Yearly Archives: 2006

717 posts

Announce: Web 2.0 for Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software

Best Blog Practices and More for Libraries Chicago, IL, July, 26 2006 – ” /> What can social software do for your library? Find out in the latest issue of Library Technology Reports, "Web 2.0 & Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software," by librarian, author, and technology trainer Michael Stephens. A comprehensive, pass-around resource you and your fellow library staff members can consult to plan your library's social-software initiatives, Stephens's report details numerous successful library implementations of some of today's most used social-software tools, including: Weblogs (blogs) Podcasts RSS feeds Instant Messaging (IM) Wikis Flickr In the issue, Stephens illustrates […]

LIS753: How OPACS Suck

In the last weekend meeting of LIS753, we touched on the OPAC. I promised the class I’d share Karen Schneider’s incredible series: How OPACS Suck, Part 1: Relevance Rank (Or the Lack of It) How OPACS Suck, Part 2: The Checklist of Shame How OPACS Suck, Part 3: The Big Picture There are no required readings for the August class meeting, but give these a try. The may give you inspiration for a blog post!

You Tube & the Ubiquitous Librarian

More innovations from the Ubiquitous Librarian: http://theubiquitouslibrarian.typepad.com/the_ubiquitous_librarian/2006/07/do_you_youtube_.html On the benefits of using You Tube’s channels: I wanted to experiment with creating a video community, rather than just a listing of tutorials on the library web site. From observation, students don’t use or know how to navigate the library site, so why bury video clips on there?

Blog Brainstorming in South Jersey

http://www.sjrlc.org/web20/handouts/brainstorm.shtml I believe in the “wisdom of crowds” so I asked the folks at my blog workshops last week to brainstorm blogging best practices and implications. Peter Bromberg captured the debrief on a flip chart that he’s put up on the SJRLC site. And all of the handouts are here.

How about that Web Redesign?

Checkout this post at Library Garden for an interview with Eric Reiss: http://librarygarden.blogspot.com/2006/06/dogmas-are-meant-to-be-broken.html 1. Anything that exists only to satisfy the internal politics of the site owner must be eliminated. 2. Anything that exists only to satisfy the ego of the designer must be eliminated. 3. Anything that is irrelevant within the context of the page must be eliminated.

Information is a Science

David Warlick writing brilliantly on social software and information: The rise of blogging, podcasting (and vodcasting), wikis, and the glue that ties them and much else together, RSS, more closely align with the video game view of information than the blook-reading and film-watching mode that is my information consumption and was the central part of my education. The information landscape is increasingly a place that we participate in, observing our experience, reflecting on what we observe, reporting it to the blogosphere, reading, reflecting, and writing some more, and constructing uniquely valuable content — along with the junk. Information flows through […]

Does IM Bite? Student Outreach Interns

Via http://collegewebeditor.com/blog/index.php/archives/2006/06/17/put-your-current-students-on-im-to-answer-your-prospective-students-questions/: Blogs are nice, but sometimes prospective students crave a bit more real-time interaction. When high school students want to ask a quick question about admission, student life or academic programs, chances are they prefer to get an answer right away. They won’t call your admission office (hey, you’ve never been introduced – and they love to spend time on the phone, but only with their friends). They might not email you (email is so yesterday and formal). That’s why you should offer them to IM (instant message) you. I know, I know, it might be a challenge to […]

Six trends driving the future of libraries

From Helene Blowers’ Library TechBytes: http://libtechbytes.blogspot.com/2006/07/six-trends-driving-future-of-libraries.html A great list from Wired inspires Helene Blowers to ponder the trends librarians should consider for the future. Here’s some thoughts of mine on a few of them. This post has been unpublished since early July — I missed it in my MT software! 1. People Power Are you ready for Generation C? For anyone and everyone creating content online? I’m reminded of this passage from “Among the Audience” in The Economist Last November, the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 57% of American teenagers create content for the internet—from text to […]