Flickr is a great resource for your library, offering a great place to post photos from your collection, as well as photos of activities your library hosts. One library has even posted their library signage on Flickr - http://flickr.com/search/?q=mcgoogansign

Jessica Merritt has written a post on the CollegeDegrees blog about why libraries should consider using Flickr and other social networking sites:

How to: Make Flickr Work for Your Library - 50+ Resources
http://www.collegedegrees.com/blog/2008/06/24/how-to-make-flickr-work-for-your-library-50-resources/

ebrary results from the 2008 Global Student E-Book Survey
http://www.ebrary.com/corp/collateral/en/Survey/ebrary_student_survey_2008.pdf


A news article about the survey's findings at The Chronicle of Higher Education http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3115

It would be very interesting to conduct the same survey with only medical college/academic health center libraries, to identify use by health professional students - I think it is higher than "other major" college students.

An inspiring news story: It Takes a Librarian to Raise a Village of Teens , from The Globe and Mail -http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080614.LIBRARY14/TPStory/TPEntertainment/Ontario/


Read this article, if you are looking for more reasons to make your library over into a center for your community.

"Book a librarian to help". That is such a great slogan - we need to use it to remind our customers that librarians will show up at their elbows to work through whatever barriers to gain access to the information needed. Another slogan: "Barista of Information", one I came up with a few months ago. Still no t-shirts with either slogan on them, though.

"Book a librarian to help" is also the title of this news story from Pembrokeshire in the UK http://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/latest/display.var.2339480.0.book_a_librarian_to_help.php , where two librarians were asked to step in as wedding witnesses. See, librarians DO eliminate barriers between you and what you need!

Fundraising information resources gathered and maintained by Tammy Flippen at Springfield/Green County library in Missouri: http://thelibrary.org/infolink/nonprofit/ . The news article where I first learned of this great resource:

Librarian can help charities get needed money: http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080615/COLUMNISTS08/806150354
Another news item dealing with economic topics and libraries:
----------------------
The Sacramento Public Library has created a page for their customers, dealing with saving money, finding work, dealing with mortgages: MoneySmart @ your library. http://www.booksite.com/texis/scripts/bookletter/showlist.html?sid=6730&list=CNL5

I saw this site mentioned in this news story: Library Web Page Offers Economic Advice
http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/370454 .

Twitter Ideas for Libraries (from The Wired Campus, in The Chronicle of Higher Education) http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3073/twitter-ideas-for-libraries

This article links to College @ Home's article: Twitter for Librarians - the ultimate guide
http://www.collegeathome.com/blog/2008/05/27/twitter-for-librarians-the-ultimate-guide/

If you are considering just how the new Web 2.0 tools can fit into your library, you will want to check out the great links to resources in the College @ Home's article!

OCLC announces new Web 2.0 features added to WorldCat:
http://www.oclc.org/emailcontent/articles/worldcat/updatesoffers.htm .
They have added user reviews and rating features, and cover art to user-created lists. Users can write reviews in their preferred language.

If your library has been discussing the addition of Web 2.0 features to your catalog, this may give your committee additional reasons to add the features to your own OPAC.

I have written before about Jackson County libraries' experience with privatization. Another story about library privatization:

Library will not privatize
http://www.wickedlocal.com/tewksbury/news/x65832249/Library-will-not-privatize


If there are any library schools discussing this topic, I would love to hear about them.

Other items on this blog about privatizing libraries can be found using this search string:
http://libeducation.blogspot.com/search?q=jackson

Steve Cisler, digital librarian - rest in peace
[from BoingBoing-th] http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/22/steve-cisler-digital.html
I think it is safe to say that most of how we interact with networks as librarians has Mr. Cisler to thank.

Ask Oprah to have "The Hollywood Librarian" on her show!

Many of you have seen documentary "The Hollywood Librarian" at ALA
Conferences or one of the many showings across the country. If you have
not seen the film, you can see clips at
http://www.hollywoodlibrarian.com. The film has been called "brilliant"
"engaging" and "illuminating" and has been seen by thousands of people
in the US, Canada, Ireland, the UK, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and
the Netherlands.

After showing the film in Normal, IL, the community where I live, I
think this is a film that needs to go beyond library audiences. I would
like the film to be viewed by Oprah. Copies have been mailed to her, to
help promote librarianship. And when Oprah promotes an issue, it gets
national attention.

I am asking every librarian to email Oprah asking her to at least view
the film and suggest she have Ann Seidl on as a guest. There is a form
that needs to be filled out at
https://www.oprah.com/plugger/templates/BeOnTheShow.jhtml?action=respond
&plugId=B2100004

In the "Tell us your story" box, please request that Oprah view the film
"The Hollywood Librarian" by Ann Seidl and have her on the show. The
form does ask for contact information, and the producers can contact me:
Toni Tucker toni.tucker1@gmail.com or 309-212-2407 for more information
about the documentary or Ann Seidl.

This could be a great campaign to get this film in front of Oprah and
really promote our amazing profession.
Please forward to other library listservs.

Thank you,
Toni Tucker
Illinois State University
Milner Library
Campus Box 8900
Normal, IL 61790-8900
Voice (309)438-7402
Fax (309) 438-3676

The Internet Archive won their fight against a National Security letter from the FBI, and can now talk about it: http://www.archive.org/iathreads/post-view.php?id=192021 .

"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.

New tools for non-profits from Google, as announced on the Official Google Blog:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/google-for-non-profits.html
The quote from their blog entry on how you can use the tools seems to fit most library's needs, particularly the online donations:

• "When you're writing a grant application, don't get stuck emailing drafts back and forth. Try Google Docs to collaborate on documents with your colleagues.

• Cut costs and save time with Google-hosted email at your own domain. Access your e-mail from any computer with an Internet connection.

• Accept online donations without hassle and with no transaction fees until 2009 with Google Checkout.

• Apply for free online advertising through our Google Grants program to raise awareness and drive traffic to your website.
  

• Start a blog to keep your supporters informed and engaged."
  

Another cartoonist, this time also a librarian: Stephanie Piro. Her website is great - you can catch up on her new book news, purchase previous cartoons, even hire her to illustrate your next book:
http://www.stephaniepiro.com/

She also has a CafePress site with librarian/book lover/baby gifts:
http://www.cafepress.com/saturdaychick

She will be presenting on her life as a cartoonist and librarian at the upcoming New Hampshire Library Association spring conference: Innovate in '08 - Library Basics and Beyond http://www.nhlibrarians.org/springconference.html.
I bet it will be a session you won't want to miss! If you do have to miss it, maybe she would come to speak at your next conference...

