Tarleton State University - Dick Smith Library Staff

Turn Your Blog Readers into Die-Hard Fans

2012-02-16T11:19:00.000-06:00

Turn Your Blog Readers into Die-Hard Fans

Harvard

2012-02-13T13:52:00.000-06:00

Havard Announces It Will Reorganize Its Library System interesting article about the Harvard Library System. It has over 900 employees. Wonder how many catalogers they have?

From the Kept-up Academic Librarian

Pinterest and Education – Stephen's Lighthouse

2012-02-08T09:33:00.000-06:00

Pinterest and Education

Interesting article from Stephen's Lighthouse. I also read today that pinterest is so big right now that there are 12 different "copy cats" on the market with hundreds more to come!

Students and technology at the library

2012-02-02T16:29:00.007-06:00

Project Information Literacy has put out a new research report: "How College Students Manage Technology While In The Library During Crunch Time. "

Some of the findings:

For over half the sample, a personally owned laptop (58%) was the primary—most essential—device in use at the time of the interview. A smaller percentage of respondents(35%) were using a library desktop computer.

More than any other combination of applications, respondents had both a Web browser and a word processing program open at the same time (47%) while they were in the library.

Interesting article

2012-02-02T08:47:00.000-06:00

HowCollege Students Manage Technology While in the Library during Crunch Time,
Alison J. Head and MichaelB. Eisenberg, Project Information Literacy Research Report, University ofWashington’s Information School, October 12, 2011

Glenda's picture

2012-01-31T14:53:00.000-06:00

Visualising 2012: Making Powerful Pictures

2012-01-03T09:15:00.015-06:00

DocuTicker Newsletter #211 offers links to a variety of conversations about and resources for creating useful infographics and data visualizations, which are "are current communications buzzwords that apply to using pictures to convey, quickly and effectively, the facts and ideas in a report." Infographics use "common illustrations or graphic metaphors to tell a story that may involve data," and data visualizations incorporate "analytical techniques that enable the viewer to understand rich data from multiple perspectives. Neither replaces tables-and-text analytical reports; rather, they can serve as introductions to a report's content."

Here's the list of resources:

FYI: "DocuTicker collects abstracts from 'grey literature': PDF reports published by government agencies, think tanks, NGOs, research institutes and other public interest groups." Subscription to the newsletter is free & you can RSS it to your inbox.

2011-12-09T20:08:00.000-06:00

Source: facebook.com via Miss on Pinterest

2011-12-08T10:58:00.014-06:00

The July 21, 2011 Free Pint (issue 331) "My Favourite Tipples" column by Mary Silva Whittaker offers links and information about seven sources for obtaining information about the evolution of words and phrases, pronunciations, and misinterpretations:

Oxford English Dictionary New Words: Learn about new words added to the online OED

Online Slang Dictionary: Look up new slang.

New York Times "Words of the Year": See list of each year's trendiest words.

Save The Words: Learn definitions and how to pronounce (in various dialects) words that "are considered by "some to be archaic, out of date, and passe."

Online Etymology Dictionary: See how words evolve, turn into phrases, and change meaning.

Eggcorn Database: Find out about phrases, as well as errors in their interpretations. "An eggcorn is a phrase containing a substitution of words (usually a homophone or a near homophone); yet, to the user of the phrase, it seems logically correct."

KissThisGuy: Learn about "misheard lyrics called mondegreens."

eBook Device “Test Drive” Program for Libraries

2011-12-01T09:49:00.002-06:00

OverDrive now offers Test Drive, "a program for libraries to support demonstration and lending of eBook reading devices and tablets to their patrons. The program includes device recommendations and guidelines for setup, maintenance and support, as well as best practices for institutions that want to stock and lend eBook readers and tablets to patrons."

Will this be something for us to consider in the future? More info

Penguin Group USA to No Longer Allow Library Lending of New Ebook Titles

2011-11-23T08:47:00.003-06:00

The Digital Shift, November 21, 2011 by Michael Kelley

Excerpt: "The number of ebooks available for libraries to loan has just shrunk as Penguin Group USA has decided, for now, to no longer make digital editions of new titles available for library lending."

Interesting read and comments.

Academic Libraries on Facebook: An Analysis of Users' Comments

2011-11-19T10:58:00.007-06:00

Gerolimos, M. (Nov./Dec. 2011). Academic libraries on Facebook: An analysis of users' comments. D-Lib Magazine 17(11.12) doi:10.1045/november2011-gerolimos.

Interesting points to consider & references to check out.

Abstract:
"This paper examines users' comments on the Facebook pages of 20 American academic libraries and subdivides them into 22 categories. A total of 3,513 posts were examined and analyzed in various ways, including how many of the posts included user comments and how many had none; how many comments were included in each post; and what the percentage of user participation was on the library walls, in terms of "likes" and comments. The most significant findings are that approximately 91% of the posts do not include any comments, over 82% of user participation is expressed via the "like" functionality and most comments on academic libraries' Facebook pages are not uploaded by prospective users (i.e., college and university faculty and students) but rather by library personnel, employees affiliated with the same institution as the library, and alumni."

