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July 31, 2006

Great Spoof of Wikipedia from the Onion

I just got this from one of the lists I belong to and wanted to share. The Onion , a satirical newspaper circulated widely on college campuses, reported about the Wikipedia July 25, 750th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

“Wikipedia Celebrates 750 Years Of American Independence
Founding Fathers, Patriots, Mr. T. Honored
July 26, 2006 | Issue 42•30

NEW YORK—Wikipedia, the online, reader-edited encyclopedia, honored the 750th anniversary of American independence on July 25 with a special featured section on its main page Tuesday.

Three girls march toward the White House on Elm St. in Washington, DC, as part of the Inderpendance Day Parade.
“It would have been a major oversight to ignore this portentous anniversary,” said Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, whose site now boasts over 4,300,000 articles in multiple languages...more

posted by Anna at 9:41 am | Comments (0)

July 26, 2006

LibraryThing.Com? Have YOU used it?

I was just reading a post that mentioned something called LibraryThing.com. I had heard about this several months ago and meant to find out more about it. Now seemed like a good time, I had to investigate and this is what I found:

*It is basically a self-selected group of individuals adding basic information about books to this entity called Library Thing to create their own online catalog.In the words of the Christian Science Monitor“LibraryThing appears poised to turn the cataloging of books into a form of communal recreation.”
*”Searches Amazon, the Library of Congress and 45 other world libraries.”
*LibraryThing is headquartered off the Eastern Prom in Portland, ME.
*Their blog announced they just released a new”social” feature called Groups (quite an assortment to choose from)

Helping people find books, offering reading recommendations, providing access to rare materials, and providing a place for social groups to network have all been traditional library services. What is it that LibraryThing.com has to offer to indidviduals that makes it so attractive to some and that libraries aren’t providing?

I think it is the feeling of power individuals get by customizing a resource to fit their needs and being able to actively shape and share a tool that serves as a “container” of knowledge. Can libraries invite this kind of participation and involvement from their own members? Probably. Would it be messy? Yes! It would probably send several librarians to rest homes. Would it be more meaningful to the participants? Definitely. Would it be cool? Yes!

I know as a librarian, I tend to think of the library as mine and to take pride in its collections and resources. A public library is not the librarians but the community that it serves. Maybe it is time we remembered that and experimented with loosening up the controls? Just a thought.

posted by Anna at 3:20 pm | Comments (0)

July 19, 2006

Great Thinkers Wanted

In my never-ending effort to boost my nerd factor, I travel around with a folder full of photocopied articles from a variety of sources. It comes in handy when, horror of horrors, I am stranded somewhere without something to read. I pull out a professional article that I wanted to read but didn’t have the time for. Sorry, I know you all had fantasies of me making lots of money sitting around all day reading magazines, newsletters, blogs, etc. Oh wait, that’s my fantasy, not yours.

Seriously, I feel it is an important part of my job to do a constant information scan and bring the gems to your attention. My latest find is a really interesting article by Susan Sarfati in the July 2006 issue of the journal Associations Now, entitled “What Great Thinkers Think About Associations.” It discusses a summit of great thinkers from “the fields of leadership, technology, management, and organizational development.” They got these individuals thinking about non-profits and the social sector and their role in society.

Basically their thinking came down to this quote, “It is not business. It is not government. It is the social sector that may yet save this society.” I know public libraries are units of government, but we also serve the role as social agent. I think libraries have been told too frequently to be more like a business or the corporate sector. We serve a very important function in our society and democracy. Let’s not lose sight of that or abdicate this role to the bookstores. Libraries do a lot of things well. Can we improve? Of course!

Here are the seven major ideas that came out of the summit:

1. “Do we serve the needs that members define for us, or do we take a leadership role in providing a vision for the future?” I think this applies to the juggling act libraries perform everyday: giving the user what he or she wants while trying to anticipate their future needs. I thought the best line in this discussion was “Are we hospicing the death of the current association or midwifing new forms?”

2. Meetings. How often are they about “personal agendas and ego inflation, political drama and turf battles, and other issues that have nothing to do with the organization’s mission.” Need I say more? We have all seen this at department meetings, department head meetings, and board meetings. Just think what could be accomplished by focusing on the mission.

3. Operating in parallel universes. Libraries have been doing this for years. Ms. Sarfati puts it this way, “Offer a suite of services for traditional members and at the same time seek out the radical thinkers… encourage them to invent the future.” Forget about that bible quote that says you can’t serve two masters; in this day and age, it seems to be the standard state of being for libraries.

4. Aggregating the collective wisdom. Librarians have always been great about sharing ideas and programs. We need to let the world know how we have been successfully doing this for at least the last several decades. I think we could be models for business and non-profits.

5. Change is hard. Ms. Sarfati says this so well. “Innovation means doing things that are difficult and that causes a disruptive or uncomfortable environment. However, [we] seem to go to great lengths to insulate [ourselves] from uncomfortable situations. In reality are we avoiding the uncomfortable conversations that allow innovation to happen?” Let us pause a moment for some serious soul searching…. Okay we all know this is true!