GAO Report Finds EPA Library Closures Undercut Agency’s Mission http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/gao-report-finds-epa-library-0101.html
This story from the Union of Concerned Scientists also links to testimony by Dr. Fransesca Grifo, director of the UCS Scientific Integrity Program.
A link to previous posts about EPA Libraries on this blog: http://libeducation.blogspot.com/search?q=epa

A great cartoon gift idea for your favorite librarian, from Dave Coverly's website - a librarian cartoon that he will sell as a poster: http://www.speedbump.com/librarian.html .
You can check out more of Mr. Coverly's art at Creators.com, where they archive his Speed Bump cartoon series: http://www.creators.com/comics/speed-bump/16095.html.

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is pleased to announce ACRL OnPoint, a new live chat series. Each informal monthly chat session provides the opportunity to connect with colleagues and experts to discuss an issue of the day in academic and research librarianship.
All ACRL OnPoint chats are free and open to the public [bolded text by T.Hartman]. Sessions are unmoderated, 30-45 minutes in length and take place in a Meebo chat room. All chat sessions begin at 1pm CDT. While no registration is necessary to participate, ACRL recommends creating a quick and easy Meebo account for the best experience while participating in ACRL OnPoint discussions. Full details are available on the ACRL Web site at http://www.acrl.org/ala/acrl/acrlproftools/OnPoint/onpoint.cfm.

Join us on March 27, 2008 for the inaugural ACRL OnPoint chat on the newly mandatory NIH Public Access Policy. The discussion of how libraries are leveraging this new policy on campus will be convened by ACRL Scholarly Communication Committee member Karen Williams and Linda Watson, president of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries. Discuss actions your library is taking or could take, such as educating authors, offering deposit services and partnering with your office of sponsored research.

This first chat session is co-sponsored by the Association of Academic Health Science Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, the Greater Western Library Alliance, and the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC).

Future ACRL OnPoint chats include:

April 2008: Section 108 Study Group Report – Discuss the implications of the recommendations and findings of this forthcoming report (expected in mid-March) for academic libraries.
May 2008: Green Libraries – Share ideas about what libraries are, or could be, doing to meet the growing “greening” of college and university campuses.
June 2008: ACRL 101 – Find your path to participation to get the most out of your ACRL membership and discuss ACRL activities at the 2008 ALA Annual Conference with Associate Director Mary Jane Petrowski.

Visit http://www.acrl.org/ala/acrl/acrlproftools/OnPoint/onpoint.cfm for additional information, including future chat dates, full descriptions and chat transcripts. Send ideas for future ACRL OnPoint chat topics to acrl@ala.org with the subject heading ACRL OnPoint.

A useful screenshot tool in FireFox (this is a guest post from a colleague at my library):

This might be useful for some of you. If you use Firefox as your browser,
you can quickly download a plugin called FireShot that takes much better
screen captures than using CTRL/PRINT SCREEN. Open Firefox and go to:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5648 Click to download
the Fireshot extension. It will put [a red square with a white 'S'] logo in the top right hand
corner of your toolbar.

Clicking it will take a snapshot of whatver screen you are on and OPEN IT
IN AN EDITOR!!! You don't have to move it to photoshop or anything else
to crop it or change it around. And then you can save it from there. It
takes much, much clearer screenshots, especially when you are using
something where you have typed into a form.


Brian Erb., M.L.S.
Reference and Education Librarian
McGoogan Library of Medicine

-------
Thanks for sharing, Brian. I have already used this add-on when creating worksheets and publicity, and it is slick. -th

A discussion over at SlashDot should have all librarian's eyes: Can Architects Save Libraries from the Internet? http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/02/2129226 

Be sure and read the comments - they offer a unique insight into what our users (current and future) think a library should look like and behave.

The Alaska Library Association's newsletter, Newspoke, has highlighted outsourcing libraries as their lead story in the January-March 2008 issue: Outsourcing Libraries -- A Practical Solution? http://www.akla.org/newspoke/index.html.

The editor, Loretta Andress, included posts made on this blog back in August 2007, when I wrote about the Jackson County libraries closing. (This link takes you to all of the posts that have been written about Jackson County outsourcing: http://libeducation.blogspot.com/search?q=jackson.)

The Alaska Library Association is currently enjoying their annual conference in Fairbanks http://www.akla.org/fairbanks2008/index.php . I wish everyone attending the best - library conferences are the greatest! If there is any discussion about outsourcing in the conference halls, or later when folks attend the National Conference of the Public Library Association, I hope the comments are sent to me to be shared on this blog.

From Reuters: Google offers team web site publishing service http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN2750708620080228

Google Sites  a simple web site publishing tool for team collaboration, along the lines of Microsoft's SharePoint. Libraries could use the software to 'organize and share digital information such as Web links, calendars, hotos, videos, presentations, attachments and other documents...' Google Sites can be published to the world as well as only used within the team.

This is free to users of Google Apps. More information on Google Sites at this page: http://sites.google.com/overview.html

I just learned of the Daily Interview blog http://dailyinterview.net/ , through a story in Medscape (free registration probably required): An Interview a Day Gives More Subjects Their Say http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/570138?src=mp

The Daily Interviewer, an anonymous surgeon, has interviews with just about everyone EXCEPT a medical librarian. I hope they find one to interview soon - there are a lot of us that have very interesting things to talk about!

The Josiah Macy Foundation released a report in January on the Chairman's Summary of the Conference: Continuing Education in the Health Professions - Improving Healthcare Through Lifelong Learning http://www.josiahmacyfoundation.org/documents/Macy_ContEd_1_7_08.pdf

Librarians need to be more involved with CME.
One of the report's recommendations sounds like it is right up the librarians' alley:
Promote the discovery and dissemination of
more effective methods of educating health
professionals over their professional lifetimes
and foster the most effective and efficient
ways to improve knowledge, skills, attitudes,
practice and teamwork.

The Nebraska Library Commission is now including CC licensed books in its collection. Link to their blog on BoingBoing: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/02/20/library-starts-to-in.html

"Tips for Savvy Medical Web Surfing", a CNN article: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/21/ep.web.sites/index.html . Included in the tips - using a medical librarian.