20 iPad Apps Librarians Should Download – Part 1

2011-11-09T15:41:00.000-06:00

20 iPad Apps Librarians Should Download – Part 1

Some of these work with Ipod too...and I bet some have Android versions as well. I good list to peruse.

Top 10 Pumpkin Dessert Recipes

2011-10-25T15:49:00.001-05:00

As Halloween and other holidays approach, pumpkins are always a popular decoration and delicious treat. If you are looking for a new idea for dessert instead of serving the same old pumpkin pie, give these top 10 pumpkin recipes a try.

Top 10 Pumpkin Dessert Recipes Taste of Home Recipes

Cloud Computing Resources for Librarians

2011-10-25T11:37:00.000-05:00

21 Useful Cloud Computing Resources for Librarians

From iLibrarian covers things like what Cloud computing is, applications, privacy/security, and even some libraries that are in the sky. Really useful list!

Flash Mobs

2011-10-04T08:52:00.000-05:00

College Students Still Like Orientation Flash Mobs

Maybe the library could talk to someone on campus about doing a flash mob....I think it would be fun!

Infographic on Tablet computers

2011-10-03T11:30:00.000-05:00

Microsoft Anti-Malware Tool Mistakenly Snuffs Google Chrome

2011-09-30T18:52:00.004-05:00

"Microsoft’s Security Essentials anti-malware tool has mistakenly identified Google Chrome as a password-pilfering trojan – and actually removed the browser from many users’ machines – but a fix for this rather amusing false positive is now available."

Oh my.

The Google Chrome Blog entry "Problems with Microsoft Security Essentials" discusses the situation, explains how to check for problems, and gives "fix it" tips. http://chrome.blogspot.com/2011/09/problems-with-microsoft-security.html.

Facts about Twitter

2011-09-30T10:11:00.001-05:00

Fun Infographic from Mashable. What I thought was interesting was this:

42.3 % of twitter users are between 30 and 49 (NOT College kids)
30% of users have an annual household income over $100,000 (NOT College Kids)
While over Twitter has over 200 Million registered users - only 100 Million log in at least once a month, only 50 million log in every day.
20% of the twitter community are empty accounts!
5% of the twitter users create 75% of the content.

VERY Interesting FACTS!!!!! (Click on the image to see it bigger!)

A to Z

2011-09-27T15:12:00.000-05:00

Higher education web resources from A to Z | Patrick Powers

Really nice list of web/web2.0/social media for use in Higher Education!

4 Promising Curation Tools That Help Make Sense of the Web

2011-09-20T15:47:00.003-05:00

January 2011 article in Mashable discusses Storify, Scoop.it, Curated.By, and Pearltrees.

Ties to mention of curation tools from today's webinar, ""Creating Subject Guides for the 21st Century Library." Plus, it links to other sites.

The Common Sense of the Fair-Use Doctrine

2011-09-18T10:36:00.010-05:00

An interesting and useful Chronicle of Higher Education article by Patricia Aufderheide that explores the confusion often surrounding the use of copyrighted information. Aufderheide offers several scenarios and the following tips for scholars wanting to "reclaim fair use."

Do exercise your fair-use rights to teach and research using copyrighted materials, just as your peers are doing.
Do teach best copyright practices.
Don't mix up fair use and educational exemptions.
Don't expect to get a pass on fair use because your use is noncommercial, but don't be afraid of fair use in commercial settings, either.
Don't confuse fair use with the open-source movement or Creative Commons.

It's an interesting article that generated a number of insightful comments. Check it out.

Avoiding the Path to Obsolescence

2011-09-18T09:55:00.009-05:00

This article, sub-titled "Riches-to-Rags Tales in Retail Business Hold Survival Tips for Libraries," by Steven Smith and Carmelita Pickett in American Libraries explores reasons why businesses like Blockbuster fell under the weight of change. In the process, they draw parallels with the changes and choices libraries face:

"The extent to which we think of our libraries exclusively as warehouses for the protection and storage of physical objects is probably also the extent to which we also miss the mark in this regard. If we are to retain a meaningful bricks-and-mortar component to our services, we must deploy our spaces with the aim of delivering to our patrons the room they need when they need it, instead of vast storage areas, or—when we are able to escape the warehouse paradigm—inflexible, single-purpose areas that lie fallow for large periods of time. Our emphasis must be on flexible, multipurpose space that is available 24/7, or as close to that as possible. On this point we differ from Blockbuster, whose physical presence has become beside the point. We have spaces that our users want and need, and that can be useful to our overall mission if deployed effectively and efficiently: what patrons want, when they want it."

