LibrarianInBlack

Get staff buy-in for projects

Meredith Farkas has a fabulous post, On getting staff members to buy into a new technology, in which she discusses how administrators and management can help get staff buy-in for technology projects.  As others who have read Meredith's post have posited, many of the techniques she addresses could apply to pretty much any new project, technology or not.  As my own library moves forward with new technology implementations, I will certainly be consulting this list regularly as a good reminder of how to do it the right way. 

Top Ten Designed Blogs

One man's list of the top ten designed blogs.  Good list of some design-ground-breaking sites.  And, as he points out:

The particular platform (WP, Moveable Type, Typepad, Handcoded) doesn’t matter.  It’s what you do with it that counts.

I think my favorite is joshuaink.com.  So beautiful.  This is what happens when you take an artist and let them design a site for art's sake, not technology's.

story found via the J-Walk Blog

LawHelp.org

Find legal aid in your state with LawHelp.org.  Link to your state's page from your library's recommended websites.  Or, at least let other reference staff know about the site.  This would have come in handy more times than I can count when I was doing web-based chat reference.

found in Marylaine Block’s Neat New Stuff

What books earn a dollar?

How do authors get paid?  Which books make money and which don’t?  Check out How Books Make (or Don’t) Money.  [small grammatical quibble, that should be “How Books Make (or Don’t Make) Money” or “How Books Do (or Don’t) Make Money.”]  Anyway, it’s a very interesting article from an industry insider with some revealing information for those of us with the author-bug.

found in Marylaine Block’s Neat New Stuff

The Jet Library

If you haven't seen this yet, check it out.  Architects Lot-Ek have designed a public library for Guadalajara, Mexico that is made out of the fuselages of jets.  Why?  Fuselages are more expensive to recycle than to simply discard, so there is a bevy of these things floating around in junkyards.

found on Boing Boing

Libraries Build Communities

We knew that, didn't we?

Steven M. Cohen and Chrystie Hill have developed the Libraries Build Communities blog to gather information for an upcoming book.  You can read about how other libraries have helped their communities, or choose to tell your own story.  They also have a short survey you can fill out to help them with their work.

Archive-It launches

Archive-It launched today. A project of the beloved Internet Archive, Archive-It is aiming to allow "any institution – though most importantly libraries and archives - to create their own web archives – for a relatively low fee, and without any technical expertise."  They're featuring two publicly accessible collections for the launch: the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake collection and the Lilly Library collection at Indiana University.  Their FAQ answers many questions.  Have a collection you'd like to archive permanently?  Talk to them and see what they can do for you!

New Google search results interface?

One never knows how much rumors are true, but with a new Google beta coming out weekly it seems, hey--anything's possible.  Stories about this new interface with expandable search results are popping up all over the place.   From the screenshots I'm seeing, it looks a little, err, wonky.  Having used expandable results pages with various databases, I've never liked them.  Gimme what ya' got, and I'll click if I want more.  But perhaps I'm in the minority.  We'll find out soon.

MySpace Discussion

There have been multiple stories in the news in the last few months about schools, libraries, and colleges banning MySpace for reasons of bandwidth-hoggery (which in a select few cases could be well-argued) or what's being sold as "safety concerns," "behavior issues," or "user protection."  That last one makes me sick when I hear library staff touting it.  Physically sick.  Why?  Because it's censorship.  Plain and simple.

Recently a thread started on the LibRef-L listserv (library reference discussions) about MySpace and how to deal with the various behavior problems that were coming out of users using library computers to access the site.  You can read the whole thread (look in April weeks 3 & 4 or search for subject line "myspace"), but here are the main points from my two responses on the issue, which I thought were worth sharing in this forum as well:

• Libraries have policies in place to deal with the behavior issues people raise in relation to MySpace: spending more than the allowed time on the computers, displaying obscene or harmful materials, being disruptive, etc.  Enforce those policies, regardless of what activities your users are engaging in.
• It is not our place to judge what our users do with their time online, as long as it isn't violating any of our policies.  To damn one site, when there are literally thousands of other sites out there just like MySpace (just not as popular at the present moment), is addressing a symptom, not the root cause--which is the behavior that is unacceptable in the library.
• We do not judge what people choose to read, listen to, or watch.  Our professional ethics dictate that we provide access to all information. To suddenly have a different policy for online materials, simply because they are online, seriously conflicts with those ethics.
• If you're going to ban MySpace, then why not ban gaming, online gambling, dating websites, and the like?  All of those could be said to cause behavioral issues in the library too.  Where does that slippery slope end?

