BiblioTech Web

Barbara Fister recently posted an article on the ACRLog that was called Creepy Treehouse. It discusses an interesting concept that’s being used in the technological realms to describe a certain type of technology use/setting.

A creepy treehouse is a place built by scheming adults to lure in kids. Kids tend to sense there’s something creepy about that treehouse and avoid it. Hence, a new definition: “Any institutionally-created, operated, or controlled environment in which participants are lured in either by mimicking pre-existing open or naturally formed environments, or by force, through a system of punishments or rewards.”

It’s an interesting take on that vaguely unsettled response we sometimes get from students when we try to be too cool, try too hard to seem fun and playful, when we make familiar toys unpalatably “educational.” Setting up an outpost in an attractive playspace with an ulterior motive is just . . . creepy.

Please visit the ACRLog and read her full article. It’s quite insightful and applicable in today’s “Library 2.0″ environment.

I don’t know how this slipped by me unnoticed for so long, but I just yesterday read Chad Boeninger’s post on Library Voice about the Meebo plugin for Pidgin (used to be GAIM). It’s the answer to our Reference Desk dilemma! Let me explain.

Last fall we implemented Meebo in a test mode as it were, to get the functionality of widgets on our web pages. One of the strengths of Meebo is their MeeboMe widget, which puts an IM window right on your web page, interfacing with the instant messenger at your own computer (in this case, at our Reference Desk). The drawback of Meebo is that it’s web based (a good thing), requiring you to always have a browser window open and dedicated to Meebo (a bad thing). If you’re on another tab in your browser, the only notification was the other tab’s favicon blinking, which is small and easy to miss.

Enter Pidgin. It’s a new and slightly improved version of GAIM, which is what we used at the Reference Desk before Meebo because it allowed us to connect with multiple IM accounts from one interface. And it’s open source.

With this Meebo plugin for Pidgin, you can just use Pidgin the way you normally would (complete with background running when minimized and popups when new messages come in) and still connect with your MeeboMe widgets. It’s the best of both worlds! I’ve tried it at our Reference Desk and on my personal computers and it works great!

As Chad put it, MeeboMe and Pidgin is like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups — two great tastes that taste great together!

Thanks, Chad!

Today I did a presentation at the ILF Annual Conference. It was about using Excel to track Reference statistics (and getting rid of the traditional clipboard). Attendees asked for the code to be made available online so they could copy and paste it rather than retyping all of it and risking mistyping one symbol and having it not work.

So here is the code. Right off my handouts. I welcome any questions you may have.

Reference Macro
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Worksheets("Transactions").Activate
ActiveSheet.Range("a1").End(xlDown).Offset(1, 0).Select
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = Date
ActiveCell.Offset(rowoffset:=0, columnoffset:=1).Activate
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = Time
ActiveCell.Value = ActiveCell.Value - Int(ActiveCell.Value)
ActiveCell.Offset(rowoffset:=0, columnoffset:=1).Activate
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "1"
Application.CutCopyMode = False
ActiveSheet.Range("a1").Select
Worksheets("Main").Activate
response = MsgBox("Reference Transaction Logged", 64, "Thank you")
ActiveWorkbook.Save
Application.ScreenUpdating = True

General Macro
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Worksheets("Transactions").Activate
ActiveSheet.Range("a1").End(xlDown).Offset(1, 0).Select
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = Date
ActiveCell.Offset(rowOffset:=0, columnOffset:=1).Activate
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = Time
ActiveCell.Value = ActiveCell.Value - Int(ActiveCell.Value)
ActiveCell.Offset(rowOffset:=0, columnOffset:=1).Activate
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "1"
Application.CutCopyMode = False
ActiveSheet.Range("A1").Select
Worksheets("General").Activate
ActiveSheet.Range("a1").End(xlDown).Offset(1, 0).Select
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = Date
ActiveCell.Offset(rowOffset:=0, columnOffset:=1).Activate
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "1"
Application.CutCopyMode = False
ActiveSheet.Range("A1").Select
Worksheets("MAIN").Activate
Response = MsgBox("Email Reference Transaction Logged", 64, "Thank you")
ActiveWorkbook.Save
Application.ScreenUpdating = True

Data Collection Code for 8:00 hour, first column
=SUM(IF(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$B$3"):INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$B$"&COUNTA(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$A:$A")))>=0.333, IF(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$B$3"):INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$B$"&COUNTA(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$A:$A")))<0.375, IF(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!C$3"):INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!C$"&COUNTA(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$A:$A")))=1,1,0))))

Data Collection Code for 9:00 hour, first column
=SUM(IF(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$B$3"):INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$B$"&COUNTA(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$A:$A")))>=0.375, IF(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$B$3"):INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$B$"&COUNTA(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$A:$A")))<0.416, IF(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!C$3"):INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!C$"&COUNTA(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$A:$A")))=1,1,0))))

Data Collection Code for 8:00 hour, second column
=SUM(IF(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$B$3"):INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$B$"&COUNTA(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$A:$A")))>=0.333, IF(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$B$3"):INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$B$"&COUNTA(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$A:$A")))<0.375, IF(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!D$3"):INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!D$"&COUNTA(INDIRECT("'"&$H$1&"'!$A:$A")))=1,1,0))))

Averages Code for 8:00 hour, first column
=Totals!B3/IF(OR(LEFT($H$1,2)="01",LEFT($H$1,2)="03",LEFT($H$1,2)="05",LEFT($H$1,2)="07",LEFT($H$1,2)="08",LEFT($H$1,2)="10",LEFT($H$1,2)="12"),31,IF(LEFT($H$1,2)="02",28,30))

Averages Code for 9:00 hour, first column
=Totals!B4/IF(OR(LEFT($H$1,2)="01",LEFT($H$1,2)="03",LEFT($H$1,2)="05",LEFT($H$1,2)="07",LEFT($H$1,2)="08",LEFT($H$1,2)="10",LEFT($H$1,2)="12"),31,IF(LEFT($H$1,2)="02",28,30))

Averages Code for 8:00 hour, second column
=Totals!C3/IF(OR(LEFT($H$1,2)="01",LEFT($H$1,2)="03",LEFT($H$1,2)="05",LEFT($H$1,2)="07",LEFT($H$1,2)="08",LEFT($H$1,2)="10",LEFT($H$1,2)="12"),31,IF(LEFT($H$1,2)="02",28,30))

Formula for Title of Totals Page (cell A1)
="TOTAL REFERENCE TRANSACTIONS for "&TEXT(H1,"mmm yyyy")

Next week is the annual ILF (Indiana Library Federation) Conference. I get to present TWICE at the conference. My Wednesday presentation is called “Losing the Clipboard: A Hands-On Workshop on Using Excel for Tracking Reference Statistics” and my Thursday one is called “Staying in Touch: Using RSS Feeds to Keep your Finger on the Pulse of Libraries and Technology.”

Nice use of subtitles, eh?

Should be a lot of fun, and hopefully useful to people who attend. There are supposed to be over 1,200 librarians attending and there are a good dozen presentations going on at any one time, so I hope there’s a decent turnout.