(Thanks goes to my colleague, Sheryl Williams at the McGoogan Library of Medicine, for sending me this link. -th)

Calculate the retail value of your library’s resources and services
How much would it cost to replace your library services on the retail market? Calculate what it would cost to buy library services - at a book store, through pay per view for articles, from an information broker - if you and your library weren’t there. Try this calculator and see what YOU are worth! Retail Value Calculator: http://nnlm.gov/mcr/evaluation/calculator.html .
Thanks to Dick Kammer I’ve already made a couple of small modifications. You can use the web page calculator, open an Excel spreadsheet that mimics the calculator or open an unrestricted Excel spreadsheet that allows you to change lines, colors, add more than three new resources, remove ones that aren’t useful to you. Caution: be sure you know how to calculate the totals in column D. Instructions are on the spreadsheet
I’m also working on a calculator to determine your ROI – return on investment – that you can use with your CFO, boss, stakeholders to show the significant return on your institution’s investment in professional library services. Stay tuned!
Let me know what you think!
http://nnlm.gov/mcr/news_blog/?p=699

Betsy Kelly
Assessment & Evaluation Liaison
MidContinental Regional Medical Library
and
Associate Director for Digital Initiatives
Becker Medical Library
Washington University School of Medicine
Box 8132
660 S. Euclid Avenue
St. Louis MO 63110
314-362-2783

"Putting Information in the Hands of the World" - that is the heading on the first page of the web site of Librarians Without Borders http://www.lwb-online.org/ . This is a great organization, based in Canada and has a worldwide membership.

If you are interested in improving information in communities around the world, check out this group.

Article in the Baltimore Sun about Judith Tapiero, a library consultant:
Rescuing Libraries http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.wk.atwork20feb20,0,6398463.story

Ms. Tapiero sounds like she would make a great speaker at some upcoming library conference! I for one would love to learn more about her work and how she sees the future of libraries.

Here is a link to her company web site: The Organized Library http://www.theorganizedlibrary.com/

If you know of ways to raise $12,500, then Zimbabwe would probably like to hear from you. There are 35,000 books worth $200,000 waiting to be shipped to the Harare City Library, according to this news story: http://allafrica.com/stories/200802200201.html .

Check out the new OCLC website: http://www.oclc.org/us/en/global/default.htm
They are really living up to their slogan: "The World's Libraries. Connected."

Update on Jackson County, Oregon's outsourced libraries (blog posts on Jackson County can be read here):

LSSI Begins Labor Talks - NLRB complaint means workers rehired by library firm will still be unionized http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/NEWS/802130312

It will be interesting to see how the outsourcing firm balances what will probably be increased costs with services needed, once the union has agreed to a contract.

On the way to your virtual library, you may wish to install RFID on your physical (hard copy) library materials. Here is a story about how the libraries in Paris, France are doing just that:
City of Paris Chooses 3M Library Systems for Conversion of 42 Branches to RFID
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/industries/industrials/article/city-paris-chooses-3m-library-systems-conversion-42-branches-rfid_462877_6.html

A telling quote from the story: "The range of RFID-related library products continues to expand, enabling library staffs to provide more services at a time when customer demand is growing faster than financial resources..."

Dare to think of a virtual library? Check out NetLibrary's news that they now have a catalog of over 160,000 ebooks and eaudiobooks, thanks to new agreements they just signed with 21 international publishers:
http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/200693.htm. NetLibrary is OCLC's platform for econtent delivery.

Let's play 'what if': what if we become knowledge navigators (see previous post) of virtual collections? What if we are able to visit every patron at their desktop (or in person at their elbow) and help guide them to download their required readings? What if we could completely convert our collections to virtual, yet have to add library staff rather than reduce the numbers due to increased service and education opportunities and requirements?

Tackling Information Overload With Knowledge Navigators http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=business_intelligence&articleId=310829&taxonomyId=9&intsrc=kc_feat

This is a great Computerworld opinion piece that advocates the use of librarians to improve institutional data flows.

Information about the author, John D. Halamka:
"John D. Halamka is CIO at CareGroup Healthcare System, CIO and associate dean for educational technology at Harvard Medical School, chairman of the New England Health Electronic Data Interchange Network, CIO of the Harvard Clinical Research Institute and a practicing emergency physician."

Job and occupational description for medical librarian, as listed at the American Medical Association website:
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/16043.html

Quote from the page: "Medical librarians help improve the quality of patient care by helping health care professionals stay abreast of new developments and treatments. "

Please take the newest Pew Internet Project Survey!

The Pew Internet Project and Elon University are conducting an ongoing survey
of stakeholders about the future of the internet, and we would like to include
your views in our research.

This web-based survey about international concerns and the internet follows
two previous surveys of thousands of internet stakeholders that measured the
expected impact of the internet over the next decade (to see the results,
please go to www.elon.edu/e-web/predictions/expertsurveys/default.xhtml).

We hope you'll take 10 to 15 minutes to fill out our survey (to participate,
you must use Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari as your browser). You will
find the survey at: http://websurveyor.net/wsb.dll/WSGateway?surveyid=195410
<>

The survey asks you to assess several potential scenarios tied to the future
of the internet and to contribute your own thoughts about what you believe
should or will happen by the year 2020. This is a confidential survey,
however, we encourage you to take credit for your thoughts. After each
question, you are invited to explain or expand on your views. Each elaboration
you provide will remain anonymous unless you put your name at the start of it.

When you begin the survey, please use this personal identification number
(PIN): 1001

The Pew Internet Project will issue a report based on this survey in the
spring; we expect the results to be useful to policy makers, scholars and
those in the information technology industry. Material from this survey will
be added to the Elon University/Pew Internet website, Imagining the Internet
(www.imaginingtheinternet.org). We will not use your name or email address for any
purpose other than this research project, and we will not share your
information with outside solicitors.


If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at lrainie@psra.org.

