30 December 2006

CLAWBIES - CANADA LAW BLOG AWARDS


From Steve Matthews of the Vancouver Law Librarian Blog:

Best Canadian Law Blogger: Michael Geist, http://www.michaelgeist.ca/
Best Practitioner Support Blog: Canadian Privacy Law, http://www.privacylawyer.ca/blog/
Legal Culture Award: Precedent: The New Rules of Law and Style, http://www.lawandstyle.ca/
Practice Management Award: The Lawyer Coach Blog, http://www.thelawyercoach.com/
Law Librarian Blog Award: Library Boy, http://micheladrien.blogspot.com/
Best Legal Technology Blog: Slaw, http://www.slaw.ca/
Best New Law Blog Award: Atlanteknology, http://www.atlanteknology.blogs.com/; Chaire en droit de la securite et des affaires electroniques, http://www.gautrais.com/; Precedent: The New Rules of Law and Style, http://www.lawandstyle.ca/; Canadian Trademark Blog, http://www.trademarkblog.ca/
Law Professor Blog Award: University of Toronto Law School Faculty Blog, http://utorontolaw.typepad.com/faculty_blog/

URL:
http://vancouverlawlib.blogspot.com/2006/12/2006-clawbies-canada-law-blog-awards_29.html

GADGETS FOR BOOK LOVERS


Kimbooktu is a great site with short articles about and links to all sorts of library merchandise. The two I just loved were:
Furry and Soft reading gadget, 23 December 2006
The Bibliophile Chair (especially the second one), 21 December 2006

URL: http://kimbooktu.wordpress.com

29 December 2006

LAW BLOG AWARDS


First, from St. Louis lawyer Dennis Kennedy:
1. Best Overall Law-Related Blog: The Trademark Blog (http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/) and also was a Blawg Review Award winner for Best Legal Specialty Blog.
2. Best Overall Law Practice Management Blog: More Partner Income (http://www.morepartnerincome.com/blog/).
3. The Marty Schwimmer Best Practice-Specific Legal Blog: The Illinois Trial Lawyer Weblog (http://www.illinoistrialpractice.com/). Schaeffer also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Blawg Review.

4. Best Legal Blog Digest: (tie) Stark County (Ohio) Law Library Blog (http://temp.starklawlibrary.org/blog/)—by a law librarian!—and Law.com Inside Opinions (http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/) which was also recognized by Blawg Review for Blog Journalism.

5. Best Blawg About Legal Blawgging: Real Lawyers Have Blogs (http://kevin.lexblog.com/).

6. Best Legal Podcast: Coast to Coast Podcast (http://www.legaltalknetwork.com/modules.php?name=News&new_topic=15) which received the same award from Blawg Review.

7. The Sherry Fowler Best Writing on a Legal Blog Award: That Lawyer Dude (http://thatlawyerdude.blogspot.com).

8. Best Law Professor Blog: The Yin Blog (http://yin.typepad.com/the_yin_blog/).

9. Best New Law-related Blog: (tie) WSJ.com Law Blog (http://blogs.wsj.com/law/) and I Heart Tech (http://www.ihearttech.com/).


