Web 2.0 and Reference - A Testimony About Library Thing

Last Friday, I received a call at the reference desk from a student looking for a book. The problem was that this student did not know the title of the book or the author. All she could tell me was the book was a collection of letters between a London antiquities dealer and an American writer and that they discussed literature and building a collection. I made a couple of rudimentary attempts while she was on the phone but I was getting no where. I told her that I would have to call her back after I searched a little more. I thought this might take some time but I didn't realize how difficult it would be to locate this book.

Here were some of the terms I punched into Google and Amazon to try to locate the book - London literature antiques dealer collection writing letter. All of these terms will trigger many results dealing with antiques and shops and purchasing and dealing but I was getting no where near a book that resembled the one I was looking for. The closest I got was a book called Letters from London but this was not the correct book. My search in WorldCat was giving me incorrect results as well. I was getting frustrated and was about ready to call this student to let her know that I couldn't distinguish which book she was looking for until I thought I would try one more thing.

My search experiences with LibraryThing have been good (quick and accurate results). Still, those experiences had been with books that I knew the title or author. What could I do in LibraryThing to locate the book? On the search page, they have a way to search for tags. I suddenly realized that if you were going to tag this book you would use some of the terms that I had been using with no luck in Google. So I tried the tag string of London, letters, literature, New York, classics. Their tagmash search feature (it can take several minutes) gave me as a first option the book 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. The reviews and descriptions of the book identified the book as the one I was looking for.

By being a LibraryThing user and being accustomed to tagging things I could easily put myself in the shoes of someone who would inventory this particular book. I simply chose the terms that I thought they would use to tag this book and I found the book.

This is a perfect example of the social aspect of finding information. Whenever someone tagged this book they were wanting to describe the book so they could locate it later and maybe they had a thought to how other people might discover the information as well. This was a Web 2.0 success story.

Observations From The Google Zeitgeist List

Google provides a nice service to the public by publishing their Zeitgeist 2008 list. I found the following items interesting.

Chuck Norris was ninth on the South Africa fastest rising list.???

Why do people insist on typing out things like Youtube, Facebook, and Hotmail in a search engine? Do they not understand how to add .com to the end of the word?

What is the fascination with movie trailers? Google even noted that they were becoming more and more popular for people to share with friends. Most trailers have a sameness to them that limits creativity and appeal.

Michael Crichton died? Who knew?

"Who is Martin Luther?" made the top ten "Who is..." list. Two spots removed from Chris Brown and three spots from the Jonas Brothers. Weird.

Sarah Palin almost won the U.S. Triple crown. She was the top Google News search, top Google Image search, and seventh on the Google.com search.

People love Fox News. Personally, I think their website is lacking graphically.

Live Blogging: Librarian on Location Dec. 10

2:23 p.m. Last Librarian on Location for the semester. I am in my favorite spot next to the Soda Shoppe in the main academic building. I see lots of students and faculty. I have a special sign out today that reads "Need Research Paper Help? Ask Here". Finals start tomorrow so the students should be done with their papers but we know how that goes.

2:44 p.m. I also have candy out including chocolate. Bribes never hurt.

2:52 p.m. I am going to be teaching a course in the spring semester. I am looking for interesting ways to get my students to use the library more. Hopefully I can help them become more accustomed to the library.

2:59 p.m. The biggest benefit of these ventures away from the library has been in my interaction with faculty and staff. Though our conversations are little more than chit chat and catching up, I find them valuable public relations. When students voice their frustrations with locating resources from the library to their professor it would be great if the professor has someone they can direct the student for assistance. If I had zero relations with the faculty then the students would simply be told to ask a librarian. Many students do not know who is a librarian and who is a staff person. They would prefer to have someone who they can locate specifically.

5 Things I Learned From Teaching Web. 2.0

For one session a month starting last June I have taught a new web technology that could be described as social technology or Web 2.0 technology. These technologies included Delicious, RSS, blogging, and Flickr. My students were my fellow librarians and staff. Here are five things that I learned in this process.

1. There was limited exposure to these technologies throughout the staff. Limited exposure usually meant that the staff was excited to learn something they had been wondering about. Sometimes it meant they were sceptical of new technology and had trouble embracing it.

2. Delicious and RSS are underutilized among our librarians. These two resources are a life saver for me as a reference librarian and I would be less effective in my job if I had not started using Delicious and RSS. If nothing else, RSS saves time.

3. Flickr is addictive. One staff person has gone Flickr crazy. She was very cautious at first. She didn't want anyone looking at her pictures but within a week she had already made her photos available to the public.

4. Fear of technology is inhibiting. When we let our fear be stronger than our desire to learn we have failed to realize how much good we could be missing. I used to be and am still a hesitant technology user. I lack confidence in my ability to figure things out. The wonder of the web is that it has made computer geeks out of all of us. We need to embrace our hidden geek.

