Fast Forward

Marketing in Unusual Places

2009-08-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

This morning I was gassing up my car at a local station in Monrovia -- you know, the kind that have those screens above the pumps that blare snippets of news, sports and lots of advertising at you as you're standing there. If ever there was a captive audience, folks at gas pumps are that.

Since it was relatively quiet and since the volume was especially loud, I could actually hear what was being said. Along comes what I thought was going to be a 30 sec. commercial for Prius. But I heard the announcer saying something along the lines of "let us know what's happening in your community so we can pass that along for free." I looked up at the screen and there's an announcement for a program that is scheduled for the Crowell Library in San Marino!

The point is this: There are 10 screens at that station, one at each pump. And today there were 10 cars (busy but typical morning at this station). And if those 10 people just glanced at the screen when the announcement was up, that's 10 more people (including me) who now are aware of this program on treating my arthritic knees is going to happen at the Crowell Library. Now multiply that by the potential number of people who will stop at this gas station on a typical day and you've got lots of people potentially looking at your announcement!

Take advantage of opportunities to push your message whenever they come along. And, if it's free, that's even better.

Libraries are community places

2009-08-07T09:12:00.000-07:00

I've blogged before about Richard Watson and his work with the future of public libraries' group in Australia. He has been putting out information on that project on his What's Next blog. He's got an excellent entry in today's blog that he titled "Turning Libraries into Community Places." And he makes several good points.

Here's one quote from his posting:

"It is the physical interaction of people, information and ideas - in all forms - that create a library and the physical space is hugely important. Libraries are community hubs. They are places where people go to borrow things and find answers, but they are also public spaces where people go to do things. Libraries are not just defined by what’s inside them but who’s inside them and what’s going on or available there."

It's true -- it is not the materials (physical or virtual) that define a library. It is the fact that these are public spaces full of people doing, finding, socializing and connecting. Read his entire post -- it's worth the few minutes it will take.

Future of Public Libraries study: Scenarios

2009-07-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

Remember Richard Watson, futurist who predicted that public libraries would be extinct in a few years (a few years by futuring standards)? He made that prediction in his What's Next: Top Trends blog.

Lately he's been working with librarians on developing a set of scenarios about the future. (BTW, he no longer thinks public libraries are going to die any time soon.) He has been blogging about the work-in-progress and his posting have made for interesting reading.

The scenarios are now available on the What's Next blog. There's a summary table available. There are also 4 scenarios (all in draft form still): #1 Inside Out, #2 First or Economy, #3 Eastern Standard, #4 Booked Out. All four carry the future out to year 2030.

I strongly encourage everyone to take a look at these postings and start thinking and discussing them.

What a GREAT marketing idea!

2009-06-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

Johnson County Library (Kansas) is using the system's delivery trucks in an innovation marketing campaign. They are taking advantage of the large available side panels and back door to advertise (fictional) business: Captain Ahab's Fine Seafood, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde's Pharmacy, Kafka's Pest Kontrol, and Benjamin Button's Diaper Service.

Since the trucks drive all over Johnson County, they are constantly advertising the library in a unique and imaginative way. And it caught the eye of the local newspaper, the Kansas City Star, bringing more free press to the library. See pictures of the trucks here.

Non-disclosure agreements & libraries

2009-06-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

I bet that almost every library director or purchasing officer who has signed a contract to purchase access to an electronic database has agreed to nondisclosure as part of the purchasing agreement. Elsevier recently filed a motion in the state of Washington to try to block the release of "data on the terms of large-publisher bundled contracts" after a couple of researchers filed a public record request for the data. The Washington state court judge denied the motion. Read more about it here.

We all know that pricing for electronic databases is a mysterious art practiced by the vendors. I've always believed that the pricing offered to any one library on any given day depends on (take your pick) a) the phase of the moon, b) solar flares, c) how delicious that morning cup of coffee was, or d) how comfy the bed was at the sales guy's hotel.

Although the Washington case applies to an academic library, one can only hope that this is the beginning of real transparency where pricing for electronic databases is concerned.

Future of Public Libraries study

2009-06-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

Somewhere out there in England (I believe that's where these folks are located), a group is doing a Future of Public Libraries study, according to the What's Next: Top Trends (subtitle: A Blog about Trends (for grownups)) I follow. Richard Watson, author of the blog, is reporting on a scenario planning project that is looking at the future of public libraries. Tuesday's post listed the key influences that they are considering, influences that look very familiar: sustainability, demand for space, access equity, pace of technological change, staff resistance to change, etc., etc. I recommend that you take a look at the complete list and then take a look at today's post in which Richard describes the scenario planning process they are using. I plan to keep track of their work and read the resulting documents!

Innovative annual report

2009-05-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

If you have read annual reports from companies, agencies, etc., you know they tend to be a bit dry and not exactly keep-you-awake-at-night reading. Check out the Columbus Metropolitan Library's annual report. This Ohio library has produced an innovate and environmentally-friendly annual report that is actual interesting. For example, instead of a paragraph or two on the Ready to Read program, they have a video of a Ready to Read team member talking about the program. Take a look at the online report. It's fun, entertaining and informative. And no trees were harmed.

Cool product: IdeaPaint

2009-05-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

Ever been in a meeting room with a tiny dry-erase board? Or in a meeting room where you are trying to get your creative ideas on to paper that you then tape to the walls? Well, some enterprising soul has created IdeaPaint, a "paint" you use to transform a wall into a dry erase board!

Yes, a "single-coat roller-applied paint that transforms any smooth surface into a high performance dry-erase writing surface" is now available. Now you can "install" dry erase boards on entire walls. How cool is that!

Follow the CDC on Twitter!

2009-04-30T14:44:00.001-07:00

Did you know that 14 cases of the H1N1 flu have been identified in California? Want to keep up with the latest from the Centers for Disease Control? If you've got a Twitter account, you can follow the CDC's tweets! They are using Twitter to get information out to the public. They have over 55,000 followers. Their Twitter name is CDC Emergency, if you want to get their updates.

Post-Kindle Library Building

2009-04-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of David Dodd, San Rafael Public Library, I recently read an article by Jamie Larue (director of Douglas County Libraries in Colorado). Published online in the Larue's Views section of the library's website, the article, Imagine the Post-Kindle Library Building, struck a chord with me.

Larue's article reminded me again that the library is much more than a book/music/video/magazine/etc. warehouse. While I was talking to California assembly members earlier this month during the CLA Library Legislative Day, I kept saying that the public library "is the community's living room" where people gather to get news, converse, exchange ideas and information. Let's not forget that aspect, even as we adopt the latest technology for our own personal use. Because, as Larue points out, no electronic gadget can really replace a colorful children's pop-up book!

Ebook reader market getting stronger

2009-04-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

The e-book reader market is getting crowded! Take a look at this article about the feeding frenzy that is going on, especially when it comes to wireless phones. And it looks like E Ink is getting ready to roll out a larger, flexible screen. E books and e newspapers and magazines are here to stay.

Find me a surgeon who plays on his/her WII

2009-04-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

According to an article in the Guardian, surgeon-wannabes do better if they play with the Wii, specifically the Marble Mania game. Apparently, Marble Mania requires slight hand movements to guide a marble through a maze, movements that "had a 90% correlation to those of a surgeon performing a laparoscopic surgery."

So, the next time someone asks why your library staff is encouraging gaming in the library, tell them your users could potentially be doing surgery on them some day, using skills learned while gaming!

Using Twitter to Grow your Business

2009-03-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

Today's Pasadena Star-News has a story about a new business that started up last November, Thanksgiving weekend to be exact. Kogi BBQ takes the taco truck concept to a new level -- instead of burritos and "regular" tacos they are offering Korean BBQ. But here's why the story caught my eye: they are using TWITTER to alert folks where they're going and where they'll be parked. They've used Twitter to grow. In just over 3 months, they've gone from 2 employees to over 25!

People: Their Twitter account has over 9,000 followers! They've built up their business by aiming for customers who are foodies AND tech-savvy. That's 9,000 followers in a small concentrated area of west LA.

Moral of this story: If you've got a good product/service (which libraries do) and you use technology judiciously, you can make it work for you!

Of newspapers & evolution

2009-03-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

We all know what's happening in the newspaper business. Those dailies we once thought were invincible are in deep trouble. In February, the Rocky Mountain News closed down, leaving Denver with one paper. Closer to home, the parent company of the LA Times is in bankruptcy, trying to save itself. The Hearst company has said that it will sell or close down the San Francisco Chronicle if the paper doesn't cut it costs even more.

From Seattle comes the news that one of their dailies, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is going to a web-only delivery beginning with tomorrow's edition. One of the stories I read about this move quoted a long-time subscriber who is 80 years old. To me, that says it all. The ones who will miss the newsprint are not in their 20s, 30s or probably even 40s. The newspaper subscriber base has been dwindling for a long time but the newspaper companies didn't evolve their product to meet the needs and wants of the newer generations. So, they've lost an opportunity. And now it is likely too late for the newspaper business to transform itself and make itself indispensable.

