Reference Today

Investment Resources @ Lake County Public Library

2010-03-22T12:39:00.001-07:00

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Investment Resources @ Lake County Public Library

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Online Homework Center

2010-03-19T11:55:00.001-07:00

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Online Homework Center

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Reference Today - Teaching

2010-03-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

The Head of Reference Services job description and duties: coordinate all system-wide in service reference training, orientate paraprofessional and professional reference staff, and supervise the development of training modules for the staff and the public.

LCPL staff teach the following public classes on a weekly basis: Meet the Mouse, Navigating the Net, Library Catalog, and Sharpen Your Skills.

Throughout the year professional development classes are offered for LCPL and neighboring library staff. These classes have been approved for LEU (Library Education Unit) credits for librarian certification.

This past week 38 Children's Librarians took the LEU approved class, Online Homework Center and discovered ways to reach their student patrons via the web.

Please feel free to comment on the teaching that you do in your libraries.

2009 ILF Annual Conference

2009-11-03T13:18:00.000-08:00

In the last few posts I have answered questions about my presentation. Now I am posting notes from the programs that I attended. I attended the Reception at the Allen County Public Library on Sunday evening, programs on Monday and had the pleasure of seeing Rosella Garcia, Lake County Public Library Literacy Coordinator, accept the Tom Zupancic Literacy Award at the Awards & Honors Banquet on Monday evening.

The conference was held in Fort Wayne and the ILF Committee did a great job presenting an interesting and smooth running conference.

PROGRAM NOTES

EXPLORING THE BORDERLANDS BETWEEN ILS 1.0 AND 2.0
Melissa Kiser, Information Technology Librarian, Allen County Public Library

Web 2.0 refers to the “second generation” of web-based communities and services that promotes collaboration and sharing between users.

Sites that ACPLib 2.0 uses to communicate with their users, to share new ideas about library services and materials with the wider Allen County Community, and to collaborate on internal projects:
Most Popular Titles
ACPL Staff Picks
ACPL Blog
ACPL Kids Blog
ACPL Teens Blog
Branch blogs
ACPL on Flickr
ACPL on YouTube
Search Cloud – see popular search terms in OPAC
NEIRRS Podcast –North Eastern Indiana Radio Reading Service provides web access for those who are blind or have reading challenges.
Library Elf

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT MINDSET: Surviving a 10% Increase in Circulation with No Increase in Staff or Funding
Sara Laughlin and panelists from the circulation department of the Monroe County Public Library

From pages to supervisors, everyone has a hand in identifying and implementing changes in circulation: problem, action, result.
1,100 holds per day, 20% of checkouts go through as holds – holds on everything; 10% of holds not picked up; 7 days on hold shelves
-reduced “claims returned items”
-doubled the percentage of self-checkout transactions
-speed shelving time – eliminated excessive “touches” – no sorting shelves, put on carts

WHAT ARE LIBRARIES DOING FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT?
Rob Fox & Libby Walker, Vigo County Public Library
-Continuing education for staff at professional meetings
-Believes in “home-grown” librarians & supports staff
-Process for tracing library certification levels and LEU
-In-House LEU Approved Training
-VCPL Staff Institute, close library & training approved for LEU credit
-Staff Association – grants & programs eligible for LEU credit
-Friends – scholarships
-Self-service employee portal – information about benefits, library news & resources supporting professional development

Carolyn Strickland, Lake County Public Library
http://referencetoday.blogspot.com/2009/10/lake-county-public-library-professional.html
-Formal Training Program: all public service staff required to attend standard training modules as well as subject overviews offered annually
-LCPL classes & trainers approved for LEU credit by state; classes open to all libraries & their staff at no charge: 464 credits have been awarded in 2009
-Informal Database Training: Adopt a Database Program, And the Winner Is….Program, Weekly Database Q & A’s, Database of the Month, Database Tip Sheets, & Vendor Training
-In-Service Training & Cross-Training

David Dyer, Carmel Clay Public Library
CCPL’s Web Adventure – 23 Things
Ten week program to train staff on Web 2.0: includes Blogging; Photos & Images (Flickr); RSS & Newsreaders; Social Networking (MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn; GoodReads & LibraryThing); Wikis; Online Applications & Tools (Google Docs & Google Maps); Podcasts, Video & Downloadable audio; and Professional Networking & Distance Learning.
Surveyed staff – Most liked doing it, but everyone did not complete the program.
Comments: too many activities and not enough time.

FLOATING: SHIFTING COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT TO A NEW LEVEL
Ingrid Norris, Lake County Public Library
What is floating? One system, one collection – materials “float” freely among system libraries rather than being “owned” by a specific location.
What are the benefits? Items spend less time on delivery trucks so materials are more likely to be on the shelf for people to check out; avoids extra transactions; and extends life of the collections
Making it easy for staff – staff don’t have to do anything extra to make each transaction work; promote benefits to customers; easy to use tools for weeding & responding to stock fluctuations
How do I get started? Will your ILS support floating/shared collections? Decide what will be exempted. Implement then deal with any problems that come up!

Any comments or questions?

Professional Development Program - ILF Part 2

2009-11-03T10:16:00.000-08:00

And the Winner Is...Program
We just finished this year-long program. Staff were encouraged to recommend databases to patrons and keep track of the number with hash marks. I contacted our vendors to ask for inexpensive prizes (mugs, bags, pins, paperclip holders, etc.). My database contacts were very accomodating and excited about the program. So...each month we had a drawing from the logs that staff turned in and three winners received prizes. Of course, the real winners were our patrons! This program added a "friendly competiton" aspect to what we do every day - recommend databases to our patrons.

Weekly Database Q & A's
Our webmaster sends out a Question and Answer email (separate emails) to all staff. Questions come from a number of sources. They can be actual patron questions or ones that we make up to promote a database. It's very popular and when we stopped it for awhile, staff complained.

Database of the Month
An individual database is promoted each month on the website and I give a database demo at our monthly staff meetings. We also create displays in the library with posters and bookmarks.

Database Tip Sheets
These tip sheets are posted on our database page. Staff and patrons have access to a tip sheet on all of our subscription databases. They are created and updated by our webmaster and myself.

Vendor Training
These are very helpful. This past year I contacted a number of our vendors and scheduled webinars during some of our Reference Staff Meetings - twenty to twenty-five librarians were trained in one session.

I am always looking for new ways to promote our databases. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome. Carolyn

Professional Development Program at ILF

2009-10-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

I received the following e-mail from an attendee at my ILF presentation on Professional Development at Lake County Public Library:

Hello, Carolyn,
I didn't make enough notes about your adopt a database program. Could you give me a review of how you operate that? Do staff members do one database at a time? Do they switch around to keep up with all the databases? Do they test them daily? More than once a day?
Also, what is the "And the Winner is.." program? Actually, I would like to know a little more about everything on slide 6 -- the Informal Database Training slide.

