April 2008 Archives

What if this where an online catalog feature?

This retrieves books based on the color of their book cover (using hex values)! How fun would it be to add this to an OPAC? Heck, even as a tool for librarians to assist with those "Uh, I need to use the green book." requests. Heck, I just like clicking "pick random colour" button and seeing what shows up! Just imagine the possibilities.

I wish I were this clever. Neat idea folks at University of Huddersfield (wherever in the UK that is). Saw this over at Jessamyn's site under one of her talks.

David Lee King (Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public Library)
Making Time for 2.0

Why should you make time?
1. be relevant to next gen users (even the "old stuff", e.g. ebay that your mom is using uses 2.0)
2. teach the current generation (teach grandma to use flickr)
3. teach them how to subscribe to the library
4. save time (prof. reading, IM, bookmarking)
5. patrons what to participate
6. be a community leader
7. land a cool job (transformative technologies)

Q: How do you deal with people that are looking at retirement...not for a cool new job?
Changing focus in job descriptions. Hire the great people first. Reference the "Good to Great", and "The Leadership Challenge".

How to make time?
1.Changing focus (finding time v. willingness and priority) find: beth cantor's blog? beth's blog?. Don't "carve out time"...make it become an essential part of your job...change job descrip.!
2. Schedule your time--make appts. for yourself. Write more than one blog post in a sitting.
3. Remember to play--essential to learn how to use the tools
4. Supervisors need to grant time--give play time, formal training, buy books for training--don't ask staff for input if you aren't going to use it--let them innovate.

I missed most of her part, but Gina Millsap, Director at Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public talked first at this session about leading change. I think it was a good session tho, from a administrator's perspective.

Speakers: Dan Sich (U. of Western Ontario) and Derik Badman (Temple)

Dan covered: Meebo, MeeboMe, Skype, Unyte, related Stats and Issues (stuff he implemented at U. of Waterloo)

Stuff of note:
Non Life Threatening issues:
Transcripts from MeeboMe: optional but retrieval is klunky
If patron doesn't stand still (leaves page)--appear as multiple patrons, difficult to communicate.
Librarians didn't miss the old chat software! Found 70% of questions can via Meebo.

Alternatives to Meebo:
hab.la (that's the URL)
Takes more coding to implement.
Collapses on a page, then can expand the window
Simulates co-browse feature in a way--loads your page within a Habla proxy.
Problem: can only display 5 habla widgets simultaneously :(

LibraryH3lp
Uses js, open source
will be fee based in future
customizable windows/widgets

Others: pidgin, jabber, plugoo

Unyte--plugin for Skype
one-way screen sharing (patron sees a "movie" of what's on your screen)
dependent on web speed
no patron plugin/install (makes it unique)

Had very low skype and unyte numbers:
-Skype not on public workstations
-Students prefer chat

Dan's blog and talk

Derik Badman: Virtual Reading Rooms

Journals: Bring back journal browsing! Not (generally) pleasant online.
Faculty member wanted to have a reading room for their discipline--but what about a virtual space?
Took a poll from faculty to see what was most popular.
RSS was the best way to get the info out--collected the feeds.
Took the feeds and threw into Yahoo pipes to get a single feed: can throw into google reader.
But, for faculty, others who are not using RSS much you can:
feed through feed burner to email alert
Grazr: makes a browsable RSS reader that you can post to a website (no subscribing needed)
OPML (import into RSS feeds...comes out as separate feeds and can pick and choose

Successes:
On a personal professional level: library literature feed is great (and others have subscribed)
Use to foster dialog with colleagues

Problems:
Lots of work! Time to collect, find RSS, mashup, etc.

Future:
Mix and match journal titles and have an instant RSS feed
Availability (authentication for outside users)
Doesn't scale--too much work to do a lot of this
Refaware--similar service based on keyword search...lose serendipity of browsing
TicTocs service from JISC--gathering RSS feeds from publishers avail. in a database

Speaker: Michael Sauers, Nebraska Library Commission
(came in late)

CC licenses probably built into things you are using (flickr, slide share, webjunction), if not can go to cc website, fill out form and get code for the logo on your site.
Firefox plug in for CC.

cc add in for Microsoft Office--places logo in your doc for you.

Check out Corey Doctorow's stuff (writes scifi novels and can download them for free from his website. Piracy is not my problem, Obscurity is my problem.)

Look up "The Flickr Song" on YouTube (used cc liscense for material)

Find article: "Why photographers hate creative commons"

Problems with cc:
irrevocable (just like traditional copyright)--have to be sure at the front end
negative market effect--cc doesn't expire (traditional is essentially perpetual anyway)
What is non-commercial? What if someone uses your image on an ad to make them money?
Unintended use-- What if your photo ends up on a giant billboard for a herpes commercial?
Right of publicity--subject's right to privacy (photo of you, owner places under cc, and then it's used somewhere where subject doesn't want it to be)

What you can do:
1. License your work, share you content, make it official up front
2. build cc into your library catalog (e.g. pdfs of derivatives in catalog for cc licensed content)
find: "Tips for conference bloggers" free pdf
3: collection development policy?
4. cataloging-who is the publisher when the author puts on own website? what's the location of publication?

Nine inch nails just released several cds of some of which is available free with a cc liscense. Can someone download it, catalog it, and make available?

Session slides from Michael's talk.

How do you get people over the perception that free = not as good? Show them good free stuff, images, music...prove them wrong!

Great session! Glad I switched from a boring one.

Listening to Jenny Levine talk about this topic...a few points I like:

- reminded me about the idea of placing "signage" at a "dead end" CAT search so patrons can get help (meebo, hours, email etc.)

- Jenny Levine really reminds me of our own Helen Smith

- a little human touch on a website can make a big difference--in reference to IM clients on library web sites...how nice it it to just see "I'm available"?

- If our brand is books, why don't libraries take advantage of the serendipity that new online tools allow for?

- Check out Clay Shirky's book "Here Comes Everybody"

- How do we make a "cluster map" idea around library services?
- right now the only connections around a book are 1) other works by the author 2) subject headings...light bulb moment!
- showed LT here and how the tags in LT let you find other people with similar interest
- screen shots of bibliocommons (200 beta testers)
- consists of library covers, recent contributers (!) highlighted, browse on amazon, has an inbox (connect outside the library with others)
- it's basically a Facebook mock up for libraries ("Findbook")
- what we do is bigger than getting one person to one piece of content

Questions from the audience:
How do you get staff excited about this stuff?
- use content like recipes to get people interested, then evolve it into other things (love this idea)
- don't frame it as the tool...frame it as what people can get out of the tool.

Build it and they will come idea...is it true? Is it worth it?
- If it's free to build, and no one uses it, is a failure? not really
-as much as we talk about how we're behind in technology, libraries are actually on the leading edge (we don't realize it)
- need to reassess how we evaluate these tools...what does make it a success?

How do you keep up?
- Just pick a few sites and read at least once a week..those sites/blogs will pick up the good stuff
-don't let it overwhelm you...let it go if you get busy and then pick back up when you can..just do what you can!

Good session!