I’m a big follower of library websites. They are virtual representations of their physical presence and they also say a lot about a library’s innovation (or lack thereof). All this summer I investigated different libraries to see what they were doing and how they were designing their online presences as I redesigned the website for my employer, the A.C. Buehler Library at Elmhurst College. But it would have been great to know that I could have gone straight to one location to look at a plethora of library websites instead of Googling sites I knew of. Well – that one […]
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I recently had a Facebook conversation with Jeff Dawson, director of the Lester Public Library in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. I realized in our back and forth that his experience with creating and extending online presense for his library was the makings for a HOT TTW guest post: For example, the entire town knew I went to PLA (I think I left town as you were coming in… ). We are now running 2 blogs out of LPL, Blogging LPL is sustaining an average of roughly 3,000 hits a month and rising (I know my mom isn’t the only one looking […]
Anthony Andros wrote this paper for LIS701 at Dominican in Fall 2006. He agreed to post an shorter version here. Library 2.0: Pandemic or Panacea? An Exploration of Old Wine in a New Bottle by: Anthony Andros T.S. Eliot said that, “Television…is a medium of entertainment which permits millions of people to listen to the same joke at the same time, and yet remain lonesome.” Technology has indeed found a way to influence civilization in both positive and negative ways. Why is it that twenty-first century Americans have innumerable technologies and novelties to conserve time and effort, yet we all […]
It’s my belief that library users are expecting more from their web browsing experience. I’m not talking social networks, I’m talking interactive web design. These users are used to websites that allow for dynamically changing content (content that may not require a new page to load) and for a feeling of interactivity with the page. Dynamic content shifts on the page, animates, and morphs into something it wasn’t previously. Let’s look at some examples: Jeep: The rectangular information boxes nicely animate in and out upon click of the left or right arrows allowing for new information to nicely slide in […]
Some say that IM is on the verge of extinction and that forging into such territory for virtual reference so late in the game is a waste of a library’s energy. You can surely count me as one of those who agrees with that statement. I predict, as do many others, that virtual reference needs to fit in users’ pockets – in their cell phone. We need to look at the trends happening now (according to PEW, 2006): -47% can’t live without their cell phones -35% use SMS and 13% would like it added to their features The preceding stats […]
Maybe most libraries think about it differently, but Darien Library is sending more staff members to Los Angeles for BookExpo America, the majority of whom will be Circulation staff, two of them part-time, than to any other conference this year. It’s a major commitment on our part, but for nearly all our staff, this is the most important event of the year. They love it! Now I wouldn’t expect many east coast libraries to follow suit, but how many libraries out there will be sending part-time OR even full-time Circ staff to BookExpo, and when it comes east next year, […]
Dominican GSLS Student Katharine Johnson writes: Last weekend I had the pleasure of joining LISSA (Dominican University’s library student group) for a tour of Loyola University’s new Information Commons located on their Lake Shore Campus. In short, the place is incredible. A bookless extension of their library, whoa! Three floors of computer terminals, many of which are located on long tables to encourage group study and/or spreading out all your books. Tall ceilings, bright work spaces, fully wired, completely green, and a breathtaking frozen-lake view. The first two floors encourage discussion among students, the third floor is considered the quiet […]
As we’ll see, coffeehouses provided something society needed: a place to just be. But no one had any idea how badly we needed it. (51) So reads a section of Starbucked by Taylor Clark. The idea of a comfort place, a third place as it has been called, was taken under the wing by the Starbucks visionaries and has become a staple at nearly all their stores. The comforting soft tones of wood tables, abundant chairs of varying sizes and comfort levels, and the wafting aroma of splendid coffee all welcome you in from the freezing cold (if you’re in […]
Building a Social Library Originally uploaded by scampion Hi. I’m Steve Campion, System Trainer for Pierce County Library. It’s honor to be asked by Michael to write a guest posting in his blog because hearing him speak last October motivated me to kick-start an entire social web cirriculum and a flurry of activity here. Susan McBride and I started teaching a popular four hour social web literacy class to staff within two months of Michael’s talk. With the social networking buzz going around, our library system created several public blogs, podcasts, a MySpace page, a very active Flickr page, and […]
Almost three years ago, during the first week of my shift from urban elementary school teacher to urban library associate, I begged my coworker to quiz me on the subject areas of the Library of Congress system. In the ultimate display of faux-librarian nerdiness, in my lap, I held handwritten LC flashcards. I was determined to become a librarian as quickly as possible, and I was willing to undergo a little on-the-job training to get there. In that symbolic display of enthusiasm, I had taken off my appliqué teacher sweatshirt, and donned my horn-rimmed glasses. My coworker, as a recent […]