And these others from Blawg Review:
Best Law Blog Design and Best Blog by a Practicing Attorney: May It Please the Court (http://www.mayitpleasethecourt.com/journal.asp?).
Best New Law Blog: Above the Law (http://www.abovethelaw.com/).
Best Blawg Theme: Overlawyered (http://www.overlawyered.com/), chronicling the high cost of our legal system.
Best Group Blog by Lawyers in a Law Firm: (tie) Antitrust Review (http://www.antitrustreview.com/)and PHOSITA (http://www.okpatents.com/phosita/).
Best Blog by a Law Professor: Mauled Again (http://mauledagain.blogspot.com/).
Best Group Blog by Law Professors: Concurring Opinions (http://www.concurringopinions.com/)
Best Blog by a Law Student: Lawyerlike (http://lawyerlike.blogspot.com/)
Best Group Blog by Law Students: De Novo (http://www.blogdenovo.org/)
Best Blawg By A Paralegal: nearlylegal (http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/).
Best Practice Management Blog: Adam Smith, Esq. (http://www.bmacewen.com/blog/).
Best Blogging by a Judge: Becker-Posner Blog (http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/) for the second year in a row.
Best Law Blog In The Public Interest: SHLEP: the Self-Help Law ExPress (http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shlep/).
Best Legal Consultant Blog: the [non] billable hour (http://thenonbillablehour.typepad.com/).
Best Legal Support Blog: Connie Crosby (http://conniecrosby.blogspot.com/)—a Canadian law librarian!
Best New Legal Podcast: This Week in Law (http://www.twit.tv/twil).
Best British Law Blog: Human Law (http://humanlaw.typepad.com/).
Best Canadian Law Blog: Rob Hyndman (http://www.robhyndman.com/).
Best Australian Blawg: Freedom to Differ (http://www.freedomtodiffer.typepad.com/).
Global Perspective Award: What About Clients? (http://www.whataboutclients.com/).
Best Law Blog By In-House Counsel: The Patry Copyright Blog (http://williampatry.blogspot.com/).

URLs:

The 2006 Blawggies: Dennis Kennedy’s Best Law-related Blogging Awards

http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/2006/12/the_2006_blawggies_dennis_kennedys_best_lawre.html

Blawg Review Awards 2006, http://blawgreview.blogspot.com/2006/12/blawg-review-awards-2006.html

28 December 2006

TEN STORIES THAT SHAPED 2006


In LISNews, 15 December 2006, John Hubbard [University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee] listed ten stories that he thinks were the most important for the year. I don’t particularly agree with them, but they’re interesting to recall.

The titles are his, the explanations are mine.

10. New UCLA Slogan: "Get Tasered @ your library"

Police used tasers on a problem student. Interesting note: the story was first reported on YouTube.
9. Ding Dong, Gorman Tenure Ends

ALA’s new president is a blogger.
8. Library Weblog Explosion, ReduxNew blogs: Library Juice, one from John Berry, and custom search engines LISZEN and LibWorm.
7. EPA Library Closure
Many hope the new Democratic Congress will stop the closing of these Federal libraries.
6. Library 2.0 Meme
Everyone’s talking about Library 2.0, Web 2.0, and Librarian 2.0. (Look for an issue of The One-Person Library on this soon.)
5. More Elephants in the Room
Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! are working on scanning/digital library initiatives. Microsoft also introduced Live Academic and Live Book Search.
4. Censorship
Everything from Harry Potter to MySpace has been challenged this year.
3. 'Net Neutrality
This and digital rights management are becoming big issues.
2. P is for Privacy
The Patriot Act and drug testing for Florida library volunteers—strange world.
1. The James Frey Fallout
Authors such as James Frey found to be untruthful do not help the book’s image. (Why this is number one is beyond me…JAS)

URL: http://features.lisnews.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/15/137213

25 December 2006

LIBRARIAN AS A HOT CAREER CHOICE

Librarian: Executive Summary

by Marty Nemko, US News & World Report Best Careers 2007, 18 December 2006, http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/061218/18librarian.summary.htm


Forget about that image of librarian as a mousy bookworm. Librarians these days must be high-tech information sleuths, helping researchers plumb the oceans of information available in books and digital records. It’s an underrated career. Most librarians love helping patrons dig up information and, in the process, learning new things. Librarians may also go on shopping sprees, deciding which books and online resources to buy. They even get to put on performances, like children’s puppet shows, and run other programs, like book discussion groups for elders. On top of it all, librarians’ work hours are reasonable, and the work environment, needless to say, is placid.