"Increasingly, libraries are engaging in additional activities, such as open-access initiatives and other publishing ventures to help counter the rising cost of commercial publications, and building learning commons and other forms of technology-rich spaces where users can capture and manipulate information into new products and forms of knowledge. However, the focus of our networked collections, spaces, and services should be to meet the needs and wants of users rather than maintaining the systems and structures we previously constructed to serve them. The computers and networks that link items and collections, the buildings that we inhabit, and the tools we offer are not primary to our purpose. Primary are the people who need and want these things. If we are going to sink costs somewhere, that is where we should sink them. If our focus shifts from serving individuals to tools, systems, and structures, the graveyard of obsolescence will beckon."

The full article and comments are available here: Avoiding the Path to Obsolescence

E-Book Readers Comparison Chart

2011-09-12T16:11:00.003-05:00

Kim Komando's chart compares these features:
screen size, keyboard, maximum battery life, file types, email/web features, dimensions (HxWxD), weight, Wi-Fi, 3G, capacity, and price.

Thought you might find the chart useful.

Avatars gone wrong

2011-09-09T09:41:00.001-05:00

I thought this was funny....because I am so guilty of a couple of them!

Library Videos - Who is the next library star?

2011-08-31T08:26:00.002-05:00

10 Great Ways to Create Library Videos - (I saw this post and thought of you Thomas! You need to make your movie debut before you leave us!) We have shown Animoto and Prezi by the Tech Task Force, but here are a couple more to investigate:

Sketchcast.com
Flixtime.com
Animoto.com
OneTrueMedia.com
Prezi.com
ScreenR.com
Masher.com
Stupeflix.com
Slidesix.com
Camstudio.org

WorldCat

2011-08-26T12:31:00.000-05:00

Today is WorldCat's 40th birthday. It now has over 1.7 Billion items in it. Wow! That would be a LOT of candles!

You can read their press release about it here.

Information vs. Knowledge

2011-08-24T13:21:00.000-05:00

Great post on Stephen's lighthouse about the image! You should read it.

FaceBook marketing

2011-08-22T09:04:00.001-05:00

fb-marketing-infographic11.jpg

Some really neat ideas!

Periodic Table of the Social Web

2011-08-15T17:31:00.000-05:00

Created By Favo.rs

Click on the link in the headline to open up a larger view.

What Can Social Media Tell Us

2011-08-12T16:44:00.001-05:00

Really neat infographic from Stephen's lighthouse.

Americans:

are followers
Love Televison
are nostalgic
are obsessed with royalty (and Celebrities)
want to be distracted from reality
love video games
etc.

Take a look- American-Identity-Full.jpg (JPEG Image, 800x2453 pixels)

eBooks in the Library: Practical Considerations

2011-08-02T09:57:00.007-05:00

by Kyla Hunt in Informed Librarian Online August 2011:

"eBooks are here to stay, and adapting to this technology has become necessary to the survival of libraries (and librarians). Regardless of whether every library will become a ‘bookless’ library, every library will need to know how to satisfy readers demanding their books and information in a digital format."

To that end, Hunt examines eBook issues:

lending issues and publisher limits
2010 COSLA report on eBooks
need for user instruction (how to checkout, file formats, readers, etc.)
example user guides
need for library policies
additional readings

What Librarians Do

2011-08-01T13:51:00.000-05:00

Here's another interesting infographic - source is the Collections 2.0 blog by Steven Harris. Click the title above to open up the PDF file for easier viewing.

Report on College students and technology

2011-07-28T09:46:00.001-05:00

College students and technology - From the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Lots of good information college students and how they use digital tools. Cell phones, computers, laptops, ipods, game consoles, ereaders, etc.

A Librarian's Worth

2011-07-27T12:46:00.002-05:00

++ Click to Enlarge Image ++

ImageSource: MastersinEducation.org

15 Creative QR Codes

2011-07-25T09:36:00.001-05:00

15 Creative QR Codes with [PICS]
from Mashable. Some really neat ones....and i remember sitting in the first webinar about them wondering if we could make them purple!

Something to find out about!

6 Ways to Socially Reward Your Library Patrons

2011-07-18T08:31:00.000-05:00

6 Ways to Socially Reward Your Library Patrons - May be of interest to M&O Commitee.

Google+ tips for beginners - Computerworld

2011-07-11T08:23:00.000-05:00

10 Google+ tips for beginners - from Computer World.

A nice way to find out about the next "big thing". It is said that Google+ will help you overcome social media fatigue. It is worth a shot.

Security & Identity Theft

2011-07-01T13:42:00.004-05:00

The June 2011 issue of Consumer Reports has some articles of possible interest & they're available full-text in Academic Search Complete. If you search by the accession numbers, you should be able to get right to the articles.