6. Metrics. “Often the things that make the most difference in organizations are those things that are impossible to measure, yet we insist on metrics, mistakenly believing that such tools alone will show us how to enhance our value.” Great food for thought. While we are trying to prove the library’s return on investment, I think it is vital to prove ourselves as a source of entertainment, a balm to the soul, and a good place to hang out.

7. Globalization. “Future organizations are surely going to be bounded by the global community, with technology being the great equalizer.” Through e-mail, IM, and VR librarians are already serving individuals beyond their community. How do we take advantage of this and market our skills and collections to a broader market?

Think about these things. Who are the great thinkers you would like to bring together? I have a strong desire to organize a summit and put librarians at the head of the table. We have a great pool of knowledge and need to respect that and help others to respect it. We could play a vital role in the development of new technologies and services.

posted by Anna at 10:34 am | Comments (0)

July 18, 2006

Librarians Are SOOOO COOOL!

Continuing to secure my place in the Geek/Nerd Hall of Fame, I must confess that I enjoy reading all of the public libraries’ newsletters. It is part of my job. I also read board minutes. The thing that always jumps out at me is what innovative, interesting people librarians can be.

The Summer Reading Program “Voyage to Book Island” is perfect with its pirate tie-in theme. I loved the Park Ridge newsletter with all of it ’swashbuckling’ action photos. I was also impressed by the photo of Gail Borden’s Book Island Pond with appropriately attired staff manning the bridge. I regret that I missed out on my chance to meet Captain Jack Sparrow at the Vernon Area Library. I am sure that each of you did wonderfully original things that entertained and delighted your patrons. Tell me about them and send me photos. This is part of why I bacame a public librarian, I love this kind of stuff.

Some other interesting things I noticed was that the Evanston Public Library proudly reported a new falcon hatchling sharing the exterior of their library with them. How neat is that? I also know that the Vernon Area Library has started a community blog. I will look forward to finding out more about that .

I also know that Vernon worked with 44 local business partners and that Wauconda always does a bang-up job of contacting their local merchants and promoting library cards. What other partnerships with businesses are going on out there?

Let me know what you are up to at your library. I really do love this stuff and I marvel at how creative, inventive and joyful library staff are when they are excited about a project. Now if only librarians ruled the world!

posted by Anna at 9:59 am | Comments (0)

July 12, 2006

“The Corruptibles” or more about limiting access

I have been looking at alternative ways to market lilbrary products and services. One of the really popular spots with teens is YouTube.com. I just wanted to share this funny and informative clip with all of you…

The Corruptibles

posted by Anna at 4:42 pm | Comments (0)

Small “Niche” Search Engines

In the Technology column of CNN.Com appears an article about small search engines that are powered by people and have some of the big boys watching closely…

Tiny search engines look for a niche

Tuesday, July 11, 2006; Posted: 9:04 a.m. EDT (13:04 GMT)

Manage Alerts | What Is This? LEXINGTON, Kentucky (AP) — Steve Mansfield operates his own Internet search engine from a place he calls a “secret hideout” — a small office surrounded by low-rent apartments on the outskirts of this college town known for its horse farms.

Mansfield conceived Prefound.com a few years ago on the premise that humans, from pretty much anywhere, can collectively provide better intelligence than a computer program developed out of the Silicon Valley. (more)

posted by Anna at 4:08 pm | Comments (0)

“How Washington Will Shape the Internet”

On MSNBC in Michael Rogers column “The Practical Futurist” appears this item that provides much food for thought…

How Washington will shape the Internet
The Web was the Wild West: until the sheriff rode into town

The most potent force shaping the future of the Internet is neither Mountain View’s Googleplex nor the Microsoft campus in Redmond. It’s rather a small army of Gucci-shod lobbyists on Washington’s K Street and the powerful legislators whose favor they curry. ( More)

posted by Anna at 3:57 pm | Comments (0)

July 11, 2006

“My Space is America’s Top Site”

Love it or hate kids are using it. Now if we can only get all these users to way in on the Net Neutrality issue…

This article appears on CNN Money.ComMySpace is America’s top site
Social networking site ranked No. 1 last week, Internet tracking firm says.
July 11 2006: 2:10 PM EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) — Online teen hangout MySpace.com ranked as the No. 1 U.S. Web site last week, displacing Yahoo Inc.’s top-rated e-mail gateway and Google Inc.’s search site, Internet tracking firm Hitwise said Tuesday. (more)

posted by Anna at 3:04 pm | Comments (0)

Voting Rights Act and the Librarian

I was just introduced to a really great blog called Librarian at the Kitchen Table. A particualr post on the renewal of the Voting Rights Act caught my attention and I would like to share it with you. ALA doesn’t seem to be taking an official stand on this topic but we can all take a personal stand and lend support.

posted by Anna at 2:38 pm | Comments (0)

Library Services in the News

An Associated Press article dated July 10, 2006 appeared in the Chicago Tribune and extolled the virtues of the services a group of libraries offer entreprenuers. I know many of your libraries offer similar services. Seems to me that the Trib owes area libraries equal time.

Read the article below and hopefully this will help provide you with some marketing ideas.

read more »

posted by Anna at 1:20 pm | Comments (0)

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