The slide that is referenced is in the slide presentation posted on this blog. I'll describe each program in a separate posting.

I initiated the Adopt a Database program in 2006. Reference librarians are assigned three databases to monitor for a six month period. There is a Database Checklist that they use to check their assigned databases. The goal of this program is two-fold: 1) to catch any problems with the databases early and 2) to familiarize staff with the library's subscription databases.

At the end of the first year, I asked staff to write up three questions & answers for each database that they monitor.

At the end of 2007, they were asked to give their recommendation on whether or not the library should continue to subscribe to their databases. And during the year they were asked to give a short presentation (10 - 15 minutes) highlighting the features of one of their databases at our monthly Reference Staff Meeting.

This is the checklist that they all use - they are asked to perform searches on a weekly basis and contact either our webmaster or myself if they find a problem.

Assigned Databases:

_____________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________
Date:

Database:

Searches Function: Individually/Through Power Search (federated search)

Database Available: Staff Computer/Information Station (Public)/Remotely

Links Work: Power Search/Alphabetical List Page/DB in Library Page

Results Display Properly: Yes/No

So far it has been very effective as a learning tool and for catching any database problems. Your comments are welcome. Carolyn

Lake County Public Library Professional Development Program

2009-10-15T08:27:00.001-07:00

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Lake County Public Library Professional Development Program

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Britannica Presentation

2009-10-06T13:01:00.001-07:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: ALA Presentation in Chicago for Britannica's Educator to Educator Series.

Britannica Presentation

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ALA 2009 Annual Conference in Chicago

2009-08-05T18:22:00.000-07:00

It was a busy four days and it has taken time to digest all the ideas. Two programs were especially relevant to LCPL and libraries in general: the first dealt with screencasting or short online tutorials for our patrons. As more and more of our patrons are visiting us online it is imperative that we're there to instruct them online and screencasts seem to be an efficient way to do this.

The second program presented new ways of dealing with collection development - one speaker actually proposed that librarians were a thing of the past - let the patrons decide what the library purchases: let patron requests (new or old titles) trigger purchases or else contract for a machine that would print on demand. Another speaker talked about centralized purchasing - a team of collection librarians purchased for all subject areas.

Interesting ideas in a time of shrinking staff and budgets.

Here are my notes:

ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
2009 Chicago, Illinois

Casting a Wide Net: Using Screencasts to Reach and Teach Library Users

Program was introduced by Committee co-chair, Michelle Jacobs, via screencast since she was not able to attend the conference.

http://rusamarshottopicsannual/2009.wordpress.com/

Panelists:
Eric Frierson, Education & Political Science Librarian, University of Texas at Arlington

Carmen Kazakoff-Lane, Head – Extension & Inter-Library Loans, Brandon University

Mick Jacobsen, Adult Services Librarian, Skokie Public Library, Illinois

The RUSA MARS Hot Topics Discussion Group presented a panel discussion on Screencasts. Screencasts are short instructional videos created by librarians and made available to patrons 24/7. Since many of our users are virtual, we need to make information available at their point of need.

Eric Frierson of the University of Texas at Arlington demonstrated how his library’s online catalog used embedded screencasts, with links to videos such as “Where’s the PDF?”, “I need peer-reviewed”, or “Bad Results” appearing when users are likely to need them. He has also created a welcome video to introduce users to his education subject guide – which can be a bit overwhelming for new users.

Mick Jacobsen of Skokie (Illinois) Public Library gave a public librarian’s use of screencasting and observed that his patrons are interested in information rather than reference sources. He stated, “very few people come to learn to Reference USA. They wouldn’t know what we’re talking about. But they would respond to ‘Do you want to find more customers?’” Skokie PL has a number of screencasts in their Skokie Business Portal.

Carmen Kazakoff-Lane, from Brandon University in Manitoba, demonstrated the Animated Tutorial Sharing (ANTS) Project, a collaborative project among librarians to create and share tutorial videos across institutions. The project currently involves librarians in Canada and the United States but is open to librarians elsewhere.

The goal of the project is to create a shared repository of library, research, and information literacy tutorials created using screencast software such as Adobe Captivate, Qarbon Viewlet Builder, Techsmith's Camtasia Studio , or similar products.

Tutorials contributed to the ANTS project are made publicly available for use by all libraries via our affiliated sites: LION TV and Screencast.com . Editable Source code is also available from our DSpace repository for those who wish to add their own brands, local links, etc.

What Do I Watch, Listen to, Play, or Download Next: Readers Advisory Techniques for the Digital World

Presenters:
Helen Stewart, Schaumburg Public Library (IL)

Amy Peterson, Schaumburg Public Library (IL)

Steve Gianni, Northbrook Public Library (IL)

Presenter Helen Stewart from Schaumburg started the session of with RA information for movies. She reminded the attendees of the challenges facing librarians who work with multi-media. Circulation for AV is “going through the roof.” Formats are always changing and librarians must keep a list of titles ready for recommendations and always know what’s playing in the local theaters.
Some display and marketing tips:
-think retail when displaying and change displays often to increase interest & excitement
-group movies by genre for “grab & go”
-be prepared to do reference interviews for movies – what type of movies has the patron enjoyed in the past, who are the favorite directors/actors, what about the rating of the film – are R-rated filsm ok?
-good resources for movies: reel.com; Amazon listmania; and Rotten Tomatoes and to be sure a movie is “kid-safe,” try Kids in Mind

The second presenter, Amy Peterson, also from Schaumburg, discussed audiobook advisory. Some tips from Amy:
-remember narrator preferences
-single narrator, multiple, or a full cast
-abridged versus unabridged
-production quality & format
-good sources for audiobooks: Audiofile magazine, APA, Booklist and audio discussion lists

The third presenter, Steve Gianni from Northbrook PL talked about his library’s music collections. Some tips:
-he recommends asking staff who may have interests in music beyond your own to build the collection
-arrange materials like retail stores do
-create displays based on what is going on in the music world locally and nationally
-make collection accessible and be ready to answer questions
-recommended resources: Billboard, New Music Express, and award lists from the Grammy and Town awards; for classical - NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection; and for kid safe music for tweens – Radio Disney

Collection Development 2.0: The Changing Administration of Collection Development

Speakers:
Rick Anderson, Associate Director from Scholarly Resources & Collections, University of Utah

Martha White, Director of Library Experiences, Lexington (KY) Public Library

Jonathan Nabe, Collection Development Librarian, Sciences & Technology, Southern Illinois University – Carbondale

Collection development is undergoing revolutionary changes. In the last few years, most libraries have made major changes in the way they manage collection development – what changes have some libraries implemented and why.