"Your Security: 25 Things Cops and Crooks Say You're Doing Wrong"
accession number = 60637219
"House of Cards: Why Your Accounts are Vulnerable to Thieves"
acession number = 60637253
"Newer Cards Can Be Hijacked, Too"
accession number = 60637258
"Online Exposure: Social Networks, Mobile Phones, and Scams can Threaten Your Security"
accession number = 60637500
"Rating Security Software"
accession number = 60637501

Cheap, Illegal Access to SciFinder

2011-06-27T11:23:00.007-05:00

Chronicle of Higher Education (June 26, 2011) by Jeffrey R. Young

"Academic Publisher Steps Up Efforts to Stop Piracy of Its Online Products"
Stolen university passwords may be at fault, and while safeguards can be a hassle for users, librarians say the effort is worth it

"Now on sale in some online marketplaces: cheap, illegal access to SciFinder, an extensive database of scholarly articles and information about chemical compounds run by a division of the American Chemical Society. The sellers are pirates, hawking stolen or leaked SciFinder account information from college students and professors."

Interesting read:

Balloon Art

2011-06-24T11:30:00.003-05:00

Epic Balloon Art For the Discerning Eye Following this link to see more. I love the big dinosaur!

Some people have too much time of their hands! (and okay that might be me today - TGIF!!!)

Enjoy and have a GREAT weekend!!!

Librarians in the U.S. from 1880-2009

2011-06-21T11:01:00.001-05:00

From the Oxford University press Blog - Librarians in the U.S. from 1880-2009

Interesting numbers!!!!

Overdrive ebooks and audiobooks

2011-06-21T10:55:00.000-05:00

Kansas State Librarian Argues Consortium Owns, Not Licenses, Content from OverDrive

this one is worth watching! Could cause a BIG change in ebooks/audiobook licensing.

Technology and budget cuts

2011-06-21T10:46:00.000-05:00

New library study: demand up for technology, budget cuts limit access | American Libraries Magazine

Sounds very familiar! Interesting read.

History of Email -

2011-06-21T08:16:00.001-05:00

email-history-infographic.jp

Cool Images! They move

2011-06-16T08:46:00.002-05:00

Moving Pictures: Stunning Photographs Brought to Life - Check out these moving pictures. They are so cool. Think that we will see these type of images in e-books one day?

Kaleidoscope!

2011-06-07T09:43:00.000-05:00

Just had to share this for fun:

This sure brings back memories of when I was a kid. We all had to have one of these inexpensive toys.

Be sure to run your mouse over the screen slowly. I found I could speed it up by moving the mouse to the right, and slow it down by moving the mouse to the left.

Click here: http://inoyan.narod.ru/kaleidoskop.swf

New Libraries are Free to Users and so is Google . . . – Stephen's Lighthouse

2011-05-31T14:54:00.001-05:00

New Libraries are Free to Users and so is Google . . . – Stephen's Lighthouse

Very interesting post. I like differences he lists between Google and Libraries. Professional Staff are library advantage!

Teacher Librarians at Los Angeles Unified School District

2011-05-25T13:45:00.002-05:00

You may have heard about the shabby treatment endured by teacher-librarians at LAUSD--first interrogations (yes, really) and now lay-offs.

QR Codes - Amigos Conference

2011-05-18T11:11:00.000-05:00

Quick Response: QR codes Boost Service - Heather Scalf on Prezi

When the website was born...

2011-05-09T08:57:00.000-05:00

Interesting article about the timeline of some of the major website. This really will make you feel old!

From the Business Insider - Yeah for the IMDB. Who know blogger was older than five years older than wordpress?

Mobile technologies for libraries

2011-05-05T22:59:00.023-05:00

This article by Lori Barile in College & Research Libraries News (2011, pp. 222-228) lists mobile applications and development resources in these categories:

History and development of mobile applications and Web sites

Mobile applications for learning

Discovering and downloading mobile applications

Mobile Web sites

Creating mobile Web sites, OPACs, and applications

Examples of mobile library Web sites

Alabama Libraries Report Heavy Damage from Recent Storms

2011-05-03T15:20:00.000-05:00

Alabama Libraries Report Heavy Damage from Recent Storms - From Library Jounral

At least six libraries were heavily damaged...read more.

Anatomy of a Librarian

2011-05-03T15:09:00.001-05:00

++ Click to Enlarge Image ++

via Joyce Valenza on Twitter

5 TED Talks Librarians Should Watch (and Why) « Agnostic, Maybe

2011-05-02T14:04:00.000-05:00

TEDucation: 5 TED Talks Librarians Should Watch (and Why)

I have seen a couple of these but no all. Do you think we should try and watch as a group?

How Libraries Can Leverage Twitter | Information Tyrannosaur

2011-04-30T10:57:00.002-05:00

How Libraries Can Leverage Twitter | Information Tyrannosaur

Interesting read. We are doing most of this stuff, but it is nice to know that other libraries are too. Do you have any other ideas we could use to make our Twitter feed better?