Someone took issue with my statement "Our professional ethics dictate that we provide access to all information."  So I responded by pointing out the double standard that certainly exists in our profession today, and which makes me cringe when I see it in action.

• A user asks for an item that your library doesn't have on its shelves. The librarian on site had "carefully selected information resources" and didn't think this one was appropriate or important.  However, the user has asked for the item.  If the library can make the requested item available via ILL or other lending arrangement, then I believe it has an ethical duty to do so.  No matter how much the librarian might disagree with the content, it would not be appropriate to say "No, I'm sorry--we're choosing not to make that available for you."
• In the same way, users are asking for MySpace and in an online world, it's much the same as the print world.  To ban a site, to not make it available, is akin to saying that you won't ILL a user-requested item based on your own view of its content.  To me, that screams censorship. "Online" is just another format.  Why should our intellectual freedom standards be different because it's a new medium?

Finally, what do I think we should be doing?

• Educate your users about MySpace. 
• Have materials available for parents and kids (depending on your type of library) outlining the issues with MySpace, online privacy, and personal information. 
• Talk to them one on one. 

But please...remember your professional ethics.  Think about the double standard you're imposing on your users.  Don't walk down that censorship path.

Free High-End Web Services for Libraries with EngagedPatrons.org

This is HUGE!

Glenn Peterson (reference librarian from Hennepin County Library) has started EngagedPatrons.org, a website dedicated to providing web solutions for libraries.

We provide website services connecting public libraries and their patrons. We handle the programming; you reap the benefits of being able to offer your users a more engaging and interactive web presence.

Don't have a coder on staff but have an interest in many of the new web services you've been hearing so much about?  This may be your answer.  So far, the site offers library event calendaring, blogs, feedback forms, RSS, and custom databases. 

The best thing?  The site's services are being offered for free to U.S. public libraries with under $1 million/year in total income.  You can even search on the site to see if your library qualifies.  And if it does?  Then you have no excuse for not offering these services.  It's free.  The FAQs give a lot more information.  The site's blog will keep you updated on any future developments as well.

Libraries and library staff like to give.  We do.  Glenn is giving big time.  Take him up on it.

Free Comic Book Day

YA and adult librarians--start your engines!  Free Comic Book Day is May 6th!  Like it sounds, the day is devoted to participating comic book stores giving out free comic books!  Just enter your zip code on the official website to find participting stores near you.  If no one close by is participating, suggest that they get in on the action.

found via Marylaine Block's Neat New This Week

NOAA Historical Weather Data

If you're not yet aware of NOAA's free historical weather data offerings, take note.  NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) offers historical weather data from their climate website. 

...users can click a desired location on a national map and be taken directly to the local climate page of the appropriate NOAA National Weather Service forecast office. Then, by clicking on the NOWData tab [far right]....past weather is available for the last two years with climate averages for the standard 30-year period of 1971-2000 and extremes for as long as a station has been taking observations.

Michael Porter's "Keep Up!" Class

Today I attended Michael Porter's OCLC workshop "Keep Up! Practical Emerging Technology for You and Your Library" at the San Francisco Public Library.   Karen Schneider attended the same class yesterday, and has a write-up on Free Range Librarian.  The highlights according to me...

Michael gave a really good description of the long tail: tying it to libraries' roles in providing obscure materials through ILL, eBay and Amazon (for merchandise), and the possibility of a NetFlix model for materials delivery. The issue of fines and charging definitely come up wtih that model, but several participants noted that their libraries are discussing the development of a NetFlix-esque lending service for their libraries. Viva la Bay Area!