Jonathan Nabe from SIU in Carbondale
“Fewer Cooks @ SIU”
SIU hired three collection development librarians with full
responsibility for all aspects of CD: selection, analysis, policy, etc
Benefits:
Increased Oversight
Better balance
Better collection? Too early to tell
Wave of the Future? On the plus side this plan offers a new outlook and increased attention to the collection but on the negative side this is a heavy workload & a lot of responsibility for three librarians
What do we collect?
• No longer just what the publishers offer
• Materials produced within our institutions
• Institutional repositories
Current trends
• Patron Driven Acquisition (PDA)
• Pay-per-view
• ILL
• Cooperative Collection Development
Is Your Library a Repository?
Current trends work against libraries’ role as archival authority:
• Electronic journals and books:
– a license is only as good as the power to enforce it
• PDA:
– many books and people left out
• Pay-per-view:
– what about the patrons of tomorrow?
• ILL:
– unsustainable

Martha White from the Lexington Public Library mwhite@lexpublib.org

Themes from Ms White’s presentation:
1. Give the customers what they want
-multiple copies
-displays & website exposure
-“Power Wall” bookstore like, face out & categories
-signage
2. Centralized Selection
-representative interest across system
-replacement cycle > no circulation reports
-train staff to buy in
-through communication > gaps in collection
-scope statement
-weeding parties with strike teams
3. Reduced holding reserves from 7 to 5 days; charge $1 per book for non - pick up and have instituted self-service holds pickup

Rick Anderson from the University of Utah
Need to rethink the idea of library collections –
Why did we collect?
· Printed materials are physically awkward; hard to locate with card catalogs, and usually at another location
· Printed materials are expensive, usable by only one person at a time and usable only when the library was open

Should we continue to collect print?
· Users are online, online materials do not have physical constraints, can be used virtually by all anytime, anywhere, stored very cheaply
· Radically new information market – librarians guess wrong 50% of the time and patrons interest in print books has dropped dramatically
Bottom Line –
· CD is a guess
· Is wasteful
· Guesses today are much more expensive
· Point of need purchase is now an option – so why are we still guessing???
· Alternatives: electronic on demand – only purchase when patron checks out a book (NetLibrary); print on demand – INGRAM; ILL as CD (buy instead of borrow); in house printing > expedited patron requests; and cooperative collection development or regional warehouse.

Tough Questions –
· Why do we need librarians?
· Do patrons really want the best information?
· Who will preserve and safeguard information?
· Why are we rewarding laziness?

Who Cares About Privacy? Boundaries, Millennials, and the MySpace Mindset

Libraries have long trumpeted their role as protectors of privacy, but what does privacy mean in an age when people share all aspects of their lives with a worldwide audience? Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of The Anarchist in the Library and the blog/book in progress, The Googlization of Everything, and Frances Jacobson Harris, author of I Found It on the Internet: Coming of Age Online, will engage the topic of how the changing definition of privacy impacts the library research environment.

Speakers:
Siva Vaidhyanathan, Associate Professor of Media Studies and Law – University of Virginia and author

Frances Jacobson Harris, Librarian, University Laboratory High School; Professor of Library Administration, University Library -University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and author

Professor Jacobson Harris:
http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/library/harrisvita.htm

http://bit.ly/12v600

Notes from Professor Jacobson Harris’ presentation:
Myths vs. realities:
- Predators don’t typically troll SNSs for victims
- Real teen responses to predators vs. researchers-as-teens response to predators
- Cyberbullying is an extension of f2f bullying
- Teens are not equally at risk online: those who are most at risk often engage in risky behaviors and have difficulties in other parts of their lives.
Libraries:
- How can we support & foster collaborative work; protect privacy; and remain relevant?
- How can we honor the role of social networks in communication and collaboration?
To do List:
- Look at those acceptable use policies & filters
- Look at how millennials do research, both formal and informal
- Look for ways to balance protecting privacy & fostering collaboration
- Look past traditional access points (toward mobile devices, online gaming communities, virtual worlds….)

Professor Siva Vaidhyanathan:
http://www.law.virginia.edu/lawweb/faculty.nsf/prfhpbw/sv2r

http://www.googlizationofeverything.com/2008/11/some_initial_answers_to_my_ini.php

Notes form Professor Vaidhyanathan’s presentation:
- There is NO such thing as Millenniums! To classify a group by age causes three things: 1)eroticizes them, 2)homogenizes them, and 3)encourages hammering
- We shouldn’t be pandering to these students > we owe them an education > give them guidance on managing their reputations
Reputations are managed through interfaces with:
- peer to state (data collection)
- peer to firm (data from businesses who collection information on card holders)
- peer to family
- peer to peer (friends & co-workers)
- Peer to power (boss, principles, church leaders, etc.)
Social Network Services (SNS) need tools for privacy & managing reputation instead there is technical bias encouraging sharing beyond context (add to your network theme)
Need laws to enforce policy changes:
- shift defaults
- disclosures up front
- protection of the minority
There is Class differential: Class & Public Persona
- one in four children are born in poverty
- poor children are less skilled to manage their public persona
- poor choose My Space over Face book
- More SMS on phones than on Twitter
Imagine the stakes of a soiled reputation – notion of being able to manage social reputation hard but almost impossible for the poor.
Societal challenge: all in this together > new technology challenges everyone, not just the young.

Comments welcome.

June Reference Updates

2009-06-02T08:05:00.000-07:00

Update Your Resume & Find a Job classes are being offered at the Central Library in June, July & August. (Check Happenings for dates and times). Reference Librarian Debbie Rzepczynski adapted the 2009 Staff Subject Overview: Trading Places into "hands on training" for the public. Powerpoint, handouts, & bookmarks are available if you want to offer the classes at your branches.

Plunkett Research Online LCPL's newest business database. This database is highlighted on the Magazines, Newspapers & Databases page. It contains data on 32 major industries. Patrons can use this database to conduct business & industry research, create marketing plans, analyze emerging technologies, analyze major companies, develop business plans & sales guides, download prospect lists and much more. The top 500 companies in each industry sector are profiled. Information is timely and up-to-date with a weekly update schedule. NOTE: it also has a Job Seeker Resources & Tools Center. Take a look at it today so you'll be ready to recommend it.

Are you ready for Adult Summer Reading? The committee has worked hard to coordinate this systemwide program. Thanks to Barbara Sakowski, Rosella Garcia & Bob Mele for all their hard work. Kudos to Donna Lison for designing the promotional materials! Your posters, entry box signs, & prizes have been sent out through dispatch. If you have any questions, contact any member of the committee. So get ready to recommend "great reads" to your patrons and Be Creative @ Your Library.

June Outreach: I'm promoting LCPL's business resources on June10th at the American Business Women's Club in Highland and on June 24th at the Cedar Lake Chamber of Commerce.

