Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Check out the list of online instructional resources at PRIMO: Peer-Reviewed Instructional Materials Online Site of the Month [ http://www.ala.org/ala/acrlbucket/is/iscommittees/webpages/emergingtech/site/index.htm ]. It was just mentioned in a post today on the ILI-L discussion list [http://www.ala.org/ala/acrlbucket/is/ilil.htm ]
Working without an office during the last 3 weeks meant I needed useful online applications: Thinkfree [http://www.thinkfree.com ] calls itself the 'best online office on earth". You can create Microsoft compatible documents and store them in a free 1gb online file storage area. A review of the applications can be read at Extremetech http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1952434,00.asp (located through Slashdot article http://slashdot.org/articles/06/04/25/056204.shtml ).
Tools useful for conducting outreach: cheap compass, and Google maps to show the way. We just visited nearly 200 public libraries in Nebraska as part of our Consumer Health Information Resource Service (CHIRS) network, and found both of those resources to be invaluable!! To make a map easier to carry, each map was turned into a pdf, and the relevant section was cut and pasted into a Word document, fitting about 4 to a page. The compass was a low-cost find from Oriental Trading Company ( http://www.orientaltrading.com ), and worked to get us out on the right road after each visit.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

GLOBAL HEALTHCARE INFORMATION NETWORK (GHI-net) http://www.ghi-net.org/ : a new organisation dedicated to a future where everyone has access to an informed healthcare provider.
GHI-net will focus on the practical healthcare information needs of healthcare providers at household, primary and district levels indeveloping countries.

In October 2006, in partnership with other stakeholders, we will launchthe first phase of a major campaign, ‘Healthcare Information for All by2015’. The aim of the campaign is to ensure that healthcare providers worldwide will have the information they need to deliver safe, effective healthcare. Lack of access to essential healthcare information will no longer be a significant barrier to the delivery of care in developing countries.
We shall engage with the full range of stakeholder groups - healthcare providers, librarians, publishers, researchers, technologists, developmentworkers, policymakers, the general public, and others.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Yes, Virginia, public library services can be outsourced. Can academic libraries be far behind?? And would that be a bad thing? Here is an article about public library outsourcing in the Jackson Sun: http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060404/NEWS01/604040306/1002 . Companies mentioned that offer library management services are: Library Systems & Services, LLC http://www.lssi.com/ ; and Information International Associates http://www.iiaweb.com/ .

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

I just learned about a digital media service that works through your library: Digital Library Reserve, by Overdrive: http://www.dlrinc.com/ . Check their library partners page to see if your local library offers this service: http://www.dlrinc.com/Lib-Partners.asp .
See any sliderules lately? This story in Boingboing caught my eye: the missing link of slide rules to calculators http://www.boingboing.net/2006/03/20/sliderulecalculator_.html . A line from the source story made me wonder if there is a message in it for libraries: "The sobering lesson is that it is not enough to see the future; one must also have the resources to respond. It is one thing to wish to fly; it is quite another to actually sprout wings and take to the air. The slide rule companies knew what they had to do; they simply couldn’t get from here to there."

Thursday, March 16, 2006

The Digital Divide is the topic of the March 2006 issue of Technology & Learning:
http://www.techlearning.com/content/about/tl_current.html .
New open access journal: Evidence Based Library and Information Practice http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP . If you register on the site, there are additional interactive features available.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Announcing a free children's health movie, translated in English, Spanish, and Sudanese-Nuer.

"Following the clues: a visit to the doctor and the library"

Funded by the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the 12 minute film follows Alana Williams as she and her grandmother make a doctor's appointment, see the doctor, and find health information at the library.

Narrated in English, Spanish, and Sudanese-Nuer, the movie is designed for young children and adults unfamilar with the US healthcare system. The film is now available at no cost to librarians, community health providers, immigrant support agencies, and elementary school professionals in DVD and VHS format.

