Jesus – Mighty to Save!

Greater Things are Yet to Come!

A great video from a Christian band from N. Ireland named  Bluetree which was in Thailand, and managed to get a gig to play at a pub at a red-light district. As they sang praise and worship songs, they looked out at their audience; which included drunk tourists picking up prostitutes. And as they sang onstage, God gave them a new song….Greater Things are Yet to Come!

God knows the plans He has for you…plans to give you hope and a future.

Passion Day 2009- Jesus Paid It All!

“Praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead!“

New Search Engine Oparla – Paying You to Search?…04.09.09

Thanks to Beyond Search for pointing out the launch of Oparla today in Oparla: Pay You to Use Its Search Engine post in which Stephen Arnold says,

“…I ran some of my standard queries and found the results useful. The results page is simple, and “beyond search” appears at the top of the results list. I liked this, of course. I don’t know much about the system, and I could not spot a way to sign up and start getting paid. You can read a brief review of the system here. There is some basic information about the service here…”

I have also run a few tests and will do some more as the result were interesting.

Pre-Good Friday Reflection…04.09.09

DC Public Library Mobile Catalog App Code for iPhone Available Online…04.09.09

Thanks to the Centered Librarian for the DC Public Library Makes Their iPhone App Code Public post today:

“A short time ago the District of Columbia Public Library launched an innovative and highly useful application for the iPhone which allows users to:

• search for library materials
• see an item’s cover and reading a summary
• place a hold for pickup at the location of your choice
• and find the hours, locations and phone numbers of DC public libraries

It has been highly successful and to their credit the developers have made their code public under a Creative Commons license here…”

Library Catalog OPAC “Juice Project”…04.09.09

The Juice Project

Here is an excerpt of a post titled Juice Up Your OPAC bt Richard Wallis on the Panlibus blog today about adding “juice” to your library catalog’s OPAC which I find very interesting and potentially helpful:

“…The Juice Project is an open source initiative, which I launched at the recent Code4lib conference, with the specific objectives of making it easy to create extensions for web interfaces such as OPACs and then make it even easier to share those extensions in an open community of those who want to enhance their interfaces but do not have the skill or experience to do so.

Open and easy are two key facets of the approach used for this project.  JavaScript code gurus may find the way Juice is implemented a little over complex, but it is that approach which should make it simple for the non-gurus to adopt and use.

The design of the extension framework, which is Juice, separates the extension itself from the code that interfaces to a particular web application.  The result being that an extension created to be used on say a VuFind OPAC can be re used to extend a Talis, or a Horizon, or any other OPAC or indeed any other suitable interface.

Obviously if you are going to make changes to your interface, you need some ability to access and change the mark-up that creates the web pages.  Many libraries have staff that are capable and confident enough to make a simple change to an interface – adding a link to another site in the footer, changing a bit of text on the home page etc.  Juice is targeted at exactly those staff.  On the Juice Project site there are simple ‘How-to’ documents, that step you through how to add the couple of lines of code to introduce Juice in to your interface, and then how to copy & paste examples into your version of Juice to add shared extensions…

So, calling all those that want to add value to library and other web interfaces, take a look at and join the Juice Project.   It is early days and we haven’t as yet got many interface types identified and supportable in Juice, but the more that join in and share what they know the sooner we will be able to share the innovation between all libraries.”

Public Library Finder…04.09.09

LibrarySearch is a public library finder that lets you search and find U.S. public library locations.  Search by library name, location (city, zip code, state, address etc) and phone number.

New Common Craft Video “World Wide Web in Plain English”…04.09.09

Librarians and Others – Learn How You Are Being Evaluated By Your Social Media Footprint – Prepare to Be Judged!…04.08.09

This excerpt from Boris Epstein, CEO and Founder of BINC, a Professional Search Firm that specializes in the Software Marketplace, on his post today on Mashable! titled Do You Pass the Social Media Recruitment Test? is great to share with everyone who is or who will be in the job market:

“…So in today’s world of information overload where talent is literally available by the truckloads, I thought it would be relevant to write a post about how we evaluate a candidate’s social media footprint to determine (when all else is equal) which candidates we would contact and which ones get left by the wayside. I posed the following question to make it simple:

If all else were equal, like education, work history and general skill set, and I had to evaluate the social media footprints of two candidates to determine which one of them I would contact, which one would I contact and why? In my experience, I would contact the one who:

On Linkedin:

1. Has genuine recommendations from peers, managers and colleagues
2. Has the more complete profile
3. Is a member of more groups pertaining to their respective field
4. Has a picture
5. Lists interests, hobbies and other information related to their life outside of work
6. Participates and highlights their involvement in non-paid projects related to their field (open-source, community, volunteer, conference)
7. Updates their status more often
8. Asks and answers more questions
9. Links to their employer, blog and other projects of interest                            10. Has the larger network

On their blog:

1. Has interesting things to say about their respective profession and industry
2. Provides glimpses into their life outside of work – family, friends, hobbies, etc.
3. Does not bad-mouth their current or previous employer
4. Provides links to their other social networking profiles
5. Includes a link to their current resume
6. Updates with new posts regularly
7. Keeps it non-controversial – minimal discussion of sex, politics, religion and other such controversial topics.
8. Is more genuine and honest
9. Has a blogroll with link to other interesting blogs

On Facebook:

1. Respects the overlap between their personal and professional lives
2. Updates often
3. Posts pictures of friends and family but keeps them pg-13
4. Keeps it non-controversial – doesn’t take extreme positions on sex, drugs, religion, politics or other topics that could cause an employer to be wary of hiring
5. Is a member of groups relevant to their profession

On Twitter:

1. Tweets often (between 2-10 times per day is considered reasonable)
2. Has a healthy followers/following ratio
3. Has the biggest network
4. Keeps a healthy balance between personal and professional tweets
5. Doesn’t just update, but also responds to others and generally seems to get Twitter

When Googled:

1. Does not lead to something controversial like arrests
2. Leads to profession-related discussions and commentary on other social media sites
3. Leads me to their online blog, webpage or social media profiles
4. Doesn’t come up blank…”

“Where Data Goes to Die – Not All Good Data Goes to Heaven”…04.08.09

Digital preservation is a serious matter and more often than not gets “short shirft” but this graphic speaks volumes:

JISC Library of the Future Debate Video Online…04.08.09

You can now watch the JISC Future of the Library Debate that was held at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University last week. Here is the JISC description of the event:

“What is the library of the future? This public question and answer debate discussed what information and library provision mean in these changing times; technology has had a huge effect on the behaviour of both information consumers and service providers. We asked what the library currently is and what do libraries need to do to support knowledge, innovation and society for the future?

These issues were examined from several different perspectives through a range of high profile speakers who presented their vision for the library of the future. Programme for the Debate“

Cloud Computing – NEW iCloud Launch- “the world’s first free online computer”…04.08.09

A very interesting excerpt today from Ulitzer‘s Xcerion’s iCloud Offers Free Virtual Computer in the Cloud: “Free online computer gives online computer packed with free storage, applications, virtual desk“:

“Xcerion announced the launch of icloud, the world’s first free online computer, giving everybody in the world their own online computer packed with free storage, applications, virtual desktop and backup accessible from any computer connected to the Internet. Starting today the icloud service is available in English, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Swedish and Filipino languages.

The public launch of icloud builds on a closed beta testing program and the incorporation of user feedback from iclouder’s worldwide. icloud is proud to announce free icloud accounts for everyone at http://icloud.com…

icloud is a complete platform for sharing experiences with friends. It is secure, social and always accessible from any computer or device. Applications on icloud include office productivity, development tools, media and widgets. Over time, a wide range of applications will be available through an easy to use marketplace and application development toolbox...

The public version includes:

 * Access to your friends, files and digital life on any computer
 * 3 GB free storage space to safely store documents, photos and
   music online
 * 30 free applications such as Office, Mail, Music, Video, IM,
   Sharing, Games, Collaboration and Development tools
 * 20 free widgets
 * Free backup to provide secure storage, including WedDav
 * Zero installation, icloud runs in your Internet Explorer or
   Firefox browser...

New Online Workshop: “The Career-Savvy Information Professional”…04.08.09

There is a new online workshop offered through the GSLIS Continuing Education Program of Boston’s Simmons Graduate School of Library & Information Science:

The Career-Savvy Information Professional

Online: May 1 – 31, 2009 OR August 1 – 30, 2009
SPECIAL OFFER for all registrants – $85
PDPs: 15

“Are you looking to get back into the library field and need some help getting up to date on all the new skills and trends? Are you interested in exploring different kinds of library careers, or looking to move beyond traditional library jobs? Have you recently entered the job market and are eager to learn ways you can stand out from the many other job applicants? Or would you just like to learn how to become a savvy career professional? If so, or if you’d just like to be sure your skills are keeping up with new developments in the LIS field, then this workshop is for you.

As a participant in this workshop, you will build a personal career plan. First, learn how to assess your current skills and compare them with expectations in today’s LIS job market; next, identify the transferable skills you bring to a desired position; and finally, create a plan to address any potential gaps.