C. Strickland

Reference Word Cloud

2009-02-26T13:01:00.000-08:00

I created this word cloud from words used in my Reference Annual Report 2008 - enjoy!

Managing Electronic Resource Collections

2009-02-18T07:46:00.000-08:00

MARS Products & Services Committee Discussion Forum
2009 Midwinter

Discussion Questions

Print Reference Sources:
1) Are print sources obsolete? Should we continue to order them? Why? Why not?
2) Have you conducted any use studies of your print reference collection lately? Can you share the results?
3) What do you think is the right balance between electronic and print reference sources? What is the current balance in your library?

Electronic Reference Sources: Access & Integration
4) How do you provide access to your electronic reference collection? (catalog, portal product such as Reference Universe?) How successful do you find this approach?
5) Do you integrate access to electronic and print reference sources so that key print tools for a particular subject/discipline aren’t overlooked?
6) Do you integrate free and purchased reference sources? Why? Why not? How do you do it?
7) How do you facilitate patron discovery of electronic reference sources? (Browseable electronic reference collection? Subject or course-specific web pages? Subjection to google-like searches? Other ways?)

Electronic Reference Sources: Use by patrons
8) Do you find that your patrons are willing to use electronic reference sources? If not, how can we better promote these resources?

Are electronic reference sources valuable even if our users DON’T use them? For example, librarians may use Reference Universe all the time.

The Future of Electronic Reference Sources
9) What features would you like to see in electronic reference sources? For example:
a. Multimedia (graphics, sound files, videos)
b. Web 2.0 functionality (tagging, blogs, RSS feeds, discussion forums)
c. Customization options for librarians, faculty and students
d. Better inter-operability between different publishers and third-party products such as catalogs, portals, metasearch engines)
10) Do users currently use such features if available in reference sources? Do you think our users expect these features?
11) What message should librarians send to the major publishers of online reference sources? What are our priorities? (interface, platform standardization, variety of pricing models, ong term access, etc)

Answer the questions and we'll have our own online discussion forum. All comments welcome.

Can You Open This for Me?

2009-02-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

Using and Understanding Open Source Tools

Hot Topics Discussion Group
Midwinter 2009

Presenters:
Marsha Schnirring, Instructional Services Librarian at Occidental College
· Discussed Zotero
Ian Chan, Web Development Librarian at CSU San Marcos
· Compared research guides using Moodle, Drupal, and Library a la Carte

Open Source: a peer-based design/development process that makes the product’s source accessible to the public. The term usually applies to software.

Open Source Software: Software that is developed using an open source process and that adheres to the Open Source Definition – see http://www.opensource.org/

OpenOffice – http://www.openoffice.org/
An office software suite that includes word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database applications

Zotero – http://www.zotero.org/ a bibliographic citation manager that works with Firefox Web browser

Library a’ la Carte – http://alacarte.library.oregonstate.edu/ a content management system designed for creating and maintaining library research guides

Drupal - http://drupal.org/ a content management system

Moodle – http://moodle.org/ a course management system used by many colleges and universities

I attended this Discussion Group to find out more about OpenOffice and came away with much more. I'm looking at Library a'la Carte and the other management systems to see if we can use one of them to manage our online training classes.

Comments welcome!

How Librarians Are Using Web 2.0

2009-02-17T07:08:00.000-08:00

RUSA MARS User Access to Services Committee hosted a discussion group on Web 2.0 tools. In 2008 the Committee sponsored a survey asking public and academic librarians a range of questions about how they are using Web 2.0 applications in their libraries.

There is interest and some implementation in public libraries with blogs, wikis, flickr and Facebook but overall public libraries have not jumped into the social networking aspect of 2.0 like academic libraries.

I think that the patron base accounts for much of this. Colleges & Universities are serving generations that have grown up with the Internet - this is how they communicate. So many colleges have developed interactive online classes for students and use YouTube and Podcasts.

The members shared a representative list of tutorials for some of the Web 2.0 products more commonly used in libraries. Here is a sampling:

Blogs: Blogger Video Tutorials
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryb4VPSmKuo
http://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g
Wikipedia Tutorial
http://enwikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_tutorial
What is RSS?
http://rss.softwaregarden.com/aboutrss.html
Mashup Tutorials
http://www.deitel.com/ResourceCenters/Web20/Mashups/TashupTutorials/tabid/985/Default.aspx
How to Use del.icio.us
http://websearch.about.com/od/dailywebsearchtips/qt/dnt0412.htm

If you'd like to see the bibliography of tutorials, let me know and I'll send you a copy.

Dewey Update - OCLC Research Update

2009-02-13T13:34:00.000-08:00

WorldCat Survey Findings - What do users want?
1. More subject information
2. Summaries and abstracts in records
3. Book Covers
4. Datamining - clusters of like materials in a search
5. Fiction Finder - grouping of all titles into works with fast headings
6. Software that tags parts of speach (mix between library supplied data and end user supplied)

Announcements:
- New DDC23 should be out by late 2010 or early 2011
- New ILL Web Delivery Tutorial on the OCLC website: www.oclc.org
- WorldCat Mobile pilot - a program that brings WorldCat.org to hand-held communications devices such as PDAs and smartphones.

Members of the editorial team presented outlines of proposed changes to DDC: "Language variations" by Julianne Beall, "Rethinking meals" by Giles Martin and "780 Music" by Michael Panzer.

For more information check out this blog - 025.431: The Dewey Blog for a far better description of the updates from real catalogers and not just a reference librarian.

ALA Midwinter 2009

2009-02-12T13:39:00.000-08:00

Denver in January - the mountains are beautiful but the weather is not.

It was a busy but informative meeting - I am on the MARS Chair's Program for Chicago and I want to take this opportunity to promote the program.

"Who Cares about Privacy? Boundaries, Millennials and the MySpace Mindset"

MARS Chair's Program - ALA Annual Convention
Sunday, July 12, 10:30 - noon

Libraries have long trumpeted their role as protectors of privacy, but what does privacy mean in an age when people share all aspects of their lives with a worldwide audience? Is the library's committment to privacy standing in the way of offering a truly collaborative research environment for our millennial users? The speakers will participate in a lively discussion on the changing definition of privacy and its impact on libraries and the research process.

So mark you calendars now.

My Committee commitments kept me busy with Executive and All Committee Meetings, My Favorite Martian Award selection and the Chair's Program but over the next few days, I'll post notes from the Discussion Groups that I attended.

Life 2.0 - The Evolution of our digital DNA

2008-12-08T14:11:00.000-08:00

"Welcome to Life 2.0, a new digital lifestyle that is changing our culture and challenging the way we think about ourselves and the world." Life 2.0 The Evolution of our Digital DNA by Andy Havens and Tom Storey.

