In the Library 2.0 world, it may not serve you well to appear like you are having fun while learning about new technologies that you teach to your customers... Here is a story from Nebraska on an audit that has been called based upon a YouTube video of state library employees assembling a Rock Band video game -

http://www.action3news.com/Global/story.asp?S=9900719&nav=menu550_2

Link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I84RvK7LuE

Link to the Nebraska Library Commission response: http://www.nlc.state.ne.us/blogs/NLC/2009/02/commission_response_to_state_auditors_report.html

And here is the grant application at ALA for the "Libraries, Literacy, and Gaming" program, intended to support literacy development in young people ages 10-18, due March 20th:
http://librarygamingtoolkit.org/rfp/

[Posted here as part of my continuing education participation requirements for the Library 2.0 class.-th]

Under the category of Challenge - the public library board in Topeka, KS, has voted to restrict 4 books on sex based on a challenge from the community:
From the International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/20/america/NA-US-Library-Sex-Books.php

Another news story on this event, with responses from the library community:
Library Peers Dismayed at Board's Decision
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/022109/kan_396302566.shtml

And on the Topeka ABC affiliate's web page, a local lawyer says that the ACLU may become involved. Check out the poll at the bottom of the page - it is currently ahead on "Yes, children must be protected from exposure to certain books" http://www.ktka.com/news/2009/feb/20/local_attorney_people_want_legal_action_against_li/

This week's assignment in the Library 2.0 class is to explore del.icio.us, the social bookmarking site. Since I am not one to use the bookmark feature on my browser, I was highly skeptical about the usefulness of this site. After exploring it, however, I can see some instances where it would be useful as a sharing tool for bookmarks in the library setting.

My account address is: http://delicious.com/biblioteks . I added the websites from the ABCs of DNA class that I took last Friday - I figured those would be useful to others, and I wanted to see if this would be a suitable sharing tool. I had to enter each url separately - too bad there doesn't seem to be a 'bulk upload' tool like Flickr has for photos! Since I was entering them off of a PowerPoint presentation handout, I would have liked to upload them all and sort out the tags later.

I also noticed that I can't put this set of bookmarks into their own category on the page - it appears that they will just be listed with all future bookmarks by 'most recently added', or 'alphabetically'. In the early days of browsers, one could at least create headers within the list of bookmarks (not sure if that is still the case - I really don't use the bookmark feature anymore). I will go back and add the class title to the tags so I can search and find/share the set that way.

It was interesting to see how few people had our library homepage included in their account. We have talked about adding a 'share this' feature on our web pages in the next generation of our web site - this may increase the number of folks that include our link.

After starting up the account, I will take some time during the rest of the week to check out other folks' list of links. I will also check to see what sort of archiving is available for users' accounts, after the crash last week of another bookmarking site.

Back it up - back it up - back it up. That rule holds for Library 2.0 tools as well. I know we are going to talk later in the class about social bookmarking, but I saw a story on SlashDot about Ma.gnolia, and how its users have lost their bookmark lists forever:

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/02/19/magnolia-data-is-gone-for-good/

I have over 580 posts on this nearly 6 year old blog, and am looking for a method to archive the posts for my own use. Let me know if you can recommend an archiving method for a blog, so I don't have to depend on Google to hold my history. Thanks!

Not sure if this falls into the Challenge or Controversial category, but submitting it here for your consideration - yesterday's edition of The Telegraph has a story about British libraries responding to requests to place religious books on the top shelf:

Bible moved to library top shelf over inequality fears
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/4687077/Bible-put-on-top-shelf-in-move-to-appease-Muslims.html

[Note that the title of the article is different from the title of the link-hmmm. -th]

New document from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council in the UK:
Guidance on the Management of Controversial Material in Public Libraries
The link to the full document is on this announcement page:
http://www.resourceshelf.com/2009/02/19/uk-guidance-on-the-management-of-controversial-material-in-public-libraries/

The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals [CILIP] has endorsed the document, and has developed a free training course they will deliver in 6 locations: http://www.cilip.org.uk/training/training/controversialstock_CILIPTrainingDevelopmentMLA.htm

ALA has links on its site pertaining to Challenges:
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/statementspolicies.cfm#challenges
and workbooks to develop selection policy, as in this example: http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/challengesupport/dealing/ALA_print_layout_1_231032_231032.cfm

Blogger has created a great set of YouTube videos on how to get more out of your blog experience, easily located on their channel here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BloggerHelp
This could be a great example for libraries to follow to create their set of support videos.