5. Teaching is a great learning tool. In Delicious, I learned how to send bookmarks to colleagues. In RSS, I learned how to subscribe to pages that just give you that code gobblygook that I never knew what to do with before. I also learned how Wordpress works and how to set up Groups in Flickr. The process has been invaluable to me.

Our sessions and exercises can be found here.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of The Web

Academics are constantly fighting the belief that information found anywhere on the web is equal to finding information from another more respected source. Here is an example of the problems that surface through the dissemination of information through modern technology such as blogs.

Back in August I heard that Coca-Cola was producing a specialty can with Muslim symbols on it in recognition of the Muslim holiday Ramadan. You can imagine that just that particular statement might cause an uproar among Conservative Christians and Right Wing bloggers. And sure enough, bloggers were spreading this information around but none of them were getting the full story. It turns out, according to this article, that the can will be sold and marketed exclusively to Muslim countries and regions and not the United States. So instead of the sky is falling conspiracy theorist sparking fear in the nation's gullible the truth lies in researching the facts. Through blogs a half-truth is proliferated but through the power of the web the truth can be discovered and verified.

The questions remains, who thinks critically enough to take that next step to identify the facts? In most cases, we take things for face value and move to something else. Again, the instant nature of blogs and web news leaves little time and space for discovering the truth. Is this a field that librarians could assist in? The verification and proofing of web information? A daunting task I know but one that is sorely needed and best suited for information professionals.

Librarian on Location: Live Blogging 10-1-08

2:20 p.m. - First live blog of the semester. Here are the things that have changed with our Librarian on Location program.

1. I am only going out at scheduled times (usually about twice a month)instead of every week. Reason: The school calendar and my personal schedule wasn't going to allow me to be consistent on a weekly basis. Also see reasons below.

2. Our locations have been trimmed to three. Reason: We determined that our presence at campus social settings were an encroachment and largely ignored by the students. When I went to more academic settings I was more well received. So this semester I will be going to the International Department (where I am now), a Soda Shoppe in a busy classroom area, and a location in the Science building that gets heavy traffic. The limited number of locations means it would be overkill to return to them every week.

3. The presence of a Writing Center representative. Reason: I broached the idea to the Writing Center director about the WC helping me out at the end of the semester when the research paper crunch starts to hit. A student worker came with me to my first stop. I don't know where he is today.

2:37 p.m. - My university has more than 400 international students, which is a huge number for a private Christian university. Their numbers grow each semester. There is huge potential for a quality library relation with the international students but there are also some complexities that prevent a current dynamic connection.

2:43 p.m. - It may be ironic that I am over in the international office because the largest clientele in our library comes from the international students. I could just have gone to the second floor of our library and seen more international students than the numbers I have seen thus far. But that would defeat the mission behind Librarian on Location.

The Complexities of Instant Media

Two weeks ago as I was working late at the library I was perusing Google News and saw a Reuters story discussing Sarah Palin's Republican Convention speech. The story was complete with quotes from the speech and references to her tone towards Obama. The problem with the story was in the fact that the speech hadn't happened yet. Palin wasn't scheduled to speak until after 9 p.m. CDT and the current time was 7 p.m. But the story used the past tense and made no reference to an upcoming speech.

How does this relate to libraries and research? A cardinal rule for researchers should be "consider the source". Obviously, the Palin speech story, taken from a release of her speech to the foreign media, was pretty cut and dry which is fine but it couldn't speak to the crowd response or the flavor of her delivery. Plus, the ability to publish this article the instant it was written brings up the awkward timing and past tense deception that could disrupt those out there that don't understand how the media works and the context in which they publish there work (namely that much of what they published is prepackaged through other sources like press releases and media kits. Also, Reuters is based out of London where there is a 7-8 hour time difference and Palin's speech would have been in the middle of the night London time. Thus, the story was written so the reporter could go to sleep so to speak.)

Do you see why we still need librarians around? How is a college student supposed to make sense of all of this complexity to determine what makes a quality source.

Internet Radio in Trouble

I am a big fan of internet radio. I listen to Pandora almost everyday because I love the way they classify and categorize their music. Instead of heavy handed labels from journalists or casual fans they do listeners a great service by actually analyzing the music and letting the music dictate its classification. If I am a fan of Rod Stewart's "Hot Legs" I can search for this song and Pandora will create a radio station with songs that are similar to "Hot Legs" no matter if the song comes from as an unlikely a source as Bob Seeger or Great White. This is really brilliant and much better than its most common rival last.fm.

Internet radio sites like Pandora may become a thing of the past though as the recording industry starts demanding higher royalties for the use of their music. The industry sees internet radio as a way for them to recoup the money they are losing through album sales. It is unfortunate that they would try to hit these quality resources for the sole purpose of making up for a change in industry. They may not even understand how internet radio works but what they do understand is a chance to make a buck. Why don't they create their own internet radio and provide the quality of a Pandora. That would require creativity and ingenuity. Something that will be lacking if these internet stations are priced out of the game.

6 Things I Couldn't Do Four Years Ago

The Olympics help us mark the decade into sections. Here is a list of things that I couldn't do four years ago but can do today because of advancements in internet technology.

