| Flock to the Library |
March 28, 2008Getting Back on TrackMy excuse for not blogging… too many reference questions! Here is a link to a video about reference questions. Although I haven’t been asked about nerve gas, (this week anyway), I have been recently asked “what would happen if I ate metal?”, “If I wear a woman’s size 7 shoe, what size would that be in mens?”, the ever so popular, “where are single women in western mass?”, and my favorite of the week “how can I make sure I am going to like a movie before I take it home?” (hopefully when the guy figures that out he can call and tell me!). January 8, 2008Searching… searching…searching…I tried out a few other search engines. Ugh. I just can’t stop googling. I tried to find www.nebikeconsulting.com (which, yeah, is another shameless plug… but the website is updated, and it is great looking now!) by typing in the search box “new england bicycle consulting”. No other search engines found me the website (except google). I had to do an assignment like this in library school and I found clusty to be rather clunky. But now, it wasnt too bad. I like that it had a link for “wikipedia” results. Plus, it was nice to see the sponsored links separated from the non-sponsored. Mooter, on the other hand, said it had the “power of relevance” which was really a flat out lie. Unless, I happened to be talking about the old “england” were they eat mayo with fries. And Exlead was pretty with pictures of the websites on the side. I am not sure what that really matters, and I pretty glad I didnt have dial up for all that graphics. Plus, on the side it gave me options to narrow to these related subjects :
That is kinda weird. What about new england bicycle consulting is so noisy? Is it the consulting? November 20, 2007Everyone in Amherst is an AuthorThis article from the New York Times Travel section is interesting. I like that the Jones Library is mentioned, especially the graphic novel disscussion and the quote from Bonnie. But here is my favorite part:
Very true. I love that about the Pioneer Valley. November 16, 2007No Food or Drink in the LibraryOctober 26, 2007I am not creativeEveryone says it better than me… and has funny pics to boot… Technobabble 2.0 talks about twitter and the rise of the new super user
‘Nuff said? Well… I like technology. I haven’t always understood twitter. Telling people what you are doing, just to tell them what you are doing? Sounds like some disorder that I read about in the DSM IV… However, that’s what blogs do, and hey, nothing beats a 2 line sound bite, rather than a long winded blog entry about how your cat fought raccoons in the night. I like the idea of constantly being connected to the web. I get mad when my brother’s im says he is “away”. I want to know what he is “away” doing… So, yeah, the super user is here. They want to stay connected. And Libraries can connect with them. Why aren’t more public libraries using IM for ref questions? Why don’t we twitter about our library programs? Why don’t we let patrons edit our wikis? Why can’t they sign up for a library card online? Why don’t patrons get to create their own catalog website page like MyYahoo? Time and money you say??? Hmm…. I’ll have to think on that… October 24, 2007Wufoo–Who Knew??Web 2.0 means that making web content is easier and easier… I made this form on Wufoo. I just dragged and typed and played and it gave me the code! I didn’t have to know about table width and frameborders and all that jazz! So, now, the question is, how do I stop spammers from attacking my form… October 16, 2007Point TakenRothberg has a good point. What will libraries be doing in the future? Will the Library be completely digital? Will we walk into a wired building and sit at stations and download our stuff while the roving IT (formerly known as reference, circ, av, etc…) department helps people with technology? I don’t know. But we’ve been discussing that possibility for so long that it seems like the “libraries as the repository of the written word” idea isn’t going anywhere fast. Brian Mathews (although seemingly a pompous gamer know it all type when I saw him at the ACRL conference — yeah, i am just jealous…) also makes a strong argument about the direction librarians often go. He states that we often think like trees instead of like a forest… not seeing the big picture. I know that I often try and think creatively but end up thinking like a tree instead of wrapping my brain around the whole idea. Mathews also cites a great book on his OTHER blog about user experience that I am sure goes beyond web design user experience and could be used while designing new library spaces… October 5, 2007Linkage GuiltSorry to all I haven’t put on my bloglist yet…. I swear I will put all participants on soon… Plus, credits given where credit is due: My banner is stolen directly from one of my favorite comic websites… Cat and Girl!!! Check it out at: October 4, 2007Social NetworkingI love this: “Dont’ take someone else’s word for the good or bad of social networking in a teen’s life. If someone told you a book should be banned in the library would you agree without reading the book yourself? Take the same approach with social networking web sites, use them before you make any judgments or decisions.” This is from the Yalsa blog on 30 positive uses of social networking: one year later. There are some very interesting uses of social networking… a good read! |