Median Salary: $49,708
The Librarian’s Career Guidebook by Priscilla Shontz
Straight from the Stacks: A First Hand Guide to Careers in Library and Information Science by Laura Townsend Kane

Librarian: A Day in the Life

by Marty Nemko, US News & World Report Best Careers 2007, 18 December 2006, http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/061218/18librarian.life.htm


You work in a small municipal library, where you have to do a little of everything. You start your day by leafing through catalogs from online database publishers and book reviews in Library Journal to decide which titles to add to your collection. Next, it’s out to the reference desk, where visitors regularly ask how to find something. Sometimes it’s esoteric; often it’s the bathroom. Later, you teach a class: an advanced lesson in Googling.

Next, it’s back to the reference desk, but you’re soon interrupted by a group of boisterous kids, so you have to turn into schoolmarm: “You’ll have to be quiet, or I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

You end your day reading about “automated librarianship”: data storage systems that let the public get needed resources without the help of a live librarian. Tomorrow, you decide, you’ll start writing a grant proposal to develop a computer kiosk that will help patrons find health information.

Smart Specialty

Special Librarian. All sorts of organizations need librarians, not just universities and local governments. They work for law firms, prisons, corporations, and nonprofit agencies. In fact, special librarianship is the field’s fastest-growing job market. Unlike public and university jobs, which require night and weekend hours, these jobs are mostly 9 to 5.

The Other Hot Jobs
Actuary, Architect, Audiologist, Clergy, Dentist, Editor, Engineer, Fundraiser, Higher Education Administrator, Landscape Architect, Management Consultant, Medical Scientist, Occupational Therapist, Optometrist, Pharmacist, Physician, Physician Assistant, Politician/elected official, Professor, Registered Nurse. School Psychologist, Speech-Lang Therapist, Systems Analyst, Urban/Regional Planner

24 December 2006

MICHAEL STEPHENS' TOP POSTS OF 2006

Michael Stephens has posted the most popular posts on his blog, Tame the Web, for 2006. If you haven’t already seen them, they are well worth a read. There are also a few by others that he (and I) really like.


Most of the list:
Five Factors for User-Centered Service, http://tametheweb.com/2006/01/5_factors_for_user_centered_se.html
Ten Techie Things for Librarians 2006, Selling RSS to Medical Librarians,
T
en Ways to Lose Your Techie Librarians, http://tametheweb.com/2006/03/ten_ways_to_lose_your_techie_l.html
Weblogs & Libraries: Notes from a SirsiDynix Webinar, http://tametheweb.com/2006/03/sirsisdynix_weblogs_libraries.html
Five Phrases I Hope I Never Hear in Libraries Again, http://tametheweb.com/2006/04/ten_phrases_i_hope_i_never_hea.html
Ten Rules for New Librarians, http://tametheweb.com/2006/06/ten_rules_for_the_new_libraria_1.html
Ten Signs I Hope I Never See in Libraries Again, http://tametheweb.com/2006/07/ten_signs_i_hope_i_never_see_i.html
Ten Things I Know About Libraries,http://tametheweb.com/2006/10/ten_things_i_know_about_librar_1.html
The User is Not Broken, Karen Schneider, http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/06/the_user_is_not_broken_a_meme.php
Six Trends Driving the Future of Libraries, Helene Blowers, http://librarybytes.com/2006/07/six-trends-driving-future-of-libraries.html
Making Time for Web 2.0, David King, http://www.davidleeking.com/2006/09/19/making-time-for-web-20/
The A List (on Bibliobloggers Ethics), Jessamyn West, http://www.librarian.net/stax/1653

21 December 2006

SOLO LIBRARIAN JOB DESCRIPTIONS

There was a post on the Solo Librarians Division electronic list with links to some interesting job descriptions. Here they are.
http://www.sla.org/content/learn/comp2003/index.cfm
http://www.state.nm.us/spo/NMState_ClassComp/NMCompensation.htm

There was also a job description in the post included the following. I have bolded some of the more “interesting” passages, along with my comments.