1. Watch the Olympics live online. More than 2,000 hours of events will be streamed through the NBC Olympic webpage. This is great for us who consider the Olympics more than gymnastics, swimming, and track.

2. Watch ESPN sports broadcast through my computer. I refuse to get Cable or a Dish but can watch countless College basketball games and foreign soccer games on my computer through ESPN360. This has been my greatest web discovery of the past year.

3. Watch TV shows online. Do you see a trend here? My wife and I have a handful of shows that we must watch every week. Whenever we miss one, we usually have the option to watch the replay online through the network website. The quality standards of these broadcast are getting better and better by the week.

4. Streamline my web reading content to one location. RSS was probably around four years ago but I wasn't using it. Today, instead of wasting time clicking around to all of my web hot spots, I go to Google Reader and get my news, commentary, and blog posts in one location.

5. Do database and word processing through the web. Google Docs has been a life saver for my wife and I over the past two years. We were a Cares Team at our apartment complex and we used Google Docs to manage the resident database. It was so helpful to not have to be at one computer to make updates and changes. I have also used Zoho to do word processing.

6. Save trees. Before becoming a Delicious user, I would print out sites or pages that I wanted to keep or read later. Now when I want to remember a web site or page or need to set aside something for later use, I simply tag it with my Delicious Firefox Add Ons and skip the printing process.

What are you doing now that you weren't doing four years ago?

*photo from striatic

Book Wrangling Review: Cuil

Positives: The search results page is incredibly inviting and attractive. The designers realized that users do not move beyond the first two pages of results in a standard list display so they must have worked on a alternative to the gigantic list. The results are impressive as your eye easily moves around the page instead of focusing directly at the top of a list and moving down. Also, there is more descriptive content under the link than in other search engines.

The liberal use of images, logos, and graphics.You will find it confusing when you move to the second and third pages of the results and see the same pictures that you saw on the first page of results. Your first inclination is that the same pages are popping up again and again but they are simply using the images again and again with unique links. Obviously, if you do this then you are misrepresenting the link as that image may have nothing to do with the link. This isn't the point though. The point is to provide visual access to the subject matter. I like this approach much better than a separate image search or a distracting frame filled with pictures.

The explore more categories on the right are excellent. My Google searches often lead to more and more refined versions of my original search query. By checking the explore by category options on the right I can take my search to another direction and one that I might not have originally thought of before.

Negatives: The results are odd and don't always make much sense. A search for an author gives you many results on books to purchase but shows very little that discusses the life of the author. Also, the results seem to be absent of any timeliness. Typing in the latest news makers gives you very little that points to recent activity involving the subject. The results seem to be heavy on Wikipedia and Mahalo entries which is fine but offers a rather static feel to the results rather than enlivening the ever expanding nature of the web and the information found in it.

The End Result

The Symbol of Victory
Originally uploaded by B Tal

My indoctrination into web 2.0 and library 2.0 has come to an end as I have completed Helene Blowers' 23 Things and Meredith Farkas and Company's 5 Weeks to A Social Library. Below is a list of some of my most significant discoveries.

1. Delicious is now one of my most used web tools. I hadn't used it in the past because I wasn't interested in a tool that I thought was a duplication of something I didn't use that often anyway (bookmarks). I have a pretty good memory and recall and since Google is so easy to use I thought I was saving a step by just repeating searches. But then I realized how inefficient and time consuming that could be if my memory wasn't as strong as I expected. With Delicious, I don't have to have superhuman memory or incredible search skills. Whenever I find a site that will be useful for research or returning to later I simply post it in Delicious and tag it so I can locate it later. Using Delicious has already improved presentations, instruction sessions, and reference help.

To make life really easy, I have installed the Delicious add-ons into Firefox so I don't even have to locate the Delicious homepage to post an article.

2. StumbleUpon: see this post for my thoughts on this search technology. It works best in conjunction with Delicious. I am not convinced that I will be using SU a year from now.

3. WordPress: I had always used Blogger before but messing around with WordPress has been fun and beneficial to other blog efforts I am involved in.

4. Flickr: Photos have always put me off because of how you usually have to adjust and modify them once they are on your hard drive. I don't have the time or in most cases the expertise to do this easily. Flickr takes the adjustment level out of photo storage and continues to find new ways to make photo sharing enjoyable.

5. If I spend 70% of my work time on the internet it just makes more sense for me to want to do my wordprocessing and database doodling with a web based service that I can return to on my laptop or at home instead of holding my work hostage on my office computer. Google Docs is easy to use and improving all the time and I have used Zoho some as well.

6. This entire process has inspired me to share some of the things I have learned with my co-workers and we are in our second month of training in Web 2.0. The response has been very positive.