Thank you,
Lee Rainie
Director, Pew Internet & American Life Project
1615 L Street NW
Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20036
http://www.pewinternet.org

Our work is not yet done, folks. The British Library has a link to a report titled: Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future on their site: http://www.bl.uk/news/2008/pressrelease20080116.html . Quote from the British Library press release:

"A new study overturns the common assumption that the ‘Google Generation' – youngsters born or brought up in the Internet age – is the most web-literate. The first ever virtual longitudinal study carried out by the CIBER research team at University College London claims that, although young people demonstrate an apparent ease and familiarity with computers, they rely heavily on search engines, view rather than read and do not possess the critical and analytical skills to assess the information that they find on the web. "

The direct link to the report is: http://www.bl.uk/news/pdf/googlegen.pdf . You may have suspected such findings, if you have had any contact at all with students from elementary up to and including graduate level studies. As these are our future sources of revenue, be it taxes or direct pay, we as librarians need to evolve and adapt to them, or schedule one whale of a retraining effort. As for me, I am betting on adaptation and evolution.
(Thanks to Siobhan Champ-Blackwell at Creighton for calling this to my attention -th)

Check out the Design Thinking article by Steven J. Bell in the January/February 2008 issue of American Libraries. I found a link to the full-text of the article on the author's blog, if you don't subscribe to the journal: http://dbl.lishost.org/blog/2008/01/04/how-a-design-thinking-approach-can-help-librarians/
The author reminds us to keep the user experience in mind, and uses the example of coffee (a commodity). By adding service and the experience (wireless access, live bands, gourmet food), the coffee turns into something that people will pay top price per cup just to get the entire user experience. Adding memorable service to the library experience could improve each user's experience. After all, sometimes we are still dispelling the bad memories of our patron's 2nd grade librarian, or their association of the library with term papers (and they hated term papers), or the last time they were in our library and didn't find what they were looking for, feeling ineffective and clumsy as they searched in vain.
"User experience" also fits what James Earl Jones was talking about as the character Terrance Mann in the movie, Field of Dreams, when he explains why people will line up and pay to come to a baseball field in Iowa: "Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray." I wonder if we could get Mr. Jones to recite that passage with some changes for the next PSA for libraries? Maybe something like: "...for it is money they have and information they lack..."
Going back to the coffee shop experience. I mentioned a new t-shirt idea for Library Week yesterday to a few of the librarians I work with and the circulation staff members, and received very different responses. The t-shirt would say in a great font: Barista of information. The librarians pretty much all disliked the idea, saying that we do so much more. But those that serve the patrons the most, the circulation staff, loved the idea, and said the patrons would "get it". Librarians outside academic libraries "got it", too. Interesting. Maybe since I started out in libraries as a work-study in the Circulation Dept., I liked the idea, seeing the phrase "barista of information" as a bridge, not an all-encompassing descriptor. I don't know if we will ever have one phrase that will show the length and breadth that we do as librarians - I can't even explain all of what I do to my relatives over the holiday visits. But 'barista of information' - it does have a ring to it.
(This is my 500th post on this blog. I hope they have all been valuable to you, and I look forward to posting more in the years ahead.)

The book, "The Future of Ideas" is now free to download on a Creative Commons license: http://lessig.org/blog/2008/01/the_future_of_ideas_is_now_fre_1.html.
This is most appropriate, as the book is about the shift of the Internet from creativity and innovation to "cable television on speed", controlled by "hoarders of copyrights". Since we deal on all sides of copyright, if you haven't read the book, you can now - free.

Keeping up with Congress has just become easier - "My Open Congress" networking site is described on this blog post: http://www.opencongress.org/articles/view/386-Announcing-My-OpenCongress-Network-Comment-and-Vote-on-Congress. Users can track by senator, bill, representative, or issue. Please share this with those in your groups in charge of governmental affairs.

Survey invitation from Marcus Banks, Manager of Education and Information Services, UCSF Library in San Francisco:

If you regularly read blogs by and for health sciences librarians, but
have not yet taken a 5-10 minute survey about your experiences, please go
here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=vf3ie6WVLii5VI0uoNKx2g_3d_3d
The survey will be up until Jan. 21. So far 202 people have completed it.
The data will inform an upcoming chapter meeting paper. Then I will report
it all--appropriately enough--on my blog: http://mbanks.typepad.com/

Wondering what electronic devices your students own, so you can offer services aimed at those devices? Check out the latest Snapshot from Campus Technology: http://www.campustechnology.com/articles/57155/

"Academic Librarians and Rank" http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2008/01/2008010401c/careers.html
compares results from the 2006 survey of Ph.D. librarians by Todd Gillman and Thea Lindquist to the 1991 ARL survey.

Building the Center for Information Literacy at Illiniois State University: ISU-based center to help librarians train info consumers http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/01/05/news/doc477f1bffb502c270238630.txt
From the article: "Teaching people to find, evaluate and use information effectively has always been part of a librarian's job..." Just had to repeat that point.

Some of the goals listed for the new center:
"-- Establish a Web site, or virtual clearinghouse, about the subject and its latest trends.

-- Organize regional summits on the topic of teaching information literacy. Summits would be conducted throughout the state, but also be accessible through Web technology.

-- Create outreach groups for different librarian communities, such as school librarians, and others working in public library environments."

"Ten Tips for Technology Training", as posted to Tame the Web blog: http://tametheweb.com/2008/01/02/ten-tips-for-technology-training/. The ten great training tips originally appeared in the May 2006 issue of Computers in Libraries magazine.

Mentioned in the tips: FD's Flickr Toys. Address for that wonderful site: http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/ .

What if your library received ad revenue from the pdf documents it supplied to users? This rhetorical question has been brought to you by the new Ads for Adobe service: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/adsforpdf/ .

The Research Committee of the Association of College and Research Libraries has released its 2007 Environmental Scan. It lists the top 10 assumptions for the future of academic libraries and librarians. Check it out at http://www.acrl.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/whitepapers/Environmental_Scan_2.pdf

"Having content vetted by people who understand information well makes a difference." That quote should get the journalist David A. Utter into a library hall of fame somewhere. He has my vote, for sure. The quote came from his article, "Wikia Schmikia: Try Out These Sites" at http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/01/03/wikia-schmikia-try-out-these-sites

In the article, he quotes Gary Price of Resource Shelf saying this about Wikia Search: "It’s going to be a bit sad to see this project get all sorts of media attention and library/librarian/scholar built and maintained tools with plenty of human editorial influence forgotten."