Did you or someone you know contribute to OCLC's NEXT SPACE list:

- 10 Hours of video uploaded to Your Tube every minute

- 278 Photo uploads per second to Facebook

- 2,000,000 e-mails sent per second

- 100,000,000,000 Clicks per day on the Web

- 1,000,000 Instant messages sent per second

- 55,000,000,000,000 Links between all Web pages

How do libraries fit into this new world? How do we as individuals fit into this new world?

Your comments are welcome.

ALA Anaheim, CA - Program 7

2008-09-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

"Quality Service in an Impersonal World"

Is service important in today's do-it-yourself world? Is the traditional model of reference service - where a librarian interacts one-on-one with a user - still of value? And what defines quality library service in today's interconnected technological world? Representatives from the business, library, and educational fields presented their opinions on why service is important (or not) and what factors lead to quality service.

This was the last program that I attended at ALA and perhaps the most inspiring -

Nordstrom's perspective on service was presented by Robert Spector:
- Connect people with what they need
- Best advertisment is word of mouth
- Customer Service Departments? Everyone in an organization is in Customer Service
- The Key: think like the customer. Give the customer what they want and they'll come back!
- The Challenge: become "The Nordstrom of....Libraries"

After hearing some of the Nordstrom stories, I wanted to go out and find a Nordstrom and shop!

Orange County Public Library's story of customer service was presented by Donna Bachowski, Head of Reference Central.
- They have Quest Line - a dedicated telephone reference. Video conferencing technology also
connects patrons to Quest Line
- Information booth at entrance - greater answers directional questions or calls a librarian (mobile
gamma) to come and meet the patron.
- Mobile Gamma - roving reference program - librarians are assigned a service zone: greet
patrons and go with them until they find information (cross departments & floors) - six librarians
per shift on each floor
- End panel OPACS & telephones to reach Mobile Gamma staff
- Great website offering great service 24/7

My only response - wow!

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey 's celebrated Marie Radford spoke from the educators perspective:
- Go for "Wow Service" instead of all the excuses
- Reference statistics are going down at the reference desks but e-reference statistics are going
up (on the college level - not so high in public libraries)
- "Heaven forbid we promote telephone reference when everyone from grade schoolers to seniors
are carrying them around"

Service excellence - Make it your choice and encourage your colleagues!

See what I mean about an inspiring program. Comments welcome!

ALA Anaheim, CA - Program 6

2008-09-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

"Reach Out & Touch Someone: Public & School Libraries Collaborate for Student Success"

Librarians from Washington State gave an overview of their program, "Connecting Learners to Libraries," and offered tips to increase public and school collaboration for the benefit of students.

Their program funded collaborative projects to promote information literacy and life-long learning projects. Ninety mini-grants were distributed and some of the projects included: information literacy, database/catalog training, collection development, reading programs, homework help, and more.

Tips for all librarians to increase public library and school collaboration
-regular communication
-cross promote: newsletters, blogs, visits, etc
-select a liaison: one from your library and one from your contact school
-topics of interest: identify topics of interest and promote with booklists, brochures, displays, etc.

All of us have been in the position of not having enough information for a school assignment and we say to ourselves, "Why didn't the teacher call before giving the assignment?"

Perhaps we need to follow some of the tips above and get to know our education partners before assignments are given out.

Comments welcome!

ALA Anaheim, CA - Program 5

2008-09-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

"Providing Technology Services on the Front Lines"

Universities are leading the charge but some public libraries are trying to develop an understanding of the new technology among their staff too.

Beaufort County Library adapted the 23 Things program for her library in order to have a staff that could answer patron questions on the new technologies. Their web administrator created a twelve week voluntary technology learning program - some quit right away because it was more work than they had anticipated but the majority finished the 12 week session and enjoyed it. For more information, check their blog at http://amandabclclass.blogspot.com/

DePaul University's School for New Learning worked with their IT Department to integrate new technology into the online program. They developed the site using Blackboard - it incorporates web pages, email, discussion boards, chat rooms, small group areas, and more to create an online learning environment.

American University - Roving Technology Assistance Program assists library users with basic computing needs. Roving Tech can be contacted through the Information Desk or by clicking on the help button on all library computers and chat with a tech. Those needing more extensive help are referred to the university's many free workshops.

North Carolina State University - reduced its print collection and introduced high-end computer work stations (and a Wii!) Ask Us via e-mail, telephone, virtual chat, or at the reference desk. Search Assist is a librarian search service offering convenient, expert database searching.

Interesting programs for providing technical assistance!

ALA Anaheim, CA - Program 4

2008-09-22T07:21:00.000-07:00

"What is the Future of Face to Face Reference?"

Speakers from University of California - Merced, Ohio University, and Appalachian State University presented their organizations' responses to the following statement:

"Sitting behind a desk may no longer be the best way to provide quality service, and while we maintain the traditional goal, that doesn't mean that we have to maintain the traditional methods." Sonntag, Gabriela and Felicia Paisson, "No Longer the Sacred Cow - No Longer a Desk...." Library Philosphy and Practice. Feb. (2007).

So what are they doing at U of C?
1. Research Support Program (RSP) appointments - librarian appointments
2. General Library Help - utilize student assistants
3. Offer both Chat/IM and experimenting with text messaging
4. Technology Lending Library - provide study rooms with dry erase boards, LCD monitors & laptop checkouts
5. Digital signage advertise library services - view samples at http://ucmercedlibrary.info/templates.html

How does Ohio Unversity compare?
Reference librarians and other department staff are available whenever the libraries are open to assist with information needs of library users.
Points of access:
1. Ask a Librarian > IM, Chat, Phone, E-mail
2. New: Skype a Librarian: you can ask libraians questions via Skype, the free internet calling service - call, videocall, or message the library for free using your Skype account (Ohio service). Service available 24/5 and long weekend hours.

Not to be left out, Appalachian State University offers:
1. Multimedia Rooms & a Digital Media Studio
2. RAP - Rap Sesssion Request Online form to book a librarian
3. Cyber cafe available 24/5: wireless, MACS, PCs, print stations
4. AET Zone - ASU's distance education program functions in a 3-D Environment that looks like a college campus - students use animated figures - avatars - to give a face and voice in their interactions with fellow students and their professors.

Have the universities left us behind? Can you see benefits for public libraries?

Comments always welcome.

ALA Anaheim, CA - Program 3

2008-09-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

“Who is Using Our Computers? Best Practices in Managing and Serving Public Computer Users”

A discussion forum hosted by RUSA MARS Local Systems & Services and Public Libraries Committees

Since I advise both of these RUSA MARS Committees in my MARS office as Member at Large, I attended the meeting and helped facilitate the discussion forum. The attendance for this discussion was around 55 -60. The attendees were overwhelmingly public librarians.

