, inspiration, and support I've received from them and their work over the years I've been a librarian. 

Kudos to all of you!

Cites & Insights (times two)

Both the March issue & the Spring issue of Cites & Insights are up for your educational perusal.

AskJeeves bought out

AskJeeves is due to be purchased for $1.9 billion by IAC/InterActive (of CitySearch, Ticketmaster, & Expedia fame).  Check out the NYT article (login required, so get one from BugMeNot).

Chat with a Government Info Librarian

A pilot project, Government Information Online, lets users interact online with government information librarians or submit questions via e-mail.

To use the service, visit the project's website at http://govtinfo.org.

The pilot runs through November, and I hope it goes well because this is a service that I would happily show to patrons seeking specialized government information.

link via ResourceShelf

Clusty and the Man

SearchEngineWatch tell us that Clusty is now offering a "government tab" that lets you search for clustered results from government information sources (like FirstGov and Reuters).  Gary has more in his article.  I like what I see!

Wireless Librarian Blog

Bill Drew is offering a Wireless Librarian blog, and is looking for additional authors for the site.  Bill provides a link to a list of libraries with wireless (make sure your library is listed here folks).

Great Book of Gaelic

Check out the Great Book of Gaelic site (AKA An Leabhar Mor).  Beautiful illuminated pages with Gaelic poems and fiction, and their English translations.  Artwork too!  They offer a Contents page with a list of everything that's included.

NYPL Images and $$$

NYPL launched a magnificent images database the other day.  It's really quite swell.  Some folks (LiB included) are a bit puzzled about how they can take images in the public domain, and then charge for their use.  For more discussion of the topic, see Copyfight.

Factbites vs. Answers -- FIGHT!

Factbites is a new site (still in beta) that provides links to sites with quick answers to factual questions.  It doesn't work well with natural language searching (such as "where is Chile?"), but just entering "Chile" worked just fine. 

I would have to say at this point that I still prefer Answers.com.  It likes natural language searching, and heck...it's powered by GuruNet!  I use Answers.com during almost every hour I staff virtual reference (web-based chat or instant messaging).  It's a great resource for those quick factual questions students usually have.

link via Phil Bradley's Blog

Quotes needed for article

Aaron Schmidt and I are writing an article for Online Magazine about different types of real-time online reference.  If anyone has experience with web-based chat reference or instant messaging reference, and wouldn't be opposed to being quoted in an article about it, please shoot me an e-mail at sarahfaery@hotmail.com or AIM me at LibrarianInBlack.

RSS 2.0 now available

Howdy folks.  Thanks to Andrea from mellowtrouble, LibrarianInBlack now has a RSS 2.0 feed (http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarianinblack/index.rss).  For some weird-reason, tho, I can't get it to display in my browser, but the URL works just fine in an aggregator.  Anyone have any ideas on that?

Now, still on my LiB to-do list:

• add one of those "auto-AIM" links
• add a "subscribe with Bloglines" link
• figure out what the crap is going on with my domain name (librarianinblack.net) not staying in the URL
• add categories
• post my articles & conference presentations

To teach or not to teach...

Aaron tells us about classes for patrons he's teaching at his library, and classes he'd like to teach but can't.  I love the description for his "StreamBox 101" class...one sentence reads "Don’t put up with streaming, just download them with this exciting and illegal program." *grin*

I have a huge list of things I'd like to teach to our staff (some of which Aaron mentions)...much less patrons (for which there is a much longer list, starting with the basics).  The training part of my job is only for staff training, so the public is really hands-off. 

Beyond basic internet & e-mail classes, our 11 branches really don't have the staffing to be able to offer anything else.  It's a gap that needs to be filled, but one that can't be filled by me.  Do others have this problem?  How do you (or do you, at all) teach classes on computers/technology to your patrons?  How do public libraries organize training of the public?  How do you find the staff time?

Podcasting with built-in RSS feed generation

The TeleRead Blog tells us about SoniClear RecorderPro and Audacity, two audio recording programs usable for podcasting.  And RecorderPro's next version will have auto-RSS feed generation for your podcast.  Nice! 

Virtual Reference @ Your Library

An article I wrote for Knowledge Quest (the journal of the American Association of School Libraries) has just been published.  "Virtual Reference @ Your Library" discusses real-time online reference solutions for school libraries.  Many of the things I talk about would also apply to small or mid-sized public libraries as well, and even independent/special libraries.

Come on in!

Chad Boeninger has a great post on his blog, Library Voice, entitled "Using IM to Lure Them IN."  Lesson to be learned?  Not only can providing IM reference bring your services to where the users are, it can actually get the users to come to you, too.