Michael Hart lists his predictions for the top inventions of 2008 http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3954&cid=12&sid=52 . Among the items that Mr. Hart lists, he lists virtual reference as a great invention of 2008, predicting that libraries won't limit their reference emails to only residents in their service area. It would be so cool if this could be true everywhere. Unfortunately, the publishers site license agreements on most eresources specifically limit their use to a recognized collection of users. If someone emailed our library for a copy of a journal article, we would have to ask them to visit the library in person to get the copy - not allowed to copy and redistribute items outside of our recognized service population. Free stuff - can do and we do it all the time, and we would help anyone. Proprietary databases - can't do it, or can't do it easily, or suffer penalties and who knows what else.

Our library tried virtual reference way back in 2003, but found it was a hindrance to our users, rather than a help. A research article came out of our experiences: One Library's Experience With Virtual Reference http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=15685286 . But maybe we need to revisit the concept?


Mr. Hart is the founder of Project Gutenberg, and (from the bottom of the article) "a cofounder of The World eBook Fair [http://www.worldebookfair.com], is credited with the cofounding of the Open Source movement as well as being a pioneer by example of how the Internet should be."

EPA libraries have been told to restore services by Congress. Jessymyn West posted a story on her blog about this yesterday: http://www.librarian.net/stax/2221/congress-requests-epa-libraries-to-open-again/ . She also links to a press release at the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility site: http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=964 .

To quote Ms. West, who echoes many (I hope) citizens' feelings about the whole episode: "I don’t know about you but I find this so upsetting. Not that someone could be so shortsighted as to think you could close a bunch of libraries with practically unique information and replace them with a (shoddy, sorry) database, but that the whole idea of closing a LIBRARY isn’t seen as a last-ditch thing you only do when you need to, I don’t know, burn the books for fuel to keep from freezing to death."

Previous posts to the User Education blog about the EPA libraries: http://libeducation.blogspot.com/search?q=epa .

A great blog post by Richard Akerman http://scilib.typepad.com/science_library_pad/2008/01/library-support.html
about the recent Association of Research Libraries' report: "Agenda for developing e-science in research libraries".
His distillation of the model principles that librarians should consider:

1. Open Access: Research libraries will support open access policies and practices regarding scientific knowledge and e-science.

2. Open Data: Access to open data is a movement supported by research libraries, taking into consideration the ethical treatment of human-subject data.

3. Collaboration: Research libraries will collaborate with multi-institutional, interdisciplinary
research projects by developing and supporting digital repositories for their research outputs,
data, and metadata.

4. Digital Stewardship & Preservation: Research libraries will have institutional repositories that meet international preservation and interoperability standards and practices.

5. Equitable Service and Support: Research libraries will work collectively to ensure that gaps do not develop in the levels of support provided across e-sciences.

6. Professional Development & Investment: Research libraries will develop the human capital to provide the range of knowledge management skills at the appropriate level needed by esciences.

7. Metadata Standards & Metadata Creation: Research libraries will spearhead initiatives to develop metadata standards supportive of scientific data.

8. There is no number 8.

9. Virtual Communities: Research libraries will contribute to the establishment of and
participate in virtual laboratories or organizations developed across e-sciences.

10. Sustainable Models: Research libraries will participate in the development of and contribute to sustainable business models for the resources and services essential to e-sciences.

11. Communication: Research libraries will participate in initiatives to increase wider
professional and public understanding of e-science contributions to knowledge and its
infrastructural requirements.

To start the new year off right, I have revived the Comments feature on this blog. Your comments are very welcome. They will not be instantaneously published, but will first come to me to moderate. Please feel free to add your comments to any of the posts.

"The survey results challenge the assumption that libraries are losing relevance in the internet age." - how great is that for my quote of the day! This information about who is using our libraries is in the recent Pew Internet & American Life Project report. "Information Searches That Solve Problems" http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/231/report_display.asp
Another article written about this report is on Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071230/us_nm/internet_libraries_dc

(Thanks to Dorothy Knee for sharing the Yahoo News article with me.)

Wonderful article on what librarians do, and the value of reaching out
to our constituents!

Rather charming piece on a NYPL librarian who helps writers with their
work... a nice article highlighting the benefits and fun of what we do!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/arts/31rese.html?pagewanted=print

(Courtesy of Siobhan Champ-Blackwell)

A good blog for us as library professionals to read: Conversation Agent

http://www.conversationagent.com/

While I was reading through it, I had that back-of-the-neck feeling that these blog posts apply to our profession and business of getting the right information in the right form to the people that need it. One phrase jumped out at me, when Adam Salamon said about the younger generation:

"Metaphorically, we process the world with T1 connections, while everyone else is still stuck with dial-up. "

Another one of his that probably applies to our line of work:

"Consumers will bypass the dealers and get straight to the source "

Something to consider in the future when all the librarians retire on a Tuesday as (wrongly, in my and others' opinions) predicted, and library boards as well as leaders in academia want to fill the director positions with people from other professions. Story in today's Washington Post about the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian's director and his excessive spending habits (remember, he is working for the American citizens, after all, so he should have KNOWN that his spending habits would be public someday). Here is a link to the story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/27/AR2007122702515.html
(You may have to register to read the story.) The Director, Mr. West, received compensation in 2004 of $292,000 for the year. A quote from him tells much: ""I am grateful," West said, "for at least the past year to have been the highest-paid director of a museum in the Smithsonian. Even at that status I have yet to earn even two-thirds of what I earned as a private attorney in my last year" in private practice."
(I personally heard a similar quote from a new public library director that was trained in the realty field, when she was commenting on what her city paid her to direct a library and what she had 'given up' in commissions that year.) Different professions, different pay, folks. But I can imagine the discussion at some future committee meeting when they are considering replacing the retiring academic librarian with someone from another profession, say a physician or lawyer. That discussion will no doubt include some comments on what the new person will be giving up in income to take the directorship position, and I bet the salary will be increased to 'compensate'. Heh - too bad they can't start increasing salaries right now to better match other professions. After all, look at what the library directors 'gave up' by choosing library science instead of law or medicine or realty or used car sales...
The Washington Post article was found thanks to an entry in BoingBoing.