Book Wrangling Recommends: Paste Magazine

When I was growing up I couldn't wait for my weekly Sports Illustrated to show up in the mail. I would read each issue cover to cover. Now, the magazine that I anticipate receiving is Paste. Their tag line is Signs of Life in Music, Film, and Culture. This pretty much sums up the things that I enjoy watching or listening to. If an art form doesn't have something to offer spiritually or emotionally I don't have time for it. So, Paste serves as a good guide to modern culture for a father of three who can't keep up with blogs, YouTube videos, and hasn't had cable in 10 1/2 years.

And get this, last spring Paste held a promotion where they told prospective subscribers to pay whatever they want. What a risk but one that landed new subscribers like me. On top of that, each issue comes with a CD sampler of new music. I have discovered several quality acts through these CDs. I would highly recommend Paste for any fans of interesting music, film, or literature.

Can You Relate?

I have seen this YouTube clip several times and it continues to make me laugh. You don't even need the subtitles to find the humor in it. It makes me think about learning curves. For any technology, there is an initial learning curve that seems insurmountable but once you move through the first exposure everything comes quick and easy. Even in an academic setting, there are times when we need to break down a resource or a database to its basic level or the student just will not make any progress with their research objective. Patience is a needed approach to reference work because every student interaction is different.

Stumble On

I have recently become a stumbler through StumbleUpon.com. I have a cautious approach to new technology. I enjoy finding them and playing with them but I am not that interested in adding more to my online experience. I am trying to simplify my online environment and adding plugin after plugin or toolbars or widgets is a waste of time and a good way to muddle up my computer screen and browser.

But when I came across a blog post about using web 2.0 tools to be more efficient with your information I took the plunge using StumbleUpon (SU). I am cautiously hooked. SU takes a set of personal preferences and with a click of a button starts feeding you websites that match your preferences. If you like the website you can rate it with a thumbs up and if you dislike it you can rate it with a thumbs down. Sites that have not been rated before will open up a box for you to review the site for other Stumblers. By consistently rating the sites that you see you set the pattern for the type of sites that will be fed to you in the future.

The best use of this for me is combining SU with Del.icio.us. When SU sends me a site that I think will be helpful for personal use or for library use I will tag the site in Del.icio.us for future reference. The amount of great library sites that I have found through SU is tremendous.

The aspect that I have not totally grasped is how to use SU to locate the best sites on a particular subject like you would using Google. You can go to SU and do a keyword search but I assume that the value of the site is based on Stumbler reviews which would limit the options because of a potential for many sites not being reviewed.

When using any search engine I often get the feeling that many times there is an "on the nose" website that is just beyond my grasp. SU seems to feed you quality websites and your ability to rate the sites instantly customizes what comes next. I am still in the "new toy" phase of using SU but I don't foresee myself eliminating this tool anywhere in the near future.

Web- based Applications

I use Google Docs (which includes a spreadsheet application) frequently and find excuses to use it more often. What a wonderful use of web technology. You take the most common elements of Microsoft Word and Excel, allow global web use, sharing capabilities, and convenience and you have a recipe for a really great product. Who wants to worry about disks or jump drives that we often lose? Who wants to worry about sending attachments that we may forget to include or the person we are sending it to has trouble opening it?

What exactly are we missing by not using the Microsoft Office products? Enhancements, shortcuts, and advance uses are for expert users not for the average office worker, educator, or student. In a recent ministry effort in our apartment complex my wife and I had to keep a current database on our residents. We did it all on Google Docs and it was a simple, lifesaver. I am all for web-based applications and see them only improving as the open source trend continually advances these products.

Play Time!!

Inspired by the activities that I have chronicled on this blog and the work of Meredith Farkas et al. and Helene Blowers, I am starting a training program among our staff and faculty on web 2.0/library 2.0.

The program consists of me presenting a quick and simple overview tutorial on the topic of the month (June will be on blogging) during a library staff meeting. At the end of the instruction session, I will present the group with an activity for them to do on their own before our next session in July. I will also provide weekly emails chronicling the discoveries that the staff have made through their own "play time" with the technology. Then, once a month, we will all gather together for a "play time" where we can discuss the technology and practice using it ourselves.

I announced this activity at our staff meeting today and it was well received though with some apprehension by our more tech inexperienced staff. I encouraged them that this was a low stress exercise that was focused on the play aspect and the need to have fun with things we find intimidating. I hope to detail some of my observations through this blog.

Wiki Mania

Of some of the web 2.0 applications, Wikis have been the least approachable for me. Blogs I understand very easily but wikis have a element that I am just not comfortable with. I think it is the edit aspect that puts the html scare into me and makes me think that one false move will cause the whole page to come crashing down. For sure, I need to play with this technology and get over this apprehension that I have. To this end, I have created a wiki through PBWiki. I am not for sure what I will be doing with this wiki but hopefully I can make it a productive and useful tool. Otherwise, I can trash it right?

Library 2.0 - What it means to me

I am good with noticing buzzwords and trends but terrible with definitions and even understanding. If you asked me what Library 2.0 is I could give you examples of 2.0 environments (Flickr, MySpace, Wikis, Blogs, etc.) but that doesn't mean I could define it. I am forced to dig deeper though and ask myself what makes these things fall into the category of Library 2.0. Through this exercise, I see three things that make up a 2.0 technology.