Principal actors in the film: Emma H. Bradley, Steve Bridges, Rina Evelyn, Marty Magee, Alana Myles, Veronica E. Rivera, Cindy Schmidt

The movie was produced and written by McGoogan Library of Medicine Diversity Project Committee, Alison Bobal, Heather L. Brown, Teresa Hartman, Marty Magee, Cindy Schmidt ; directed by Paul Kawacz, Mike Moehring ; edited by Paul Kawacz, Jeff Stevens ; graphics Katheryn Warzak, Bill Wassom ; narrated by Margaret Bumann, Nicolas J. Mirman, Bern Yuot; Spanish translation by Sergio Diaz, Nicolas J. Mirman ; Nuer translation by Cyracom International, Inc.
For information on ordering copies of the film, and to view the movie on the Internet, go to http://www.unmc.edu/library/clues .
If you or your patrons are keeping up with the weather, either locally, before your next trip, or for keeping track of what is happening where loved ones live, here is a link to WXNation, a resource that links to live radar images from Accuweather, Intellicast, and other weather radar sources: http://www.wxnation.com .

Friday, March 10, 2006

Do you want real life proof that knowing the evidence can change
practice? Visit Medical Myths, a website that tracks common practices,
and provides evidence to support change.
http://www.montana.edu/wwwebm/myths.htm
This page provides numerous examples that can be incorporated into classes. (Thanks to Lynne Fox of UCHSC Denison Memorial Library for this tip.-th)

Thursday, March 02, 2006

A good copyright newsletter: Copyright, New Media Law & E-commerce News, written and distributed by Lesley Ellen Harris, a lawyer and copyright consultant. You can sign up for the newsletter at the author's site: http://copyrightlaws.com/index2.html. The newsletter is also archived here: http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/300/copyright/ . Ms. Harris also produces a Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter for fee subscription, intended for libraries, archives, and museums. Subscription information and editorials from back issues can be found on the author's link listed above.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

10 [Library related] Blogs to Read in 2006: http://features.lisnews.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/21/1328204 , and the Wiki page that accompanies the article: http://www.liswiki.com/wiki/2006_Best_Blogs . Recognize the great blog work being done by and for librarians.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Australia has created a national union catalog: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18226743%255E12332,00.html . Link to portal, which offers subscription rates for individuals, libraries, and organizations: http://librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au/apps/kss
This story (found on BoingBoing) about magazines on pop bottles makes me wonder: what items could we attach library consumer health information so that users would have ready access to it?: http://www.boingboing.net/2006/02/20/little_magazines_tha.html .
A story in the Washington Post about Homeland Security officers trying to "police porn at a public library" is listed in BoingBoing: http://www.boingboing.net/2006/02/17/county_homeland_secu.html . I hope they have the librarian available for speaking engagements, so we can hear the whole story!

Monday, February 20, 2006

Unipage http://unipage.org/ might be what you reach for when you send that next web resource to a patron. One difference between a pdf and a unipage: the unipage keeps functionality intact. As seen in a Slashdot article: http://slashdot.org/articles/06/02/20/1449226.shtml

Monday, February 13, 2006

State of the Future 2005, by Jerome C. Glenn and Theodore J. Gordon
American Council for the United Nations University, 2005
The Millennium Project
Summary available at: http://www.acunu.org/millennium/sof2005-exec_summ.pdf
Website: http://www.acunu.org/millennium/sof2005.html
I want to read this chapter first: "Very long range scenarios - 1000 years"
Here is a lesson that I need to re-learn: Productivity means working smarter, not longer http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=5190&t=srobbins , an article by Stever Robbins in the Harvard Business School Working Knowledge newsletter.

Friday, February 10, 2006

Want to become a one-person library? Maybe the research being done at Berkeley labs will enable a single person to someday run an entire academic library: http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/labnotes/0106/radlab.html .

Monday, January 30, 2006

Could this lead to perpetual employment opportunities for freelance librarians? From today's Wall Street Journal: "Publishers say fact-checking is too costly" http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB113858811205659673.html?mod=todays_free_feature . (If I can locate a less-time sensitive url that refers to this, I will edit it in.-th)

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Update on Library FBI story in Massachusetts: FBI won't seize library records http://www.townonline.com/newton/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=416848&format=text .
Librarian vs. FBI success story: City demands warrant in FBI investigation http://www2.townonline.com/newton/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=414573&format=text . (the site takes forever to appear, but worth the wait)
Thanks to a member of the Solo List for posting this link.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

"The Bad Guys Win" - what a DRM-heavy world may be like: http://tarmle.livejournal.com/80182.html . Yep, libraries are mentioned, and it isn't pretty. (Seen mentioned on BoingBoing http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/24/universal_drm_dystop.html )

Monday, January 23, 2006

OCLC's new newsletter: NextSpace http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/default.htm . This edition discusses 'rebranding'.

