FREE OPEN CONTENT CATALOGING SERVICE

If you can't afford to belong to OCLC but still need access to catalog records, you have a new option.

LibLime offers biblios.net, "a free, browser-based" service with over 30 million bib and authority records licensed under the Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License. It works somewhat like Wikipedia, allowing you to use and contribute to the records "without restriction."

Check it out at http://www.biblios.net/

Of course, you can always use the records from WorldCat.org by rekeying the information into your own catalog. I'm not sure how "legal" this is, but we've been using OCLC records in some manner for years, so I wouldn't be worried--as long as there's 1) no chance you could afford to join OCLC and 2) you only use a few records. (Not an option for public or academic libraries, but an idea for small corporate ones......)

GETTING TO YOUR CUSTOMERS, WHEREVER THEY ARE

Computers in Libraries 29(1), January 2009

The entire issue is on Providing Access When & Where They Want It, which is good reading anytime, but there are two articles that think are especially important:

West, Jessamyn, Checklists for the Distributed Librarian (tech tips for every librarian column), pp. 38-39.

West provides good ways to make sure you are getting to your customers via the website, the catalog, and social networking services. I like that she ends with a section on “counting what counts.”

Chudnov, Daniel, Practical Geek-Keeping, or, How to Hire—And Keep—Good Technical Staff, pp. 25-26.
Librarians and IT people are often at odds, so making sure you hire good ones and can communicate with them is critical. He emphasizes the importance of communication in the hiring decision.

FREE TABLES OF CONTENTS FROM JISC

“The ticTOCs Journal Tables of Contents service makes it easy for academics, researchers, students and anyone else to keep up-to-date with newly published scholarly material by enabling them to find, display, store, combine and reuse thousands of journal tables of contents from multiple publishers.” The service covers 11,140 scholarly journals from 420 publishers, with links to full-text of nearly 300,000 articles. Unfortunately, most of the articles are not free. You can even export the TOC feeds to popular feedreaders. If you register (free), your journal list is saved. I found about 25 journals that cover library issues—mostly in the UK.

URL: http://www.tictocs.ac.uk/index.php?action=home

GEEK ONLINE

The How-To Geek is a useful site if you don’t have your own computer guru handy. There are short articles on subjects such as: increase size of Windows Vista taskbar previews, change Outlook startup folder, change the default font in Excel 2007, and more (many of which I can’t even understand the description, much less the answers). Not everything is about Microsoft, either; there are hints for Foxfire, Apple, Linux, and other platforms (though most are MS, probably since we need the most help with it). You can even subscribe through RSS to get notice of the latest additions.

URL: http://www.howtogeek.com

SITE FOR CIRCULATION FOLKS

Circulation Services is a site “to foster communication and community among Circulation and Access Services professionals. Far too often, the work performed by circulation staff is minimized by the Library community, especially the professional community.” The site is new and there isn’t much there, but it’s a great idea. It doesn’t say it, but it is a wiki. (No sign of who started it.)

URL: http://circservices.wikidot.com/start