Time spent on tasks:
Information Access/Management – 78 percent (includes “leverage Internet and database services, in-house resources, e-mail lists, telephone research and research outsourcer to accomplish effective due diligence and company/industry research; assess, procure, implement, and manage services for end-users’ desktops; provide instruction to end-users resulting in effective customization and utilization of resources--who will determine if it is effective?; proactively expand professional knowledge of information resources, trends, and electronic information services through continuing education)
Develop and Maintain Information Resources – 10 percent (selection and negotiation of resources and “manage compliance and copyright policies”)
Marketing – 7 percent (webmaster responsibilities, “develop and disseminate marketing materials as part of marketing team--who's on the team? how much input from the librarian? are they marketing anything besides the website?)
Supervision – 3 percent (of shared research assistant)
Administer Research Budget – 1 percent (“assess/conduct research requests using cost-effective resource management”)
Manage Archives – 1 percent (“responsible for supervising creation and maintenance of records of offsite material and coordinating access; responsible for quarterly inventories of all archives materials and bi-annual physical inventory of all boxes”—all this in 20 hours per year???)

Software Experience/Proficiency Required: Working knowledge of LexisNexis, Dialog, Factiva, Reuters Research, Securities Data Corporation, Capital IQ, and Bloomberg. Knowledge of HTML, Dreamweaver and advanced web searching techniques required. This sounds like it was tailored for a specific individual...

Experience, Skill Level Required: Minimum of two years experience in business/special libraries as a solo librarian. Incumbent must have Internet and on-line searching skills, website management skills, and general knowledge of library operations relating to reference, online services, contract management, acquisitions, and budgeting. Individual must have ability to assess and analyze current information needs and industry trends, provide relevant research, and anticipate future information needs. Excellent communication skills and ability to work effectively in a fast paced investment environment is required. Walking on water and turning water into wine highly preferred.

Comments anyone?

TWO INTERESTING WEBSITES


The UK Statute Law Database
http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk
From the Department for Constitutional Affairs, this is “the official revised edition of the primary legislation of the UK.” You can see how the legislation has changed/been amended over time.

Top 100 Education Blogs
http://oedb.org/library/features/top-100-education-blogs
The Online Education Database has created this list. Nineteen library-related one are listed, including these that I follow: David Lee King, Free Range Librarian, Information Wants to be Free, librarian.net, LibraryBytes, Library Stuff, Panlibus, Rambling Librarian, Research Buzz, and Resource Shelf (see the site for their addresses). Other categories include tips for college students, e-learning, education news, education policy, Internet culture, learning theory, teaching, and technology.

15 December 2006

SOME RANDOM INTERNET STATISTICS


While evaluating NationMaster, a neat statistics graphing tool, I found the following statistics.

Users within a country that access the Internet, per capita
1. New Zealand (79.3 per 100,000 people)
2. Iceland (76.0)
3. Sweden (75.5)
8. Australia (64.7)
10. UK (62.2)
11. Canada (61.0)
18. USA (54.7)
24. Japan (50.4)
And dead last……Tajikistan (0.07)
Weighted average: 18.4

Cost of Internet access for 40 hours at evening times at discounted rates, September 2002
1. Belgium (US$62)
2. Netherlands ($53)
3. Norway ($52)
4. Italy ($50)
5. Japan ($49)
11. New Zealand ($41)
12. Australia ($39)
15. USA ($36)
17. UK ($33)
18. Canada ($31)
Weighted average: $43.56

Websites per 1000 population
1. Germany (84.7)
2. Denmark (71.7)
3. Norway (66.4)
4. UK (64.2)
5. USA (63.7)
7. Canada (32.9)
11. New Zealand (15.3)
12. Australia (13.3)
18. Japan (2.9)
Weighted average: 32.8

URL: http://www.nationmaster.com

ARE YOU A LIBRARY LOVER?


How about changing 14 February, normally St. Valentine’s Day, into Library Lovers Day? The idea originated with librarians in New South Wales (the state in which Sydney lies) and was described by Sue Hutley, Executive Director of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), in her editorial in the December issue of the ALIA magazine, inCite. ALIA is taking it national in 2007 and even is creating a website for it (http://www.librarylovers.org.au) although it is not working yet.