Workshop topics will include career opportunities within all types of libraries, as well as alternatives to traditional library jobs. We will cover online career research tools and show ways you can structure and organize your career search process. We will also help you develop individualized strategies for updating your resume and new networking techniques to advance your career search, such as conducting effective informational interviews, researching and reaching out to employers, and broadening your professional network. Lastly, you will find out about a broad array of LIS professional development resources, including an optional workshop module that will help you develop and practice your skills with web web 2.0 technologies. A brief reading list (optional) will be available prior to the workshop.

Faculty: Kelly Jo Woodside, Information Literacy Librarian, Simmons College; woodside@simmons.edu, and Cheryl Kohen, Career Resource Librarian, Simmons College; cheryl.kohen@simmons.edu“

Kindle 2 Text to Speech Feature Garners Supporters…04.08.09

The following is an excerpt from Amazon making Read To Me optional was a great move about the recent concession by Amazon to publishers to limit the great “Read To Me” capability on its recently released Kindle 2 e-reader:

“The Reading Rights Coalition want their Kindle 2 Read To Me ability back and are going after the Author’s Guild with a vengeance.

There was an actual physical march in New York today. Here are some photos from Flickr and people tweeting about it…

You can support the stand the RRC is taking by signing their online petition.

Amazon got the best possible outcome

1. If Amazon had kept Read To Me, they’d be fighting a court case against the Author’s Guild.
2. If Amazon had turned off Read To Me, the Reading Rights Coalition would be protesting at Amazon’s offices in Seattle, asking people to boycott Amazon.com, and in general creating a PR nightmare.

By leaving the option in the hands of the Authors and Publishers they are making the Author’s Guild responsible, who in turn are completely messing it up.

Author’s Guild is making things worse for themselves

Denying disabled people a feature that lets them actually access books is bad enough. The Author’s Guild are showing a lack of compassion and are really making things bad for themselves  -

1. They came up with a hare-brained idea where disabled people could ‘prove’ their disability and then use the Read To Me feature.
2. People are putting forward completely ridiculous arguments supporting the Author’s Guild.
3. They’re issuing careless statements …”

FREE Barcode Label Generator and Printer Online…04.08.09

This could be potentially helpful:

“Barcode Label Printer – Free Online Barcode Generator

Use the CGI form below to generate a printable and scannable barcode in Interleaved 2 of 5, Code 39, Code 128 A, B, or C symbologies. This FREE service can be used to generate individual barcodes or called via URL’s to include inline PNG or JPEG images directly into your documents.”

Nomee – “All-in-One Networking Software”…04.07.09

Nomee sounds like it is worth a look and describes itself as:

“Not another social site, nomee is the tool that helps manage them all”…

Powered by Adobe AIR, nomee simplifies online networking by organizing your contacts and interests all in one place. So you can focus directly on your people, not their sites. And your people can better know you, direct from their desktop.

simplify

• Organize online relationships, so it’s easy to focus on people, not sites.

• Monitor over 100 sites from one application.

• Get continuous desktop updates with the nomee newstream®. So you can see who’s changed info before signing onto their sites.

• Save time online, because nomee lets you cut through the clutter. No more wasted time browsing multiple sites. nomee brings the news to you.

share

• Control what you share with difference audiences. nomee lets you custom-bundle your info and access and create better one-to-one connections.

• It’s your info. So nomee lets you point the right people to the right sites and share the “me” you want them to know.

• nomee alerts tell your friends when you have news. And the nomee newstream® delivers your headlines right to their desktops.

follow

• nomee™ knows why you network in the first place – to follow people, not sites.

• nomee organizes, monitors and links you to 100+ sites from a simple, all-in-one utility.

• nomee alerts tell you when your contacts make a change, no matter what sites they use.

• nomee newstream® provides your people’s headlines before signing on to their sites. So you decide what needs immediate attention.

publish

• Collect and distribute all of yoru information on a “public” nomee card.

• Embed your public nomee card in your site, blog or Facebook page.

• Your fans can have all of your site and contact info in a single place and be alerted when you post new news.