The discussion centered on the following:
-Technology
-Patron Behavior & Needs
-Library Policy

Librarians from all types of libraries tend to have the same patron behavior problems and they have library policies in place. Technology is not keeping pace with patron needs & wants – no surprise here!

How are the patrons using your computers? Do you have behavior problems?

Comments welcome!

ALA Anaheim, CA - Program 2

2008-08-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

“Way Beyond Compare: A Discussion of Virtual Reference Technologies and Tools”

The RUSA MARS Virtual Reference Discussion Group hosts a discussion forum at both Midwinter and Annual ALA Meetings. There were approximately 50 librarians in attendance this year – attendance ranges from 50 to 75 attendees. I was one of the table facilitators for this Forum.

Discussion Questions-
1. Should virtual reference via the software vendors be more customizable in the vein of MySpace or Facebook profiles?
2. How are widgets changing the VR landscape?
3. How might librarians work with IT professionals to insure digital reference remain secure?
4. Are digital librarians doing enough to address library users who text message? How can VR cat and IM capture communications via texting?
5. For IM and VoIP services, how are statistics, transcripts and user feedback managed?
6. What role should Voice over IP play in the digital reference market?

Academic librarians have claimed virtual reference as their own and are working with the new technologies to remain relevant with their students and their instructors.

Public librarians have Virtual Reference email & IM or chat, but few have Facebook or MySpace accounts. Some public librarians are working with their Teen groups to set up accounts.
We use OCLC’s QuestionPoint for LCPL’s email reference and the free meebo widget software for IM chat. QP email reference transaction archives and statistics are only available to System Administrator with password. Meebo chat transactions are erased immediately. Our librarians are schedule to monitor chat and we keep statistics with hash / marks.
-Blogs are still popular but more with adults. Voice over IP (VoIP) is interesting, but takes more bandwidth.

Any comments? Do you think LCPL should try Facebook or MySpace?

ALA Annual Conference 2008

2008-08-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

Sunny Anaheim, California welcomed 22,047 librarians, guests & exhibitors to the 2008 ALA Annual Conference. Anaheim and Mickey Mouse welcomed us and celebrated with fireworks every night.

It was a busy conference and my days were packed with meetings and programs. The first program that I attended was "Stretching Existing Staff: New Service Delivery Models."

Given Indiana and Lake County Public Library's budget crunch, I thought this one might offer some tips. Merchandizing of collections, roving staff (clerks as well as librarians), self-checkout and holds pickup and programming were the buzz words.

San Jose Public Library based all their changes on the following four principles:

Customer First - simplified policies, easy access to collections, expert level help always available
Teach Customers - self-checkout, place & pick up own holds, and ongoing computer classes
Reinvent Environments - greeter station, no telephones on the public floor, popular collections where customers can help themselves and staff roving zones (clerks 60% of time spent roving and librarians 40% during peak times (on call at all times for expert assistance)
Enable Staff - updated key competencies and empowered all staff to meet customer needs

Atlanta - Fulton (GA) Library System highlighted their "One - Point Information Service" which they implemented when they built a new branch. Recognizing that computers have changed the way people use the library and their expectations, they merged their Children's & Reference desks so that patrons would have quick and easy access to information and personalized assistance.

Staff were cross-trained and now work as a team giving more time for programs, outreach & collection maintenance.

Queens Library, Jamaica, N.Y. stressed the need to know your community, your staff, and your buildings. What's big in Texas, what plays in San Jose, may not fit Queens or your library.

"Customizing Customer Service" tips: roll out new programs slowly - let staff as well as patrons become comfortable.

They have self-checkout machines that take cash, credit cards, and checks as well as payments and they are multilingual. Their machines also provide a recipt for check-in of materials.

Richland County (SC) Public Library - "The Link" a bookmobile converted into a new branch with new service models:

Video Reference System (Video Conference Technology) that allows users to actually see and speak with a librarian at the Main Library
Wireless Internet Access linking users to world wide web as well as online resources through myRCL.com website
Self-checkout and Hold pickup shelves where patrons help themselves

During August I will highlight other programs and welcome your comments.

Web 2.0 & Libraries, Part 2: Trends & Technologies

2008-02-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

Library Technology Reports, September/October 2007 vol. 43/no. 5 issue revisits Web 2.0 & Libraries. It is edited by Michael Stephens, Ph.D at the Dominican University Graduate School of Library and Information Science in River Forest, Illinois.

Chapter 2 - Tools from "Web 2.0 & Libraries"

Blogs - blog tracker, Technorati, published the following blog statistics on the state of blogging in April 2007:

70 million weblogs
about 120,000 new weblogs each day, or 1.4 new blogs every second
1.5 million posts per day, or 17 posts per second

Libraries & librarians are included in these statistics. Williamsburg Regional Library recently launched "Blogging for a Good Book" and are finding that they are reaching people who wouldn't normally receive RA in their physical building.

How do you organize and keep up with blogs that interest you? There are several free services available to help you monitor your blogs & RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary) feeds. I have set up a free account with Bloglines: www.bloglines.com.

Bloglines makes it easy to keep up with your favorite blogs and news feeds. With Bloglines, you can subscribe to the RSS feeds of your favorite blogs, and Bloglines will monitor updates to those sites. You can read the latest entries easily within Bloglines - one easy access point.

Set up an account today and add LCPL blogs as well as your favorite news shows. Need help - ask. cs

ALA Midwinter 2008

2008-02-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

ALA MIDWINTER MEETING
Philadelphia, PA
January 10 – 16, 2008

OCLC Midwinter 2008 Symposium: New Leadership for New Challenges

Speakers:
Leslie Crutchfield, co-author, Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact nonprofits

Dr. Rush Miller, co-author, Beyond Survival: Managing Academic Libraries in Transition

“Great leaders are valued for their ability to guide groups to new heights or through troubled waters. But can a great leader be effective if an organization is not ready for change? This OCLC Symposium will explore how both individual and institutional leadership has an impact on the success of libraries.” George Needham, Vice – President of Member Services, OCLC

Crutchfield’s six practices that determine an organization’s greatness & Miller’s comments on relating them to the library world:

1. Serve & advocate – “Giving wonderful, effective information services is a necessary thing and crucial to our mission. But good service alone is not sufficient to guarantee support or create an environment conducive to overall success.” Not only should libraries be providing great programs and services, they should work with local governments to provide policy changes that will benefit the community – encourage town council members to join a “reading program” or support a literacy program.

2. Make markets work – “I would emphasize that libraries, like other nonprofits, must operate in a more “business-like” manner to be successful in the future.” Don’t be afraid to change things – look at the output of departments and branches, brainstorm ways to improve. Look at your administrative hierarchy – has it been changed in the last twenty years?