Promotional ideas include wrapping a book for a blind date with a customer, Valentine postcards for readers to complete with why they love their library, flowers for customers, or red heart stickers [I my library, perhaps?]. I’m sure you can think of many more ideas. This should work in ANY type of library and will certainly bring your customers’ attention to you and your library.

MORE OF THIS AND THAT….

WebSiteOptimization.com
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/tweak/pdf/
Here you’ll find tips on keeping your PDF files from getting so bid that they take too long to download. A good thing to read and keep in mind.

Taking Passwords to the Grave
http://news.com.com/Taking+passwords+to+the+grave/2100-1025_3-6118314.html
What will happen to what’s on your computer when you die? Will someone be able to access your data? You don’t want your passwords out where just anyone can read them, but you do need to this about this issue. Read this article.

NationMaster
http://www.nationmaster.com/
Do you have trouble visualizing how statistics compare? Use this program to find and graph (pie or bar) the data. There’s lots of neat stuff here, too. See my next post for some examples.

Do You Need Information from Intergovernmental Organizations?
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=4173
The Indiana University Libraries have put up “an experimental web search that you can use to find information from intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) such as the United Nations, World Bank, IMF, and related organizations.” It looks to unlock information otherwise very difficult to find. Try it! (Thanks IU!)

Find Blawgcasts
http://blawgcast.com
Blawgcast.com has a directory of blawgcasts (podcasts on law-related subjects), resources for blawgcasters, and links to the most popular blawgcasts. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a blawgcast, let alone a website devoted to them. If you’re in the law field, this is for you.

TIPS FOR BLOGGERS


Avinash Kausnik [Intuit, Inc., Mountain View, California, USA] has a great post on things he has learned as a blogger. Here are the ten tips, but go to the post to read the details and some comments.
1
. Nobody cares about you, they care about what you can do for them.
2. Have a personality, reflect your core beliefs, be honest, have fun.
3. Blogging is a very serious time commitment.
4. Pick a subject matter you are passionate about and that you are good at.
5. Respect the intelligence of your audience.
6. Blogs need constant promotion, participation and evangelism.
7. Being “digg’ed” is great exposure but traffic builds gradually over time, one person at a time.
8. Have goals, whatever you want them to be.
9. Be nice, save your hidden agendas for other uses.
10. Nobody will read my blog.

URL: http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/2006/10/top-ten-blogging-tips-
insights-from-a-novice-blogger.html

INTERESTING MARKETING IDEA—MINI-CARDS


The Idea Sandbox (“we add value to your business by helping you creatively solve branding, customer service and sales growth problems”) has a post on MiniCards, a neat idea for marketing your library. MiniCards are photo-cards 2-3/4” wide and 1-1/8” tall (70 x 28 mm)—about half the size of a business card. They can be ordered in batches of 100, with whatever image or images you want. You upload the images from Flickr or Skype. They are printed by a company called Moo and cost US$19.99 for 100 cards.

These would be a great handout at library events, as bookmarks, or even to use as mini-business cards.

URLs:
The original post: http://www.idea-sandbox.com/blog/2006/11/minicards_think_small_share_bi.html
Moo: http://www.moo.com/faqs/

DO YOU LIKE MYSTERIES?


If you’re like me and you love mysteries (which, unlike my life, have nice neat endings), you’ll love the Mystery reader. It contains long, signed reviews and features such as new faces, an author address book, mystery news, and author freebies. Reviews are in the following categories: police/detective, thrillers, suspense, romantic suspense, cozies, and historical and are rated from one star (don’t bother) to five stars (outstanding) and have violence ratings. A real treasure for mystery lovers!

URL: http://www.themysteryreader.com/

14 December 2006

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE RESOURCES


Lorely Ambriz, Library Assistant at the Northwest Community Library, El Paso, Texas, has posted a ESL (English as a Second Language) Research Guide. It contains books and AV materials, reading series, instructional support materials, online databases, and websites.