Monday, January 16, 2006

CNN article: Students prefer online courses
http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/01/13/oncampus.online.ap/index.html
(thanks to Dorothy Knee for pointing this article my way)

Friday, January 06, 2006

The New York Academy of Medicine / National Library of Medicine Resource Guide for Public Health Preparedness provides access to more than 1500 electronic publications related to public health preparedness.

The Current Awareness Update listing newly added resources to the database for the period of November and December is now available at: http://www.phpreparedness.info/update.php

For full database records, including annotations or to search this content by subject area, please visit: http://www.phpreparedness.info
Check out the Data Points section of iHealthBeat http://www.ihealthbeat.org/index.cfm?action=dspclass&classcd=CL311 . Three press releases might be of big interest to you and/or your administration: Survey Looks At Barriers to PHR Adoption, by HIMSS; Doc's Attitudes About Technology Related to Internet Use, by Forrester; Survey: Small, Medium Employers More Likely to Offer Benefits Portals, by Forrester. There is also a link to the Data Points archive.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

The Pew Internet Project has recently released a new report on how men
and women use the Internet. You can find the full report at:
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/171/report_display.asp
Article in New England Journal of Medicine: Searching for the Right Search - Reaching the Medical Literature, NEJM, 5 Jan 2006 http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/354/1/4
Check comparison of PubMed via Google and via PubMed.gov .

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

HIT Dashboard ( http://www.hitdashboard.com/ ) is a portal that tracks the interoperability health IT projects in the United States. The public side of the portal just shows where the projects are on a map. There is another level available to members of Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and a third level available to subscribers. With the growth of these projects (the portal will update data each quarter), libraries should recommend the site to administration so they can have access to all available data on each project. Question: would the data show any activity towards interoperability between electronic health records and library resources? [This information was found in Health-IT World, December 20, 2005 ( http://tmlr.net/jump/?c=17194&a=296&m=3491&p=1705874&t=164 ).]

Thursday, December 29, 2005

BMJ editorial: "How Google is changing medicine" http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/331/7531/1487 . The librarian author, Dean Giustini, is a biomedical branch librarian of the University of British Columbia. The author's last words in the editorial: "Build Google Medicine. The benefits to human health would be immeasurable."

Saturday, December 24, 2005

"Secret Life of Librarian Bloggers" article in the Plains to Peaks Post newsletter of the NNLM/MCR: http://nnlm.gov/mcr/news/newsletter/index.php?article=191 . Writing the article was one of my most enjoyable partnerships of the year.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Creating an emergency preparedness plan? Visit http://www.ready.gov , and locate checklists, templates, and other resources that may be useful to you in your planning.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

A laptop worth considering if you are on the road: DualCor Technologies combined cell phone and laptop. Here is the link to the CNET story: http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-5997426.html .

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Join the Bibliocasting list!
Introducing the Bibliocasting listserv.The bibliocasting listserv (bibliocasting@listserv.syr.edu) isdedicated to a discussion of streaming media in the libraryenvironment. This list grows out of the increasing popularity of"Podcasting," or the use of RSS and the Internet to download audioprograms (like audio blogs) to computers and MP3 players. A recentReuters story states:"Twenty-nine percent of U.S. adults who own MP3 players like AppleComputer Inc.'s iPod say they have downloaded podcast programs from theInternet, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found...That means more than 6 million people are listening to a form of communicationthat emerged only last year, according to the nonprofit group."[ http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/154/report_display.asp ]So what to post on the list? Examples of how libraries can build on the growing excitement of Podcasting; Questions on how libraries can use themselves and provide better service; Questions on how to podcast and other technical questions on streaming media including QuickTimeStreaming, RealProducer, and others. In addition, the list willinclude postings of key articles, reports, and news about podcasting andother streaming media in general and in the the library context. Bottom Line: We are looking to build a community of individuals interested in the application of multimedia in the library environment. SUBSCRIBING TO THE LIST To subscribe to the list send an e-mail to listserv@listserv.syr.edu withthe entire message (no subject line): subscribe bibliocasting FirstName LastName

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Marketing information, funding guides, and best practice examples now available at the new Ebsco Customer Success Center: http://www.epnet.com/thisTopic.php?marketID=20&topicID=204 .