On Saturday, I attended the CALTAC workshop where the speakers were Joan Frye Williams and Stacey Aldrich -- both talked about the future. Something that Joan Frye Williams said struck a chord with me -- that we need to stop talking about information and start focusing on talking about TRANSFORMATION.

Information is readily available. You don't need to open a newspaper or go to a library (physically or virtually) to get information. You don't need to ask a reference librarian your question -- just go to Google or Ask.com or Wikipedia. We're tripping over information. BUT how is the information you're providing your users helping to transform their lives, their families, their jobs, their futures? That's the story we need to tell. And we need to start telling the stories now before we become forgettable.

Social networking & how we use it

2009-03-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

Obviously social networking is here to stay, at least for a little while! On Tuesday, while driving down to El Segundo to meet with the ESPL's Board, I heard a news report that said that the largest percentage of new users to Facebook recently was in the 35-49 age group and that those in the 50+ group joined Facebook at twice the rate of people in the 18-34 range. Which brings me to a recent blog posting on the Logic+Emotion blog.

David Armano, the blog's author, had a entry yesterday on the use of social networking sites by different age groups. Yes, there's a definite difference in use if you are in your "early education years" or your "career years" or "post career years." Apparently, people are using sites like Facebook for different reasons. Those of us in our career years use social networking to network ourselves! Not surprising. We want to keep those connections that might come in handy at some point in the future.

Read the entire entry here. It certainly helped explain why I use Facebook the way I do vs. how my younger (much younger) nieces and nephews use it!

Great advice from Stephen Abram

2009-03-02T09:43:00.000-08:00

In his latest Info Tech Column for Information Outlook, Stephen Abram has pulled together a list of 30 things you should consider to be prepared -- a "just in case" list. While he wrote it with lay-offs and restructuring in mind, the list is a great reminder for everyone, whether you are looking for a new position now or sometime in the next few years or just want to keep options open! The list includes the obvious (#1 make sure your resume is up-to-date) to the practical (#9 have a few backup e-mail accounts that look professional, e.g., Gmail, Hotmail,...). Good advice for any professional in the information industry (which is what libraries are all about).

Grants to help with gaming/literacy activities available

2009-02-23T11:12:00.000-08:00

ALA and Verizon are teaming up to "help libraries of all kinds develop and implement gaming experiences that support literacy development for youth 10-18 years of age. Selected libraries will receive a onetime grant of $5,000.00. Funds may be used to expand or add literacy-based gaming experiences at your library for youth ages 10-18. Funded libraries will receive ongoing support and technical assistance from a team of library gaming experts."

If you are interested in applying, go here for more information.

Up-to-date Info on Stimulus Money

2009-02-23T10:06:00.000-08:00

Want to get up-to-date information on how those billions of stimulus dollars are being dispersed? According to the Everything Is Miscellaneous blog you can sign up to get that information delivered to your desktop because the "stimulus bill requires that government agencies use RSS to report on the stimulus money they disperse, so that those who are interested can get automatically updated." If you want to see where that money is going and how much is being allocated, you can sign up to get those updates. This means you can use your blog aggregator (i.e., Bloglines or Google Reader) to keep yourself informed.

What's your library's ROI?

2009-02-23T09:55:00.000-08:00

If you are interested in calculating (or try to calculate) your library's Return on Investment (ROI), there are plenty of websites out there that can help you do that! And, the intrepid George Needham has posted an updated webliography on It's All Good. The list is up to date as of Friday, 2/20/2009. It includes reports done for individual libraries, as well as those done on a broader scale. Take a look at the list here. In today's economy, making a case for your budget is even more important and these sites might just help you improve your situation!

Google Earth just got better

2009-02-02T10:57:00.000-08:00

I've been a fan of Google Earth since I first learned about it several years ago. It has a high geek level, it's fun, and it's educational. Now, it's gotten getter! Those folks at Google have added an ocean. What's this, you say? Well, here's the quote from The Official Google Blog:

"Didn't Google Earth always have an ocean? Technically, yes, well, sort of. We have always had a big blue expanse and some low-resolution shading to suggest depth. But starting today we have a much more detailed bathymetric map (the ocean floor), so you can actually drop below the surface and explore the nooks and crannies of the seafloor in 3D. While you're there you can explore thousands of data points including videos and images of ocean life, details on the best surf spots, logs of real ocean expeditions, and much more."

How absolutely cool and educational is that? Being able to go into the depths of the oceans without having to worry about oxygen tanks and water pressure is great. Check it out.

Reference Extract: new project

2009-01-29T15:46:00.000-08:00

It's usually rather difficult for me to get excited about a program put on by a vendor (in this case, OCLC), but R. David Lankes' presentation at ALA Midwinter on his new project has me very excited! David's blog is called Virtual Dave...Real Blog and it is well worth following with your favorite reader (e.g., Bloglines or Google Reader or ...)

David did a presentation on Reference Extract, a new project that is still in early development but which has a lot of potential!! A lot!! Take a look at his video and then think about the possibilities of what he is proposing. I believe it dovetails with what we are trying to do here in California.

New Study: Americans Reading Habits

2009-01-17T12:47:00.000-08:00

Think reading is a dying hobby? Not according to the latest study done by the National Endowment for the Arts. This study, the 5th since 1982, shows that American adults are reading more literature, up by 7%, with young adults showing the biggest increase. The entire 16 page report is available here. You can download the PDF file or purchase a printed copy.

Surviving in the New Media Ecosystem

2009-01-17T12:37:00.000-08:00

A recent presentation by Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet Project, focused on How Libraries Can Survive in the New Media Ecosystem. It is worth taking a look at and reviewing with your staff and colleagues. He has recommendations for "action items" your library can focus on, such as "offer your good offices to help people master new literacies" or "think of yourself as an information hub..." The PowerPoint is available here.

Virtual Reference Goes Open Source

2009-01-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

I just received the latest edition of the ASCLA newsletter (Interface, delivered electronically) and read an interesting short article on an open source collaboration between Ohio and Oregon. Those 2 states are providing virtual reference using open source software they developed and continue to collaborate on. The service debuted September 2008.

According to the article, Ohio's KnowItNow service expects to answer about 120,000 questions this year and Oregon's L-net expects to answer about 25,000. How does that compare with AskNow? For FY08, there were 52,542 chat sessions using AskNow. And, yes, both KnowItNow and L-net are available 24/7.

Open source is a natural for virtual reference! We need to explore this in more detail.

Tame The Web's question

2008-11-21T09:22:00.000-08:00

At the presentation Stacey Aldrich and I did at CLA on 11/15 on the future of statewide information services, we briefly talked about QR (or semapedia or datamatrix) codes and how they can be used to provide information about libraries, etc. See Semapedia or QR codes for more information.

Now Tame the Web's Michael Stephens has posed a question using a QR code. Take a look at his question by using your mobile device and discuss with your colleagues how your library might answer the question. If you don't have a mobile device capable of "reading" the question, drop me an old-fashioned email and I'll send it to you!

Dewey like it or not?

2008-11-13T10:48:00.000-08:00

Although there are those out there (you know who you are) who are trying to do away with Dewey, it still has its place in the world. And now you can have your name "classified" according to Dewey. Yes, folks, if you've always wondered where your name falls in the 000 - 999 range, go to this site to find your "inner Dewey" (according to AL Direct).

I did and was given three choices: 480 (Hellenic lanuages; classical Greek), 675 (Leather & fur processing (give me a break, I'm a vegetarian who tries to avoid leather!)) or 025 (Library operations). It even gives you a "What it says about you" part for each of your choices.

Hmmm ... think I'll go with the 480.

OCLC Changing Policy on Use of Bibliographic Records

2008-11-05T09:01:00.000-08:00

Most folks don't realize that OCLC has a policy on the use and transfer of Worldcat records. If you've not paid attention to it, you should take a moment to do so now because OCLC is in the midst of changing that policy. And it may affect how you use those bibliographic records from OCLC in your catalog, in a shared catalog environment and with social software. LibraryThing's Tim Spalding has done a comparison of the current policy and the new proposed policy. Take a look at them side-by-side here. Remember, that by simply using OCLC after the policy goes into effect, you agree to its terms (reminds me of Microsoft when if you removed the shrinkwrap you agreed to the license terms).

State Library Schedules Town Hall Meetings

2008-10-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

Are you interested in the future of resource sharing in California? Do you want to have a say in what we as a community want to accomplish with WorldCat, CalCat and resource sharing? Join State Library staffers (Stacey Aldrich, Gerry Maginnity and Rush Brandis) for a town hall meeting to discuss these questions and share ideas for how we can shape our future. Don’t let your library miss out on this opportunity to be a part of the conversation!

Town hall meetings have been scheduled all over California. The one in the Los Angeles/Orange/Ventura counties area is going to be held on January 7 at the Burbank Public Library's Central Library. Although there is no fee to attend, registration is required. Register here.