The McGoogan Library of Medicine has a wonderful set of support Flash videos, thanks to Heather Brown, MA, (she is now head of the ILL department) posted on our website:
http://www.unmc.edu/library/guides/index.html

I hope to learn in the Library 2.0 class if these are suitable to post on YouTube on the library's channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/UNMCLibrary
(I have embedded the channel on the right side of this blog for purposes and duration of the Library 2.0 class.)

For those of us in the NNLM 13 things online class, and dedicated library bloggers everywhere - the comic strip Non Sequitur may have us in mind. Check out Wednesday, February 18's comic at this site:
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/nonsequitur

I don't think any of us are ready for Bloggers Anonymous yet, or are we?? Let's blog about that...

To add to your library advocacy file:

A great story about the value of school librarians in the New York Times:
In Web Age, Library Job Gets Update
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/books/16libr.html?ref=technology

There is a good video on the 21st Century Librarian embedded in the article as well, following the story.

Naturally, don't miss the comments section at the end of the story:
http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2009/02/16/books/16libr.html

Also, Illinois has found an unusual method to fund libraries and library programs. They are issuing a special edition license plate with President Obama's image on it:
Obama Temporary License Plates Newest Collectors Item
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/02/obama_license_plate.html

Join me during the next 10 weeks as I work through this online class with fellow life-long learners across the United States (and other nations?): "Learning 2.0, or 13 Things to explore and learn about Web 2.0 tools"
http://nnlm-l2.blogspot.com/

I will be posting my homework comments to this blog, and linking to my classmates' blogs to showcase their comments, in addition to my usual postings about the library world in general. I hope you gain new insight on how you can use technology to aid your own lifelong learning. and maybe some tips that you can use in your library.

I welcome my classmates who may be new readers to this blog, and remind all readers that I enjoy receiving comments. (Of course, all comments to this blog are moderated, meaning they are read first before posting to the blog.) I look forward to much sharing of opinions and facts in future postings.

CDC has added African American media resources to its online newsroom:

http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2009/a090204.htm?s_cid=mediarel_a090204.htm_x

Here is a direct link to the new media resource page:

http://www.cdc.gov/media/subtopic/resources/aaresource.htm

Please share this information resource with your community's media outlets. This gives you the opportunity to be viewed as a "source" for them - capitalize on it!

My mom in Missouri called me and said she had just read a great set of
essays in the March Woman's Day magazine on how libraries helped people with health issues, and that one of the essays mentioned an National Library of Medicine librarian in Colorado
(but not by name). I checked, and verified that the author of the essay
had been taught by Dana Abbey, the NNLM-MCR Consumer Health Liaison for
our region. Congratulations Dana on the international coverage for your
work! As a fellow educator, I always hope that what I teach sticks - you
now know for certain that you made a difference in another individual's
life. Well done.

I also learned that this story is part of an eight-year partnership with
ALA's "Campaign for America's Libraries". I congratulate all of our public
libraries on their work with their communities - you make a huge
difference, and it is wonderful that a professional organization like ALA
helps spread that message. Your very important work with your community
members impacts my academic and medical center audience as well. Thank you
for a job well done. I look forward to the next installment - how
libraries have helped individuals with finance issues.

Here is a link to the ALA press release:
http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2009/february2009/campaignwdhealth.cfm

and a link to the original Woman's Day article:
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/advocacy/publicawareness/campaign@yourlibrary/sponsorship/womansdaymagazine/health%20article.pdf

[message above originally sent out to the MCMLA discussion list on 11 Feb 09-th]

Article from Reuters on new recommendations that drug companies and doctors keep a bigger distance from each other: http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5130ZZ20090204?sp=true .
What about the relationship between librarians, library associations, and publishers? What if we didn't have publishers' support for our conferences? Could be that our relationship with publishers is different than doctors with drug companies - for one thing, librarians aren't paid individually by publishers to 'push' their product to patrons. And in our case, when one is sitting at a conference lunch and receiving a gift from a publisher, usually libraries are the ones that paid the money to cover the bill - not the ones we serve.

Good news: ALA announces one-year reprieve from the Anti-Lead Law:
http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2009/January2009/leadlawstayed.cfm

(Thanks to Siobhan Champ-Blackwell for this news update.-th)

Broadband is mentioned in the stimulus bill. One explanation of what is included can be found in Yochai Benkler's article on the TPMcafe: http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/30/broadband_stimulus/

I can see possible roles for community librarians if the Senate version is passed:
"The Senate bill is also the first serious effort to invest in skills training and connecting the availability of physical infrastructure to programs to teach people how to use the systems. An incredibly important, and oft ignored, facet of the problem. "

(I found this article through BoingBoing: http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/03/broadband-stimulus-p.html)