He discussed the convergence and buy-ups of the various technology companies (Bloglines purchased by Ask.com, Flickr purchased by Yahoo!, etc.) and how various sites and services are cooperating with each other, resulting in big time convergence. Everything is connected. The library? Not so much.

He described the Sony Reader, and described how it's much closer to the printed page due to the way the display works: it's not being continually refreshed, it's a static image on the screen, and therefore much easier on our eyes. He also mentioned ePaper, a flexible display that approximates the printed page.

He emphasized the future of voice recognition in human-computer interfaces. Then we got to watch the oh-so-fun EPIC/Googlezon video.

Michael encouraged attendees to use WebJunction to find technology, planning, and programming information for libraries. My own experience with WebJunction has always been that the information is there (I'm often stunned at the quantity), but it's hard to find. Searching doesn't work well, and browsing is often a ten step process. Oftentimes though, I find it is worth the time to get what's there.

He then discussed the importance of social communities online, like About.com, Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook. He emphasized the "sense of touch" factors with these sites--the real feeling that you're connected to a community--through photos, messaging, invitations, etc. We looked at some libraries' MySpace profiles for ideas of how to fold libraries in to this space (including Thomas Ford & Hennepin County).

Michael showed us Flickr, YouTube (hey--use this to post your library's promotional video content!), and Blogger as a very easy way for libraries to create a blog presence. Michael also highlighted library and librarian blogs including AADL's blogging frenzy, ALA TechSource, It's All Good, Shifted Librarian, Library Stuff, Stephen's Lighthouse, Libraryman (hey, that's Michael's!), librarian.net, Open Stacks, Tame the Web, and *blush* LibrarianInBlack. Michael announced to the class that he likes my blog because I "speak my mind" and am "very opinionated." Ya think? ;)

Michael showed us Bloglines, which wowed several of the partipants. There were some well-deserved audible "oohs" and "aahs. RSS is customized information delivery at its best, but suffers from a confusing name. I swear--the person who comes up with a better name for RSS (My Yahoo! doesn't count) will make a pretty penny...or at the very least get my personal thanks.

Michael showed us Open WorldCat, including the "Reviews" tab for each item where people can add their own reviews.  This feature isn't being used much yet, but it's available (which is more than we can say for most library catalogs).  He also suggested that to search the full Open WorldCat holdings, you should do a Google site-specific search like site:worldcatlibraries.org AUTHOR/TITLE as a better way to look for Open WorldCat books than just adding "Find in a Library" or "Open WorldCat" to your keyword search.

Michael discussed virtual reference options, including web-based chat (like QuestionPoint) and instant messaging (including aggregators like Trillian and Meebo).  He gave the class some practical tips on things to consider about virtual reference before implementation.

I have to leave a little bit early (like right now), but congratulations to Michael for an uber-fabulous class. If he's coming to a library near you, sign up!

WHOIS becomes DomainTools.com

The domain name look-up service WHOIS has changed its name to DomainTools.com.  This is a valuable tool for finding out who owns a domain name, doing traceroutes, pings, DNS look-up, and Reverse IP look-up.  You can find out who owns a domain name and where they live.  A bit scary from a privacy standpoint, but a good tool to use when evaluating the reliability of a website.

story from ResourceShelf

Google Librarian Newsletter: PDF Tip Sheet

The third issue of the Google Librarian Newsletter features a PDF poster with tips on searching Google.  Consider printing out a few high quality color copies and laminating them (ooh!  laminating) for your computer areas and maybe even your own desk!

FeedBurner's e-mail subscription service

FeedBurner is now offering an RSS-to-e-mail subscription service.  It's pretty darn smooth, and free.  So if you are publishing content via RSS and want to be able to push it to people by e-mail as well, check this out.

found via Read/WriteWeb

64 GB Flash Drive

I have a 1GB flash drive that contains all of my work-related data.  (Tangent: I do back this data up regularly, because keeping my life only on a cigarette-lighter-sized thing that could be lost or stolen would be stupid).  If I had $2,800 to drop, I'd buy a 64GB flash drive from Kanguru Solutions.  Hoo-yah!