Google Enhances Voter Info

2008-10-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

As Google promised, they have now enhanced their Googlemaps site with information that tells you where you should go to vote. Their 2008 US Voter Info site allows you to put in your home address and it returns a map of showing where your precint's voting location is! If needed, you can ask it to give you directions.

For example, my voting location is 8/10s of a mile from my residence. Maybe I'll walk over to vote on November 4th!

Article: Stranger Than We Know

2008-10-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

The latest issue of LJ's NetConnect has an article by Jason Griffey that is well worth reading and thinking about. Griffey basically takes you on "a guided tour into the future of mobile computing, where access is ubiquitous and librarians ply their trade in the information cloud."

Ponder this: In most Third World countries, it is cheaper to set up cell phone services than to put up land lines. Or this fact: In June 2008 there were 157 mobile phones for every 100 residents of Hong Kong.

Read the entire article here.

Voter registration information

2008-10-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

Google has done it again. They have just announced their Voter Information Map. The link I've just provided takes you to Google Maps, where you simply fill in your home address and voila! I typed in my home address and as of today (10/1/2008), I have 19 days left to register to vote in California (note: I am already registered, being a firm believer in the voting process).

And, it provided links to information on how to register to vote, voting by mail and the California election website. Coming soon: the information on where you actually go to vote.

And, if I'm wanting all this information delivered to me on my cell phone, they've got a mobile version also (m.google.com). Using my smartphone to access that website, I now know that California has "no excuse" absentee ballots and in-person early voting.

So, if someone asks you how many days they have left to register to vote or where they actually go to cast their vote in November, go to Google's Voter Information Map.

Google & AARP Team Up for Online Safety

2008-09-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

The Official Google Blog has a posting today about a partnership between AARP and Google promoting online safety through a series of videos on YouTube. There are six videos available right now on topics ranging from online safety basics to how to avoid phishing scams. AARP will be promoting these on their web site. The videos are available here.

Google blog: Celebrating 10 years of Google

2008-09-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

As part of Google's 10 year celebration, The Official Google Blog's editors asked ten of their top experts to consider where Google is likely to be in ten years. The responses are being posted to the blog. The first one was by Marissa Mayer, VP, Search Products & User Experience, and is well worth reading: The Future of Search.

Folks: if Google does succeed in implementing Mayer's vision of where the company will be in 10 years, we should be thinking of and implementing services NOW that will complement what they hope to do. Because from reading Mayer's post, it is obvious that Google will only get better.

The second response was posted today and it is titled Ad Perfect. Naturally, it talks about the Google ads and how they hope to continue to refine the ads you see based on your location, preferences, etc.

Keep an eye on this blog for the next 8 posting on where Google will be in the next 10 years!

Why public libraries close

2008-09-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

Why do public libraries close? We celebrate with much fanfare the opening of new libraries, but we barely mark the closing of libraries. A study is now available that looked at the closure of public libraries from 1999 to 2003. The resulting paper is now available on WebJunction in various formats. You can view it here. The study was conducted by Florida State University and sponsored by OCLC. The researchers looked at why libraries closed and assessed the potential impact from the librarians' viewpoint.

Visual search engines

2008-09-11T11:03:00.000-07:00

As part of the recently held Statewide Reference Think Tank, participants were asked to look at several visual search engines. What's a visual search engine? It is one that presents its results with images instead of the usual description with link. You might see the image of a webpage or a picture.

Take a look at these four examples:

Searchme
RedZee
Bryns Brain
Middlespot

Have fun trying these out. Do the same search in each one and see how they compare.

Using photos legally in your library marketing

2008-09-10T08:56:00.000-07:00

Kathy Dempsey, one of the contributors to The 'M' Word blog, commissioned an article for the journal Marketing Library Services on the legalities of using photographs to market your library's services. The article is available for free via the web here. Read it and then review your own internal practices.

How do Californians look for/find information?

2008-08-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

Back in March, the California State Library had Zogby International conduct a survey asking library users what kind of information they look for, where do they start their searching, etc. This survey was a followup to the first survey done in January. Public library jurisdictions throughout California were asked to place a link to the survey on their website. Now the results are in!

"A Snapshot of How Californians Are Finding and Using Information" is now available as a PDF on the State Library's website. The document compares the results of the January survey vs. the March survey. While the results are not surprising, they are interesting. Print it out because you are going to want to take a good look at what users are doing to get the information they want and/or need!

Cool giveaways!

2008-08-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

Want some cool giveaways for your YA or adult users? Check out what the Libraryman has found. Admit it -- you've always wanted a strawberry-shaped flash drive!

Good advice!

2008-07-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

From The Consumerist (where "shoppers bite back"), a posting on "7 Ways Your Public Library Can Help You During a Bad Economy," written by a public librarian. Then scroll on down to read the many comments -- they range from "love my library" to "won't step into my library 'cause I hate it."

OCLC Report: From Awareness to Funding

2008-07-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

From Awareness to Funding: A Study of Library Support in America is OCLC's newest report. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded OCLC a grant "to explore attitudes and perceptions about library funding and to evaluate the potential of a large-scale marketing and advocacy campaign to increase public library funding in the U.S." The report details the findings of the study. Among them are these:

Library funding support is only marginally related to library visitation
Perceptions of librarians are an important predictor of library funding support
Voters who see the library as a 'transformational' force as opposed to an 'informational' source are more likely to increase taxes in its support

The report suggests that targeting marketing messages to the right segments of the voting public is key to driving increased support for U.S. public libraries.

Interested in reading the full report? It's available now and can be downloaded at no cost. If you prefer, you can purchase a copy.

Goodbye and hello

2008-07-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

Over the last few days I've had the pleasure of representing MCLS at two very different events. On Thursday, July 10, I attended the retirement reception for Fontayne Holmes. Fontayne is retiring from the Los Angeles Public Library after 34(!) years, the last few years as City Librarian. It was obvious that she will be missed. The accolades were many. And deservedly so -- she "grew up" as a librarian within LAPL -- a rarity nowadays. Congratulations to Fontayne on a great career. She has earned her retirement!

On Sunday, July 13, I went to the grand opening of the new Calabasas Library. It is a beautiful building, with a great staff. Even more important, the community appreciates and supports their library. Once the crowd was allowed into the building, the kids headed straight for the children's area where they flopped on the comfy furniture and started reading (or asked their parents to read to them). It was a pleasure to see. MCLS directors will get a chance to see the library when we have one of our Administrative Council meetings out there this year.

Got game? Complete this survey!

2008-07-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

From Jenny Levine (the information maven) comes word that Dr. Scott Nicholson, associate professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, is collecting "information about gaming programs run in libraries in 2007. This can be any type of game (board, card, video, chess, puzzle) ... The focus is on gaming programs, where the libraries schedule an event of some type featuring games, and on gaming programs that were run sometime during the 2007 calendar year."

If you had any kind of gaming program in 2007 and want to participate, here's a link to the survey. The survey is available until July 31st. Results will be presented at the 2008 ALA TechSource Gaming, Learning and Libraries symposium, scheduled for November 2-4, 2008.

You can see the presentation by Dr. Nicholson at last year's gaming symposium here.

Do SRPs help?

2008-07-11T14:08:00.000-07:00

According to the June 30, 2008 edition of Library Hotline, the Dominican University's Graduate School of Library and Information Science is "launching phase two of a three-year research project studying the impact that summer reading programs have on disadvantaged third and fourth grade students." The $290,224 Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant is designed to "answer whether the summer reading clubs offered by 95.2% of public libraries in the United States actually accomplish the goals of preventing summer learning loss in reading performance and sustaining a love of reading in children."

Since so many MCLS/Santiago/South State libraries have summer reading programs, this is a project that we'll want to keep an eye on. Findings will be reported next year. Participating library/school partnerships are located in Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, Oregon and Virginia.

MCLS Partners with Drexel Online

2008-07-11T11:55:00.000-07:00

MCLS is pleased to announce an exciting educational partnership with Drexel University Online! Staff at MCLS member libraries (and their immediate family members!) are entitled to receive a 20% tuition reduction on Drexel’s fully-accredited master’s and certificate programs from the Drexel’s iSchool.

In its "America's Best Graduate Schools" edition, U.S.News & World Report ranked the online Master of Science in Library and Information Science offered by The iSchool at Drexel 11th in the nation overall.

Winner of the 21st Century Best Practice Award for Distance Learning from the U.S. Distance Learning Association, Drexel University Online offers programs in a convenient online format. Earn the same respected degree that you would on campus, without career interruption, commuting, or fixed class hours.

PARTNERSHIP BENEFITS:
• Receive a 20% tuition reduction as a part of MCLS
• Choose from over 60 fully accredited degree programs
• Attend classes conveniently online
• Access course materials 24/7

PROGRAMS INCLUDE:

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Visit www.drexel.com/mcls to learn more about your partnership benefits and the educational opportunities available to you at Drexel University Online.

APPLY NOW! There’s no application fee when you apply online! Be sure to use your partner code “MCLS” to receive your discount.

Please contact Valerie Malinowski directly with any questions or if you need assistance with your online application. She looks forward to welcoming you to Drexel!

