Interesting discussion found on the ALA TechSource: "The Hyperlinked Organization: Radical Transparency, Crummy Meetings, & Micromanagement"
http://www.techsource.ala.org/blog/2006/11/
the-hyperlinked-organization-radical-transparency-crummy-meetings-micromanagement.html
. The book that brought about this discussion is The Cluetrain Manifesto, whose online text can be found here: http://www.cluetrain.com/book/index.html.

Free anti-spam software for non-profits and libraries on Dec. 6th from TechSoup. Here is a portion of their press release:

Fourth Annual “Stop Spam Today!” Campaign Distributes Free Software to Nonprofits and Libraries
Register now for giveaway on December 6, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -November 21, 2006 —TechSoup and Mailshell today announced the fourth annual “Stop Spam Today!” campaign (www.stopspamtoday.org), a nationwide effort to help nonprofits and public libraries fight spam by providing free information, resources, and tools. The campaign culminates on December 6 in a one-day giveaway, during which nonprofits and libraries can visit www.stopspamtoday.org to order free copies of Mailshell’s Anti-Spam Desktop software. More than 275,000 copies of free anti-spam software were distributed during the previous “Stop Spam Today!” events, a testimonial to the ever-increasing need of nonprofits to protect themselves from unwanted software and its associated threats.

If you do anything with Microsoft Excel at work, this resource may be of help to you: Examples of Commonly Used Formulas http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HP052001271033.aspx.

OCLC has announced that they are developing a new library marketing campaign, thanks to a $1.2 million dollar Gates grant: http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/200643.htm .

My Hometown Helper Grant Program. Hamburger Helper announces funds to lend a "helping hand" to neighborhoods across the U.S. Funds will support to organizations to provide one or more of the following: lights or bleachers for baseball, soccer, or football fields; repairs to a band shell; computers for schools or libraries; playground equipment; holiday decorations; money for choir, band, or science trips; new uniforms for Little League teams; clean-up projects; and training for volunteer firefighters. Eligible applicants include independent school districts, nonprofits, and community-based organizations. The deadline for applications is May 1, 2007. Awards ranging from $500-$15,000 are available. For further information, go to: http://www.myhometownhelper.com/


(With thanks from Siobhan Champ-Blackwell)

Library use Value Calculator - this calculator is at the Maine State Library site: http://www.maine.gov/msl/services/calculator.htm. Useful for determining patron's perception of value, it may also serve as a model for your organization's valuable services.

Non-classified documents pertaining to Connecticut librarians who were involved in an FBI case were ordered unsealed by Justice Ginsburg at the US Supreme Court:

Do you know of a deserving librarian that should be recognized for their great work? The New York Times Librarian Awards are now open to both public and academic librarians, according to this Library Journal article: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6354830.html . Deadline for nominating public librarians is September 15. Academic library nominations will be accepted later this fall.

Here is a story about librarians using headsets in order to give better customer service: http://ebs.gmnews.com/news/2006/0810/Front_Page/023.html . I would like to know if any academic libraries are trying this out!

Many apologies for the long delay in postings to this blog. If you wish to catch up on what I have been up to, you can check out http://cheekylibrarian.blogspot.com . Be sure to treasure each day, folks.

Are librarians in the US involved in digital rights management discussions? Here is a story about the chief executive of the British Library's comments about how DRM is impacting traditional copyright law exceptions for libraries: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/88316/uks-top-librarian-calls-for-digital-protection.html

I read the perfect response about Wikipedia vs. Britannica in a discussion post from Cory Doctorow on a story published in the Edge titled: Digial Maoism: The hazards of the new online collectivism, by Jaron Lanier. Mr. Doctorow's post:
"Wikipedia isn't great because it's like the Britannica. The Britannica is great at being authoritative, edited, expensive, and monolithic. Wikipedia is great at being free, brawling, universal, and instantaneous.
— Cory Doctorow"
You can read the full story here: http://edge.org/3rd_culture/lanier06/lanier06_index.html
I saw the story thanks to an entry in BoingBoing http://www.boingboing.net/2006/06/10/responses_to_jaron_l.html

EDUCAUSE article on academic libraries: Changing a cultural icon: The academic library as a virtual destination
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0610.pdf

A bookstore holding a fundraiser for a library? You betcha! Here is the story from Framingham, MA, as seen on today's Google News: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/artsCulture/view.bg?articleid=131861 .

Libraries can circulate just about anything. During our recent travels around Nebraska to visit public libraries, we saw many of them that circulate Wilton cake pans (even interlibrary loaning them!). Here is a story on how libraries in Finland are 'circulating' free broadband:
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=696482006 . A wonderful idea!!

But is there a librarian? I saw this story about the new Iraqi Virtual Science Library that has been created at the National Academy of Sciences : http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7003412210 . Here is a link to the "library" itself: https://ivsl.org/ . If anyone knows of a partner that includes the librarians as part of the deal in this project, please let me know.
I was once asked by an administrator to create a library at a hospital that did not include a librarian due to high personnel cost, but would just have a passcode lock on the door and a self-sign check-out procedure for circulation of materials. The doctors (my user audience) argued that without an information professional in place, this would not be a library. I agreed with the doctors, and added that the hospital could save money by having a do-it-yourself x-ray machine, too. (The librarian-less library idea was dropped.) By looking at the IVSL page, I think we are closer to what the administrator wanted.

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.

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.

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/ .

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."

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.

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 .

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)

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.

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.

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!

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

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.

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 .

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)

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.

"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 )

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

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)

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.

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 .

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 ).]