http://www.aadl.org/node/2086 Launched on July 1, 2005, the new aadl.org has been selected by the American Library Association as the best library website in the nation for libraries with budgets of $6,000,000.00+. Skidmore Studio located in Royal Oak, MI worked with seven members of the AADL staff for five months in 2005 to determine the site goals, conduct usability studies with the public, determine a new site logo, and to develop simple administrative tools for maintenance. We wanted our site to be functional for all levels of computer proficiency, and we wanted to use interactive tools to facilitate communication with our […]
Monthly Archives: June 2006
63 posts
Louise Gruenberg posts a thoughtful look at instructional design in a 2.0 climate: http://louisegruenberg.alablog.org/blog/_archives/2006/6/3/2004307.html Let’s call it Archimedes’ (educational) law: Whether immersion in learning is in-person synchronous or online asynchronous, interaction supports engagement, and engagement eventually leads to learning. Eureka! And now for Gruenberg’s corollary: Instructors who do not engage learners interactively in person will not be able to do any better with advanced technology.
Via an e-mail from Kate the Hoosier Librarian: I just signed up for PayPal Mobile, so then I was thinking, what is this good for? Here’s an idea: Your library has a PayPal account, a patron needs to check out materials, but has something he needs to pay. He doesn’t have enough cash on him, you don’t take credit/debit cards, and he doesn’t have his check book. He whips out his phone, PayPals you the money via text message, you instantly receive a confirmation email, the fine is paid, he gets his stuff and goes away happy. How awesome would […]
Via Brian Gray at ALA L2: http://briangray.alablog.org/blog/_archives/2006/6/4/2005520.html http://careers.epnet.com/info.php?id=513 The basic function of the Wiki Analyst is to monitor information creation on TWiki, EP’s web-based collaboration platform. The ideal candidate will be responsible for tracking wiki usage, guiding and shaping it’s organization, and helping EP to get the most out of this powerful tool. Develop best practices. Other responsiblities include training and educating users, monitoring projects and activity, and linking content for maximum usefulness.
LIS 753: Internet Fundamentals and Design Summer 2006 Readings for Session One Cerf, Vinton G. “A Brief History of the Internet and Related Networks.” Available at http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/cerf.shtml Bitlaw. “Copyright Law in the United States.” Available online at http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/ Kennedy, Shirley Duglin. “Web Design That Won’t Get You Into Trouble.” Available online at http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/jun01/kennedy.htm Bowman, Lisa. “Librarians Targeted in Latest Copyright Battles,” ZDNN, July 12, 2001. Available online at http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2784614,00.html Newsweek, The New Wisdom of the Web, Avaliable online at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12015774/site/newsweek/
Read. This. Now. http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/06/the_user_is_not_broken_a_meme.php Wowza!
This quote spoke to me. Beyond the techiness — strip that away — you get a good message we could apply to the development of many library initiatives. The harder we tighten things down, the less room there is for a creative, emergent solution. Whether it’s locking down requirements before they are well understood or prematurely optimizing code, or inventing complex navigation and workflow scenarios before letting end users play with the system, the result is the same: an overly complicated, stupid system instead of a clean, elegant system that harnesses emergence. Keep it small. Keep it simple. Let it […]
Kate the Hoosier Librarian writes: A friend of mine is going to do a speed dating program at her library in North Carolina in a couple weeks, and we’re trying to figure out if she is the first in the U.S. to do this. Have you heard of any other U.S. libraries doing this? I searched a couple of library literature databases and only found mentions of the program in Leuven. http://www.cumberland.lib.nc.us/ The program is listed on their June 2006 Calendar of Events. Kate Hmmm..speed dating at the library! Could be fun and the library could offer folks that make […]
Via Superpatron: http://jocolibrary.blogspot.com/2006/05/meet-library-staff-marge-vallazza.html Marge Vallazza started working as a Circulation Clerk at the Antioch Library in January 2001. Before coming to work at the Antioch Library she had been a “superpatron” both when Antioch was the main library and after when it was a branch. A superpatron is library slang for someone who tarries at the library and checks out a lot of books—in other words, just the kind of patron the library wants. While a superpatron Marge teased the Antioch staff about coming to work for the library following retirement. And in 2001, she did just that. Since then […]
http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/jun06/Gordon_Stephens.shtml This month, Rachel rolls out some of the HOT social tools! And ITI puts the whole article online!! You don’t have to jump into implementing every one of these ideas and services, but do think outside the basic library Web site box and about meeting your users where they are. Most of these options are in some way “social” in that they are designed to bring people together and to create community online. We talk so often about libraries building community, as being at the center of the community—it’s essential for us to participate in these online spaces that […]