Valerie Malinowski
MCLS-Drexel Online Partnership Liaison
(215) 895-0915
vm97@drexel.edu

ALA in Anaheim musings

2008-07-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

Some musing and reactions from the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim:

1) Having seen how the conference "flowed", Anaheim's convention center was a great location! The weather was gorgeous and attendees were able to sit outside to have breakfast or lunch (try doing that in Chicago or DC in late June). Many colleagues from all over kept asking me if it was always that beautiful!

2) R. David Lankes is passionate about "participatory librarianship." Listening to him talk at the Future of Libraries session sponsored by ALA's Office of Information Technology Policy (OITP), I was struck by his commitment and passion for what he does. One of his ideas: Knowledge is created through conversation; Libraries are in the knowledge business; therefore libraries are in the conversation business. If you get a chance to hear him ever, don't pass it up.

3) Listening to the presenters talk about open source software reinforced the believe that open source does not mean free or even low cost! But it does mean better control of your software and ownership of your library's data.

4) It was a joy to attend the LJ/Gale Library of the Year reception to see a colleague, Lucie Osborn, accept the award on behalf of the Laramie County Public Library. Lucie's library serves a county population of about less than 90,000 and over 85% of those folks have library cards!

5) It was fun to re-connect with a colleague from Mexico, Jesus Lau, who was presenting on public libraries in Mexico. Many, many years ago, I taught a class on cataloging and classification at the Universidad de Guanajuato and his wife, Marta, was one of the students. Marta is now working on her PhD in education!

6) I got to play -- WII Fit (I slalom skied, but not very well), met Dave Kellett (of Sheldon fame), who signed a book for my husband (he's a big Sheldon fan), met Gene and Bill of Unshelved. What fun!

Overall, a wonderful conference but tiring!

Barcoding your library!

2008-06-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

Stacey Aldrich, our Deputy State Librarian, has an entry in her blog about Semapedia, an organization that has as its goal "to connect the virtual and physical world by bringing the right information from the internet to the relevant place in physical space." Huh?

Here's how it works -- let's say your library has an entry in Wikipedia. The article has information on the history of the library, how it is organized, services offered, special collections, etc. You can then create a Semapedia-Tag, a cellphone-readable physical hyperlink. That tag is linked to your library's Wikipedia entry. You then place the tag (yes, a physical tag, like a barcode or an RFID tag) on your building or on a light pole or wherever. Someone comes along with a cell phone that can read the tag. They can get to the entry in Wikipedia describing your library. Cool!

And, to follow the mental musings of Stacey, keep an eye on her blog, Idea Blah Blah.

Spin the green aspect!

2008-06-11T09:17:00.000-07:00

From The 'M' Word blog: Why not push the idea of saving money and gas by using your library? Kathy Dempsey gives several ideas for marketing your library in these economic times. Take a look and start pushing your library as a way to make their dollars (and time) go further!

Cool: Tag Galaxy

2008-06-09T15:48:00.000-07:00

From the Logic+Emotion blog (a blog about all sorts of interesting stuff related around marketing) comes a "heads up" about this cool fun web site called "Tag Galaxy." Tag Galaxy goes one step beyond a tag cloud -- it represents tags and relationships as a galaxy, with a central sun and planets revolving around that sun (my interpretation). The tags are those found on the photo web site Flickr. It uses Papervision3D and was done as a diploma thesis project.

For example, I put in the term "pasadena". Up pops a large central sun with planets of Huntington, Rose Parade, Rose Bowl, Architecture, Los Angeles, California, etc. I then clicked on Rose Parade and eventually I start to see all the pictures on Flickr that have Pasadena and Rose Parade as tags. An interesting use of technology.

The Mashed Up Library: OCLC's ALA Symposium

2008-05-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

Does your library have mash-ups (and I’m not talking about the potato kind of mash-ups)? If you want to learn more about mash-ups, especially relating to library services (where you mix data and functionality from several sources to create new services), you want to attend the FREE OCLC Symposium that will be held at ALA’s Annual Conference in Anaheim. Did I already mention that it is free?

Scheduled for Friday, June 27, the symposium will take place at the Marriott Anaheim, Platinum Ballroom 1-5 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. OCLC’s symposia are usually well worth the time! (Our own Stacey Aldrich was a speaker at one several years ago.)

The keynote speaker will be Michael Schrage, author of Shared Minds – The New Technologies of Collaboration. There will also be a panel of three librarians, all of whom have developed their own mash-ups. They will be Susan Gibbons (Univ. of Rochester (NY) River Campus Libraries), David Lee King (Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library) and Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran (Univ. of Minnesota, Rochester).

Short & Sweet Marketing

2008-04-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

The Calgary Public Library has a series of very short (15 secs.) videos that publicize the library. The videos are available on YouTube (where else!). Short and sweet, the videos feature a break dancer, a diving coach and a belly dancer. Take a look at them.

HP's Print On Demand service

2008-04-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

Hewlett Packard's Idea Lab has developed a print-on-demand service they are calling BookPrep. Think of the possibilities -- customers would be able to print books (new or out-of-print) with a few clicks. Take a look at the BookPrep website. Then start imagining a world where you'll be able to add an item to your collection by ordering it through a print-on-demand service, even though the item has been out-of-print for over a hundred years.

"The Expectation Economy"

2008-01-23T10:25:00.000-08:00

In George Needham's latest entry on It's All Good, he points us to the latest edition of Trendwatching. Entitled "The Expectation Economy," it focuses on the demanding consumer of today. Here's what caught George's eye (and mine):

"never before have consumers enjoyed doing research and 'competitive analysis' as much as they do now, and doing it far more diligently than most corporations do."

What does that mean for the library's consumers? And reference, especially second level reference? So what is "the expectation economy"? It is

"an economy inhabited by experienced, well-informed consumers from Canada to South Korea who have a long list of high expectations that they apply to each and every good, service and experience on offer.

Their expectations are based on years of self-training in hyperconsumption, and on the biblical flood of new-style, readily available information sources, curators and BS filters. Which all help them track down and expect not just basic standards of quality, but the 'best of the best'."

Think about it in terms of your own information needs.

Youth, the internet and everything (with apologies to Douglas Adams)

2008-01-23T08:52:00.000-08:00

I've come across two items within the last 2 days that have made me stop and think.

The first one is a study commissioned by the British Library and the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) entitled "Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future." The study was conducted by the University College London (UCL) CIBER group and looked at

"how the Google generation searches for information and the implications for the country's major research collections. The study will try to address the following questions:

whether or not as a result of the digital transition and resources being created digitally, young people, the "Google generation", are searching for and researching content in new ways and if so, how this will shape the way they research and search in the future;
whether or not new ways of searching and researching for content will prove to be any different from the way that existing researchers/scholars work"

The resulting paper is very interesting reading for those of us interested in reference, especially in-depth (e.g., second-level) reference done in libraries. I strongly recommend reading it. Only 35 pages long, the executive summary can be found here. For the entire set of documents, click here.

Note: A BIG THANK YOU to Stacey Aldrich, Deputy State Librarian, for sending me the original link!

The second item is last night's PBS Frontline episode, entitled "Growing Up Online." It "takes viewers inside the very public private worlds that kids are creating online, raising important questions about how the Internet is transforming childhood." The entire episode is available online here.

Note: A BIG THANK YOU to The Travelin' Librarian for alerting me to this one via his blog.

ALA Anaheim fun

2007-12-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

Today's ALA Marginalia entry entitled "2010 Money" has a bit of information on a fun activity planned for ALA Anaheim:

"Conference “Big Game”: The Great ALA Anaheim (ALAneheim) Mystery (prototype) A big game is a large-scale game that takes place in the real world. In essence, the environment around you becomes your gameboard, and things in it become props in the games. At the ALA 2008 Annual Conference, the game will be more of an information quest and clues will be hidden all over the conference campus - in meeting rooms, on the exhibit floor, in CogNotes, etc. Attendees will be able to sign up for a team on the conference wiki to play the game. Prizes will be awarded to the winners. The big game is a great way for our attendees to play and to create socializing opportunities at conference."

Start thinking of who you want on your team!

ALA initiatives

2007-12-14T07:50:00.000-08:00

Today's ALA Marginalia blog has an interesting posting on ALA's budgeting process (which is probably convoluted, given the size of the organization). What really caught my eye, other than the entire fascinating topic of budgets, was the statement that ALA has a Growth Fund. The Growth Fund is "a small piece of the ALA General Fund designated as “start up” support for projects that are intended to provide a return on the initial investment in a 2-3 year time-frame." In other words, ALA is quietly investing in R&D.

The posting goes on to list some of the Growth Fund projects being funded. Some are of particular interest to public libraries. For example,

"Magazine for the public to be distributed through libraries. The goal is to have a magazine, to be distributed directly to the public, and to be supported by advertising, that will answer the question “What is in the library for me?” It will be supported by an interactive website and an e-newsletter. A portal is under development to present the concept to potential advertisers, presenting the extensive focus group and other research that indicates that the magazine is needed. The hoped for launch is in about a year (late 2008, early 2009)."