1. One touch - With a click of a mouse or touch of an enter button, your contribution to the web is published and viewable. No middle man, no publisher, no editor.

2. Simplicity - The technology is not shrouded in code and tech-speak so as to inhibit practitioners in other areas from using the technology for their own purposes. In other words, most users can teach themselves the technology with little effort. The product is high end and the labor is low.

3. Social - With most of the 2.0 technologies, there is a component to contribute to the technology through comment boxes, friend lists, or bookmark clouds. What I produce can be shared with others, critiqued by others, or enjoyed by others and that is part of its purposes. The goal is for collaborations, conversations, and community.

All of this may sound simplistic to the professional but the list helps me to view Library 2.0 from a perspective where I can analyze its true value above a buzz word or trend.

My Favorite Blogs

Here is my list of favorite blogs. In no particular order.

- Agent B Files
- Jesus Creed
- D.C. Sports Bog
- Dan Shanoff
- Crunchy Con
- Mavs Courtside View
- Ubiquitous Librarian
- What I Learned Today
- Kept Up Academic Librarian

Technorati Top 100

I recently glanced over the Technorati Top 100 blogs to see if I can observe any trends. Here are some of my musings -

- A sports blog didn't show up until number 76 (AOL Fanhouse). I subscribe to several sports blogs and find sports to be a natural blogging topic. I would have thought that there would be more sports blogs on the list.
- Only two of my subscriptions showed up on the top 100. The Freakonomics Blog at 61 and Stereogum at 80.
- It looks as if Technorati determines popularity based on number of unique links to blogs and by the number of people who have marked a blog as a favorite. What about subscriptions? Wouldn't a good way of determining popularity be to determine how many people subscribe to the blog? Maybe since there is such a wide variety of blog feed readers there is no way to determine the number of subscribers. Surely there is a way from the blog itself to chronicle subscriptions. Maybe I should seek my answers in one of the many tech blogs out there that are so popular.
- The blogs on the list that tempted me to subscribe were PostSecret and 43 Folders.

Del.icio.us vs. Zotero

During this school year, I have used Zotero as a research tool more than the citation tool it is usually marketed to be. Why I enjoy using Zotero more than say Del.icio.us is Zotero's ability to capture citation information from web pages such as library catalogs, electronic databases, and Amazon. With a click of my Del.icio.us tag button I can capture a URL and tag a web page but I don't have a capture of the citation information. Plus the subscription/firewall nature of the databases limits my ability to quickly link to a database article from a remote location making my bookmarks in Del.icio.us kind of useless. In Zotero I may even get an abstract of an article even if I can not access it at the time. Some people may have much more experience with social bookmarking than I do so they may find Del.icio.us easier. To me, in certain specialized situations, Zotero can't be beat.

Librarian on Location: Live Blogging 4-23-08

2:15 p.m. Finally, back on the Librarian on Location beat after weeks being preoccupied with Are You As Smart as A Freshman? (see below). I am located at my favorite spot so far - the Soda Shoppe. Good location to talk with professors and students are still in academic mode when they walk by me as opposed to being in social life mode at places like the cafeteria and the dorms.

2:21 p.m. Spoke with a professor face to face who had requested a journal in which he was a contributor. I was able to explain the accessibility of the journal without the confines of the email medium. Face time makes a difference.

2:31 p.m. More professors. One wanted to drop off his papers for me to grade. Now there is an idea. Trading jobs with professors. The librarian grades papers while the professor handles research needs. I wonder how that would work?

2:50 p.m. Whenever I am "On Location" I work on Library 2.0 things like wikis, blogs, tagging, etc. I consider this program kind of a Library 2.0 exercise so I think it relates. I am going through The 23 Things and 5 Weeks To A Social Library.

Are You As Smart As A Freshman?

I haven't been able to post much lately and have neglected some of the Librarian on Location duties so that I could organize and put on the second installment of Are You As Smart As A Freshman? Similar to the TV version - Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?, our game has upperclassmen contestants competing for prizes with the help of Freshmen. It has been great fun and positive for the library.

If you have attended any library conferences in the past year you know that Gaming is certainly a buzzword among librarians. I have had trouble understanding the significance for libraries beyond the value of offering an up-to-date entertainment and information medium. Also, I haven't seen any real relevance with offering Gaming opportunities in the academic library setting except on a special event basis. But wouldn't Student Life do a better job with this than the library? So here is where our game comes in.

When we started this we had two goals in mine. 1) To offer information literacy in a fun and creative way. 2) To portray the library as a lively, up-beat, and exciting place. I believe we have accomplished the first goal by reaching more students who would have never come to our old Library workshops. After each answer in the game, a brief Did You Know? library resource fact related to the answer is displayed on the game screen and mentioned by the host (me). We also have fliers that list the Reference Desk contact information.