URL: http://www.epcc.edu/nwlibrary/esl_research_guide.htm
rces

GARTNER’S IT PREDICTIONS


Gartner, Inc. released today 10 key predictions that showcase the trends and events that will change the nature of business and IT in 2007 and beyond. These predictions are for general technology areas rather than specific to industries or roles within an organization.

Here are the ones I think will impact librarians most.


Blogging and community contributors will peak in the first half of 2007. Given the trend in the average life span of a blogger and the current growth rate of blogs, there are already more than 200 million ex-bloggers. Consequently, the peak number of bloggers will be around 100 million at some point in the first half of 2007.

By the end of 2007, 75% of enterprises will be infected with undetected, financially motivated, targeted malware that evaded their traditional perimeter and host defenses.

By 2010, the average total cost of ownership (TCO) of new PCs will fall by 50%.

URL: Press release: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=499323

GOOGLE PATENT SEARCH DEBUTS

You can now search over 7 million US patents via Google Patent Search. Images include the abstract, text, claims, and drawings. You can search by patent number, inventor, assignee, classification, issue or filing date. Check out patent number 1, or all those by Thomas Edison, or input “martini” and see what you get. The searches are very quick and, most importantly, free.

URL: http://www.google.com/patents/

13 December 2006

IM: WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU?


In this post on Stephen’s Lighthouse, Stephen Abram reports on a survey by AP and AOL on how teens—and adults—use instant messaging.

Some of the findings that may impact us:
* 72 percent of teens who use IM send more IMs than emails; the figure for adults is 26 percent (54 percent of adults surveyed IM every day)
* teens share photos, music and videos; adults audio chat more
* 30 percent of teens couldn’t imagine life without IM; 17 percent of the adults agree
* many multitask online—IM, checking email, searching
* 63 percent of teens research homework assignments online and 53 percent use IM to get help (though only 9 percent from a teacher)
* 27 percent of adults IM at work; 41 percent say that it makes them more productive

The impact on libraries? Since Abram notes that the average IM user is 32, we cannot dismiss this as a “teen” thing. Offering reference, reader’s advisory, reserve book notifications, and other services via IM (and other “non-traditional” means) is fast leaving the realm of “techie” or “cutting edge” and moving to “must-do” and “standard.” Abram reminds us that IM, like any other library service, must be promoted to be adopted.

Are you using IM? Why not? What are the implications for your future if you don’t? Think about it!

URLs:
Abram’s post: http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2006/12/teens_and_im.html
The survey: http://press.aol.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1138&section_id=15

FOR CANADIAN MEDICAL LIBRARIANS…AND OTHERS


Librarians’ Rx describes itself as containing “items of possible interest to Canadian Health Sciences Librarians.” From librarians at the University of Alberta, this site has many good posts and links. Take a look.

URL: http://www.library.ualberta.ca/mt/blog/librariansrx/

12 December 2006

OF THIS AND THAT


Here are some neat sites that I’ve found recently. Enjoy!

Free Lookups
http://www.melissadata.com/lookups
Look up almost anything with this list of links. Arranged in categories: address and street data, everything ZIP codes, business and professional, maps and aerial views, radius searches, statistics and averages, locations and demographics, and federal resources (USA).

ALA Professional Tips Wiki
http://wikis.ala.org/professionaltips/
From the huge list of resources the ALA Library staff have accumulated over 80 years. Everything from Intellectual freedom to user services to types of libraries—and more.

Librarian’s E-Library
(URL too long to write here, Google it)
“Selected resources on Libraries and librarianship from the American Library Association Library and a growing list of volunteers.” (A Google Co-op Custom Search Engine product)

The Australian Index
http://theaustralianindex.com/
“Exploring Australian Blogs.” You can search for a blog, see “recently updated” ones, and “interesting posts.”

EarthShots.org
http://www.earthshots.org/
“Inspiring Visions of Earth.” Photo of the day and an archive. The photos are magnificent.

