Archive for the ‘Libraries’ Category

Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg have published an article in First Monday discussing How Today’s College Students use Wikipedia for Course-Related Research.

“Findings are reported from student focus groups and a large–scale survey about how and why students (enrolled at six different U.S. colleges) use Wikipedia during the course–related research process. A majority of respondents frequently used Wikipedia for background information, but less often than they used other common resources, such as course readings and Google. Architecture, engineering, and science majors were more likely to use Wikipedia for course–related research than respondents in other majors. The findings suggest Wikipedia is used in combination with other information resources. Wikipedia meets the needs of college students because it offers a mixture of coverage, currency, convenience, and comprehensibility in a world where credibility is less of a given or an expectation from today’s students.”

Today I had the pleasure of presenting on cloud computing in libraries in Copenhagen to the IT-faggruppen interest group of the The Danish Librarian (Workers) Union. It was a great all-day conference dedicated to cloud computing topics.

Paul Pival at the Distant Librarian provides detailed instructions with annotated screenshots for Embedding chat widgets within EBSCO databases. If you’d like to place a MeeboMe or other chat widget right within an EBSCO database you’ll want to check this out. I think this is a great idea for supporting patrons at the point of need.

via LibrarianinBlack

Laura Bruzas writes for American Libraries’ Green Your Library blog about 11 Ways to Promote a Great Top 10 Book List. These are all great suggestions, but here are a few I think are particularly insightful:

• Plan a book discussion program at your library featuring one or more of the works on the list.
• Showcase the books on the list in a special green display for a month.
• Connect with a local eco-friendly organization and ask them to link to the list on their web site or include it in their newsletter. Mention these books are available at your library or through inter-library loan.

Richard Brooks at the Times Online reports that the British Library will offer over 65,000 19th-century works of fiction from its collection as free downloads this spring.

“Owners of the Amazon Kindle, an ebook reader device, will be able to view well known works by writers such as Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy, as well as works by thousands of less famous authors.

The library’s ebook publishing project, funded by Microsoft, the computer giant, is the latest move in the mounting online battle over the future of books.”

Mari Smith at the Social Media Examiner takes a look at How to Better Engage Facebook Fan Page ‘Fans’. This is part one of a two-part post. This first article covers the following areas, offering detailed recommendations with screenshots:

• Share Quality, Relevant Content – Daily
• How Often Should You Post?
• What to Post
• Sourcing Quality Content
• Cultivating Your Style
• Mix Up the Types of Posts
• Incite Comments

Sarah Houghton-Jan at the LibrarianinBlack presents 13 Ways (and 147 Tools) to Help Your Library Save Money on Technology. Here are her top five ways, be sure and check out the full post for all of the great tool suggestions.

1. Free Software for Public & Staff Computers
2. Free Security Software Suite
3. Free Staff Scheduling Software
4. Free Team Meeting Tools
5. Free Tech Support Tools

Blake Carver at LIS News has published the annual list of new must-read LIS blogs. Check out this year’s list of 10 Librarian Blogs To Read in 2010 for professional inspiration. Here are the top five:

1. Academic Librarian
2. Awful Library Books
3. The Best Of PubLib
4. Disruptive Library Technology Jester
5. Everybody’s Libraries

The Scottish Library and Information Council along with CILIPS (the Chartered Insitute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland) have published A Guide to Using Web 2.0 in Libraries.

“Although Web2.0 services have been integrated within our organisation, feedback from our members within the Scottish library and information
community indicates that considerable barriers to widespread adoption remain. The greatest challenge seems to be access, as many organisations restrict or block the use of Web2.0 or social networking sites, denying staff the opportunity to experiment with these potentially powerful tools.

In response to demand from members, and in order to address this challenge, SLIC and CILIPS have created these guidelines to highlight the potential of social media within library services and to encourage organisations to reassess restrictive practices regarding access.”

They have also published a guide to Improving Libraries for Learners.

via Stephen’s Lighthouse

Olivia Mitchell, presentation trainer and blogger, provides 9 Tips for Enriching Your Presentations With Social Media at Mashable. This helpful article offers tips for encouraging audience participation and feedback via new media tools such as Twitter and Facebook.

1. Build Relationships With Your Audience
2. Recruit a Backchannel Team
3. Create a Separate Hashtag
4. Welcome the Backchannel
5. Reach Out to Your Virtual Audience
6. Make Your Key Points Tweetable
7. Audience Participation Through Social Media
8. Display the Backchannel When You Want to Focus on It
9. Learn From the Backchannel

Karen Coombs writes for Library Journal about libraries using the open source Drupal content management system in Drupal Done Right. In her article Coombs covers the SOPAC extension, the eXtensible Catalog, and initiatives at McMaster and Simon Fraser universities.

“From Arizona State University to Connecticut’s Darien Library, institutions of all shapes, sizes, and types use Drupal to manage their library web sites. However, some librarians have looked to Drupal as more than a tool for creating web sites. Some have attempted to bring more library systems and content to Drupal as a way to integrate library content in a single place. Others have seen Drupal as a flexible framework that can be used to integrate with other systems or create interactive tools for users. These organizations are stretching the bounds of what is possible with this open source tool.”

Marshall Breeding’s new Library Technology Report takes a look at major library automation systems and what types of APIs and customizability they offer. Packed with case studies and customer responses, Opening up Library Systems through Web Services and SOA: Hype or Reality? provides an in-depth look at what’s being offered in today’s ILS market.

Today I presented a talk on Next-Generation Libraries at the Online Information Conference in London, England. Here’s a slidecast of my talk if you’d like to check it out.

Steve Baker, former senior writer covering technology for BusinessWeek, reports that the library staff was one of the many casualties of the recent layoffs at BusinessWeek. This is the new message for staffers seeking research help at the magazine. (Earlier this year the Wall Street Journal closed down its library as well.)

via Steve Rubel

If you’re using Chrome, the open source Web browser by Google, you may want to check out the latest article from Josh Catone at Mashable. 6 Killer Google Chrome Extensions for Social Media Addicts lists popuar and useful plugins for using social media sites as well as lists some of the best places to find other extensions. Here are his recommended six extensions:

1. Gmail Checker
2. Chromed Bird
3. Twitter Ticker
4. Micro Last.fm
5. TPGoogleReader
6. Facebook Notification Checker