Library 2.0 Innovation Boot Camp

ALA has taken a step toward acknowledging the Library 2.0 ideas by offering the Library 2.0 Innovation Boot Camp, an online learning opportunity facilitated by Jenny Levine and Michael Stephens.  From Kathleen Gilroy's summary:

We are using a new model for delivering this program that is very different from other e-learning programs you may have joined. In the traditional model you have a course management system where all of your activities take place. In the traditional model, all of the activities and your participation in the course is highly structured within this typically closed and proprietary system.

In this program you will be participating in a Learning Network. This Learning Network can be thought of as an online platform with a constantly changing structure built by distributed, autonomous, and largely self-interested peers. On this platform we will build this course collectively. We will all be using blogs and podcasts to create content. Links and tags will knit this content together. And search and RSS will make the content visible and navigable and help you stay on top of it all.

I wish the participants and instructors (some big names) the best of luck with this endeavor.  This multi-faceted online class is so ideal, and makes me wish I had the time to participate myself!

Practical Side of IM Reference

Michael Stephens has a long post about the practical aspects of instant messaging reference, including some statistics and discussion of IM's added value to the community.  Just to show that Michael's library isn't the only one experiencing IM success, here's a graph of IM reference questions answered between January '05 and February '06 at the Marin County Free Library (my until-recently employer).  The IM Reference project was my baby there.

Michael reported that IM Reference accounted for about 1-2% of all reference questions, which is about what we found too.  And I echo his sentiment that the ROI on IM Reference is extremely high, especially if you have staff monitoring your "IM desk" from the regular reference desk.

There is so much information out there about IM Reference, and any time anyone asks me where to start if they're interested in starting up a service at their library I point them to the Library Success Wiki page about IM Reference.  So many good resources there.

Ria's a Library Journal Star

I went to Library School at UIUC at the same time as Ria Newhouse (2004 Mover & Shaker), and had several classes (and memorable social functions) with her.  Now she's on the cover of Library Journal for her article "Professional at 28."  It's a good read if you're an up and coming librarian, or if you're mentoring one.  I can certainly identify with much of what she says, though I am a grey 29 ;)  Congrats Ria!

A WordPress Newspaper Obituary Index

The Thomas Ford Memorial Library loves WordPress.  They used it to create a local history archive and now they have a newspaper obituary index too.  Aaron Schmidt writes about the creation process on walking paper. 

I love that he (and many others) are doing non-standard things with blog software.  The beauty of the blog software is the WYSIWYG interface.  Non-uber-techie library staff can add content.  I think for too long, the content-reigns have been held by the techies for the sole reason that no one else could code for the web.  But the result of that is often bottlenecks in the workflow (how many library webmasters have a 2-month backlog of content updates?) and resentment at techies having so much durn power.  No more, no more I say!  Let the content be posted by those who created it!

Booklist is online

Booklist has gone online (at last)!  Booklist Online offers an array of features, including a Booklist book club, a blog, as well as profiles, alerts, and lists for subscribers.  You may want to consider moving your library's print subscription online, especially if you're stuck routing one copy of the publication through multiple branches and selectors.

The Changing Nature of the Catalog and Its Integration with Other Discovery Tools

Looking for a new direction for your library's catalog?  In the process of choosing a new ILS?  Read this now!  Just released by the Library of Congress, The Changing Nature of the Catalog and Its Integration with Other Discovery Tools Report (written by Cornell Librarian Karen Calhoun) proposes some exciting new ways for library catalogs to evolve.  The report discusses the impact of the internet on library catalogs and comes to the conclusion that "library patrons want easy-to-use catalogs that are accessible on the Web."

found on ResourceShelf

Best and Worst Library PR Materials

ALA's Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA)is holding its annual Swap and Shop Best of Show competition.  Submit your Library's awesome PR materials (including a category for library homepages) by May 1, 2006. Entry forms are available online, and if you have questions, check out the FAQ.  Winners will be displayed at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans and will be awarded certificates at a ceremony at the conference.

