"Quiet Revolution" -story in the Guardian about how librarians use Web 2.0 technology: http://education.guardian.co.uk/librariesunleashed/story/0,,2274841,00.html .

"Library to end dial-up Internet service June 30" http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_county/bal-md.co.digest23apr23,0,6652844.story . This story from the Baltimore County Digest marks an end of an era. I remember the rush for libraries to provide Internet services in the mid-90's - it made a huge difference in many lives to have the access. Kudos to the library for knowing when to move on to other cutting-edge services. While they might have considered keeping it going for a little while longer during these times of economic downturn, since it brought in around $240,000 a year, they project that the service would no longer pay for itself after this summer.

Looking for some guidance for libraries today, I ran across Norman Ray Lambert's 13 Golden Rules: http://www.throwedrolls.com/golden_rules.html . Lambert started the Lambert's Cafe dynasty, which is known as "the only home of throwed rolls". (Trust me, if you can visit one of their restaurants, you will remember the experience, and come away full.) So Mr. Lambert's Golden Rules were written originally for his cafe, but I believe many of them should apply to library service as well. From the Cafe site, presented here for your consideration:

begin quote"

1. As the Bible says, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
2. "Always offer our guest at least one service they can't receive anywhere else."
3. "You, our guest, are very important, you are the reason we are here! THANK YOU!"
4. "We need you, our guest, much more than we need ourselves."
5. "You, our guest, are always right."
6. "It's our job to take care of you, if we don't someone else will."
7. "If we make a mistake, we will correct it immediately!"
8. "Our simple but powerful rule: Always give you, our guest, more than you expect to get."
9. "You are our guest; guests in our home, not clients or customers, but guests."
10. "Good enough for some is not good enough for us."
11. "The difference between ordinary and extra-ordinary, is: give that little extra."
12. "Quality rather than quantity matters, we offer BOTH."
13. "We do simple things, but in exceptional ways!"

" end quote
When was the last time you thanked someone who emailed or texted a reference question? When have you told your patrons that you need them more than you need yourself? When have you instructed your staff to give more than what the customer expects? If you already follow most of these 'rules', great, and please let me know where you are - I would like to highlight the great service you are providing so others can model!!

The Library Morphs, by John K. Waters http://campustechnology.com/articles/60299/ , in the April 2008 edition of Campus Technology. Thanks to the planning that was done in my library, this concept was embraced fairly well here when we did a major renovation in 2000.

ebrary Honors National Library Week, Offers Complimentary Access to Library Science E-books

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In support of National Library Week, April 13 to 19, 2008, ebrary®, a leading provider of e-content services and technology, today announced that it will provide librarians as well as students and faculty in library science and related programs with complimentary access to its Library Center for one year.

Subsidized by ebrary, the Library Center includes more than 85 full-text e-books covering topics such as digital library development, general collection development, and the history of libraries and librarianship, as well as illustrated guides from the Library of Congress. Contributing publishers include Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Idea Group, Inc., Greenwood Publishing Group, Library of Congress, and MIT Press.

To receive complimentary access, students, faculty, and librarians may register at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=iLchAc260S528_2botn4tcig_3d_3d.