A new report from Research and Markets: Academic Library Website Benchmarks.
A link to the press release, which gives some great numbers on how the 84 North American college libraries responded to the survey questions: http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20071221005296&newsLang=en
(I would really love to know which library said they have 200 staff entering data on their website...)
The report is available for $85, or a pdf for $92.50. Direct link to the report page at Research and Markets site: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c78165

"Taking libraries to the street", a column by Ken Gray, talks about ways that libraries can be brought to the citizens of and near Ottawa without building a brand new building http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=6f9d8819-1809-4125-a575-cf0d4288c354. I really like his ideas of kiosks placed in areas of the city, bringing the online access to the library resources to EVERYONE. If we can have ATMs everywhere, why not library kiosks? Enlarge the current system of couriers that go between branches, and have them deliver materials to doorsteps. Place secure overnight boxes in neighborhoods. I know these seem to be radical ideas, but I sure hope that those in power around the world consider alternatives to the 'big library building' that forces patrons to come to it, rather than a better service model of going to the patron.

Libraries in Australia have a wonderful supporter - read Dr. Alan Bundy's article "Build a Library, Build a Better Country" here: http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/build-a-library-build-a-clever-country/2007/12/21/1198175338142.html

Dr. Bundy is President of Friends of Libraries Australia. Thanks to the Internet, his words have the power to support access to modern public libraries everywhere!

SPECTRUM DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP: LEADERS WANTED!

Interested in a dynamic career in library and information science (LIS) education, research, or executive level administration?

The Spectrum Doctoral Fellowship program is currently accepting applications for students beginning doctoral studies in the Fall of 2008. The deadline to apply is January 18, 2008. More information and application materials can be found at www.ala.org/spectrumphd

ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The University of Pittsburgh and the American Library Association were pleased to announce in 2006 the creation of the Spectrum Doctoral Fellowship program funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and designed to increase racial and ethnic diversity among our profession's next generation of LIS leaders.

ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIP
The Spectrum Doctoral Fellowship provides full tuition and annual stipends of $20,000 to Fellows for the first two years of study.

Partnering programs provide full tuition and stipends to their Spectrum Fellows for all remaining years of study. Six inaugural Spectrum Doctoral Fellowships were awarded in 2007. We are pleased to announce that Fellowships are available for individuals beginning doctoral studies in the Fall of 2008. To underscore the fellowship program's emphasis on leadership, all Spectrum Doctoral Fellows will attend the expense-paid E.J. Josey Doctoral Leadership Institute held in conjunction with the 2009 annual meeting of ALISE, the Association for Library and Information Science Education, and named for the University of Pittsburgh Professor Emeritus acknowledged as one of the LIS profession's leading diversity advocates.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
To be eligible for a Spectrum Doctoral Fellowship:

* Applicant must be a citizen or permanent resident of the U.S.

* Applicants should be of American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander heritage.

* Applicants must exhibit intellectual curiosity, interest in the LIS field and its sub-fields (i.e., archival science; academic, school, or other types of librarianship, medical informatics; etc.), evidence of academic excellence, effectiveness as a communicator, the ability to excel as a scholar or executive administrator in the LIS field, and a strong commitment to diversity.

* Applicants need not have received a Spectrum master's-level scholarship to be eligible, but must meet the requirements of each participating program to which they are applying.

* Applicants must be admitted to one or more of the ten participating PhD programs by February 1, 2008.

The ten participating programs are University of Pittsburgh, University of Arizona*, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Michigan*, Rutgers University*, Simmons College*, Syracuse University*, University of Tennessee at Knoxville*, University of Texas at Austin*, University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Do you have those end-of-the-year blues? Looking for something to lighten your day off? Try Google Books for some business and professional humor:
http://books.google.com/books?q=+subject:%22Humor+/+Topic+/+Business+%26+Professional%22

Remember - these have only limited or snippet previews, or even none at all, but there should still be enough chuckles in there to lighten your load.

12/28/07 Followup: I have to admit posting this link as a teaser - it is actually a better link for you to use when demonstrating why your library is still the place to come instead of folks counting on Google Books for their reading sources. In the Business and Professional Humor section of Google Books, there were no full-text books available. Only limited or snippet previews, or none at all.

Knowing how teens use social media is useful to not only youth services librarians, but all librarians - after all, teens tend to grow up and access academic libraries or special libraries someday. Even more important to keep in mind - they may turn into decision-makers who have the power of increasing or decreasing funding, space, and missions for future libraries. Along those lines, you might want to check out this report:

The Pew Internet Project released a new report today on Teens and Social
Media. The report is available at
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/230/report_display.asp.

There has to be a good way to get the library involved with everyones' mobile phones. If you know of mobile library models that are out there, please send them to me at teresa.hartman (at) gmail.com.

One possibility for our library's excellent consumer health service (http://www.unmc.edu/library/consumer ) to go mobile would be to tag on with the medical uses that are developing for cell phones. Here is an example in a story about a Canadian company joining up with a Korean cell phone company to turn cell phones into health monitors (as seen on iHealthBeat today):
Cell Phone Latest Tool in Health-Care Arsenal http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/national/story.html?id=2e4ad7f7-5c13-4a11-b87b-2f24c9e47a84&k=16423
Cell phone users would have their health monitored and easy access to consumer health information as well.


Another would be to develop a method for people to text their questions to us, similar to what Google has done for its mobile service: http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/sms/
We would need to make sure our replies are usable and readable on those tiny screens...

And if your library already has issued you a cell phone, start using Jott to send ILL reminders, program announcements, and reserve book notices to folks who would rather get a voice mail than an email: Jott http://www.jott.com/ .
(as seen on the TechLearning blog - "My Father Never Went This Way" http://www.techlearning.com/blog/2007/12/my_father_never_went_this_way.php).

A new site you may wish to pass along to your board, Friends group, or your library organization's governmental relations committee:

CommitteeCaller
http://www.committeecaller.com/


It is an automated dialing site that allows one person to target an entire committee over the phone. I haven't tried it yet, but it appears to be a great help in contacting committee members to discuss issues. I like the slogan on the connect button, "Put me in touch with democracy!"

As seen on BoingBoing today: http://www.boingboing.net/2007/12/17/committeecaller-phon.html

Library protests in the news today - these protests have to do with proposed closings/budget cuts of libraries in Great Britain, Australia, and India.