If your library's PR could use some assistance, LAMA is also offering a PR Makeover event.  More information on this can be found on the LibTalk Blog.

Serving your advanced users

Take a look at John Blyberg's post on the HigherEdBlogCon site: Patrons in the driver’s seat: Giving advanced tool-sets to library patrons.  John describes how the Ann Arbor District Library went from A to Z in offering their patrons some really great web services and resources.  I heart AADL.

John's post, and my previous post here on LiB about the IMLS study, makes me think how library technology folks are stuck between two worlds: the realization that many libraries still aren't providing basic technology services and resources to patrons and the desire to provide the biggest and the best of technology to our users when we can.  I know that this element was/is a big part of the controversy about Library 2.0.  I feel that if your library has covered its bases already with the services and resources (including classes and one-on-one training) for non-tech-savvy patrons, the next step is to work as hard as you can to provide the best and brightest of web services for your advanced users. 

If we want to stay relevant, we can't pander to the lowest common denominator--not in technology.  We don't do it with material selection: we don't only buy rated-G movies, or board books, to make sure everyone can view or read them.  We offer a large variety of resources and services to appeal to as many types of users as we can.  We try to fit everyone's needs.  I don't understand why technology is so different.  There are those who take it too far, jumping on whatever new technology was launched today...but the bulk of library tech people wait it out, see if the service or resource proves itself, and then offer it when we feel it's reliable and recommendable to users (kind of like with reference resources, no?).  I don't see anything wrong with offering a downloadable library toolbar, or comments in  your catalog.  If your non-savvy users don't use it--fine.  But it's there for your savvy users, who will grow in number and voice as the years go by.

IMLS Technology in Libraries Report

The Institute of Museum and Library Services has issued a new report on library and museum digitization and technology use: Status of Technology and Digitization.  It's a follow-up to a 2002 report, and boy have things changed!  And we still have a long way to go.  From the Public Libraries section of the report:

All large public libraries have a Web site, but only 66.1 percent of small public libraries have one.

Computerized catalogs of collections are very heavily used in medium and large public libraries; 96.6 percent of medium public libraries and 98.1 percent of large ones use computerized catalogs, while 70.5 percent of small libraries use them.

Staff for technology activities: Libraries that "have the right amount of skilled staff" included 20.4 percent of small libraries, 21.1 percent of medium libraries, and 35.3 percent of large libraries. Overall, the majority of public libraries (73.1%), regardless of size, do not have enough skilled staff to accomplish their technology activities.

found via Libraryola

Library 2.0 Wiki

You knew it had to happen: the Library 2.0 Wiki.  It's just starting.  Add your stuff.

Is your website standards compliant?

A really interesting discussion has been going on recently on Web4Lib about standards complaince and library websites.  The entire thread (choose page 2 at the top--at least as of right now) is interesting, but check out the overviews of the importance of standards from Thomas Dowling's post and Ian Chan's post.

I think that people have this misconception that making your website standards compliant and accessible (often these two things go hand in hand) is a huge task.  It's not!  Especially if you're engaging in a re-design or re-structuring of your site, now is the time to address standards and accessibility.

LibX Firefox Extension for Libraries

Behold, a Firefox extension for libraries.

LibX is a Firefox extension that provides direct access to your library's resources. LibX is open source.

Check out some screenshots.  Features include a toolbar with direct catalog access, right-click menus, context-sensitive menus, support of Open URL and Google Scholar, remote access to databases, and much more.  Sweet, sweet, SWEET!

Have a local code monkey (hey I can say that, I'm a code monkey myself...it's complimentary, not derogatory).  Anyway, have a local code monkey create a version of this for your library, link to its download from your library's website, and your savvy users (who are probably using Firefox anyway) will have one more easy way to access your library's resources.

