Yearly Archives: 2006

717 posts

Attention Librarians: Do You have Firefox Installed?

Via Tech Crunch: http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/07/11/firefox-surgest-to-15-market-share-in-us/ There are some surprising country-by-country statistics included in the report as well. Firefox usage in the U.S. stands at 16%. Australia, 24%. And in Germany Firefox commands a whopping 39% market share. Even at just 16%, I think we’d be remiss if we didn’t offer Firefox on public/student/client access computers as well as other popular browsers. The Germans may be on to something! These numbers can only grow!

LISRadio at the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies at the University of Missouri-Columbia

Welcome to LiSRadio. This is a new and exciting series of interactive webcasts brought to you by the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Our aim with these webcasts is to help in “…creating and exploring the intersection of information and learning.” Fascinating! Another reason for LIS schools to make sure they have podcast studio space!

TTW Mailbox: How do we control the Teens?

From a librarian who wishes to remain anonymous: Dear Michael, I heard you speak last May and I had to ask your opinion on something happening at our library. The other librarians want to write a Conduct Policy for the teens who come in after school: no skateboards or rollerblades, no games, one teen per computer, quiet behavior, etc. I want to speak up but I’m a new librarian and I’m scared they’ll all get mad at me. I think I know the answer but is this the way to pull teens in? Just sign me Anonymous Next Gen Librarian […]

THE Place in Town to Watch Soccer

Nope, not the sports bar — but the library! Via Library Garden, read this cool little post! In the early June Chris Ducko, our building manager, had a request from a patron if they could watch the afternoon match of a World Cup game somewhere in the library. Our high-tech community room was not being used, so Chris turned it on for him. The next day he came back with a few friends and from there the crowd continued to grow through word of mouth around town. We had suddenly become THE place in town to watch soccer! In fact, […]

Brian Kenney on DOPA

Brian Kenney has a wonderful editorial in the June SLJ on DOPA: Yes, here we go again. A “quick fix” that we’re not asking for, which won’t work, and which subverts the real purpose of schools and libraries: educating young people. No matter where you come down on the whole MySpace-in-libraries debate, do you really want your library locked in a “technobubble,” cut off from the evolving Internet?

Hennepin Public Comments

Glenn peterson comments on this post: Wondering if patrons are using this feature? We received 770 comments during the first full month after rollout, contributed by 635 patrons. Wowza! Those are some good numbers! It will be interesting to see the 6 and 12 month numbers. I would think the ROI for engaging patrons in the catalog via commenting will prove to be very good!

Ten Signs I Hope I Never See in Libraries Again

I’ve been thinking a lot about stories lately. I’ve even used the phrase “What story is your library telling?” as an IM away message. So imagine the synchronicity, when into the TTW comment bin comes a nice pointer to a post by Phyllis at “Something New Everyday” — she’s adapted Brenda Hough’s eight training tips for her library: “Eight Tips for Learning in a Changing World,” including this “Look for the story that exists in every situation.” It reminded me of the images we’ve seen snapped in some libraries of some not very friendly signage mostly about cell phones. Remember, […]

Warlick: Why Libraries Are Important

Absolutely wonderful, thoughtful post from David Warlick on a chance ride to the conference center with a school librarian. http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2006/07/07/why-libraries-are-important/ The library that people remember from their school experience (decades ago) seems to have less meaning when we have access to a global library of information with a mouse-click. But this logical piece of visionary budgeting misses an essential point in where education is evolving. When the child graduates, the teacher will be gone. The classroom will be gone. The textbooks will be gone. But for the first time in history, continual learning will be the ONLY road to prosperity. […]