Concerned Library Users Protest Closure http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/headlines/display.var.1908783.0.concerned_library_users_protest_closure.php

Dozens Protest Over Library Plans
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/latest/display.var.1908206.0.dozens_protest_over_library_plans.php

Waving a Placard to Sae [sic] Our Library
http://bathurst.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/waving-a-placard-to-sae-our-library/1144470.html

Protesters Spreading Their Net
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEO20071217003735&Page=O&Headline=Protesters+spreading+their+net&Title=Thiruvananthapuram&Topic=0

A great comment on the new Eee Laptop by Phil Shapiro: First Impressions of the Eee PC Laptop from a Public Library Point of View http://blogs.pcworld.com/communityvoices/archives/2007/12/first_impressio.html

A link to ASUS June 5, 2007 press release on the Eee, located at HardwareZone:
http://www.hardwarezone.com/news/view.php?id=7470&cid=9

Are there any academic librarians using the Eee or other ultralight notebooks in their public access or instruction areas? I would like to talk with you if you are - thartman (at) unmc.edu.

Are you considering adding audio books to your library's collection? You could start with those in the public domain, available at LibriVox http://librivox.org/ .

Library Journal has a an article by Meredith Farkas' extensive research on librarian bloggers: The Bloggers Among Us - http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6510669.html

Thanks to you, my reader, the User Education Resources for Librarians blog is ranked 53rd in the top 100 library blogs at TheLibraryShelf. You can check out the other highly ranked library blogs at the community's webpage: http://www.TheLibraryShelf.com/community

Recent stories on Google News about digital libraries:

Digital Library Project Surpasses Initial Goal of 1 Million Books - http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Business/Headlines/bizBIZ03121307.htm

The Universal Digital Library (http://ulib.org) also made Website of the Week at Voice of America - http://www.voanews.com/english/Science/2007-12-07-voa30.cfm

The Montana State Library is transitioning to a digital library format. More in this story: Library Delays Digital Switch - http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/12/13/news/state/48-digitalswitch.txt

EU [European Union] Looks to Create Digital Library - http://www.thebookseller.com/news/49531-eu-looks-to-create-digital-library.html

If you are considering a library exchange project, please consider Yemen. The current status of libraries in the capital city is outlined in this article: "Two Million People, Only Two Libraries" http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1110&p=culture&a=1

Articles on Google about libraries remaining relevant:
http://news.google.com/news?tab=wn&hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&ncl=1124696371

"In Digital Age, Libraries Turn A Page On Services They Offer"

"Can the Library Remain Relevant In A Digital Age?"

"Guest Commentary: Public Libraries Provide Lifeline to Government"

In the Phillipines, librarians have to pass an license exam, and take an oath: "278 Pass Librarian Licensure Exam" http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=104097
The article states that only 278 of the 868 test-takers passed the exam.

China punishes professor by transferring him to librarian position. "Professor Banned From Teaching for Publishing Open Letters"
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-12-10/62777.html

Another news item about outsourcing libraries: Librarians Under New Managementhttp://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hfzrKirUy3nuHI55oZlDtSgXewnAD8S2J2U80

A follow-up story on the closing and reopening of the Jackson County, Oregon public libraries in today's Boston Globe:

For-profit libraries a sad story
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/10/22/for_profit_libraries_a_sad_story/

Signing out for a bit, as I am among over 50 members of a conference planning team that have finally arrived at the date of their long-anticipated conference: the 2007 Midcontinental/Midwest Joint Chapter of the Medical Library Association Conference http://www.mcmla.org/2007 . If you want to catch up and keep up with the news about what librarians from 16 states and one foreign nation are up to, here is the conference blog: http://midwestmla.org/ConferenceCall2007/.

A great article in the Library Journal on their recent survey findings: Librarians-Too Traditional? http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6483882.html
From the article: "...responses from those of you who are older and have been in the field longer show deep concern and frustration about your chances to implement change, technological or otherwise. You use words like “glacial,” “traditional,” “fearful,” and “pointless” to describe the bureaucracies in which you operate. The resistance to change that younger librarians point to reflects a misplaced complacency among administrators and managers who’ve been at it for a while."

Congratulations to the University of Witwatersrand Library for their award-winning paper on Subject Portals: http://www.wits.ac.za/Library/new/whatsnew.html#ifla.

Take a look at the great subject portals they have created: http://www.wits.ac.za/Library/elecres/subjectguides.htm.

Are you looking to build customer loyalty? Unless you work in an unusual library that has too many customers, you are probably working each day to serve your customers and keep them coming back. Look outside the library science field for additional sources on how to draw and keep customers. One good one is CustomerThink. A recent column: Six stages of customer loyalty and how to leverage them http://www.customerthink.com/article/six_stages_loyalty_clients_advocates.

"How the Internet will change libraries is at the front of my mind" - a column by Sarah Long. http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=42996&src=3
Ms. Long says she will be interviewing people about their thoughts on libraries over the next few months. Her first interview, with Mary Ghikas (senior associate director of the American Library Association) can be heard in its entirety here:
http://www.sarahlong.org/podcast.

Slam the boards on September 10th! There has been a call for librarians to answer as many questions as they can on the Web boards this coming Monday, to reinforce library services as a source of answers. More on this call can be read in this story: http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/wndReader.asp?ArticleId=37382 .

A wonderful article from Outsell Insights on their report on the value of libraries (includes figures):

http://www.outsellinc.com/store/insights/3538

Where I originally saw the report mentioned:

http://www.bizreport.com/2007/08/endusers_are_increasingly_turning_to_libraries.html

Read these and send the links to your administrators! Quoting the Outsell Insights article:

"In light of Outsell's newest ROI data, it seems penny-wise and pound-foolish for enterprises to eliminate library budgets in a time of increased information challenges." Amen to that.