3. Inspire evangelists – “Great nonprofits see users, volunteers, donors and advisers not only for what they can contribute in terms of time, money and guidance but also for what they can do for their cause.” We need to recruit donors and volunteers who are passionate about the library to help the library achieve its goals.

4. Nurture nonprofit networks – “although most groups pay lip service to collaboration, many of them really see other organizations and departments as competition for scarce resources.” Not so with libraries! We share resources – see ILL. We have long collaborated with other libraries: academic, school, etc. We need to take it further and seek partnerships with organizations in our communities, such as businesses, health organizations, historical societies, etc.

5. Master the art of adaptation – “High-impact organizations are exceptionally adaptive, modifying their tactics as needed to increase their success. They respond to changing circumstances with one innovation after another.” Few organizations are adapting to change as much as libraries– technology has changed and continues to change every aspect of the library profession. Librarians are adaptors – there is always something new around the corner.

6. Share leadership – “Leaders of high-impact nonprofits cultivate a strong second-in-command, build enduring executive teams with long tenure, and develop highly engaged boards in order to have more impact.” Miller says, “Few library directors are egotists; most of us have been advocates and practitioners of shared governance for most of our careers.” Know your library mission – make sure your staff knows the mission. Be willing to let go of things that are no longer relevant – it’s not easy, but it frees resources so libraries can concentrate on the things that are relevant today.

Best Practices in Cooperative Reference: Reference and Social Networking

Panelists:

Stephen Francoeur, information services librarian and assistant professor at Baruch College

Communication Options:
-Social Networking Sites are people oriented and primarily designed to facilitate interactions
-Social Media Sites are object oriented

Current library uses of these sites:
-promote library resources & services
-relationship building
-search library resources
-reference services
-Mostly academic libraries in Facebook – it’s a ready made outreach since its members are
mainly students

Beth Evans, associate professor and the electronic services specialist at Brooklyn College Library

If patrons don’t come to the Reference Desk or our website, where do we go?
-Facebook & My Space – use these tools for outreach and to disseminate information
about events, services & resources
-New environment for reference questions & answers: post screencasts on video sharing
sites; post screenshots on image sharing sites, e.g. Flickr – Librarians can reuse content in
different formats

Do we belong?
-they don’t expect us to be there
-this is reference in an open environment, are we ready?
-service is not under our own control, are we comfortable?
-Facebook offers enhanced interpersonal relationships which are closer to a face to face
reference interview

R. David Lankes, director of the Information Institute of Syracuse, and associate professor in School of Information Studies

Participatory Reference
-current model is library centered > new model puts librarians in an awkward spot – are we
content experts?
-there is pressure to participate > user is in control > it’s collaborative conversation
-Tools are easy but libraries are obligated to innovate and facilitate communities > go beyond
the basics

2. Conclusions:
-don’t socialize reference
-innovate core principles into a new model of collaborative communication
-accept the obligation of leadership in a changing environment

Hot Topics Discussion Forum: “Tag You’re It! A Revolution in Patron-Library Interaction”

Speakers:
Jennifer Sweda, Cataloging Librarian for the University of Pennsylvania Libraries

PennTags Project: http://tags.library.upenn.edu/

-Software allows users to tag cataloged items
-Tags are hyperlinked in the OPAC and have side by side architectures
-Users can choose any terms that have personal relevance
-This software allows users to locate, organize and share favorite resources

Lauren Stokes, Viritual Library Manager at the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District

Patron Ratings & Reviews: http://www.lvccld.org/

Similar to Amazon.com, but staff edit reviews before they are posted. Software developed by Innovative Interface Inc. I chatted with a librarian this morning and she says that finding titles with patron reviews are hit or miss – to view a record with a patron review, type in "Little Miss Sunshine" from the catalog search or click on Books, Movies, and More and click on “Pearl’s Picks” for a list of reviewed titles. Patron reviews are indicated in the bottom right corner of the record under the "Rating stars."

Kate Sheehan, Coordinator of Library Automation at Danbury Public Library

LibraryThing Project: http://www.librarything.com/thingology/2007/05/danbury-ct-kicks-off-librarything-for.php

"Thing~ology is LibraryThing's ideas blog, on the philosophy and methods of tags, libraries and suchnot." Users at Danbury Public Library can add tags to records in the library's catalog.

Follow the links and enjoy the innovative things out there in libraryland. If you have any questions or comments, please post. cs

Web 2.0 & Libraries, Part 2: Trends and Technologies

2007-12-26T12:59:00.000-08:00

Library Technology Reports, September/October 2007 vol. 43/no. 5 issue revisits Web 2.0 & Libraries. It is edited by Michael Stephens, Ph.D at the Dominican University Graduate School of Library and Information Science in River Forest, Illinois.

Issues, trends and technologies are explored in the nine chapters of this journal. I'll be highlighting topics from each of the chapters over the next few weeks - if you haven't experimented with blogs, wikis or flickr, it's not too late.

Keep this quotation in mind as we look at Web 2.0 & Libraries: "Society has determined what the library of the past has been, and it is society that will determine what the library of the future shall be." Jesse Hauk Shera, The Foundations of Education for Librarianship (John Wiley & Sons, 1972), p. 135. Prophetic?

Chapter 1 - The Ongoing Web Revolution
"The Web has changed. It's rebooted and become more engaging, interactive, and participatory. We're still in the midst of that change...." Are libraries and librarians participating? Do you have ideas for making our new library catalog more interactive? Are you reading the blogs fellow staff are posting and making comments? Are you keeping up with the new trends in technology that our patrons are asking about?

Examples of LCPL blogs:
http://hobartlibrary.blogspot.com/
http://businesslines.blogspot.com/
http://regionroots.blogspot.com/
http://lcplweb.blogspot.com/

Take a look at what other libraries are doing:
Hennepin County Library's BookSpace - www.hclib.org/pub/bookspace
Foto Fun
http://plcmc.org/fotofun/default.asp

If you need more information, I have a list of Web 2.0 Resources. cs

Back to the Future: Phone Reference

2007-11-23T13:11:00.000-08:00

NOW IS THE TIME TO PROMOTE PHONE REFERENCE SERVICES!!! to quote Gerry McKiernan of Iowa State University: "Another Radical (but Conventional) Idea for OnCall, OnDemand, On Site Reference Service. Publicize the Library Hip Reference Phone Number...via Library newsletter/Blog/Liaisons/Table Tents...Why Chat When You Can Really Chat (:-)"

Marie L. Radford, professor at Rutgers University in Information and Library Studies, posted comments on this idea at the Library Garden Blogspot (http://librarygarden.blogspot.com) recently saying that with a phone in everyone's hands it is a no brainer that libraries should be marketing this underused service.

What are your thoughts on this? What type of publicity could we generate? Do we want to be on our patrons' speed dial or listed in their Fave 5's?