Some book statistics - really sad numbers

2011-04-28T08:40:00.000-05:00

Some book statistics

Statistics can be manipulated to say any thing...but these numbers are truly sad! Almost everyone I know reads a lot! Library folks must to carrying the market.

1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.

42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.

80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.

70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
57 percent of new books are not read to completion.

LIS events

2011-04-25T14:24:00.003-05:00

You may be familar with Blake Carver's LISNews blog. He has now added LISEvents, which bills itself as the "Library-Community Conferences and Events" site. You can: find an event, list an event, find an expert speaker, or be listed as an expert speaker.

LISEvents

Avoiding the Social Software Graveyard

2011-04-21T17:34:00.003-05:00

Meredith Farkas, who some of you may know from her blog, Information Is Free, recently gave the keynote speech for the Trendy Topics Online Conference. The title: "Avoiding the Social Software Graveyard."

Here is a link to her SlideShare presentation, which has some great advice.

Save paper with green printing - Campus Life

2011-04-21T10:36:00.000-05:00

Save paper with green printing - Campus Life

GREAT JOB Janie!!!!! The J-TAC did a great job covering your presentation.

LOLbrarian

2011-04-12T19:18:00.004-05:00

LOLcats + librarians =LOLbrarian

http://lolbrarian.tumblr.com/

QR Code Quest - An Idea for the next group of student workers

2011-04-11T09:13:00.001-05:00

Gwyneth A. Jones, Teacher-Librarian at the Murray Hill Middle School, aka The Daring Librarian has created an exciting QR Code Quest: a Library Scavenger Hunt. This innovative use of QR (quick-response) barcodes was created as a library learning experience for 35 middle-schoolers in an ESOL program. What a great idea!

Who doesn't like Free??

2011-04-07T13:36:00.001-05:00

Upgrade Your Life: Amazing free software - From Yahoo News! - some really great links and tips (including Evernote!) and a neat video to watch as well. Take a look.

Homeland Security Taps Twitter, Facebook For New Alert System

2011-04-07T13:07:00.002-05:00

Homeland Security Taps Twitter, Facebook For New Alert System

No more level Orange threats. Very interesting story. Facebook and Twitter are widely used, but what about the older generation? Of course they will always have television warnings.

The new system is supposed to launch April 27th -

This is a Test....

2011-04-06T08:38:00.000-05:00

If this had been an actual emergency....(you know the drill)

This is a test to see if anyone actually uses or even looks at this blog. Does anyone even find it useful? If you do see this, PLEASE put a comment with your name.

Thanks!

Library of the Living Dead Graphic Novel

2011-04-05T17:07:00.002-05:00

The librarians at the Miller Library at McPherson College have developed a graphic novel titled Library of the Living Dead, a zombie-themed guide to using their library resources. This is an exciting and innovative idea for teaching patrons about library services and resources!

Great idea! Really nice graphics. OH Rashelle......LOL.

First 2012 book in the catalog

2011-04-01T15:11:00.000-05:00

Clinical hematology : theory and procedures by Mary L. Turgeon.

The copyright date for this one is 2012, making it the first 2012 book in our catalog. It's a CLS book, and I'll be loading the record before I leave at the end of the day.

April Fools' Day

2011-04-01T08:31:00.003-05:00

For April Fools' Day, YouTube is reverting to a 1911 look and feel for its videos.

Here's a list of some of the other tech-related April Fool's jokes you may run into online today.

Happy April Fools' Day!

Fill the Field

2011-03-23T10:00:00.014-05:00

Tarleton State University's SGA and Athletic Department is sponsoring the Fill the Field event on March 31st at Memorial Stadium.

http://www.tarleton.edu/sga/Pages/Fillthefield.html

The Dick Smith Library has signed up for a square and we are taking donations right now!

Below is a list of items that can be donated:

Bottled water
Clothes (new or gently used)
Non-perishable foods (dry pasta, grains, dried fruit, flour, etc.)
Canned goods
Monetary donation

Also, if you have a library fine you can take advantage of our fine amnesty. On March 24th and March 25th each canned/boxed food item you donate we will deduct $1.00 from your current unpaid fines. Bring items to the circulation desk on Thursday and Friday this week only!

Then come and join us as we "Fill the Field" on March 31st from 8am - 8pm.

How college students evaluate and use information in the digital age

2011-03-23T09:24:00.004-05:00

Cathy may have already shared this (however I could not find in my email or on the blog) and it is very long...but very interesting!!!!

Article of interest - Head, A. J. and Eisenberg, M. B. (2010, November). Truth be told: How college students evaluate and use information in the digital age. Project Information Literacy Progress Report. http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2010_Survey_FullReport1.pdf

"For over three fourths (84%) of the students surveyed, the most difficult step of the course-related research process was getting started."

"Students in this year’s sample reported using librarians less often than they reported in the 2009 survey results."

