POST ARTICLES BY YOUR CUSTOMERS

This idea comes courtesy of a post by Christine Baker [POH Regional Medical Center, Pontiac, MI, USA] on MEDLIB-L.

Post the first page of recently published articles by your customers in the library. You could even frame them. After a stated length of time (or when you run out of room), you can give the framed page to the author. You could even get the author to write a short note about how the library helped him or her with research (maybe on a sticky note).

This would 1) build traffic (i.e., get people into the library), 2) make nice to your customers, and 3) publicize how the library helps people do their work.

I saw something along these lines at the Cleveland Clinic Alumni Library (I think)--articles and books by Clinic researchers in a display case outside the library.

TIPS FOR BETTER PRESENTATIONS

If you are planning to give an oral presentation sometime in the future, you might want to read "Ten Simple Rules for Making Good Oral Presentations" by Philip E. Bourne [University of California San Diego] on the Public Library of Science.

Quickly, here are the ten tips, but read the article for the details.
1. talk to the audience
2. less is more
3. only talk when you have something to say
4. make the take-home message persistent
5. be logical
6. treat the floor p://as a stage
7. practice and time your presentation
8. use visuals sparingly but effectively
9. review audio and/or video of your presentations
10.provide appropriate acknowledgements

URL: http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030077

HAVE YOU SEEN BNET?

BNET, short for Business Networking I guess, calls itself “the go-to place for management.” Their services include news feeds and analysis, special reports on specific business issues, “crash courses” on skills and business topics, podcasts, and executive summaries on trends and events. There is also a business library with “unlimited access” to white papers, tools and templates, and research articles. It is owned by US-based CBS Interactive, they have separate editors for the UK and Australia.
There is a limited (but ample) amount of information available without registration, but since registration is free, why not join and get all of this great stuff. If you’re working with management/business people (and who isn’t), you should at least look at BNET.

URL: http://www.bnet.com

LIBRARY CONNECT NEWSLETTER ON SERVING MILLENNIALS

I just ran across this great resource, Library Connect newsletter, published quarterly by Elsevier just for librarians.. The April 2008 issue is all about working with the GenNext or Millennials. Features: how Murdoch University Library (Australia) is connecting with them, the future of the undergraduate library, millennial disconnects with publishers and libraries, and research habits of undergrads. There are also other columns on the same topics.

This is worth a look—and watch for other issues of Library Connect too.

URL: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/librariansinfo.librarians/lc_home

SOCIAL TECHNOGRAPHICS DATA—WHAT?

Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research has just published his newest Social Technographics data. He divides US online adults into six groups: creators, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators, and inactives. More people are participating—inactives dropped from 44 to 25 percent from 2007. However, there were only relatively small gains in the most active groups: creators up3percent, critics up 12 percent, collectors up 7 percent, and joiners up 10 percent. (Yes, I know those don’t seem to add up—they’re his numbers, not mine.) Nevertheless, it’s an interesting report.

URL: http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/2008/10/new-2008-social.html

TWO BLOG POSTS TO LOOK AT

Susan Akers [Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA] posted some great ideas for Promoting Library Resources to Students & New Faculty on Marketing Your Library.

URL: http://www.marketingyourlibrary.com/2008/10/promoting-library-resources-to-students.html

Brian Herzog [Chelmsford (Massachusetts) Public Library, USA] raises some good points in Work Like a Patron Day on his Swiss Army Librarian blog. Look at your library through your customers’ eyes—it will really open your eyes!

URL: http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2008/10/07/work-like-a-patron-day

LIBRARY RELATED CONFERENCES

Marian Dworaczek [University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada] has updated her very detailed list of Library Related Conferences. The current list covers October 2008 through 2015 (for the latter, meetings of just a few organizations are included--like the American Library Association). For earlier years it covers conferences all over the world and "library-related" is somewhat loosely defined. This is great for planning your travels (and continuing education) far in advance or just for seeing what kind of conferences are being held.