The second goal is my favorite one to try to meet. Is there a more stereotyped institution in our country than the library? Television has portrayed the library as either this exciting place to learn, read, and discover for kids(watch any PBS Kids show block and count how many times "library"is mentioned) or a hum drum, stuffy, bookish bore where only nerds hang out (the most common adult portrayal). Which portrayal do you think most college students identify with? Both probably and that is the problem. In their mind, libraries are for kids or for geeks but not for a young adult chasing a career, a date, and a social life.

The value I see in our game is the reality that something exciting, slightly edgy, and enjoyable can happen within the walls of the library. Hopefully this begins to crack the iron curtain of misconceptions about the library and tells students that to set foot in the library is not stepping foot into a boutique for only the literati, teacher's pets, and anti-social book rats. In some ways I think we have succeeded.

Use of Rollyo

I have been playing around with Rollyo and love its simplicity and usability. I could see this being useful with consistent problem research questions. For our library these questions are often literary criticisms about poems or novels that are less known then the classics. Also, psychology is often a hard topic to find full text articles in. Rollyo could provide a supplemental search after the school's database has been exhausted. I have used something similar through Google but found it kind of a hassle. Rollyo's ease of use makes it a much better choice for me.

If you want to see an example of a customized Rollyo, here is one that I created for the Dallas Mavericks.

Library Thing

Library Thing has been fun to play with over the last few months. Here is a link to my library. Of course this is not all of my library but it represents the most recent books I have read. If you use Library Thing, send along a link to your library. I love to browse.

I tried to include a cool widget on the blog that would show the book covers that are in my library but I couldn't figure out where to paste the widget html. If any veteran bloggers could assist me I would greatly appreciate it.

Image Generator

I played around with an image generator found at Big Huge Labs which says that it is the home of fd's Flickr Toys. One of their tools allowed me to Warholize a photo I already had in Flickr. You can see the result on my profile information. This was really simple because of the simplicity of Flickr and the automatic nature of Big Huge Labs.

Librarian on Location: Live Blogging 3-26-08

1:15 p.m. Set up in the campus cafe. Last time I was here the wireless connection didn't work but it seems to be working now. I am not so sure about this location. If I come to early I wouldn't be able to find a seat, if I come to late no one is here. We will see. I tell people that we are simply testing this program out and will make changes accordingly if we even decide to continue. Right now, based on the conversations I have had when I have gone on location I think this could work sooner rather than later.

1:27 p.m. I have put out a new sign. Instead of the sign that says "Librarian on Location" I have put out a sign that says "Need Research Paper Help? Ask Here". A little directness never hurt anything.

1:35 p.m. One idea that I have heard related to this practice of "on the road" librarians is to set up in specific departments instead of more social environments. I have heard of some librarians who have done this with some success. This may be a better strategy because you can work with the departments to promote your visits. Also, you can build relationships with individual students who see you on a regular basis. Right now, I am in mostly social areas like food locations and dorms.

2:00 p.m. A student told me that she does need research paper help but she is working right now. Her initial question was more of a writing center question but she took our brochure and my card and I told her the hours in which the reference desk is staffed. Our writing center has talked about doing something similar to Librarian on Location. Maybe this would be a great way for the library and the writing center to team up.

Librarian on Location: Live Blogging 3-19-08

2:15 p.m. We have come full circle. Instead of going to the ends of the campus we decided to choose four or five prime locations and just rotate through them during the semester. This is the second time that I have been to the Soda Shoppe on the top floor of our building. Instead of the other places that I have been which were more student life locations, this location is an academic setting with classrooms all around and faculty offices down every hall. The last time I was here I had some great conversations with both students and faculty. Hopefully, today will be more of the same.

2:30 p.m. One of our student workers had a great idea for Librarian on Location publicity. She suggested that we put out a sign that says "Research Paper Help". Simple and obvious right? This is officially term paper season and if you have students who have these assignments on their mind when they walk by you what better way to make it obvious what you are able to do for them.

2:37 p.m. My eavesdropping skills are in full force today. A female student just walked by and I over heard her ask another student. "Is the library open on the weekends? I was just wondering because I have only been to the library like twice." The funny part is our library isn't in its own building but a part of a three story complex that includes classrooms in the basement and on the top floor. This student probably has walked through the library on the way to class several times. Is the library just a hall or walk way to her?

2:42 I am doing this with a heavy heart today because our Director of Library Services, Peggy Martin, passed away over night from a combination of pneumonia and pulmonary fibrosis. This is stunning to us because her sickness wasn't prolonged. She was a great servant librarian, a creative idea person, and a encouragement to all of us.

What I Use...

Every librarian has there own pathway and method to their madness. Certain websites, services, and databases are a common crutch to a reference librarian. Here are the most used web tools and sources on my computer.