The immediate question that comes to mind is this: If the magazine comes to be, how will it dovetail with the marketing that your library is already doing? We should all be keeping an eye on this effort because "late 2008" isn't that far away.

OCLC's Research Holiday Greetings

2007-12-12T07:47:00.000-08:00

If you enjoy seeing what a bunch of "research types" can do when they put their collective intelligence to work, check out this year's "holiday card" from the OCLC Programs and Research folks. They've outdone themselves this year! Click on any of the terms in the cloud tag on the upper left side and you'll see the pie chart change. Then scroll over the pie chart and you'll see the different language groupings for the word/phrase. Click on the pie chart itself and you'll see a display of the appropriate titles based on their Dewey classification. A fun way to show off what they are working on!

Wii safety, GI Joe-style

2007-12-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

Today I came across this YouTube video demonstrating the importance of safely using the Wii remotes when playing! The filming was done at Orange County Public Library (the Florida OCPL, not the California one).

ALA Annual is coming

2007-12-03T13:45:00.000-08:00

Gosh, after viewing this video produced to entice folks to come out to our backyard for ALA Annual, I'm wishing I was coming out as a visitor! Take a look -- guest appearances from several notable California librarians and one or two notable Disney locations and characters. I guess I'm going to have to make a trek to at least one or two of the theme parks so I can sound as if I've been there when folks ask me about Anaheim at Midwinter.

"Kindle-ing" expectations

2007-12-03T08:16:00.001-08:00

This past weekend I was up in the Bay Area visiting with family after a meeting in Menlo Park on Friday. While we were riding the BART train back from San Francisco to El Cerrito, my husband's nephew asked me what I thought of the Kindle, the ebook reader recently released by Amazon. (BTW, Amazon refers to it as a "wireless reading device," and it is out of stock according to the Amazon website.) Jim asked me for my opinion because he knows I'm a librarian and like technology and related geeky stuff. I should point out that I've been buying ebooks and putting them on my PDA for several years. I have over 100 ebooks loaded on my Palm Tungsten E2, so I'm not adverse to the concept of ebooks.

I haven't really explored the Kindle, so I wasn't able to offer much of an opinion. But this morning, Lorcan Dempsey, OCLC's head of research, has a posting on this very topic. And it is an interesting read. He got hold of one through OCLC and was able to take it home overnight. He let his son use it. The posting is really about his son's reaction to the Kindle. It is quite different from the few reviews that I've read so far. And it is yet another example of what is to come -- his son wasn't disappointed with the lack of bells and whistles, only with the title selection available to date. Read the entire posting here.

Fried & Todd Interviewed by ALA

2007-11-07T14:27:00.000-08:00

Helen Fried, acting director of Orange County Public Library, and Margaret Todd, director of County of Los Angeles Public Library, were interviewed by American Libraries, on 10/26, about the effect that the fires have had on some of their branches and the services those two library systems provide. You can view the interviews here.

One use for Twitter

2007-11-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

If you've been wondering how to use Twitter or if it has any uses in a library environment, here's one example: The Nebraska Library Commission is using it to highlight the questions received by their reference folks (the equivalent of our own 2nd level reference service). They are not posting the responses. Nor are they identifying who sent the question in. But what this twittering does is to provide users with an idea of the kinds of questions the NLC reference folks handle!

Open phones?

2007-11-06T07:54:00.000-08:00

Many of you know that I'm a believer in the open source concept: Drupal, Plone, OpenOffice, etc. Yesterday, The Official Google Blog (yes, that's it name) had a posting entitled "Where's my Gphone?" While Google isn't really developing a Gphone (according to the blog), they are working with the Open Handset Alliance and Android to "create an entirely new mobile experience for users, with new applications and new capabilities we can’t imagine today."

The Open Handset Alliance is "a group of more than 30 technology and mobile companies who have come together to accelerate innovation in mobile and offer consumers a richer, less expensive, and better mobile experience."

As these new capabilities develop, where will we as information providers be? Will we be ready and willing to embrace the changes which will happen at an ever-increasing rate?

Love your Library video

2007-11-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

I just came across this YouTube video from the John C. Fremont (those of you who went to the closing luncheon at CLA earlier this week heard Sarah Powell talk about the Fremont expedition cartographer) Library in Florence, Colorado. It's simple, short but highlights what libraries are all about. BTW, Florence is a small town west/southwest of Colorado Springs.

What a difference a year makes!

2007-11-01T15:47:00.001-07:00

Okay, so the original song actually says "what a difference a day makes, 24 little hours..." It was a year ago today that I walked into the MCLS offices to start as the new Executive Director. And what a ride it has been so far. What has happened so far in the last 365 days? Well...

-- I've gotten to know a great, talented staff.
-- I've gotten to know a dedicated group of library directors and their staffs throughout the LA/Orange counties area.
-- I've reconnected with old acquaintances and friends who had moved from Colorado to California years ago.
-- I've learned to drive those LA freeways, which aren't nearly as bad as everyone outside the LA area warned me they would be!
-- I've learned that I don't have to worry about meetings being scheduled in the middle of January because we don't have to deal with potential snowstorms.

What fun this job is! I'm lucky to be doing something that I enjoy.

OCLC's Privacy report available for purchase

2007-10-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my post of 10/25, OCLC's newest report, "Sharing, Privacy and Trust in our Networked World," is available. You can purchase the report for $19. Go to this link if you want to buy copies. It is available at no charge as a PDF download.

Reports, reports, reports!

2007-10-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

All of a sudden it seems that there are several reports out that are relevant to what we do and our users.

Let's start with the latest offering from OCLC: a membership report entitled "Sharing, Privacy and Trust in our Networked World." According to OCLC, this report explores the web "of social participation and cooperation on the Internet and how it may impact the library’s role, including:

The use of social networking, social media, commercial and library services on the Web
How and what users and librarians share on the Web and their attitudes toward related privacy issues
Opinions on privacy online
Libraries’ current and future roles in social networking"

The report is available for free as a PDF file by going to the link given above. It will also be available in print format beginning Monday, 10/29.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project's latest report is entitled "Parents and Teen Internet Use." The report focuses on parents of teens and how the parents regulate use of the internet at home.

And another report from the Pew folks: "Broadband: What's All the Fuss About?" This report finds that users who have broadband available at home are much more likely to participate in social networking via the internet. Take a look -- the report is only 3 pages but worth reading.

Analogy: Banks and libraries

2007-10-19T13:02:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine, Michael Sauers, aka The Travelin' Librarian, does a lot of presentations at library-related conferences. One of the things I like about Michael is that even when he is at a state conference as a presenter, he takes the opportunity to attend programs being done by other speakers at those conferences. He just attended the South Dakota Library Association's conference where one of the speakers was Dr. Rick Melmer from the South Dakota Dept. of Education. In his talk, Dr. Melmer used the example of how banks have changed to meet the needs/wants of their customers. Michael took that analogy and made it visual. Take a look here.

Virtual reference, the European way

2007-10-17T10:33:00.001-07:00

One of the presentations done at the Collaborative Virtual Reference Symposium (see posting below) was by two Swedes, Ulf-G Nilsson and Magnus Illvered, from Jonkoping University in Sweden. They talked about a virtual reference project that involves libraries from Sweden, Norway and Finland!

Today, Pam Alger sent me a link to the Ask a Librarian, which Ulf-G and Magnus demo'd at the symposium. If you are interested in virtual reference, take a look at this site. It is clean, easy to use, and most importantly, to the point.

Virtual reference conference presentations

2007-10-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

LibrarianInBlack reminded me today the the presentations made at the 2007 Collaborative Virtual Reference Symposium (held July 31-August 1, 2007, in Denver) have been posted on the web. There were some great presentations including some from Sweden, New Zealand and Canada! Take a look at them here.

Touch screen technology at its best

2007-10-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Stephen Abram, I have been alerted to this coolest of new developments -- a touch screen that takes the technology to where it should be. The original article appeared in FastCompany.com's February 2007 issue: Can't Touch This. But if you want to have a major case of techno-lust, view this video. I want one of these.

IT Trends Identified

2007-10-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

What's coming down the pike in the area of IT? Gartner, Inc., analysts have identified 10 trends to pay attention to during the next year or so. These include

Green IT: The concept that potential regulations and continued capacity growth may impact your use of power. Add to that the idea of social responsibility and your IT decisions may start becoming more interesting to make!

Mashups and composite apps: According to Gartner, mashup technologies will evolve significantly over the next 5 years.

Social software: Expect continuing innovation and new entrants, as well as possible consolidation as the field becomes more competitive.

Read the entire list here. And, as you are reading, consider how these trends will impact what your library will be doing over the next few years in the field of IT.

ALA's Treasurer blog

2007-10-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

If you are a member of ALA (as I've been since the 1970's!), you know it is a big bureaucratic organization. And with the big organizational structure comes big financial headaches. ALA's newest treasurer, Rod Hersberger, has started a blog to keep the membership informed of the financial end of things at ALA. You can view his blog here.