LibX is currently looking for libraries that are interested in adapting, evaluating and possibly deploying LibX.  If your library uses Millennium, Horizon, Voyager, or Aleph, they claim they can help set you up in as little as 15 mins.

found on Dr. Web

Microsoft's Academic Search

Microsoft has launched its Academic Search in beta (but of course).  Academic Search includes material from journal publishers and some material from OAI (Open Archives Initiative)-complaint repositories as well.  As yet, there's no inclusion of articles available on the open web.  The only subjects covered so far are physics, computer science, and electrical engineering.  The project's information pages are devoid of many important facts (like update regularity).  Gary Price has a fabulous detailed review and description of the service over on ResourceShelf if you want to know more.

Blogger Round Table or Interest Group?

Michael Golrick is testing the waters for people's interest in a blogging round table in ALA or a blogging interest group in LITA.  Throw in your two cents in his comments.

Library is Videoblogging

Thanks to David Lee King for the pointer to the Manchester Public Library’s podcasting and vidcasting endeavor on their teen site.  They offer a podcast of a librarian doing book reviews and a vidcast of a librarian and teens talking about books.  Nice!

More Music Chosen by LC

The Library of Congress National Recording Registry has added fifty sound recordings, including some Jimi Hendrix, Nat King Cole, Gil Scott-Heron, and B.B. King.

BlogHer Conference

The second annual BlogHer Conference is taking place in San Jose, CA (sweet sunny SJ!) July 28th and 29th.  BlogHer's website is a subject guide to and forum for women bloggers.  Check out the conference schedules (day one and day two) and think about coming down.

Blogging Libraries Wiki

Take a look at the Blogging Libraries Wiki, a project by Amanda Etches-Johnson.  This list had been maintained on her personal blog, blogwithoutalibrary.net.  Now it's a wiki.

She's broken the blogs out into Academic Libraries, Public Libraries, School Libraries, Special Libraries, and Blogs for Internal Library Communication (available on the open web).  I know there are other internal library blogs out there, just not open for all to see.  If your library's blog isn't listed, add it!  That's the beauty of a wiki!  If your library is thinking of blogging, use these libraries' work as a starting point and inspiration.  A big heartfelt thank-you to Amanda for such a great resource!

Government drops Patriot Act appeal

The feds announced last week that they're dropping their appeal in the case involving the Connecticut Library system who, with the ACLU, was seeking release from the gag provision of the Patriot Act.  The ACLU reports that the library and librarian will be named after the court proceedings end.

Google Calendar

Google rolled out their new calendar system last week and I've been playing around with it a bit.  It works a lot like Outlook, but I think it's easier to use.  You can invite others to meetings, get reminders, see other people's calendars, and tons more.  You can even open up your calendar to the world and it will (theoretically) display in Google search results.  But no worries...you don't have to do that--you can make your calendar private too.  Check out their tour.  If you're looking for a simple online planning solution, give Google Calendar a try.

FindInALibrary search box

Bill Drew (Baby Boomer Librarian) has created a simple Google search box for the FindInALibrary books.  Nice work! 

StateMaster

I've been a fan of NationMaster, a great site for statistical comparisons between countries, for some time now.  Now the same group has produced StateMaster, a website that allows you to compare U.S. states on over 2,500 different statistics.  The site also includes maps, flags, and detailed state profiles.  What a great resource for those school state reports!

Get your "old book" fix

Isaac Newton's "alchemical notebooks" are available online as high-resolution scanned images through the National Science Foundation & IU Digital Library Program.  Newton recorded his chemistry experiments in these notebooks, making them of keen interest to the scientific community.

  Plus they're tons of fun to look at for those of us with an old/brittle/fragile book jones.

found on Boing Boing

Teen Outreach Online

danah boyd has posted an echo (albeit a more articulated echo) of what I've been hearing from teen and technology service librarians over the last year.  Teens are online exhibiting some very scary behaviors.  Instead of condemning what they're doing, perhaps we need to conduct some more intelligent outreach to get to them on their own territory.  From her post:

In college, many of my friends worked at teen outreach programs. They helped kids who were on the street, suicidal, struggling with addiction, working as prostitutes, or engaging in self-harm....
With sites like LiveJournal, Xanga and MySpace, many teens are expressing similar kinds of out-of-control behaviors. Are there any digital teen outreach programs? Are any social workers or therapists reaching out to teens who are clearly battling tough issues? I recognize that these websites are not the best place to do actual therapy, but neither is the street.