AsianLII
http://www.asianlii.org/asianlii/
“The Asian Legal Information Institute is a non-profit and free access website for legal information from all 27 countries and territories in Asia located from Japan in the east to Pakistan in the west, and from Mongolia in the north to Timor Leste in the south. AsianLII provides for searching and browsing databases of legislation, case-law, law reform reports, law journals and other legal information, where available.” A joint project of the Law Faculties of the University of Technology, Sydney, and the University of New South Wales, Australia, partner institutions in Asian countries, and other legal information institutes.

11 December 2006

NEW LANGUAGE REQUIRED


Chris Phoenix posted the following on the Responsible Nanotechnology blog:

Does rewinding a movie have anything to do with winding a wristwatch?

Why is a screen saver called a screen saver?

Why do people talk about “dialing” a phone number?

How do you “load” a camera?

Why might you need white-out while typing?

Why would a needle scratch a record?”


On his blog, Stephen’s Lighthouse, Stephen Abram added:


OK, how does this apply to libraries?

Have most kids ever seen a book pocket?

Have most kids ever gotten their book stamped?

Does anyone ever see catalogues any more?

Does anyone ever touch a catalogue "card"?

What’s a record? (vinyl!)

What’s the video in videogame?

Will we need to continue much longer to ask folks to rewind things when returning them?


I am sure you can think of more...

URLs:
Phoenix:
http://crnano.typepad.com/crnblog/2006/12/changing_techno.html
Abram: http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2006/12/new_language_re.html

PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY FOR INTRANET MANAGERS IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND


The Intranet Leadership Forum has been established to help all staff, provide a model for implementing blogs and RSS feeds, to help understand how wikis can be used, and “find better ways to manage the balance between day to day operational tasks and the bigger picture strategic thinking for your intranet.”

This sounds like a wonderful idea. Why isn’t there something like this in the USA? (Or is there?)


URL: http://www.intranetleadership.com.au/

ON BANNING CELL PHONES IN LIBRARIES


The Shifted Librarian (Jenny Levine) has a great post on this subject, including a wonderful comment on Tame the Web. I especially like the poster. Read the post and Levine’s comments!

URL: http://tametheweb.com/2006/11/faiure_to_innovate.html

BRITISH CANCER INFORMATION PATHWAYS


The Cancer Services Collaborative Improvement Partnership has developed and produced national electronic patient information pathways that bring together a vast range of national cancer resources under one roof. For the first time, people can see at a glance what is currently available for each tumour at different stages in the patient pathway.

URL: http://www.cancerimprovement.nhs.uk/patinfopath

REPORT ON RESEARCHER BEHAVIOR AND NEEDS

Researchers and discovery services: Behaviour, perceptions and needs: A study commissioned by the Research Information Network (November 2006)


Key Findings
1.3.1 General satisfaction with discovery services
1.3.2 Users cannot always access the resources they have discovered
1.3.3 Means and ends are not clearly delineated
1.3.4 One size doesn’t fit all
1.3.5 There is a very long tail of discovery services used by researchers
1.3.6 Researchers use discovery services to find a wide range of resources
1.3.7 Peers and networks of colleagues are extremely important. Research colleagues are one of the most important sources for virtually every type of enquiry.
1.3.8 Researchers see searching as an integral part of the research process, and they tend to refine down from a large set of results possibly over-constrained, initial search.
1.3.9 Researchers are concerned about irrelevant search results, but they are more concerned that they might miss important information
1.3.10 Push is popular but blogs hardly feature
1.3.11 Library support is largely via portals, rather than personal contact
1.3.12 Librarians and researchers are generally in agreement, but there are some important differences
1.3.13 Lack of formal training is not seen as a problem
1.3.14 Specific gaps in provision: A number of specific gaps were identified. Researchers working on the intersection of fields and those in very new fields also felt the difficulty of searching multiple overlapping sources.


Thanks to Stephen Abram for calling this to attention on his blog, Stephen’s Lighthouse.