For example, if you have participated in conference planning at all, either at the state, regional, or national levels, you probably have been made aware that conferences are supposed to be a significant source of revenue for a membership organization (such as ALA or CLA here in California). Rod has a posting with an attachment that shows what the revenues for the 2007 Washington annual conference were and how they compare to the 2006 conference in New Orleans. This is interesting stuff, folks!

His most recent posting indicates that ALA has long-term investments valued at over $31 million! Now that's a healthy investment portfolio.

Catalog choices (paper catalogs, that is)

2007-10-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

I normally wouldn't post about this new website, but it's a great idea. With the holiday season fast approaching, we are all going to be inundated with paper catalogs from companies. If you dislike getting buried in catalogs (and if you're like me, you don't even look at most of them), go to Catalog Choice! There you can register and then tell them what merchants you don't want sending you catalogs. Environmentally and economically this is a win-win.

Think of it as a "do-not-call" list for paper catalogs. I'm looking forward to having less to recycle!

Library closing??

2007-10-08T08:04:00.000-07:00

When the Salinas Public Library was threatened with closure because of budget woes, there was a national outcry since Salinas is famous because of John Steinbeck. The Covina Public Library has no John Steinbeck to help publicize its budget woes. But closing the library has become a looming reality because of the citizen's vote in March 2007 to not renew the $5.5 million annual utility tax.

Covina Public Library's budget in the current fiscal year is $1.3 million. That would drop to $10,000 next fiscal year. According to Roger Possner, that's barely enough to keep the grounds maintained in hopes the library will re-open.

It is a shame that the residents of Covina may lose a needed community service. Those folks who use the library to connect with the world will have to find alternatives. The children who enjoy participating in the annual summer reading programs will have to entertain themselves elsewhere. The school kids who get homework help will have to find it on their own. And those folks who are learning to read through the library's literacy programs -- well, since the library is closed there won't be a collection available for them to read anyway!

Public safety is important. It is hard to chose between funding the police department or the library. But libraries provide a safe harbor for many -- a place to go where you are not likely to be threatened, a place where you can travel without having to fork over money, a place to let your imagination roam free. The Covina Public Library is much more than just a collection of books, films and music!

It really is too bad that Covina doesn't have a John Steinbeck.

Wii Bowling Tournament @ the library?

2007-10-04T10:24:00.000-07:00

Here's an example of how one business (a retirement community) has incorporated gaming into their activities. How about a Wii bowling tournament at your library? (Warning: This is an ad for a set of retirement communities, BUT the concept could be adopted by libraries to promote activities available.)

Thanks, TravelinLibrarian, for the "heads up" on this one.

Technology at its best ???

2007-10-04T07:32:00.000-07:00

According to Network World, yesterday the feds decided to delete the domain "ca.gov", not realizing (or ....) that it would shut down the State of California web site! Now, that is a big, big "ooops". Bureaucracy at work.

State Library's Research Bureau

2007-09-24T11:46:00.001-07:00

As I stated in an earlier posting today, last week I was up in Sacramento. While most of the presentations centered around the Library Development Services Bureau and what they can do for the public libraries in the state, we also heard presentations from several other groups. The one that I found most interesting was the presentation by Dean Misczynski, California Research Bureau.

The California Research Bureau (CRB) is similar to the Library of Congress' Congressional Research Service. The staff of the CRB "provides nonpartisan research services to the Governor and his staff, to both houses of the legislature, and to other state elected officials. These services include preparation of reports and memoranda on current policy issues, which might cover topics such as the history of the issue, experiences and proposals in other states, case studies and examples, data analysis, and development of legislative proposals. This work might be confidential to the requestor, or might result in a published report." As Dean stated in his presentation, in order to survive, he and his staff of researchers have to be militantly nonpartisan!

Those published reports are available for your use in answering reference questions or as informational items you might want to send to your library boards or other governing agencies.

The CRB also has a service that pulls together the latest studies and reports on matters of current legislative or administration interest. For example, the Sept. 5, 2007 issue of Studies in the News has links to a survey on gang enforcement tactics.

If your reference folks aren't familiar with the work of the CRB, have them check out their website. There's a lot of information there that we can all use.

Automated book dispenser

2007-09-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

Last week I attended the California State Library's "Orientation for New Library Directors." I learned about a new way of dispensing library materials -- the Bokomaten, "a unique concept in which the process of borrowing and returning books is completely automated."

The Bokomaten was developed by a Swedish company, Distec AB, and is manufactured in Italy. Depending on the model chosen, you can load it up with between 500 and 1200 books. Using their library card, a user can check out and return items. Think of the Bokomaten as an ATM for library materials!

Want to learn more about the Bokomaten (they need a catchier name in English)? There are a couple of videos available on YouTube from the Westchester Library System showing how it works.

You'll need to get your Friends group working on fundraising for this machine -- cost is about $100,000 PLUS shipping from Italy (estimated to be about $3,000). But think of the possiblities of putting one in a high traffic area of your community!

Emerging leaders seminar

2007-09-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

Do you have someone on your staff who has great leadership potential? Do you want to give them that push forward to help them develop their leadership skills and abilities?

Through a grant from the California State Library, InfoPeople is currently soliciting applications for the Eureka! Leadership Institute. Modeled on various successful programs including the Snowbird Leadership Institute and the Urban Library Council's Executive Leadership Institute, this Leadership Institute will be held April 27-May 2, 2008 at the Kona Kai Resort in San Diego.

Attendees will be chosen through a competitive application process. Every applicant has to have the backing of their library plus three letters of recommendation. The deadline for applying is Wednesday, October 31, 2007.

If you are interested in applying or if you know someone who should apply, start the application process now. Complete details including the usual FAQ are available at the link above.

Eliminating Barriers webinar

2007-09-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, 9/19/07, OCLC broadcast a webinar entitled "Eliminating Barriers to Service with Lightweight Chat." While it was slanted to promoting OCLC's new lightweight patron chat (known as Chat 2) addition to the QuestionPoint service, it is worth listening to.

Speakers included
-- Catherine Durivage, Library Program Director of the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library, who provided a general overview of the InfoEyes project, a virtual reference service for the visually impaired;
--Joe Thompson (Project Coordinator) and Julie Strange (Operations Supervisor) of Maryland AskUsNow! Joe provided an overview of the long search in Maryland for a truly accessible service while Julie showed screen shots of QP's lightweight chat's patron interface and talked about Maryland's plans for implementing Chat 2 statewide.
--Heather Muller, former coordinator of Washington's statewide virtual reference service who provided feedback from visually impaired patrons who have used Chat 2 with screen readers.

If you are involved in reference, if you use the AskNow service, or if you want to keep up with technologies that help provide reference for the visually impaired, take the time to view this webinar.

Celebrations and anniversaries

2007-09-19T11:17:00.001-07:00

Are you celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day? Argghhh, matey, 'tis today. (I feel like I should have a parrot sitting on my shoulder.) Just think of it -- an entire day to use phrases like "shiver me timbers" or "loaded to the gunwales."

And, speaking of celebrations, yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the "birth" of the emoticon we all know and love -- the smiley face: :-) ! I have to say, I'm surprised that anyone would admit to having invented the smiley face. And, I'm even more surprised that someone noted the date so that it could be celebrated 25 years later. Those folks at Carnegie-Mellon University sure know how to have fun!

Virtual reference thoughts

2007-09-19T11:02:00.001-07:00

I just read a post on Andrew Pace's blog (Hectic Pace) that made me stop and think about virtual reference. (For the record, Pace writes a monthly column for American Libraries entitled "Technically Speaking.")

His latest posting "Virtually Virtual Reference" asks the question "why not simply IM?" (IM = instant messaging), rather than using the full-blown virtual reference services? In view of the second-level reference project going on in California, this is a timely question. And one that should be addressed within the project.

Marketing aimed at YOUR audience

2007-09-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Michael Stephens' Tame the Web blog, I was reminded of a marketing campaign being done by the Wyoming State Library (WSL). WSL won a John Cotton Dana award this year for the campaign with the theme "Bringing the World to Wyoming." Wyoming may be a small state in terms of population (less than 600,000 residents!) but the State Library wants to make sure that they all know about the many services offered by their public libraries. To do that, they have designed a marketing campaign that is designed to appeal to the residents. Take a look at their billboard ads, listen to their radio spots, and read their bumper stickers here.

Think of the marketing that your library does. Is it "personalized" to appeal to your potential users, the ones who aren't walking into your library right now because they aren't aware of the potential? Maybe an image of the Eiffel Tower with a windmill on top isn't right for your library, but there likely is another creative image out there that will grab their attention.

More on open source software

2007-08-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

Two things have caught my eye in the last 24 hours concerning open source software (OSS):

ALA's TechSource has recently published an issue of Library Technology Reports entitled Open Source Software for Libraries. This is a timely topic, since open source is gaining more and more converts. If you're thinking of using open source software, this title is worth looking into! The authors are three long-time proponents (by OSS standards) of open source: Casey Bisson, Jessamyn West, Ryan Eby.