To me, a little light bulb goes off saying "what can we in libraries do about this too?"  Our efforts have always been intertwined with our local social service agencies, and perhaps this is yet another example of how we can help.  Get to teens on their own turf (IM, MySpace) and talk to them about privacy and security issues in an online environment.  What's essential is not to do this in a preachy way, an "I need to protect you from yourself" way, but to approach online environments much the way we do physical environments.  Officer Friendly should address more than just crossing the street and talking to strangers; kids' online worlds today are seemingly fraught with more peril than their physical worlds.

Wikimania Conference

Put on your traveling boots this August and take a trip out to Wikimania August 4th-6th in Cambridge Mass.  Wikimania is an annual conference of the Wikimedia Foundation, which supports Wikipedia and other projects. The program organizers want librarians involved.  (Hear that?  They want us!)  The deadline for presentation submissions is April 30.  J Baumgart has posted a lengthy list of ideas and thoughts on librarian participation in Wikimania.  If you're interested, that's probably a good place to start!

TechEssence.info

Jessamyn West has posted about TechEssence.info (see, Jessamyn...you weren't the last person to hear about it--I was!).  TechEssence is a brand spanking new site providing "accurate, understandable explanations of important information technologies for libraries."  The site was started by Roy Tennant, and has contributions by Andrew Pace, Meredith Farkas, Dorothea Salo, Eric Lease Morgan, Jenn Riley, Jerry Kuntz, Marshall Breeding, and Thomas Dowling.  Umm.  Wow.

Here's the feed for their blog.  Subscribe now.  No, really.  Right now.

Poor Excuses for Lack of Services

Michael Stephens has a post entitled "Five Phrases I Hope I Never Hear in Libraries Again (based on a true story)" but I think it could be titled "Five Excuses To Never Acecpt as Reasons to Not Do Things."  He cites libraries blocking IM on their networks as an example, but I think that his five reasons bear up to scrutiny for many new service issues--not just in libraries, and not just technology projects. Michael does a great job of expanding on each of these, but here they are in a condensed version. His five phrases/excuses are:

1. We've always done it this way.
2. He/She is a roadblock for anything to get done.
3. The IT department won't let us.
4. I don't have time for (insert new social tool here).
5. Our director doesn't like technology.

Number 3 is the one I hear most often when related to IM, but number 5 is the one I hear most frequently in regards to all sorts of new ideas and projects.  Again, not just for technology.  Replace "technology" with "teen services," "storytimes," or "meetings."  If the director doesn't like it, try to educate him or her.  Talk over staff and user needs with the director.  Try to make your case as hard as you can.  If you believe in a service or initiative enough, you will do everything you can to make it happen--including taking an unpopular position with your administration.  You work for the users--don't forget that.

Designing for widescreen

There  has been much buzz about designing websites for small screens (PDAs, phones, hybrid devices) but not much has been discussed about widescreen displays.  Check out a post about some experiments with auto-detecting for window width and screen resolution over on Gadgetopia.  Something to think about with your library's website.  How do you look on small and big screens?

Berkeley bSpace Images

bSpace Images, a project from UC-Berkeley, focuses on personal image collections and provides faculty/librarians/students with a place to "search, share, and collect images."  The evolution of the site will be almost completely user-driven.  The users say what they need, and boom, there it is (that's the push of the project, anyway).  Very nice.  I think that library intranets could use something like this (and some already have it): a centralized depository for images related to the organization.  Like a big whomping photo album....but indexed and searchable.

found on Disruptive Library Technology Jester

Spanish Language Outreach Online Course

WebJunction has announced a FREE online self-paced course about Spanish language outreach. Produced by the Spanish Language Outreach Program, the class is based on the in-person class that they teach.  Go to the WebJunction course list to register and find out more.