10 Tips for Posting on Your Brand's Facebook Page

2011-03-22T16:48:00.000-05:00

10 Tips for Posting on Your Brand's Facebook Page

Some really good ideas for our Facebook page.

Amazing Book Sculptures: Pics, Videos, Links, News

2011-03-21T09:40:00.002-05:00

Amazing Book Sculptures: Pics, Videos, Links, News

Really Great images! Wow how do they do that?? Makes me want to do a project with our weeded books!

Thomas can you draw? :)

New Are Free Books on the Web Worth the Lower Quality? – Stephen's Lighthouse

2011-03-15T11:18:00.001-05:00

New Are Free Books on the Web Worth the Lower Quality? from Stephen's Lighthouse

Melissa and I have been talking about the free ebooks available on the web (Gutttenberg and others). This post links to two very good articles on the subject of free ebooks.

Should be add free ebooks into the OPAC? If the records are only half good. Would being able to search by title only be better than not finding them at all?

Take a look and please share your your opinion!

Blogger Changes

2011-03-15T09:38:00.002-05:00

At the SXSW conference this week in Austin, Blogger announced pending changes to its Dashboard and Editor.

Here is a video (you can watch it without sound - just loud music) showing what's happened with Blogger in the past seven years and what to expect in 2011:

Value of Cataloging Librarians

2011-03-15T09:16:00.004-05:00

Should you ever need to explain to someone why libraries need Cataloging Librarians and/or want to explain what they do, the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services Cataloging & Classification Section Executive Committee (June 2006) offers a useful, readable accounting of the value they bring to the libraries in which they work, as well as to that library's users.

Excerpt: "Cataloging librarianship is, at its heart, about service. Cataloging librarians provide customer service, through their work, to thousands of users who use library catalogs and databases on a daily basis, as well as supporting future library users. They create coherent catalogs, which enable a reliable search experience for users, many of whom use the catalog remotely without access to a librarian who can interpret results or respond to questions."

In addition, Cataloging Librarians
-- Lead
-- Collaborate
-- Create & Improve Access
-- Develop Professionally

Yea, Glenda and Melissa :-)

Undergrads & Their Use of Print and Electronic Books"

2011-03-14T18:33:00.006-05:00

An interesting article with some surprising findings -- at least they surprised me:

"Not on the Same Page: Undergraduates' Information Retrieval in Electronic and Print Books" by Selinda Adelle Berg, Kristin Hoffmann and Diane Dawson, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, November 2010, 36(6), pages 518-525.

abstract = "Academic libraries are increasingly collecting e-books, but little research has investigated how students use e-books compared to print texts. This study used a prompted think-aloud method to gain an understanding of the information retrieval behavior of students in both formats. Qualitative analysis identified themes that will inform instruction and collection practices."

Available full text in ScienceDirect.

Social Media Stats of 2011

2011-03-10T09:15:00.003-06:00

On March 8, Adam Vincenzini posted "18 Resources for the Best Social Media Stats of 2011 (so far)" on Ragan's PR Daily, which might be useful and/or of interest.

Home page PR Daily News (PR Daily News: Public Relations news and marketing in the age of social media)
Info about Lawrence Regan Communiations, Inc.

Explaining Twitter to Skeptics

2011-03-09T16:49:00.000-06:00

Nancy White & Suzy - An Intro to Twitter from CommunityMatters on Vimeo.

SirsiDynix March Newsletter

2011-03-08T08:58:00.002-06:00

The March Newsletter from SirsiDynix is available - through some of you might want to read it.

Get up to speed!

Dear customers -
Our March newsletter is available for your reading pleasure! Visit http://info.sirsidynix.com/news0211.html to get up to speed on what we are up to.
Happy reading!
Your friends at SirsiDynix

Open Letter to Librarians

2011-03-02T09:15:00.000-06:00

Open Letter to Librarians

The responses from HarperCollins about the whole ebooks mess.

Why You'll Use Foursquare

2011-02-28T10:33:00.001-06:00

Why You'll Use Foursquare from PCWorld Interesting article about Foursquare. I posted it on Facebook, but figured many would miss it.

Just an FYI. We just gave out our first Foursquare special (flash drive)!

Stephenville has finally caught on to Foursquare. At one time I was the mayor of 29 different places here in town, because no one else was 'playing'. I get several messages a day that I have been ousted as mayor.

Foursquare has really taken off nationally too. It had a 34000% growth in 2010. And 2011 looks even better - 200,000 people 'checked-in' at the Superbowl.

Here are some of the stats from our venue:

153 check-ins
from 21 different users
13 % Male, 67% Female
52% in the AM, 35% in the afternoon, 11% in the Evening

The BookCase

2011-02-28T08:50:00.001-06:00

A Fun Thing for Monday!