URLs:
Download this report at http://www.rin.ac.uk/files/Report%20-%20final.pdf
Read about this report on Stephen’s Lighthouse:
http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2006/12/academic_usabil.html

NEW LIBRARY JOURNAL—CALL FOR PAPERS

Communications in Information Literacy will debut with the Spring 2007 issue (1 February). It is described as “a new, independent, professional, refereed electronic journal dedicated to advancing knowledge, theory, and research in the area of information literacy. CIL seeks manuscripts on subject matter of interest to professionals in the area of higher education who are committed to advancing information literacy. Manuscripts may be theoretical, research-based, or of a practical nature. Some suggested topics include, but are by no means limited to definitions and standards for IL, pedagogies and learning theories, assessment, developing an IL strategy within your institution, designing an IL program, lesson planning, classroom instruction, online instruction, and instructional competencies.


Check with Chris Hollister (cbh2@buffalo.edu), Editor-in-Chief, before submitting a manuscript or look at the website.


URL: http://www.comminfolit.org/index.php/cil

FREEWARE TO DO ALMOST ANYTHING

The site called “I want a Freeware Utility to...450+ common problems solved” has a long list of extremely useful free utilities that do specific jobs really well and save time and money. Categories include: anti-spyware, anti-virus, audio, music, mp3, business, office, MS Office, communication, desktop, editors, files and folders, financial, graphics, fun, keyboard, performance, productivity, programming, uninstallers, and video.

This is from eConsultant, an IT expert, who makes other good stuff available at his website, http://www.econsultant.com/index.html


URL:
Freeware:
http://www.econsultant.com/i-want-freeware-utilities/index.html
Open Source: http://www.econsultant.com/i-want-open-source-software/index.html

THE LIBRARY IS NOT DEAD—AT LEAST AT ONE UNIVERSITY


In an article titled, Will Web resources be the death of the Library? (by Polina Aksamentova, Pipe Dream, 14 November 2006), Susan Currie, associate director of the library at Binghamton University [Binghamton, New York, USA], said, “Ever since 1988 the death of the library has been predicted [and] greatly exaggerated.” BU is actually seeing a resurgence in the use of library facilities, Currie added. Last year alone there was a 15 percent increase in the number of questions asked at the reference desk. “A lot of people who end up using electronic resources are not aware that the library has funded [them]. Currie said. “Every time someone uses electronic journals, comes to a database [or] our Web site—that’s using the library."

Students agree: “People will continue coming here because of the environment,” said Ingie Lee, a senior nursing major. “People are too loud in the dorms.” Joseph Jones, a senior political science and English major, said that libraries will not become extinct because professors prefer peer-review articles and books.


URL: http://www.bupipedream.com/pipeline_web/display_article.php?id=3461

01 December 2006

The “Missing Piece” of the Library Netflix Model


David Lee King [Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, Kansas, USA] reports on his blog that his library mails all holds to customers. This includes books, videos, and music. It is budgeted for (US$360,000 for 2006).

“Why in the world do we do this? Because our patrons absolutely love the service. In fact, Gina Millsap, our director, has spoken with patrons who have stated ‘this is one of the most important’ library services and have also said that if we didn’t have this service, they’d ‘just use Amazon.’” They ran the numbers and found that when figuring the cost of staff, space, calling customers, etc., they would not save much by discontinuing the service. He concludes, “This is the ‘missing piece’ of a library Netflix model. We already have the content. This proves that, in some cases, libraries do have the ability and the funding to get content to patrons—in their space, on their timetable, just like they’re used to with other cool services.”

Respondents from the Orange County Library System in Orlando, Florida and an unnamed academic library reported that they also deliver holds. OCLS delivered 600,000 holds in 2005 and used to use the postal service, but now use a small local courier company that was formed with the OCLS home delivery service in mind. Several respondents felt that having return postage paid would be desirable. This final comment sums up the issue well. “With a mailing service, if I had a choice between the library and Amazon used books, I’d use the library. This service is a good example of how older services are 2.0 as well.”

URL: http://www.davidleeking.com/2006/10/12/the-missing-piece-of-the-library-netflix-model/