ALA Washington, D.C. - Program 4

2007-08-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

The final program that I want to tell you about is one that my Public Libraries Committee sponsored on electronic database training. It developed out of a discussion forum titled, "Print or Plastic: Which format do you prefer?" From the discussion I found out that our library was unique in providing formal training on electronic databases - most librarians complained that they were just given a login and told to learn it on their own.

Since 150 librarians from academic, public and state libraries attended the program, it was a topic that many wanted to learn more about. Below is a summary of the program and training samples that the speakers shared with the attendees.

ELECTRONIC DATABASES: TRAINING THAT WORKS

“As libraries offer more and more online databases to their patrons, how do we insure that librarians are trained to use and instruct patrons in their use? Speakers described their training programs and Swap & Shop table offered samples of attendees’ libraries’ training."

Facilitator: Carolyn Strickland, Lake County Public Library, chair of MARS Public Libraries Committee
Speakers:
Michelle Roubal, Adult Services Coordinator, Aurora Public Library, Aurora, Illinois
Marty Onieal, Adult Services Coordinator, Broward County Library, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Margaret Mohundro, Director of INSPIRE, INCOLSA, Indiana

Training that Works:
-Drop-In Training: informal
-Tapping into Online Training: use remote technology
-Vendor-Produced Online Training: make use of this vender service
-Book a Librarian (librarian appointments): staff and patrons alike

-Multiple branches? Develop traveling classes
-Assessment of staff knowledge of a database: pretests?
-Develop a training outline for all classes: post on in-house server
-Various methods: Tuesday Track, Train the Trainer, Vendor Training, Regional & State Training Opportunities, Borrow training from other libraries.
-INSPIRE Training: Website, access, interfaces, federated searches & vendor-provided training, as well as on site training sessions around the state.

Do you have any training tips that you would like to share? Please feel free to make comments or ask questions.

ALA Washington, D.C. - Program 3

2007-08-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

HARNESSING THE HIVE: SOCIAL NETWORKS AND LIBRARIES

Speakers:
Matthew Bejune, Digital Reference Services Coordinator, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
Meredith Farkas, Distance Learning Librarian, Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont
Tim Spaulding, Founder & Developer, LibraryThing, Portland, Minnesota

Social networking such as YouTube, Facebook, flickr, cell texting, and podcasting are second nature to youth, who integrate these technologies into daily life in unexpected ways. Panelists discussed this rapidly growing phenomenon and presented examples of innovative outreach and reference services that utilize social software such as tagging, blogging and wikis to reach online users.

-Wikis: most famous Wikipedia defines it as “A wiki (sometimes wiki wiki) is a web application designed to allow multiple authors to add, remove, and edit content.

To learn more about Wikis in Libraries consult:
-the upcoming article in the September 2007 issue of Information Technology and Libraries: Bejune, Matthew M. (2007) “Wikis in Libraries.” Information Technology and Libraries, 26(3), 27-39.
-http://librarywikis.pbwiki.com/
-Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki http://www.libsuccess.org/ maintained by Meredith Farkas, Queen of Wikis.
- Look at her blog at Information Wants to Be Free http://meredith.wolfwater.com/

LibraryThing, developed by Tim Spalding, is an online service to help people catalog their books. You can edit your information, search and sort it, “tag” books with your own subjects, or use the Library of Congress and Dewey systems to organize your collection. http://www.librarything.com/

LCPL Reference has developed the following:
BLOGS-
http://referencetoday.blogspot.com/
http://businesslines.blogspot.com/
http://regionroots.blogspot.com/

flickr-
http://www.flickr.com/

WIKIS-
lcplref wiki coming soon!

Take a look at some of the links and let me know what you think. Even the national political race is being affected by social networks. Did any of you watch CNN's YouTube Questions for the Democratic Candidates last week?

ALA Washington, D.C. - Program 2

2007-07-17T10:20:00.000-07:00

Art and Science of Staffing...

This program was packed - I guess a lot of administrators are losing sleep at night!

Look at the speakers' scenario listed below and their ideas for change.

What do you think of their goals and tips for success? Is the picture this bleak? Do you have ideas for change that you'd like to share?

Art and Science of Staffing, Structure and Organizational Design in an Age of Permanent Change
Speakers:
Paula Singer, Principal Consultant, The Singer Group, Inc.
Gail Griffith, Deputy Director, Carroll County (MD) Public Library

“Changing demographics. Changing customer expectations. Half the staff is retiring in five years. You’re answering fewer reference questions. You wake up in the middle of the night and say, “What would happen if….?”

Goals:
1. Implement a strategic plan
2. Use qualitative and quantitative data
3. Staff for results

Tips for success:
1. Finite about of money to run the library, cannot do everything for everybody – look at strategic plan

2. Ask the right questions when analyzing data – don’t ask, “how many children came into the library last year,” but ask, “what’s the percentage of children in the population who came into the library, and how can we reach the others?”

3. Involve staff in change management processes – ask them what they would change.

Implementation:
1. Communicate the case for change. Create of sense of urgency.

2. Assess what the Library must do differently and better to carry out the strategic plan successfully.

3. Be clear and articulate the results you are looking for.

4. Outline how you expect to get those results.

5. Reward people for making changes and producing results.

6. Communicate, communicate, communicate!

ALA - Washington, D.C.

2007-07-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

By all accounts the Annual Conference in Washinton, D. C. was a huge success. Over 28,000 librarians and venders attended this conference and set an attendance record for ALA.

The social networking theme permeated many programs and discussion forums. Are libraries ready to have online discussions with their patrons? Are patrons, especially young patrons, ready to communicate with librarians online? Do they want libraries in their social spaces? These are all questions that librarians are trying to answer.

To join the discussion you must look at and become familiar with a few of the online tools that are being used today. I have set up this blog to send out my notes from programs that I attended in Washington, D. C. I'll post a program a week. Please feel free to comment on or ask questions about any of the programs.

Transforming Your Services: Your customer has been transformed, so where is your library?

Speakers:
Karen Hyman, Chair, South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative
George Needham, OCLC
Joan Frye Williams, Information Technology Consultant

“What do people want and where is your library in that picture? What are the high impact new services that could reinvent your library today?”
Some interesting ideas:
1. Rethink reference: today’s librarians train and coach the user to do online research, they keep up with the hot topics in technology, they are extreme “googlers”, and they should promote their learning specialties to target audiences, and they should take appointments.
2. “Dispatched” Service: information desk to direct patrons
- librarians work on call
- tech staff work on call
3. Leverage the book brand
- order books that reflect patrons lifestyle
- books should be clean and displayed in bright locations
- programming: literary and entertaining
- “stop making it (the library) feel like church” – patron
4. “Information is everywhere – convenience will top quality any day.” Our job is to make quality convenient for our patrons.