HarperCollins puts a cap on OverDrive e-book circulations

2011-02-25T17:10:00.002-06:00

Imagine if we had to buy new "copies" of our e-books after they circed 26 times. I don't know how often most of our e-books get used, but I'm sure it could get expensive, and I don't think we'd have it near as bad as public libraries that use OverDrive - the Pikes Peak Library District had OverDrive e-books, and waiting lists for them were often very long. Can you imagine what it would be like to be the 27th (or higher) person on the waiting list, thinking you're finally going to get to read the book, only to find that the library doesn't have the money to buy another copy once it's finally your turn?

I'm also kind of wondering about their decision to cap it at 26. They said they based it on the lifespan of a print book, and I'm pretty sure there are books that are able to circ many more times than that (particularly if they can be mended).

It looks like only HarperCollins is doing this right now. I hope more publishers don't decide it sounds like a great idea.

--Oh, I set up the title of this entry so that, when you click on it, you can access the article, but, just in case: http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/889452-264/harpercollins_caps_loans_on_ebook.html.csp

UPDATE - I just realized that this news does apply to us - check out the bit in the article that says it applies to all vendors/distributors, not just OverDrive. Something to think about, the next time we decide to purchase more e-books. How often do our e-books generally circulate (particularly the ones published by HarperCollins and its imprints)? How bad a deal would buying HarperCollins e-books be for us?

Good Bye Dewey Decimal System?

2011-02-25T09:38:00.004-06:00

This article discusses how some libraries are moving away from a traditional classification system and adopting a "book store style layout".

Who's Killing the Dewey Decimal System?

Plagiarism

2011-02-25T08:53:00.000-06:00

I might post these to the LOL blog, if you guys think I should. These could be helpful tools. Students might want to check their papers. What do you think?

8 Resources for Detecting & Preventing Plagiarism

Taken from Stephen's lighthouse. (some of his links did not work, or I would have just linked to his)

Generations and their gadgets - Which devices do you have?

2011-02-23T08:24:00.001-06:00

Generations and their gadgets | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project

Interesting report! Here is their graphic with the summary.

The Library Space as Learning Space

2011-02-21T17:48:00.003-06:00

Keith Webster in EDUCAUSE (November/December 2010) reports 12 key findings regarding "the role of the library as a learning space," as well as results from a design workshop where student feedback was gathered about "necessary features of library learning spaces that supported three broad activities: preparing for a group assignment; working on an individual term paper; and studying for end-of-year examinations."

Student comments showed that "place is important" and students "value the library as a place."

Webster's article presents some interesting ideas to ponder.

Thinking outside the box: external branding around campus - The Ubiquitous Librarian (Brian Mathews)

2011-02-21T11:31:00.001-06:00

Thinking outside the box: external branding around campus - The Ubiquitous Librarian (Brian Mathews)

Some really nice ideas in the blog post about marketing the library. The weather is fixing to be perfect for some outside marketing.

Kudos! to Melissa

2011-02-18T10:19:00.000-06:00

I ran a report this week and found some really funky things wrong with records in our catalog. Some of the titles did not have the brackets [ ] around the general medium designator (GMD). And the GMD's were not standardized. This made the titles of books, etc show up strange and some were unable to be searched for! We globally edited about 1112 records!

Additionally, we determined that some of our subfields in the titles were in the wrong order. Melissa put her thinking cap on and found a way to fix that too! 3,124 records have been fixed...and she is working on the other formats!

You deserve BIG KUDOS! Yeah Melissa.

Born digital

2011-02-18T09:32:00.002-06:00

Aimed more at school librarians, but it still has a lot of valid points!

QR Code presentations

2011-02-17T12:26:00.029-06:00

Information Technology Forum (Nov. 2010) sponsored by Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library presents some interesting ideas about QR Codes.

Topics & Points of Interest =

1st presentation by Anne Marrow, Digital Initiatives Librarian, J. Willard Marriott Library:

Offers background, technology needs, generators, etc.
GIves examples of the library's use of QR Codes start about 14 minutes into the presentation.
-- Directional = maps of library's floorplans/collections
-- Informational = search catalog & course reserves; use QR Codes to provide list of items in a display; find staff phone numbers at "point-of-need" spots;
-- Immersive = digital record of permanent art collections to facilitate inventory processes & to give info to viewer about the art

2nd presentation by Nancy Anne Marrow, Digital Initiatives Librarian, J. Willard Marriott Library (about 22 minutes into presentation) talks about uses:

Info about portraits in the collections/on display (takes to catalog record)
QR Codes on flyers offer information about collections, items, online materials, contact information, online versions of flyers that can be bookmarked, etc.
Advertise library classes via QR codes on flyers to go to registration pages.
Maps of library and campus locations.
Share/gather RSS feeds from database seaches.
private sign-ups for clinic testing participants

3rd presentation by Justin Barbour, Education and Information Technology Assistant, QR Codes: Using Smart Phones to Deliver Information (about 35 minutes into presentation)