Yummy--a book-shaped hard drive

This nifty-cool hard drive is book-shaped, comes from China, and has a video-out port. If you plug it into your TV or monitor, you get a nice graphical interface that lets you browse through photos, movies, and audio.  Sweet!

link via Red Ferret Journal

Google Weather

Google has a shortcut that gives you a four-day weather forecast.  Just begin your query with "weather" and then give a location (city/state or zipcode).

It's nice where I am: weather San Rafael, California

It's not so nice where my mom is: weather 60195

I like this shortcut, and I think it's actually one I might remember...

LJ paragrahs re: Gormangate

Note that I did not use the word "article" in the title to this post, because it's not an article--it's a brief two-paragraph bit that basically states 3 things:

1) Clarifies that Gorman's "views do not represent the official positions of either ALA or California State University Fresno (where he directs the library)..." LiB's response: Again, for better or worse (worse, in this case) Gorman does represent these organizations to both the library profession and to the "outside world" at large. 

2) Gorman states that many of the personal messages he received were sent under pseudonums. LiB's response: I wrote Gorman a lengthy personal e-mail, using my full name, title, and referring him to various blogs & literature about blogs.  So did Kevin.

3) Gorman feels that bloggers felt he had the power to get them to "desist from blogging and/or....make them stop.."  Note: Please, can we get just a bit more arrogance into one person?  Please?

Jessamyn, Karen, and Kevin are also not thrilled with this pseudo-journalistic response.

The trouble with mimicking the library in an online setting is...

Krisellen Maloney from the University of Arizona has written a thought-provoking, if brief, article entitled "Portals in Libraries: Library Technology and Planning for Change" for the ASIST Bulletin.  I recommend this article to anyone at all involved with the design or structure of a library's website, especially if you're considering a re-design anytime soon. 

Her point is this: libraries' websites often try to mimic, in an online from, both the organization and the terminology of the physical library.  This is not the most helpful thing for our users, she claims.  And I agree.  Wholeheartedly.

Name Walt's Blog (by Saturday)

Walt Crawford is hosting a "Name Walt's Blog" contest.  He's finally starting a blog! ...though some would argue he's had one for a while now already...  He writes on LIS News:

If I started up a real weblog (not just this blog lite), combining quick thoughts that might eventually turn into columns or C&I fodder, library-related (and policy-related and technology-related and media-related) stuff that would never make it into C&I, and some of the personal oddments hat come up, what should I call it?

For more information on the contest, and its super-snazzy prizes, see the LIS News post.

No personal info on RFID, says Simitian

Did you know that California's proposed bill, the "Identity Information Protection Act of 2005," would prohibit RFID tags that give personal information on library cards? 

Now you do.

Copyright Webcast and Q&A

Mary Minow gave a webcast last week about copyright, entitled "Borrowing Graphics or Text for Library Web Pages: Fair Play, and Fair Use."  The webcast is archived in case you missed it, along with Mary's materials for the webcast.  Mary has also posted a follow-up to questions asked at the webcast on her LibraryLaw Blog.  She answers questions about issues with photographing people in the library, trademarks vs. copyright, and much more.  Check it out!

The integrated library system that isn't

Lorcan Dempsey's OCLC weblog has a spectacular article entitled "The integrated library system that isn't."  Dempsey lists all the fragmented bits of what libraries do now, and how the ILS isn't handling a large number of those bits.  The opening paragraph of the article says it all:

One can read the phrase Integrated Library System (ILS) in two ways: as a system for the integrated library, or as an integrated system for the library. Although the latter is what was probably meant by the term, neither is an accurate description of what the ILS has become. In fact, it is a misleading term whose continued use is bemusing. It is clear that the ILS manages a progressively smaller part of the library activity. There has been a real shift in emphasis towards e-resource management (see the metasearch/resolver/ERM/knowledgebase suite of tools), and in some cases towards digital asset management. Libraries now manage a patchwork of systems which do not always play well together.

One thing that particularly struck home with me was the mention of how the ILS doesn't touch digital asset management (of local digitized collections).  I've developed a very cool (if I do say so myself) historical digital archive for our library, including photo albums of the building of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Quentin, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Muir Woods, as well as a ton of oral histories with sound clips, and other resources as well.  In other words, stuff that lots of people would be pretty darned interested in. 

And there's no way to manage this collection through our Innovative ILS.  How can we easily integrate this collection into our library catalog?  Entries for each oral history, searchable by keyword, subject, etc....  How to add the metadata from each photograph into the ILS without pain and trauma for the cataloguer?  Ahh....I continue to dream.

First Ever White House Press Pass Issued to a Blogger

Garrett M. Graff, editor of FishbowlDC, has been given a press pass by the White House.  Nice!  Garrett chronicles how this all happened on his blog, and the NYT has a nice article about this very cool development in advancing blogger street cred.  Take that, blog naysayers!

