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iPods @ SJCPL

iPods @ SJCPL Originally uploaded by St. Joseph County Public Library. Julie Hill, my friend and colleague from SJCPL, announces the new SJCPL iPod program!!!! I am so happy to see this fly!! Here’s a post she sent me for staff: Books on iPod: Yours our Ours The library will begin offering downloadable audiobooks on iPods beginning Fall 2006! Bring in your own iPod or check out one of the library-owned iPods. We’ll download bestselling audiobook titles from the iTunes Music Store for use on your MP3 player, laptop, or in your car. Want to know more? Contact the Sights […]

“We’ll have Second Lunch”

Check out Steve Lawson’s “A biblioblogger visits the local branch library” http://library.coloradocollege.edu/steve/archives/2006/06/a_biblioblogger.html My favorite bit? BRANCH LIBRARIAN: We do have some online innovations here. We allow patrons to pay fines online via PayPal. BIBLIOBLOGGER: You still have fines? I’m sorry, my friend, but the Cluetrain is about to pull into the station, and you are looking like Anna Karenina, if you get my drift. BRANCH LIBRARIAN: Ah! A literary allusion! Yes, I understand perfectly, though I’m not flattered. BIBLIOBLOGGER: Hey, don’t take offense. Tell you what, I’m doing a thing in Second Life tomorrow called Exhuming the Paleolibrary that is […]

Congrats AADL!

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 […]

Comparison of Traditional & Web 2.0 Based Instructional Design

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.

PayPal Mobile at the Circ Desk

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 […]

2.0 Job at Ebsco

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.

LIS753: Summer 2006 Readings for Session One

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/

On Emergence….

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 […]

TTW Mailbox: BiblioDating

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 […]