Monday, December 12, 2005

"Physicians find librarians vital" article citation posted at the Krafty Librarian blog: http://kraftylibrarian.blogspot.com/2005/12/physicians-find-librarians-vital.html . Great article, and great blog!
Camel Mobile Library Service in Kenya: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2005/12/12/2003284113 . I wonder if camels can be hooked up to deliver wireless Internet, too?
Libraries "unbundled"? After reading this Dec. 11th NY Times article "Unbundles of Joy" by Daniel Akst (free registration may be required: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/business/yourmoney/11cont.html ), I started wondering what an 'unbundled' library might look like. Are we all ready heading in that direction?

Friday, December 09, 2005

OCLC has released report on "Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources" - recommended reading for any of us wondering what folks are thinking. http://www.oclc.org/reports/2005perceptions.htm .
The Future of HTML http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/x-futhtml1/?ca=dgr-lnxw01FutureHTML , an article at the IBM site.
(originally viewed in a slashdot posting http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/09/0045244 ).

Monday, December 05, 2005

NLM is recruiting for a new Associate Director for Library Operations - see job NLM-05-03SES on this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/about/jobs/jobs.html . This is your chance to use your librarian powers for the good of all!

Friday, December 02, 2005

Now there is a way to reformat your video collection for use on mobile devices, as pointed out in this BoingBoing posting: http://www.boingboing.net/2005/12/01/gadget_turns_all_you.html . Made by Neuros, this device will record onto digital memory cards from any video source.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Opportunities for sharing your research and presenting at conferences are listed in this blog: A Library Writer's Blog http://librarywriting.blogspot.com/ , thanks to Corey Seeman, University of Toledo.
An annotated bibliography on web logs and blogging, created and maintained by Susan Herzog: http://blog-bib.blogspot.com/ . She is the information literacy librarian at Eastern Connecticut State University. Don't miss this bib!

Monday, November 21, 2005

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has released a memo on rise of search engine use. From their email announcement:

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has released a data memo on the
recent rise in search engine use. This data memo is now available on our
website: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/167/report_display.asp.
Article on measuring your site's content pages at User Interface Engineering: 5-second tests http://www.uie.com/articles/five_second_test/ .

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Story in Campus Technology on $100 laptops: http://www.campus-technology.com/news_article.asp?id=17517&typeid=153 .
These little laptops may hold the power to transform learning all over the world. It is in our best interest to make sure that those distant users have high quality access to library collections!

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Evidence Based Library and Information Practice Journal call for submissions


EBL_Postcard
Originally uploaded by Bibliotek.

New journal: Evidence Based Library and Information Practice. The deadline for submitting papers to the first issue is December 1, 2005. Visit the journal website: http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP


Friday, November 11, 2005

Digital patient health records are a step closer, according to a NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/11/business/11health.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1131732502-rsJ66BvA+s2NJulLceMxWQ . Now, where do/can libraries and information access fit within the to-be-designed health networks?

Monday, November 07, 2005

eBooks take the ivory tower: Library Journal's URLearning Series free webcast on November 15, 2005.
Webcast will cover:
trends in publishing and pricing models and agreement terms;
enhancements to ebooks that improve and expand usability;
acceptance and use by different disciplines and demographic groups;
managing ebook collections and the electronic/print book relationship;
and impact of mass digitization projects, such as Google Library and the Open Content Alliance. A link to the registration is on this page:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6271543.html&

Friday, November 04, 2005

Announcing a new NN/LM course: Geeks Bearing Gifts: unwrapping new
technology trends, available at http://nnlm.gov/train/geekgifts/ .

Thursday, October 27, 2005

The DC Principles is a group of non-profit publishers working to connect citizens to research via free access. Their site is here: http://www.dcprinciples.org/ They issued a press release on October 25 here: http://www.dcprinciples.org/linkingrelease.pdf . T. Scott Plutchak has excellent comments on the linking proposal and issues that librarians should consider here: http://tscott.typepad.com/tsp/2005/10/linking_proposa.html . I thought this was his most important comment: "My biggest frustration with the whole open access debate is that it has put librarians and the society publishers in opposition. Instead of working together to transform scholarly publishing, we waste time and energy arguing. This proposal is an opportunity to get us all on the same side of the fence -- where we ought to be. "

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

A main player in the open source support world, in my opinion, is Google (and I am not just saying that because thanks to them I have blogspace!). Here is a link to Chris DiBona's posting on their support of projects in Oregon: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/10/supporting-open-source.html . We need to get projects in the Heartland, folks!
Check out this story in BoingBoing.Net about the Open Content Alliance and a link to the Open Library: www.boingboing.net/2005/10/26/library_of_public_do.html . Consider this type of project as a possible Community Collaboration Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services: http://www.imls.gov/grants/index.htm .