Zotero - reference retrieval
Google Book Search - for books that we do not have
Netlibrary eBooks - to expand the search
Google - still the steady and trusty engine that could.
EBSCO Visual Search - I don't like their new design. Too much clicking
Jing Project - Screen capture
Flickr - Easy as pie photo archive source
Google Reader - blog feed reader
Proquest Dissertation - When I have run dry on other databases, this one always comes through.
EBSCO MasterFile Premier - Much more versatile then you might think.
Gale Literature Resource Center - What would literary criticism papers be without it.
EBSCO Business Source Complete - Our school is obsessed with leadership. This is a go-to db.
TDNet Journal Finder - Have citation. Will travel.

Wish list - JSTOR, BioOne, WileyInterscience

Librarian on Location: Live Blogging 3-5-08

1:20 p.m. Today we are in one of the dormitories on campus. I am stationed in the foyer. Wednesdays are the days we do Librarian on Location. This day was chosen at random I guess but it may need to be revisited because Tuesdays and Thursdays seem to be busier days on campus. To the right, you will see me with a student. You can see the signage we use and the golf shirt with logo that I wear each week. I also have business cards and library brochures. This shot was when I was outside of our Soda Shoppe.

1:38 p.m. OK...I consider myself a world class evesdropper. I am trying to turn off my evesdropping tendencies while I am in the girl's dorm, but it is hard. The present crisis is a prank involving peanut butter on door handles.

1:42 p.m. Two questions so far today. This is more than the past two weeks. One student asked which books are on the first floor of the library and which books are on the second floor. She didn't understand where the call number break was. Another student asked what I was doing and why I was here. She said she doesn't have much trouble researching. I told her to leave me her email address and I would send some things to her that she might not have seen.

2:02 p.m. I sent some articles to a student on national service requirements. She is working on a debate presentation.

- A professor walked by and cracked a sarcastic joke about us reaching out to the students "because the library is just SO far away." He obviously hasn't been reading articles on millennials and their addiction to the instantaneous and the convenient. Sure, the library is just down the sidewalk but it could be in Turkey for all some of these students know. How many academic librarians can tell stories of students showing up during their last semester before graduation and telling the librarian that this was the first time that they used the library. Every academic librarian has a story like this these days. Why do we assume that a building equals "people will come."

2:50 p.m. It is so nice outside that I almost decided to position myself on the building colonade but it has been so windy lately that I didn't think that was such a good idea. As I get more adventurous maybe I can head to more exotic locations. Next week it is back to the Soda Shoppe.

SeeqPod - Easy to Use Web MP3 Player

I love music but do not have the time to search endless MySpace pages to listen to clips. A new site called SeeqPod lets you type in an artist and listen instantly to MP3s or watch videos. SeeqPod has gathered the music clips for you and taken the search tedium out of the process. You can just as quickly share your song list with your friends. It is amazing how quick this works. You do not have to register like Pandora or install anything like last.fm. I would highly recommend it.

Librarian on Location : Live Blogging Feb. 27

11:27 a.m. I am all setup in the main cafeteria. I don't really know what to expect over here. I am definitely in the students domain by being here. The first student I told said, "That is something different." I feel a little like a professor trying to do a lecture in the cafeteria. That would not be received very well. We will see. The idea is not to bludgeon people with our services but to provide convenient access to our services. Stay tuned...

11: 38 a.m. The best part about being at the cafeteria is the hamburgers. I wouldn't normally recommend school cafeteria food but these burgers are top notch. Yes..I am eating. I thought that might help show solidarity with the students rather then just a guy in a golf shirt pushing his services.

If anyone would like to IM me while I am doing this, my name is dbulibrarian.

12:06 p.m. The rush is on. The room is filling up. I am amazed at the number of students who are getting take out boxes and leaving with their food. Maybe they have a class to prepare for, maybe they are working on campus, or maybe they are practicing the constant motion lifestyle that seems to be evident in this generation. How do librarians account for groups that rarely just do one thing at a time? In a way, that is what this Librarian on Location idea is about. If students are constantly in motion, then the more ubiquitous the library can be the better. I would love to hear other people's thoughts on this issue.

Librarian on Location: Live Blogging

I take the LOL show to the international building today at 2 p.m. Our university has a large international student population and their building is hopping with activity on most days. Their developing English keeps them from asking too many questions from the "Big Bad Librarians" in our main location so I am hoping that my presence in their environment will be a positive.

Hopefully the wireless connection will work better than our last attempt at the campus cafe.

2:15 p.m. All set up here in the international building. There is not another place on campus that has as much activity as this building. From 8a.m. to 10 p.m., this place is busy. The international students are not always in the position for heavy research but that is where the simplest instruction on the online catalog or a database can make a big difference.

2:43 p.m. Here are some good links to other libraries and their information designed for international students:

Library terminology glossary at Rutgers University.

Library tutorial for international students at U of North Carolina

3:00 p.m. This exercise continues to be useful more for the faculty rather than the students. I just set up library instruction with an instructor of the intensive English program. The face to face contact helped clear up some confusion on both of our parts.

3:32 p.m. Looking around the public area where I am stationed I notice Japanese, Chinese, and Nepalese. I had some Netlibrary complimentary highlighters and I passed them out to some students. I also have candy and pens. No one seems to want my business card though.