And today I was casually perusing the INCOLSA blog (note: INCOLSA is a library cooperative located Indiana). They've announced that they have allocated funds to "move the Indiana Shared Library Catalog to Koha, an open-source integrated library system application." The Indiana Shared Library Catalog (ISLC) is a multi-library catalog that currently uses SirsiDynix software. INCOLSA's timeline to move to Koha is ambitious: they plan "to move the ISLC to a member-owned, member-supported service model on 1 June 2008." That's less than a year away!

If INCOLSA succeeds in moving to Koha, that makes at least two statewide projects using open source software: Indiana and Georgia.

BTW, MCLS continues to move forward on our web site re-design using Drupal, another open source software. Our vendor is now in the coding stage. I'm very excited about all the features the new site is going to have! It will be a great improvement for you (the actual users) over what we have now.

All a' twitter!

2007-08-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it is difficult to figure out what to do with the latest, greatest, geekiest technologies! Twitter is one of those. Twitter answers the question "what are you doing?" But for those of us in libraries the questions become "how can we use it in our work environment?" and "is there a real use for this?"

The Nebraska Library Commission has come up with one use for Twitter. They are using it to let folks know the "the kind of questions that librarians at a state library answer every day." Want to check it out? You can here. They only post questions, not answers, since Twitter has a character limit of 140.

What a cool way to show the wide variety of questions the State Library's Reference staff handle. Hmmm...how can we do something similar?

Beloit list: what the 18 yr olds have grown up with

2007-08-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

For the last 10 years, Beloit College (Wisconsin) has published the "Mindset List" -- a list that helps put the incoming freshman class in perspective. This list gives us an idea of what the 18 yr olds have grown up with and what has helped shaped their view of the world. The one for the Class of 2011 is out. These are the kids who have just graduated from high school, are about to enter college, have just joined the military or have entered the workforce.

In their lifetimes, they're unlikely to have "rolled down" a car window, Nelson Mandela has always been free, and U2 has always been something other than a spy plane. (Okay, I'm feeling old now!)

To see the complete list, click here.

Unshelved is on target!

2007-08-16T11:16:00.001-07:00

I don't know how many of you read Unshelved on a regular basis. Unshelved is "a comic strip about a library." I've been a fan for several years.

The series that started last Monday (8/13/07) is very much on target. MCLS is in the midst of re-designing our web site. It's a slow, painful and not-inexpensive process. If only we had someone on the staff we could have designated as the "new website designer." But our new site will have an extra helping of web 2.0 when it finally is finished.

Long Beach's New Branch

2007-08-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Aug. 11, I had the pleasure of going to the grand opening of the Mark Twain Library -- Long Beach Public Library's new branch. What a gorgeous building and what a GRAND opening!

A good-sized crowd sat patiently through the speeches. The many kids in the audience kept asking when they would able to get in and start enjoying the new facilities. But the presence of Dorothy (with Toto), the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion helped keep the children entertained.

If you are in the neighborhood, take a look at this new green facility. It is attractive and much larger than the building it replaced. To see more pictures of the facility, go here.

Congratulations to Eleanore Schmidt and her staff!

New Zealand's AnyQuestions service

2007-08-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

One of the sessions at the CVRSymposium focused on virtual reference services in other countries. Kini Piper from the AnyQuestions service (AnyQuestions.co.nz/UiaNgaPatai.co.nz) in New Zealand described her project. The AnyQuestions service is staffed by public libraries, the National Library of New Zealand and folks from the education sector. It is available in English and Te Reo Maori (the second official language of New Zealand).

What's so interesting about this service? It is available to all New Zealand school students (between ages of 5 and 18) but operated by the public library community. It focuses on supporting the New Zealand curriculum. Their guiding service principle is "information literacy," with the aim of teaching students independent online searching skills rather than handing them answers.

They currently have 103 VR librarians throughout New Zealand. When they look to add new VR librarians, they focus on finding people who are comfortable with the technology and are enthusiastic about providing the service in a virtual environment. They also look for people who enjoy working with school children. As Kini put it, it's easier to teach someone how to do reference than it is to get them to enjoy working with children in a virtual setting!

Joe Janes' Keynote at Collaborative VR Symposium

2007-08-03T15:31:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are my notes from Janes' opening talk at the CVRSymposium held earlier this week. One of the most interesting aspects of his talk is the fact that many of the quotes he used were from the early 20th century, although they are applicable and valid today.

Joe Janes (jwj@u.washington.edu) – Title: Why collaborate? 3^rd Collaborative Virtual Refeence Symposium

Why is collaboration a good idea? Started out showing pictures of several libraries: his local branch library on opening day, the central Seattle Public Library, the main Univ. of Washington library

Quotes from Samuel Green and Margaret Hutchins on “what is reference?”

Green (1876): we do reference because there’s too much stuff and it’s hard to find. Talks about database searching, evaluating resources, BI, consumer info, advice, alert services, readers’ advisory, medical/legal disclaimers. Be pleasant, mingle freely. Don’t make “readers” dependent. No POV on politics.

Reference is in transition as the information environment changes:

--Continually evolving technologies, allowing/fostering increased self-investigation
--Constrained $$, competitive and volatile information marketplace (publisher & consumer)
--Increased focus on privacy & intellectual freedom
--Perceptions of libraries & librarians, increasing marginalization
--Changes in society

GOOD reference adapts to changing environment.

What we are best at

Our traditional strengths:

--Service orientation
--Determining needs & understanding context
--Multiple modes of searching
--Evaluation of resources
--Know when to stop
--Education about the process
--Tool-making

Go with, build on these, in the library that is now!

We are best at helping people determine what they need. Knowing when to stop searching is something we need to keep in mind.

What is Reference for?

A better question! The circumstances which gave rise to it:

--Increased #, variety of information resources
--Increase in complexity of those resources
--Hence, increased difficulty in finding resources, information within
--Increase in # & diversity of people using libraries; wider range of needs, enquiries, sophistication in searching

A new technology that widens access to the library:

The availability of the Telephone: raised lots of issues & questions

--Important v. less important questions, people
--Centralized or dispersed?
--Different staffing models?
--Dedicated information resources?
--Policies?
--Different levels of service?

Service reflects contexts (tech, social, economic, professional)

Collaboration: the old days

Idea of “one great library” (ALA: Eliot 1902, Gould 1909) largely around collections, scarce books, regional/national libraries, etc. (Dead Sea of books which occasionally come back to life)

Why? Efficiency and economy, but …
More stuff to more people
Combination & organizations are “watchwords of the day” & we can’t be left behind
Supplement, not replace, local libraries!

Quote from Wyer regarding records, catalogs and service. Making arguments about cooperation and service.

1940s Wilson Bulletin had a feature on “Fugitives”: questions submitted & answered by readers. This was expanded into a cooperative project by Peabody Lib. School where students answered ??s to gain experience & to help smaller libraries.

Weakness: “Emphasis on very unusual questions & not enough on questions…”

Hutchins (1944): “it is frequently the custom” to exchange reference services in larger cities. Some things to consider:

--Asking for help from another library is a delicate matter requiring tact (ask as a favor, not a right)
--Should the inquirer or librarian ask the “new “ library for help?
--Isolated or ongoing project?
--Can inquirer write intelligible letter?
--Does the library budget permit correspondence?
--Is there a relationship between the libraries?

Old Arguments for collaboration:

Efficiency & economy first, last & foremost
Speed
Clarity
Vision
Training & eduction
Quality (but only obliquely, implicitly)

How do these arguments hold up today???

Efficiency & economy first, last & foremost: argument still being made today
Speed
Clarity
Vision: yes, this is there.
Training & education: A win, very valid.
Quality (but only obliquely, implicitly)

Collaborative value: Collaboration has got to make it better.

Speed? If the inquirer can wait for correspondence, then there is almost no limit to resources …”
Collaboration implies time, regardless of mode (email, phone, chat, FTF)
Implies we will always have the pressure of time.
Implies people will have to be willing to wait … unless, for example, we acknowledge and build on that willingness as a focus
Collaboration increases the time it takes to provide an answer.

Clarity? “improving the question”; how can a collaborative service per se do that, without appearing redundant, feckless or frustrating? Who does the interview and how is that interview moved forward? How do you ask the same questions again without appearing like you don’t know what you are doing?

Quality? Chance to show off our collective resources, yes, to provide high(er)-quality responses, but also a chance to show off our skills, can only do that with deeper, more meaningful questions.

Collaborative value (today)

Contemporary collaborative services also get us ubiquity of time and place – this is a vision argument

Increased service, yes

But also increased vision of what a service is and can be, both for them and for us!

A new vision, and reflection of information environment today!

A collaborative service has to be better, save time, foster better questions and provide better responses

“[reference] has become an indispensable public service because it saves the money of the individual .. and by furnishing skilled bibliographical aid in the use of reference materials it saves money” -- this is a quote from quite a while back!