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Individual Biomedical Informatics Fellowship, sponsored by the National Library of Medicine - next deadline for application is December 5, 2005: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ep/GrantTrainIndividualF37.html Yes, it is open to librarians!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Analysis of HON survey of health and medical internet users: http://www.hon.ch/Survey/Survey2005/res.html . Good news for consumer health librarians can be found in this quote from the Executive Summary: "Most patient-respondents (88.2%) agreed that seeking health information on the Internet improves the quality of consultation with their physician."
Another aggregator for your RSS feeds - Google Reader (beta) can be found here: http://www.google.com/reader/things/intro .
ACRL has a new blog for academic librarians. I took a look at it, and it is definitely one that will be added to my Waggr (http://www.waggr.com/). From the press release:
"The new blog can be found at http://www.acrlblog.org . Unlike many
blogs, ACRLog invites contributions from those interested in academic
and research librarianship. Guest commentaries, contributed conference
reports, perspectives from ACRL chapters, and opinions about the latest
trends and issues can all be shared within this blogspace.
ACRLog was created as a response to an article by Scott McLemee,
"Silence in the Stacks," published last June in Inside HigherEd. McLemee
wondered why there was no single blog geared to the interests of
academic librarians that explored what he called "the issues of the
day." The ACRL Board decided to fill the void, and ACRLog was born."

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Interested in offering tutorials to users that have video playback capability on their computers, cell phones, and/or iPods? You can set up a videoblog for free at: http://freevlog.org/ .

Thursday, October 06, 2005

"People need information as much as water, food, medicine or shelter. Information can save lives, livelihoods and resources." Quotes from the World Disasters Report 2005, released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies http://www.ifrc.org/publicat/wdr2005/index.asp . Check out this report and note where a librarian's role would fit, or where a librarian could have helped. Send it to your library association lobbyist. Share it with your administrator. Give it to your local disaster preparedness council, along with your card.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Interesting article in Businessweek: Help for Info Age Have-Nots http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2005/tc2005104_6877_tc024.htm
Article discusses what some companies are doing to bridge the Digital Divide.

Monday, October 03, 2005

I found this through the Microsoft Work Essentials website:
"Presenting with PowerPoint: 10 dos and don'ts" http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/technology/business_software/presenting_with_powerpoint_10_dos_and_donts.mspx

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

A new international pharma Clinical Trials Portal was launched on September 21: http://www.ifpma.org/clinicaltrials.html . Created by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations, the site offers one-stop searching of ongoing trials, trial results, and a glossary of terms. This could be a site to add to your consumer health resource page.
ECRI's Katrina Medical Technology Information Clearinghouse has been launched: http://katrina.ecri.org/default.aspx . From the site: "This new site will serve as a central clearinghouse for information on the disaster relief-related medical products and services available from companies worldwide. "

Monday, September 26, 2005

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has issued a new report on a slowing rate of adoption of broadband in the US: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/164/report_display.asp . You may want to share this at your next web committee meeting.

Monday, September 12, 2005

A very good article on the pitfalls of "overchoice": When Product Variety Backfires, by Poping Lin http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4980&t=marketing . The author is a business librarian at the Harvard Business School.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

New consumer health information search tool, powered by Google, at Healthfinder. From post by Patricia Anderson on the medwebmasters list: " searches for consumer health information *only* in the appropriate sections of 300 US govt. agencies." http://www.healthfinder.gov/search/about.asp

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Hurricane Katrina environmental health links resource from NLM:
http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/hurricane.html

Friday, September 02, 2005

"Digital Libraries - 'Opening' a digital library" article in the September issue of Campus Technology: http://www.campus-technology.com/article.asp?id=11727 .
Interesting article on the loss of the public domain, first seen on slashdot.org: The Public Domain - here today, gone tomorrow http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3176 .