URL: http://homepage.usask.ca/~mad204/CONF.HTM

WEBSITE=BLOG?

If you are thinking about updating your website, you should read Meredith Farkas’ column in the October 2008 issue of American Libraries (v. 39, no. 9, p. 45). In “Our New Website Is a Blog, the head of instructional initiatives at Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont and author of the Information Wants to be Be Free blog describes how she uses Wordpress to create professional-looking blog. She points out that your site does not even have to look like a blog. See the site from Troy (New York) Public Library for an example.

Note: You no longer have to be a member of the American Library Association to read American Libraries. Most of each issue (and back issues from 2003) is now available online.

URLs
Information on accessing American Libraries: http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/alonlineebrary/alonlineebrary.cfm

(While at this URL, sign up for the free weekly ALA Online newsletter, too.)
Troy Public Library: http://thetroylibrary.org

GUIDELINES FOR HEALTH LIBRARIES

The fourth edition of Guidelines for Australian Health Libraries is now available. It is endorsed by the Australian Library and Information Association. The guidelines are divided into Planning and Strategy, Organisation and Philosophy, Resources Management, and Information Service Provision and include evidence-based staffing levels. They cover all types of health libraries, not just those in hospitals. At this site are also links to two checklists for self-assessment.

URL: http://www.alia.org.au/policies/health.libraries.html

GETTING MANAGEMENT SUPPORT FOR PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

The Dear Ulla column in Impact: SLA Leadership & Management Division Bulletin has a good list of arguments to use on a manager that is not predisposed to let you attend conferences or participate in professional associations. If that’s your situation, you should definitely read Ulla de Stricker’s responses.

URL: http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/sla_lmd/2008/09/dear-ulla-3.html

TOP 250 BLOG POSTS: ADVERTISING, MARKETING, MEDIA & PR

From British PR firm Spotlight Ideas, here are more articles on marketing than I’ve ever seen in one place. They are divided into the following categories: general marketing and branding (50 articles); digital marketing (35); social media (45); general blogging (25); blogging on copywriting (20); public relations (20); creative and design (20); customers and customer insight (10); search engines (10).

URL: http://www.spotlightideas.co.uk/?p=677

BLOG FOR PRISON LIBRARIANS

Institutional Library Services: Where Positive Change Takes Place comes from the State of Washington’s Office of the Secretary of State. Its mission statement: “with spirit and fortitude, ILS branch staff enhances the quality of life for unique populations by providing a welcoming, neutral and secure place where informational, educational and recreational needs are met.” There is a great post on a typical day in the life of a prison librarian and another about their quarterly conferences where most of the participants are OPLs. Good stuff here.

URL: http://blogs.secstate.wa.gov/ils/

EVEN MORE SOCIAL NETWORKING RESOURCES

I want to…, “Web 2.0 resources to help collaborate, communicate, discover, email, laugh, generate images, podcast, use multimedia, store photographs, use RSS, internet search, shop, create start pages, store information, time management, train, teach and do things with webpages and websites.” Over 450 applications, from the always reliable Phil Bradley. http://www.philb.com/iwantto.htm

Friends: Social Networking Sites for Engaged Library Services, a new blog from Gerry McKiernan, http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com

THREE MEDICAL RESOURCES OF NOTE

Three resources have come to my attention recently—ones that you might not have been aware of.

Web 2.0 Resources, from the Medical Library Association, http://www.mlanet.org/resources/web20_resources.html

Blogs, wikis, Facebook groups, and more. Many have an RSS feed so you can subscribe and stay up-to-date.

Researching Medical Literature on the Internet, 2008, by Gloria Micciolli, http://www.llrx.com/features/medical2008.htm

Covers National Library of Medicine databases, metasites such as WebMD, drug information, journals and textbooks, search engines, and more.

Asian American Health, http://asianamericanhealth.nlm.nih.gov, from the (US) National Library of Medicine.

Categories: health and diseases, behavioral and mental health issues, complementary or alternative medicine, health organizations, major Asian populations, and materials in Asian languages.