Librarian by nature

Another "blog people" reactionary product line has appeared: the "Librarian by nature, blogger by choice" shirts, sweatshirts, nighties, etc.  I like this design--perhaps a raglan shirt for LiB?  Anyone want to send me a present? ;)  I often think of myself as "librarian by nature, techie by default" so this plays nicely into my existent self-identity.

link via Caveat Lector

Blog People!

Thanks to Greg for the spiffy Blog Person button which you will see in my navigation bar over on the right.  I haven't linked it to anything yet (as many people haven't, apparently).  If there's an apology or retraction from Gorman (heh, right), that would be a good target.  I too, choose not to link directly to the article though.

In other "reaction to Gorman's irresponsible statements about Blog People" news, the Curmudgeony Librarian is offering several "Blog People" shirts through Cafe Press, as well as the other C.L. t-shirt designs (of which I own one--guess which one).  Girlish Things is also offering t-shirts, hats, buttons, bags, and more with the "Blog People" theme.

Thanks to Caveat Lector for both links.

No IM for you! Come back, 2 years!

Michael has posted a message from a colleague lamenting the fact that her organization disallows IM straight-out.

In discussing this with colleagues, it seems that many organizations don't allow IM on their machines.  A lot of government agencies (and by proxy, any libraries affiliated with a state, city, or county) disallow IM at the system-wide level, either disallowing any new software installs, blocking ports, or simply having a policy against it. 

Unfortunately IM hasn't yet been recognized by the masses as another communication medium (like phone or e-mail), and it's being banned because of administrators' unfamilarity with it.  Yeah, people can goof off at work IMing, but they can do it by talking on their cell phones or by e-mailing too.  Doesn't mean you have to close it off as a mode of communication.  I've found it invaluable as a way to quickly collaborate with colleagues, ask a quick question, without shooting of an e-mail and waiting for a response.  Hopefully, in time, IM will become as common as e-mail, and organizations will learn to accept it as a useful collaborative tool.  I would suggest to those in organizations currently disallowing it that you need to advocate for the usefulness of IM for you and your staff.  Otherwise, nothing is going to change.

New Wallace & Gromit!

Coming in October, at last--a new Wallace and Gromit movie: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (trailer included on the site)!  My nephew is enamoured with Wallace and Gromit--he stands in front of the television, wide-eyed and open-mouthed when it comes on.  He doesn't do it for anything else, just good ol' W&G.  Must be the British accents :)

Thanks to Librarian's Rant for the link!

NYPL Images Online

The New York Public Library has launched a huge free collection of online images.  The NYPL Digital Gallery provides over a quarter of a million quality images--photographs, maps, prints, and illuminated manuscripts.  This is a magnificent collection and very well presented.  I would be interested to know the technical aspects behind this project--what software are they using?  How do they manage the content?  How are images indexed?

This is an absolutely gorgeous and content-rich site that is definitely worth checking out.

Net Generation Students and Libraries

Joan Lippincott from the Coalition for Networked Information has written a very interesting piece, "Net Generation Students and Libraries," that discusses the library as "a space," both digital and physical.  How do we as libraries make the library's digital space a destination for our net generation users?  What unique services do we offer that can draw these users in?  What kinds of services do we not offer that they want?

AOL goes local

AOL's Local Search, available to both AOL customers and regular web users, is up and running.  Over 13,000 million businesses, theaters, and other local establishment are included.  Gary Price has a good review of all its features and content over at the SearchEngineWatch blog.  I find the interface to be clean, though it's a little confusing that you have to first "set your location" before you can run any searches.  The content is also fairly sparse, as Gary points out.  I did a search for "ice cream" near my home, and while they picked up 3 of the places nearby, but missed about a half-dozen others.  (I am very familiar with ice cream establishments).

California Redistricting Maps Online

The California Voter Foundation provides a full set of maps from the previous and current rounds of redistricting the state. Part of the California Map Series, the redistricting maps show the public how political districting changes with who is in political power. Other maps in the series are equally useful--showing town borders and much more.

link via The Virtual Chase

New Features on LiB

You might notice some new features on LiB, like the search box over on the right (it's Google-based) and feeds for both RSS 1.0 and Atom.  Does anyone know an easy way of producing an RSS 2.0 feed for a Typepad blog?  If so, let me know.

LiB out of commission

The Librarian in Black is out of commission for a while folks, due to dislocated ribs.  If you want some fun reading though, read Ron's comments on my Michael Gorman post.  Apparently, everything I post here is "uninteresting and unengaging" and "a compilation of self-important ramblings." 

Despite Ron's poisonous and non-constructive criticism, I hope to be back soon to point you to more resources and news about library technology.