http://www.bibliotechweb.com The Intersection of Libraries and Technology Fri, 02 May 2008 15:03:51 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en At Butler University, we're changing how we present Reference Services. For the last couple of years, we've had a "Reference Team" and shared responsibilities for the department and services. Professional librarians have staffed the desk from 10am to 10pm. As of this fall, we'll be staffing the desk with a ... http://www.bibliotechweb.com/archives/2008/05/02/reference-services/ The growth of the internet has really increased the popularity and effectiveness of April Fool's Day. Now ALL KINDS of pranks can be played online in the guise of "new technologies" or "new services." :-D Even reputable media companies like CNN or the BBC are getting in on the ... http://www.bibliotechweb.com/archives/2008/04/01/april-fools-day-fun/ ReminderFeed is a free online program that you can use to send yourself reminders that will show up in your RSS aggregator. It can be a one-time thing or repeated every day until the deadline you specify. Pretty handy for those of us who use RSS feeds very much. Give it ... http://www.bibliotechweb.com/archives/2008/03/14/rss-feeds-as-reminders/ 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 ... http://www.bibliotechweb.com/archives/2008/01/15/meebome-and-pidgin/ Today I read an interesting post on the ACRLog about people's attitudes toward privacy in this Web 2.0 world. It's definitely worth a read. You can access it here: Some Thoughts on Privacy 2.0. There are some insightful references to the latest OCLC report and some related blogs. http://www.bibliotechweb.com/archives/2007/12/19/internet-privacy/ 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 ... http://www.bibliotechweb.com/archives/2007/11/14/losing-the-clipboard/ 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 ... http://www.bibliotechweb.com/archives/2007/11/09/ilf-annual-conference/ For what it's worth, I'm doing a little presentation today at the IOLUG (Indiana Online Users Group) Fall Program called "Reaching Digital Natives and Immigrants: Library 2.0." They're having a Science-Fair-style session where different people are "exhibiting" different programs and I get to do LibraryThing! Below is most of what ... http://www.bibliotechweb.com/archives/2007/11/02/more-librarything/ LibraryThing has now gone the next step and allowed integration between its now-massive database of information and your library's OPAC (that's Online Public Access Catalog for those who haven't been through Library School--what people nowadays simply call the online catalog or just "catalog"). Imagine your library patrons being able to ... http://www.bibliotechweb.com/archives/2007/10/26/librarything-for-libraries/ I just came across this Flickr photo thanks to Library Stuff. What a great marketing tool for libraries! Makes you want to go to your local library and check out one of the "starring roles," doesn't it? I love that! "They are smarter! They are stronger! They are HUNGRY!" Sure made me ... http://www.bibliotechweb.com/archives/2007/10/22/zombie-librarians/