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

DocuPen http://www.planon.com/docupen.php - could a library use this to scan items at the shelf and email the images for ILL? Would the images that this pen produces replace the need to haul carts of bound journals around to the photocopy room for the "pull and photocopy service", and enable libraries to just email the documents (as our patrons so plainly prefer!)?
Free countdown clocks to use in your presentations, thanks to Matt Fuller: http://www.mattjfuller.com/home/timers.html . The clocks are AVI files, and can be inserted in both PowerPoint and Keynote presentations. Let your audience know without a doubt when break is over!
Slashdot articles on libraries: 1) using DRM to "expire" audio books: http://slashdot.org/articles/05/08/30/0016241.shtml?tid=188&tid=126 ; 2) [what] new tech should libraries try next? http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/24/2258245&tid=192&tid=126&tid=4 . Don't miss the comments posted to both of these stories! If you are wondering what your patrons want or are thinking, this may help you get an idea.

Monday, August 29, 2005

"Do you think you are a master at locating what you need on the Internet?
To find out take the IMSA Search Challenge on the new edition of the
IMSA 21st Century Information Fluency (21CIF) Web site (http://21cif.imsa.edu). This is
only one of the new free tools and resources to help you find, evaluate and use digital
information effectively, efficiently and ethically." -as seen on the Infoliteracy discussion list, 26 Aug 05

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Another good blog, TeacherLibrarian, posted an entry yesterday about the library at UT Texas moving out the books in favor of creating a gathering place: http://teacherlibrarian.blogspot.com/ . Direct link to the story about the library: http://teacherlibrarian.blogspot.com/2005/08/no-more-books-no-more-library.html .

Monday, August 22, 2005

The Shifted Librarian, a great blog, lists 20 Technology Skills Every Librarian Should Have http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/archives/2005/07/21/20_technology_skills_every_librarian_should_have.html .

If you are involved with any CE events for your librarian organizations, you may want to check this list out for ideas on what classes to have on hand! Even better, this list could give you ideas on your next marketing strategy, to let others know in your workplace what they can count on from the library.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

New business event repository that offers automatic indexing service: Copper Eye Looks Into a New Repository http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=11674 . This type of service would add a whole new layer to an online catalog - just send in the files of the new ebooks and ejournals that are entered into a library, and give improved searching ability to users hunting for topics. This would also work for research centers on campuses, enabling researchers to check and see who might be on campus to collaborate with, or is in unknown competition with, before the next grant application is written.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

A Wiki for Library Success! "Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki" http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Main_Page . Please take a look at this resource and consider sharing your own expert knowledge.
Do you know the next Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award winner?
Nominations due December 2, 2005. Academic/Research Librarian of the Year recognizes an outstanding member of the library profession who has made a significant national or international contribution to academic or research librarianship and library development.
This award recognizes and honors achievement in such areas as:
* Service to the organized profession through ACRL and related organizations
* Significant and influential research on academic or research library
service
* Publication of a body of scholarly and/or theoretical writing contributing
to academic or research library development
* Planning and implementing a library program of such exemplary quality that
it has served as a model for others
Award: $3,000 and a plaque sponsored by YBP Library Services
Send nominations to:
Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award ACRL, 50 E. Huron Street,
Chicago, IL 60611
See details in the Awards Section of the ACRL Web site: www.ala.org/acrl
The National Library of Medicine just updated the Fact Sheet for Telemedicine, located here: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/telemedicine.html .

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

2 free digital books for learning and training professionals: http://www.masie.com/masie/default.cfm?page=default . Courtesy of The MASIE Center, the titles are: What keeps you up at night?, and 701 e-learning tips .

Monday, July 11, 2005

Free strategic planning seminar: Sign up for the Dynix Institute Fast, Cheap and Decent Strategic Planning, Jul 13, 2005, 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Pacific, with PatWagner, Pattern Research, Inc., Denver. Registration is free and you don't have to be a Dynix (or Sirsi)customer to sign up. Here is the URL: http://www.dynix.com/institute/seminar/index.asp?sem=20050713 - or you can go to http://www.dynix.com/institute/ for more general information as well. [email from Pat Wagner on ACRL discussion list]
Interested in seeing what blogs are read by the great medical librarians in KS, MO, SD, NE, CO, WY, and UT? http://nnlm.gov/mcr/services/technology/blogs.html

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Please take this survey on using blogs for library instruction. (From an OFFCAMP message, posted here with permission)
We would like to invite you to take our survey on using blogs for instruction in libraries. We are presenting a paper at the Off-Campus Library Services Conference in Savannah and would like to include the results in that paper. We have also surveyed our students so it should make for an interesting paper.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=902981115936
Thank you,
Lani Draper
Priscilla Coulter
*********************************************************
Lani Hall Draper, MLIS
Librarian
Ralph W Steen Library
SFASU
lhall@sfasu.edu

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Interested in what search engine is indexing your web pages? Google Index Notification (also known as Search Engine Index Notification) could be the assistance you need. You can get notified when Google, Yahoo, or MSN indexes your site. Created by JRBTech. Download and support links on page: http://www.jrbtech.com/googleindex/

Monday, June 13, 2005

Digital Information Fluency Core Competencies are listed here http://21cif.imsa.edu/inform/program/difcorecompetencies.html , on the 21st Century Information Fluency Project Portal. I really like the DIF process model, as it includes the question for our users: "How will I ethically use the information?"