There is a county in Oregon that closed all of its libraries at the start of summer due to lack of funding. Jackson County has since been looking for ways to reopen the libraries (I never did see where the funding would be coming from, but evidently they have found a source or two). They put the operation of the libraries up for bid, and want to go to the lowest bidder. Two organizations bid - one was the local government employee union, the other was LSSI, whose motto is "Partnering with communities to build better libraries" http://lssi.com/. An update of where this story stands can be read here: http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070816/NEWS/708160322 .
My question: if it is so much cheaper to outsource the library and the service remains the same or better, why doesn't everyone do it to all county/city services? Why would a county/city even consider keeping on the cost of a fire department, police department, streets department, etc., if they could outsource it for cheaper and get the same or better service? (And pardon my ignorance if this is actually what all counties ARE considering! I might be just catching up to the world on this topic.) From the newspaper story, it appears that the library bids that were submitted met the objectives specified by the county as far as services go. The librarian that was leading the effort to reopen the libraries has left or is leaving for a new job, so no librarian has reviewed the bids (as far as I know). Will libraries of all kinds more likely to be outsourced in the future, much like the military base libraries did in the 80's and 90's (and are still doing)? What exactly makes up the difference in cost between a library that is run by an organization like LSSI, and one that is run by a local government or even an academic unit? Does one cover more human resource-type costs and the other not? For example, does one cover retirement and health insurance, and the other not? Did the Jackson County library system really have so much sloppiness in their budget that LSSI is able to come in and offer the same level of service for 30 percent cheaper cost, with only a 3 percent inflation rate over the next few years? If so, where does that put all the other county and city library budgets? From what I have seen in the Midwest, there usually isn't too much to cut in any library budget, particularly when facing staggering increases in electronic information resources and human resource-related costs.
If LSSI is offering a cost-effective management service for libraries, and hires professional librarians to run things, I say more power to them. Let them get in there and show folks how it should be done! From their Open Jobs list http://lssi.com/OpenJobs.cfm, it looks like they are doing well and looking to hire. If LSSI's mission is to truly offer same or better service, a library director could experience better communication for new library programs with their higher-ups, since LSSI would more likely understand library operation needs and innovations than a city council or county board. I haven't seen a Special Interest Group in library associations for 'contracted-out libraries', but if you are a director or librarian in a contract library, I would really like to hear from you about your experiences! Just email teresa.hartman (at) gmail.com and let me know how things run in your world, and if you think this is the way everyone in the library world is going to be going.

Survey Says Librarians Like Their Jobs But Are Displeased With Vendors: http://www.law.com/jsp/llf/PubArticleLLF.jsp?id=1186650119943

Library news I have read this morning:



Libraries Live On: http://www.candgnews.com/Homepage-Articles/2007/8-8-07/XF-LIBRARY.asp

The future of libraries: http://blog.iwr.co.uk/2007/08/the-future-of-l.html

Bids on table for library operations: http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070806/NEWS/708060326

Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies has come up with a list of the top 100 Tools for Learning http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/top100.html . I learned of this list through an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education: A list without libraries http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=2288.
Check out the list of tools, and see how many you already use - and how many you want to try out!

Story from the BBC that was highlighted on BoingBoing.net August 4th: Bibliomulas, or mule libraries, and how they serve to encourage reading in Venezuela - http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/04/mule_library.html .
Direct link to the BBC story: Venezuela's four-legged mobile libraries
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6929404.stm

Additional story on the O'Reilly Radar: Books to Villages, Libraries on Mules http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/08/books_to_villag.html

Sites that I found while taking today's Nebraska Library Commission class: The Wonderful World of Wikis, by Michael Sauers, Technology Innovation Librarian at the NLC:

-Social Computing Magazine http://socialcomputingmagazine.com/
interesting article for my fellow librarians who have secret dreams of getting their library worldwide notice: How to use social bookmarking to take over the world (includes link to Part One of this article in first paragraph) http://socialcomputingmagazine.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=315

-Quickeo - private file sharing-video, photo, mp3, etc. (PDF articles, anyone?) http://www.quickeo.com/

-New MindTouch service-oriented wiki http://wiki.opengarden.org/Deki_Wiki/Release/Hayes

-Open Library launches with library as wiki service http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/nbReader.asp?ArticleId=37019

-The wiki workplace: how web 2.0 changes everything (webcast from CIO magazine) http://www.cio.com/webcast/124960/The_Wiki_Workplace_How_Web_._Changes_Everything

-15 productive uses for a wiki http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/07/13/15-productive-uses-for-a-wiki/

-conference currently taking place in Taipei: Wikimania 2007 http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/in-taipei-wikipedians-talk-of-fundraising-and-wikiwars/

Have you heard of ChaCha, Inc.? It is a human-assisted search engine. Seems reasonable to assume that it should involve librarians, right? Here is a news item from Indiana: ChaCha to link to IU [Indiana University] librarians, tech specialists:

http://cms.ibj.com/ASPXPages/6iframes/FrontEndArticlesDetailPage.aspx?ArticleID=03441&NoFrame=1

Tricks and tips I learned at the Nebraska Library Commission class I took today: RSS - A new way of communicating.


-learned about one Omaha librarian's blog: Information Warfare http://informationwarfarelinks.blogspot.com/


-the Nebraska Library Commission (our state library organization) blog http://www.nlc.state.ne.us/blogs/NLC/



-and their list of feeds http://www.nlc.state.ne.us/feeds/feeds.asp is an example of how feeds can be promoted on a library website



-two feed readers to consider: Bloglines http://www.bloglines.com/, and Google Reader http://www.google.com/reader.

-use Feed Digest http://feeddigest.com/ to put feed content on a blog or to create an RSS feed for your many patrons' subject interests.

Amazon just sent me a notice that they have a new site, named "Askville", where I can "ask a question, get real answers from real people" http://askville.amazon.com/askville/CIndex.do?id=5#answers . Hmmm. When I checked some of the answers and what was sourced for each answer, I will continue to go to my own favorite place where I can ask a question and get a real answer from a real person - the library.

Libraries in Illinois are working to better serve their patrons that speak languages other than English. Polytalk, a network of bilingual volunteers, is ready to conduct real-time interpretor service: http://www.polytalk.info/ . Here is a story about the service in the Herald-Review: http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2007/07/27/news/local_news/1025243.txt .

What is your state doing to fight illegal immigration? How will it affect your library?

Virginia counties target illegal immigrants; libraries may be put in a bind
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6464164.html

This advice given to Nurse Practitioners might apply to many other professions seeking ways to create an independent business model:

"If all of this is daunting, keep in mind these three things. First, some of the most successful restaurants started out as small catering businesses. Second, whether you are going for a change of law or a contract with a practice or managed care company, it pays to be a good negotiator. Third, if a service is good and needed, usually there is a way to make a business out of it."

This is from the article, "In search of independent NP practice", written by Carolyn Buppert, CRNP, JD, in the journal: Journal for Nurse Practitioners. 2007;3(6):374-376.

A CNET article of interest to librarians and patrons alike: "Free information for the taking" http://news.com.com/Free+information+for+the+taking/2100-1038_3-6197920.html . The good news - they refer readers to contact their library for more help.