BiblioTech Web

This comic is from the Unshelved series at OverdueMedia.com. Very funny comics–something that EVERY librarian should have in their RSS feeds. And be sure to visit their online store, which has books of comics, shirts, hats, and more!

Here’s a great post that I read YESTERDAY at ALA TechSource. Who’d have thought it would finally happen?

The comic strip Unshelved is full of library-related humor and occasionally some oblique cultural references, such as in today’s comic.

Great stuff here. Highly recommended to all library staff with a funny bone. Get Unshelved in your Google Reader or homepage!

“Tags” are descriptive labels applied to something to help categorize it. These are usually submitted by the users of the system so that they can organize the items they’re interested in, whether photos, books, articles, videos, or whatever. Most of us have seen tags being successfully used now on sites like Flickr, Del.icio.us, Technorati, Last.fm, and Gmail.Even Amazon uses tags now.

Use of tags by so many big-name websites shows that tags have become standard or normal facets of organizing materials.

What makes tags so popular? Users of those kinds of websites can apply their own descriptions to items instead of just relying on the native organization of the website. These sites also allow you to search by the tags, so clicking on a tag will bring up all the items in their system that have had that tag applied to them.

While not necessarily thought of as “tags,” the same functionality is built into social networking software like Facebook or MySpace, but the tags instead apply to personal interests. That means clicking on them will connect you with others who share those interests.

One of my favorite websites is LibraryThing. It’s an AWESOME tool that combines library organization (mostly personal) with social networking, allowing you to keep track of your personal book collection while connecting with others who own the same (or similar) books. Recommendations are even available based on your library or an individual book. There was a VERY nice article in the January 2007 issue of Library Journal (pages 40-42) that explains how LibraryThing works and makes it seem very attractive to librarians. (Like what self-respecting librarian WOULDN’T want a cool online tool for organizing their own personal libraries?) Congrats to Tim Spaulding for his idea and the success of his product!

I don’t know about you, but it sure does make ME eager for library catalogs to add tagging! Imagine the current functionality of online library catalogs combined with tagging. You’ll still get the controlled vocabulary that is the classification system and subject headings, but you’ll get the extra benefit of applying tags that are relevant to you, regardless of how the library classified your book. This isn’t to downplay the role of the cataloger or even THINKING about suggesting doing away with them; instead it’s an add-on that increases usability for everyone.

The Ann Arbor (Mich.) District Library is a great example of using tags within a library catalog. They also have images for many of the items in their online catalog AND they have RSS feeds on their search results (based on your search terms) so you can be notified when the results of your search change. That’s HOT!!

What a funny video! From Wanderings of a Librarian via LibraryStuff.

Yesterday was the big shindig day in our library. Every February we have an exhibit called the “Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Activity.” We solicit contributions from the faculty and staff of Butler of publications and works that they’ve done in the last year. Books, articles, book chapters, and other publications are included, as well as paintings, music (sheet and CD), concert programs, etc.

Since “scholarship” means different things to different academic disciplines, we welcome anything that is created, whether a scholarly article or theatre costumes designed for a play.

This year we had 56 different people contribute to this exhibit, which runs for the month of February. Almost 3/4 of the contributors were repeats, meaning they’ve submitted other things in previous years (this is the sixth annual), showing that continual scholarship is alive and well at Butler University. There were 155 items included in the exhibit this year, and only one of them was in last year’s; the rest were in the exhibit for the first time. Pretty cool!

Anyway, last night was the big shindig where we have a formal reception for faculty and staff to come, enjoy hors d’oeuvres and wine and conversation. People reconnect with each other and take a look at what their colleagues have been up to during the last year. Then there’s a featured lecture by one of our faculty, presenting on the research they’ve been doing. It always ends up being very interesting and cross-disciplinary, so everyone enjoys it and can relate to the topic on various levels. This year it was on the dialogical process that goes on as children learn to read. The description in our invitations sounded a little dry or maybe dull, but when you put the topic in the mouth of someone who’s passionate about it, especially a really good speaker, it comes alive and becomes very interesting. That happened again this year.

The faculty in particular really look forward to this event. With so many ways that things get trimmed budgetarily (is that a word?), they enjoy getting really good food and wine and atmosphere and everything, instead of good-enough-to-get-by. The faculty view this reception as a treat, or a reward for the extra work they do. And an incentive to continue, I think. A special time for celebrating the work they’ve done in continuing to contribute to their discipline. Except that many of the works included in the exhibit are outside the disciplines of the people who submitted them. That’s okay, of course, because it lets us see another side of our colleagues.

My role in this whole event is complete. It’s my “baby,” as it were. From working up the invitations that we get printed up and mailed in early January and soliciting contributions for the exhibit, to creating the menu for the soiree and creating the atmosphere with music, lighting, etc., to creating the printed bibliography of all the publications and works that make up the exhibit (MLA format), every little detail is mine to do or delegate. Thankfully there are some very helpful people on the library staff and our marketing department and print shop always come through wondrously. That helps a lot.

So anyway, the big shindig is over now–went off superbly–and I’m taking the rest of the week off to recover from the cold I’ve been fighting.