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Blog Dedication?


Blog Dedication?
Originally uploaded by Bibliotek.
I was excited to see what appeared to be at first glance a great example of bridging the Digital Divide.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Just a note about the entry for "Library Technology NOW": I checked out this site after seeing it highlighted in the NetWatch section of June 2005 edition of eSchool News. The home site for the eSchool News is: http://eschoolnews.com/ .
"Library Technology NOW" is a new site, covering 'Library technology news and product reviews written by library people for library people'. http://www.librarytechnologynow.org/
With content written by volunteers, the site is funded by The North Texas Regional Library System and the Texas Library Association. Spring 2005's theme includes Public Access Defenses, and links to 3rd party reviews of public access security software. Both might come in handy for that training room security issue you are thinking about.

Friday, June 03, 2005

Here's your chance to publish your article on library technology trends. Call for articles on important trends in library and information technology by peer reviewed journal Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL) : http://librarycareers.blogspot.com/2005_06_01_librarycareers_archive.html#111782415016886061
[Seen on Beyond the Job blog]

Friday, May 27, 2005

Online games for librarians:
You can reach a group of online games for Librarians at:
http://www.greenbergcreative.com/archives/library/Archive-04-04-02-Library.htm
The link to the games is below the bottom of a normal-sized screen so keep scrolling.
Thanks to Cindy Schmidt, librarian extraordinaire at the McGoogan Library of Medicine, for pointing out the link to these games!

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Interested in creating a community tech and learning center in your library? Microsoft might have a grant for you! As seen on eSchool News Online:
$1 billion to develop tech skills for disadvantaged youth, adults
Grant Title: Microsoft Unlimited Potential Program Organization: Microsoft Corp.
Eligibility: U.S. nonprofit organizations
Value: Up to $1 billion over 5 years
Deadline: July 19, 2005
Microsoft Unlimited Potential (UP) grants provide nonprofit organizations with funding to support technology training programs ranging from learning basic computer skills to using advanced business productivity applications. Donations of cash, software, curriculum, and technical expertise enable individuals to learn about technology and gain the information technology skills needed for employment in the IT field or other industry sectors. UP grants are made through Microsoft's U.S. and international subsidiaries, which work closely with local organizations to identify community-based technology and learning centers (CTLC) where IT skills training is a primary focus. Unsolicited proposals are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Over the next five years, the program plans to donate more than $1 billion in such grants.
Contact: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/citizenship/giving/programs/up/
The Freirean Approach to Adult Literacy Education: http://www.cal.org/caela/digests/FreireQA.htm
I saw this link in Keith Cogdill's message on the HealthGaps discussion list, posted there because of its potential use in health literacy education. I like the following passage: "
Freire's approach has been called "deeply contextual" (Chacoff, 1989, p. 49) because in it learning to read and write flows from the discussion of themes of importance to adult learners, drawn from their real-life experiences. " This is how I have always worked when encouraging anyone to learn how to locate the information they need. I just didn't know it was Freire's approach first! Locating that 'theme of importance' to me is the most important thing I can do to get ready for a class or presentation. I have always needed to know, pardon the slang, "where they are coming from" in order to determine what path I need to construct to show them the way to the information they need.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

UK offering free 24/7 online reference services, from Library Journal story
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA603048?display=NewsNews&industry=News&industryid=1986&verticalid=151& . The Library Journal mentioned that there are partners in this plan with Canadian and United States libraries, but I wasn't able to see a list of partners easily on the Enquire website.
A new library blog that you will want to check out, created by a former colleague and great librarian in Kansas - :30 Librarian (that's thirty second librarian) http://whitneydt.blogspot.com/ .

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

4 research reports recently released by the Museums, Libraries, and Archives Council in London, "New Directions in Social Policy": http://www.mla.gov.uk/information/publications/00pubs.asp .