The Credibility Commons

The Credibility Commons is a project devoted to helping people get reliable information on the web.  The project is funded by a grant from the MacArthur Foundation, and is being lead by people from the academic world.

The first thing I thought when I saw this was "why the *%&^ didn't librarians do this first?"  Then I remembered: we did...a whole bunch of times.  We just didn't come up with the alliterative name.  LIBRARIANS DID COME UP WITH THIS.  MY MISTAKE.  But props where props are due.  Good work, Credibility Commons.  I'm interested to see what comes out of this group over the next few months.

Typepad takes on widgets

I have blogged a few times about my displeasure with Typepad (functionality limitations, outages), but they're introduced something cool (at least flashy-cool): a whole bunch of widgets to tack on to your Typepad blogs.  Some are cool, like Rollyo, while some leave a bad taste in my mouth, like Weatherbug (can you spell Spyware?).  If you have a Typepad blog for yourself or your library, you may want to check it out.

Web-based RSS Aggregators: A Chart

We all like charts.  They help us condense lots o' info into a tiny linear space.  Take a look at the Tech Crunch evaluation of web-based RSS readers/aggregators.  The chart (toward the end of the post) lists the most popular readers and their features.  The author's conclusions are rather noncommittal, but can guide you in a direction if there are particular features you're looking for.  There is a world beyond Bloglines, though some of us are so addicted and entrenched that we may never switch.

Library Web Design: central design source?

Stephen Francoeur has a brilliant idea.  Why not create a site that is devoted to library website design?  More than what you can already find on the LibrarySuccess Wiki or the LIS Wiki.  A site that breaks the elements of a website out into its component parts and discusses each, also linking to useful examples.  I know that I would find this rather useful.  Anyone out there with more time than me or Stephen who wants to tackle this?

Librarian READ Posters

I'm late to the game on this one, but check out the Flickr group for librarian READ posters (I finally contributed).  They're up to 25.  I am enamored with the Michael Stephens poster: he's holding a laptop, not a book.  Cuz guess what?  You can read stuff on computers too.  Wish I'd thought of it first.  Rock on Michael.

Free Online Computer Games

Looking for free computer games online?  Lots of people are.  Check out 101 Free Games: The Definitive Guide to the Best New Free Games on the Web.

Another way to use this might be if you're trying really hard to set up a teen gaming night in your library (or heck, an adult gaming night) but don't have money for software or peripherals (dance pads, steering wheels).  Have people play some of the games on this site!  I've played several they list, and they're right--these are good, fun games.  And free!

found on Steel White Table

First Wireless RFID System

Checkpoint says it has installed the first 100% wireless RFID system at the Prairie Trails Public Library in Burbank, IL (not too far from where I grew up).

OPACS Suck Part 2

Karen Schneider follows up her TechSource post "How OPACs Suck, Part 1: Relevance Rank (Or the Lack of It)" with "How OPACs Suck, Part 2: The Checklist of Shame."  Read Karen's list of features your OPAC wishes it had, and then pull this bad boy out the next time your ILS asks for a list of "enhancements" *cough* for the next year, the next time you're going to a conference where your ILS is exhibiting, or the next time you talk to your system administrator.  Unless we all start asking for these things, with one voice, they're not going to happen. 

New Cites & Insights

Walt Crawford's Cites & Insights Spring Edition is available.  Walt discusses online book discovery, Google and pornography, and quite a bit more.  If you're unfamiliar with Walt's publication, I highly suggest that you start reading every single issue as it comes out.  It's a great way to get ,in digest form, much of what's happening in the library and technology worlds.  Plus, Walt's commentary is usually priceless.  How many other library bloggers talk about porn? ;)  Actually, it's only a small part of the article--but still.

Apple takes a bite out of Intel

The buzz around Apple Boot Camp has been deafening.  Apple's boot camp software (beta, beta, beta) allows users to install Windows XP on their Intel-based Macs, and then start the computer to run with either XP or Mac OS X.   

What does this mean for us, the library world?