Collaboration has to be better:
--Save time, foster better questions and provide better responses
--Provide a better experience for them and for us

We do such a great job in person … and we have to be better online. When they walk in the door, we have them. They’ve already made the effort to get to us. When someone engages with us digitally, it is very easy for them to leave and not return! We have to be better online, superior to that service we provide in FTF sessions.

Thus, a collaborative online service has to be one of the very best services a library offers! There is so much riding on this. They will go away and never come back in the online environment.

Why should we collaborate? Quality, vision, clarity, ubiquity. To provide the best level of service somewhere and everywhere.

Collaborative virtual reference conference

2007-08-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the 2007 Collaborative Virtual Reference Symposium held July 31-August 1 in Denver. The meeting was most EXCELLENT! The number of attendees was limited to 75, ensuring that there would be lots of opportunity to exchange information. My only regret is that the Colorado Rockies were not in town, so I was unable to take in a game at Coors Field!

A bit about the attendees: although most of the folks there were from the U.S., there were attendees from Canada, New Zealand and Sweden! Twenty-one states were represented, including six attendees from California. Five of the California attendees were from academic institutions. I was the only "public library" person there from California!

Later on today (or maybe tomorrow) I will post my "stream of consciousness" notes that I took. And I will also provide links to the presentations as they become available over the next 2-3 weeks. I believe that Joe Janes' keynote address was taped and will be made available as a podcast eventually. His was a great talk to get the conversation started at this meeting!

What are your CEOs reading?

2007-07-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine sent me the link to this article that appeared in the Saturday New York Times business section: C.E.O. Libraries Reveal Keys to Success. What is interesting (to me) is the great variety that the interviewed C.E.O.s prefer and that their libraries tend not be stuffed with books on how to compete! Take a look at the article. And what are you currently reading? I've just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (hasn't everyone?) and have decided to re-read the entire series in order (too much detail that isn't in the movies).

Open Library

2007-07-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Christie Brandau, Kansas State Library, I've just found out about a rather ambitious project: The Open Library. Take a look -- here's some information taken from their website:

"What if there was a library which held every book? Not every book on sale, or every important book, or even every book in English, but simply every book—a key part of our planet's cultural legacy.

"First, the library must be on the Internet. No physical space could be as big or as universally accessible as a public web site. The site would be like Wikipedia—a public resource that anyone in any country could access and that others could rework into different formats.

"Second, it must be grandly comprehensive. It would take catalog entries from every library and publisher and random Internet user who is willing to donate them. It would link to places where each book could be bought, borrowed, or downloaded. It would collect reviews and references and discussions and every other piece of data about the book it could get its hands on.

"But most importantly, such a library must be fully open. Not simply "free to the people," as the grand banner across the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh proclaims, but a product of the people: letting them create and curate its catalog, contribute to its content, participate in its governance, and have full, free access to its data. In an era where library data and Internet databases are being run by money-seeking companies behind closed doors, it's more important than ever to be open."

Wow! Now, that is ambitious. What do y'all think -- will this fly?

Second level reference and virtual reference

2007-07-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

A recent posting on the blog LibrarianInBlack addresses the question of continuing to fund the statewide virtual reference service AskNow. I propose that it's time to stop focusing on what's happened to AskNow. We all know that second level reference (which includes the virtual reference component) in California is in a state of flux. We would all like to have a new model up and running already. But it takes time to replace something that has been in place for such a long time.

All of you who work in a government agency (be in state, county or city) know that change does not happen overnight. But changes to second level reference are coming. And I (for one) hope that some kind of virtual reference service is a part of that change. But second level reference should encompass more than IM, web-based virtual reference, or chat. It should give users a variety of options for submitting their requests/questions, including oldfashioned "can I just write it out on a form and give it to you?"

Did Ruth Metz's report recommend "folding all reference services in to QuestionPoint's software" as LIB states in her blog? I don't think so. What was recommended is a single portal for all users (both the public and library staff). What form (or forms) that single portal takes is yet to be determined. That is the way it should be -- technology is changing too fast to have us focus on a single methodology at this time. What works now will probably be out of date in 2 years.

It is time to get past the question of "how much more use would we have had if we had a coordinator for AskNow?" Yes, the successful statewide virtual reference projects (Colorado is the one I'm most familiar with) have staff who are constantly pushing the services. And, yes, the State Library here made a decision to not fund staffing last year. So be it. We've got an opportunity to shape the future of reference within California, a future that should include a variety of formats to meet the needs of a diverse population. Let's get on with it!

March of the Librarians, part 2

2007-07-17T07:47:00.001-07:00

If you missed March of the Librarians, part 1, here's your chance to catch the sequel. No, you don't have to know the intricate plot turns of part 1 to enjoy part 2.

When ALA comes to Anaheim next summer, make believe you are on camera because you just might be!

And, if you missed the first one, here's where you can find it.

Thank you, Christa from Nebase, for pointing me to the sequel!

Who's doing what on the internet

2007-07-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

Business Week had a short article on focusing your web strategies by looking at what your consumers are doing online. That's an idea we can apply to our own marketing. Do we have programs that are aimed at a particular age group? Is that age group likely to use social software? If they aren't using social software, find another way to get the information to them. The full-sized chart can be viewed here.

Oh, those hard gut-wrenching decisions!

2007-07-03T11:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we have to make hard decisions and sometimes we don't. With the start of the new fiscal year at MCLS, we are faced with the question of "how do we answer the phones?"

What! you exclaim. Why are we worrying about how we greet you on the phone when you call us? Because we now are also the administrative/fiscal agent for another system, 49-99 Library System. Do we add "49-99" to the litany we recite of "MCLS, Santiago, South State"? Or, we do go with something simpler?

Frankly, I didn't even realize this might be a problem until the staff here started asking me what I wanted them to say!

Well, simple won out! We've decided on using the simple (yet elegant) "Library systems". Don't be startled or surprised when you call and hear us greet you with "Library systems..." This is a greeting even I will be able to remember!!

Blogging and loss of privacy?

2007-07-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

Why do folks blog? On a professional level, I decided to do it to share information, sites, experiences, etc, related to what I do, where I work, and the library folks I interact with. On a personal level (yes, I have a non-work-related personal blog), I do it to share information with a wide network of friends, acquaintances and family I have across the country and overseas (a nephew lives in Spain).

Courtesy of a friend of mind, The Travelin' Librarian, I listened to a podcast of a radio program that aired on WBUR, a Boston NPR station. The program is On Point and is hosted by Tom Ashbrook. This particular program was entitled The End of the Private Life and aired on June 14, 2007 and featured Carlin Flora (Associate Editor at Psychology Today), Irina Kendal (a lifelogger and chef), Gordon Bell (principal researcher at Microsoft and creator of "MyLifeBits" blog), and Sherry Turkle ("cybershrink" and Prof. of Sociology at MIT).

This is worth listening to -- an interesting discussion of why people blog, why they are willing to put their life experiences out there for all to read about and comment on. If you don't blog, this will help you understand why we do it!

Is the Library Open?: OCLC Symposium

2007-06-23T10:58:00.000-07:00

OCLC's symposium has become a fixture at the Annual Conference. This year's title was "Is the library open?" and featured three excellent speakers. The actual topics addressed centered around the issues of information property law, copyright, digital communication, intellectual property and user privacy rights in relation to library policies. The session was recorded and is likely to be available on OCLC's web site. Should you take the time to view it? Yes.

The speakers were very engaging and educational. Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and professor of privacy law at Georgtown University Law Center, spoke about the many issues that EPIC works on and why we should be concerned about the exchange of user information that is becoming more and more prevalent in today's internet world.

SivanVaidhyanathan, a cultural historian, media scholar and soon to be professor at the University of Virginia, spoke about privacy issues and how the expanding use of surveillance cameras in cities and towns is eroding our expectation of privacy in our everyday lives.

The last speaker, Mary Minow, is familiar to California librarians. She focused on how the topics addressed by Marc and Siva apply to what is going on in libraries.

If you do get the opportunity to view the recording of these presenations, do it!

2nd level reference

2007-06-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of you remember a commercial that ran about seven years ago for the IT company EDS (you know, Ross Perot's old company). The commercial was basically about building an airplane in the sky as it was flying with passengers in it.

The discussions going on right now in California about second level reference and how to move it into the 21st century remind me very much of this commercial. The documents that are available from Ruth Metz on the State Library's web site don't give us much detail. They present a concept.

In essence, we are being asked to build a new second level reference service as we are using it -- kind of like building an airplane as it is flying (but not as dangerous). What's scary is the unknown -- for the most part, we like certainty, we like to know where we're going, we like knowing the parameters. In this project, the parameters are very fluid. We kind of know where we're going, but the destination is changing as we're going toward it.

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm excited about the project. We all agree that we need to do something. Now we just need to get going and get doing, even if we make some mistakes along the way.

BTW, if you haven't seen the airplane commercial, you might want to take a look at it. It's entertaining. Even more entertaining is the herding cats commercial that EDS first debuted during the 2000 Superbowl. To this day, it remains my favorite commercial (which is saying a lot since I usually mute commercials).