Live Blogging: Librarian on Location Feb. 6

2:21 Today is the second day of our new program - Librarian on Location. I have had a difficult time connecting to the network. Obviously, much of what we will gain from this experiment will be where I can get wireless access and where I cannot. Right now, the Patriot Cafe is a spotty locale for wi-fi.

Rock and Roll Library

One of the more fun library related events that I have witnessed in the last two years was the Library Tour of the band Jetpack UK (now The Nobility). These rockers from Nashville toured the country in support of a recent children's book about their life as a band. I saw them perform at a Public Library in Arlington and it was surreal to see a rock band at a library. The best part was that Jetpack didn't hold back. The instruments were set to loud and they played with conviction despite the crowd of mostly curious onlookers. Kudos to Jetpack for finding a creative way to get their music out and to libraries for taking a risk on rock.

The trend continues as the band The High Strung has planned a library tour this summer.

Live Blogging: Librarian on Location

Our library is starting a new program of "on the road" reference today. I will be close to the snack bar on the third floor of our building. This is a major hub of students and classes. We will do this each Wednesday this semester at other locations. I thought it might be good to live blog the experience. Hey, it isn't Super Bowl media day but it is interesting nonetheless. This is my first attempt at live blogging. So bear with me. I would welcome any comments or discussion.


2:31 All set up: I have signage, some library brochures, two highlighters, and a post-it note pad. I am working off a brand new laptop with Windows Vista (I have never used Vista before). Two people have already asked me what I am doing. No one at the reference desk downstairs ever asks me what I am doing. Is this a positive? One student said "cool" when I told her she didn't need to go downstairs to get library help.

The one problem I had was I had to kick a student off the prime spot for my setup. He was really understanding and positive about what I was doing.

2:40 I do have a uniform of sorts. I have a black polo shirt with a green logo with the words "Librarian on Location".

I just told another student about what I am doing. He just said, "Its an idea." What does that mean? One thing is obvious so far. People are much more likely to say hi and talk with you up here. This is good. It shows that a simple change of location effects the way the patron views you. I am approachable and a curiosity up here.

2:51 Just talked with a professor, I told him that many students are intimidated by the library. He said, "That is the truth. I try to send students to look at reserve items in the library and instead of sitting in the library and reading it they make copies so they can get out of the library as fast as they can." This shows that students aren't always comfortable in the library itself. Hmmm....Where are they comfortable? Dorm, student center, fitness center?

3:06 A student came up after being downstairs in the library and asked for the reason why Section C of the Wall Street Journal wasn't with the rest of the paper. I got to explain to him that because this section is so highly used we had to set it aside so no one would steal it. Again, no one would have asked me this in my normal location.

3:27 Here is the Feb. schedule for the Librarian on Location: Feb. 6 Patriot Cafe/Feb. 13 SACS Week, no LOL/Feb. 20 International Building/ Feb. 27 Crowley Dining Hall

3:45 Student asked me which countries do not accept the US dollar. I could not find a definitive list. She approached me like a teenager trying to stump a public librarian by asking ridiculous question. This was trivia for her. Interesting that I would be the source for sport and informational entertainment. I felt bad that I could not find an authoritative list. If anyone knows, let me know.

Study Space

Our library is suffering from some serious space issues. Group study space is non-existent and quiet study space is at a premium. So I find myself fantasizing about library space and perusing other libraries and their use of space. I found these photos from Glasgow Caledonian University in Glasgow, Scotland. Inflatable offices? Private study shelters? Interesting.

Where is the mahogany? They don't even have library themed upholstery. What is this world coming to?

*photos taken by edublogger

What Makes A Good Library Blog?

I may not be the one to ask since I subscribe to less than 10 library blogs but the ones I like have the following characteristics:

- keeps me informed without having to do my own research
- looks at the new media from a postmodern perspective
- highlights new technologies
- challenges library thought as we know it
- Oh...and showcases my library's work!!

Introductions

I have more than six years experience as a librarian. Three as a reference/public services librarian and four as a government documents/periodicals librarian. I spent two years as a librarian at a community college and now five and a half years at small private Baptist universities. I am glad to be doing reference at my current university with a wide range of patrons including traditional students, adult students, and international students.

I got my undergraduate degree in Communications with an emphasis on Public Relations. Before becoming a librarian, I worked for two institutions of higher education as a communications specialist/writer. I shouldn't have mentioned that because now anyone reading this will wonder how a professional media specialist could write so bad. Oh well. I received my MLS from the University of North Texas. In my non-work life I have a wife, two daughters, and one daughter on the way.

What I Liked About 2007 - Library Edition

Meebo
Jing Project
Zotero
Internet Librarian 2007
Are You As Smart As A Freshman?
EBSCO Visual Search
iPreach
Webster Visual Search
Mahalo
Harper's Collins Browse Inside
Library Thing
Walking Paper
The Ubiquitous Librarian
The Kept Up Academic Librarian
The Future of the Book
Google Blog Alerts