How they did the QR Codes
-- They use BeeTagg (a free) generator / manager.
-- Shows some features: making QR codes, sizing outputs to fit devices, mentions formats supported (png, pdf, gif, etc.), organizing files & folders, creating categories, etc.
-- BeeTagg helps them track usage & helps reduce "footprint" of a QR Code, which helps devices read the QR code.
-- tips = don't make QR Codes too detailed, too small, etc. Some readers can't read them if you do. Need adequate light. Consider quality of phone browsers/features. Test readers to find ones that work best with specific phones.
-- outcomes = portraits got a lot of views at first then slowed down, library workshop QR Codes being used well, "How to use QR Codes" tip sheet being used most,
-- ideas = put QR codes on business cards, bookmarks, books, etc. Create "museum-like" experiences where users can scan QR Code and get information about book/picture/display, etc.

Why I am in Love with Librarians

2011-02-08T13:22:00.002-06:00

One of my Library Science Professors shared this with our class. I thought everyone would enjoy this poem by Julia Alvarez.

Why I am in Love with Librarians
I love how they know things
only to pass them on,
how they fade into the faux-wood-paneled
walls of the reference room,
their faces hidden between the covers of books,

how they look up only to help you:
What is the capital of Afghanistan?
How do the Maori bury their dead?
Who invented Barbie? How many were murdered in Guatemala in '84?

—every query worthy of their attention,
any questioner taken seriously,
curiosity the only requirement.
I love how they listen, their lined faces opening,
their eyes already elsewhere:

scanning a plain for the lights of a distant city,
hunting for bodies in the highlands,
searching the web for Barbie—
their minds like those flocks of little birds in winter
swooping over a landscape, looking, looking.

And always when they get back to you,
that sweet smile on their faces,
pride and deep affection for what can be known,
as if Barbie's invention
or the tally of the massacred

could save you, could save the world!
And who knows if Stalin or Hitler
had spent their youth in the library,
history might be rewritten,
re-catalogued by librarians?

Curiosity sends us out
to a world both larger and smaller
than what we know and believe in
with a passion for finding an answer
or at least understanding our questions.

That road is paved with librarians,
bushwhackers, scouts with string
through the labyrinths of information,
helpers who disappear the moment
you reach your destination.

for Joy Pile

Author Information
Julia Alvarez, currently writer-in-residence at Middlebury College, VT, is the author of novels (In the Time of the Butterflies), books for young readers, and books of poetry, including the forthcoming collection Keeping Watch . Joy Pile is the Foreign Language Reference and Acquisitions Librarian, Starr Library, Middlebury College

How QR Codes Can Grow Your Business

2011-02-07T12:08:00.001-06:00

How QR Codes Can Grow Your Business

This is a really good introductions to QR codes. Yvonne did a really nice blog post on the LOL blog and I thought some of you might like a little information about them and ways we might use them. Take a look.

Tracy

LOC - Watching Our Researchers Like a Hawk

2011-01-26T11:45:00.001-06:00

Watching Our Researchers Like a Hawk « Library of Congress Blog

A Hawk in the Library of Congress! Very cool and a funny blog post.

Happy to say that today they rescued the Hawk for the LOC - http://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2011/01/breaking-news-hawk-rescued-from-main-reading-room/

So You Want To Be An [Academic] Librarian

2011-01-20T11:15:00.000-06:00

This has cause a stir on the lists... What do you think?

Social Media and Library Trends for 2011

2011-01-19T12:15:00.001-06:00

Social Media and Library Trends for 2011

Mobile apps
QR Codes
Google Applications
Twitter
Virtual reference
Increased collaboration
Teaching social media classes
Using social media as a teaching tool and not just as a tool for library promotion.

Dick Smith Library : 2010 in Pictures

2011-01-19T10:01:00.002-06:00

Dick Smith Library : 2010 the Year in Pictures by Tracy

This is the final version.

I used about 10 pictures taken by Sandy and Glenda so I wanted to thank them. Also Rashelle once again for the GREAT comic!

Young, Hip Librarians Take Over | KPBS.org

2011-01-16T17:25:00.000-06:00

Young, Hip Librarians Take Over | KPBS.org

Way to go Stephenville ISD

2011-01-12T11:10:00.003-06:00

This is from the school districts web site…is it something we would want to piggy back upon?

National Reading Day

January 24th has been designated as National Reading Day. This special day is designed to promote reading as a lifetime activity. Stephenville ISD students, faculty, and staff will join thousands of others around the nation in celebrating this special day. Come join Dr. Floyd, Dr. Ray, along with all Stephenville ISD students and faculty members by picking up a book, magazine, or newspaper to read from 9:10 a.m. – 9:20 a.m.!

QR Code Comic Tutorial

2011-01-11T15:23:00.000-06:00

Still wondering what QR Codes are??
Here's a comic to explain it. QR Code Comic Tutorial