• Public nomee cards are freely forwardable between fans, creating a robust buzz network for you…”

Here is a TechCrunch review of Nomee: Nomee Is An All-In-One Social Networking Aggregator And RSS Feed

ALA Connect Launched…04.07.09

From Peter Scott’s blog on ALA Connect:

“The American Library Association is now providing members a common virtual space to engage in ALA business and network with other members around issues and interests relevant to the profession. ALA Connect has launched its first phase of operation, in which every ALA group will have the ability to utilize the following tools:

• Posts (which are like blog posts)
• Online docs (which are like collaborative, wiki-like pages or Google Docs)
• Group calendar (for listing meetings, deadlines, etc.)
• Surveys (for asking multiple questions at once)
• Polls (for asking a single question)
• Chat room (text-based, including the ability to save a transcript of the discussion)
• Discussion forums (also known as “bulletin boards”)”

Establishing Social Media Guidelines in the Workplace…04.07.09

Social Media Murk is a good post today by Helene Blowers on her blog LibraryBytes on a very important issue to libraries and others which is excerpted here:

“… I stumbled across this great little tool that helps outline the issues and impacts of defining soft media guidelines in the workplace. Truth be told, this is murky landscape for most organizations to tackle and it’s hard for a lot of folks to get their head around issue, especially when it comes to policies & procedures.

Personally, I like to think of policies and procedures as being separate and different from guidelines for personal social networking best practices. Both have there place, but serve the needs the organization differently.Policies and practices help to define the organization’s parameters for engaging in social media channels. Guidelines help to provide best practices for individuals who engage in social media channels on their own behalf while employed by the business.

…I might recommend looking at this great resource [Corporate Social Networking by Sacha Chua]- which helps you not only identify many of the questions to ask, but to also understand some of the implications for yes and no responses. Very helpful indeed!”

TagCrowd – Create Your Own Text Clouds…04.07.09

Thanks to Michael Sauers for pointing out TagCrowd where you can “Create your own tag cloud from any text to visualize word frequency.”

“TagCrowd is a web application for visualizing word frequencies in any user-supplied text by creating what is popularly known as a tag cloud or text cloud.

It was created by Daniel Steinbock, a doctoral student in Design and Education at Stanford University.

Today, text clouds are primarily used for navigation and visualization on Web 2.0 sites that employ user-generated metadata (tags) as a categorization scheme. (Flickr is a good example.)..”

Give it a try!

5 Essential Traits for Online Community Managers…04.07.09

Stuart Foster‘s good post today 5 Essential Traits for Community Managers is very important to libraries, non-profits, businesses, and anyone generating an online community to service our clients/customers/patrons.  Here is an excerpt:

“Community manager is the new it position in social media. To establish hardcore communities of evangelists around your brand, you need to have one…

I spoke to some of the best in the business to get their thoughts on what makes a great community manager…

1. Loving your job

This is absolutely essential and cannot be faked with any amount of money, time and effort. You have to absolutely love doing your job…

2. Abliity to promote others as well as yourself

It’s great to push content and provide awesome information about your company to your community, but you need to provide more…

3. Ability to empower and support your community

This is essential. You can’t use your new-found powers and access for evil (you can’t go against the will of the people – some circumstances excluded)…This requires a time commitment…

4. Transparent, fun and engaging personality

The ability to be yourself in print, on Twitter, and via other types of communication is extremely important…it essentially comes down to people skills…

5. Extensive knowledge about the company

Be able to answer any question, concern, or thought directed your way…Often you will need to break down cultures ingrained within your corporation’s DNA and this can’t happen without a buy-in from management…

Community management is a delicate balance; you need to be able to serve both your company’s needs and those of your company’s community. A lot of trust, respect and responsibility comes with being the voice for your brand. It’s a lot of power, but if you use it wisely it could be a boon for your company and your community…”

“The Cynefin Framework” and “Seven Principles of Knowledge Management”…04.06.09

Thanks to Stephen Abram for pointing out the following video explanation of “The Cynefin Framework“ by Shawn Callahan and David Snowden’s “Seven Principles of Knowledge Management” below. The video is well worth the time and the “principles” are great!

“David’s Seven Principles of Knowledge Management are touchstones for me:

1. Knowledge can only be volunteered it cannot be conscripted.

You can’t make someone share their knowledge, because you can never measure if they have… .

2. We only know what we know when we need to know it.

Human knowledge is deeply contextual and requires stimulus for recall…

3. In the context of real need few people will withhold their knowledge.

A genuine request for help is not often refused unless there is literally no time or a previous history of distrust… Linking and connecting people is more important than storing their artifacts.

4. Everything is fragmented.

We evolved to handle unstructured fragmented fine granularity information objects, not highly structured documents…Our brains evolved to handle fragmented patterns not highly structured information.

5. Tolerated failure imprints learning better than success.

When my young son burnt his finger on a match he learnt more about the dangers of fire than any amount of parental instruction cold provide… attempting to impose best practice systems is flying in the face of over a hundred thousand years of evolution that says it is a bad thing.

6. The way we know things is not the way we report we know things.

There is an increasing body of research data which indicates that in the practice of knowledge people use heuristics, past pattern matching and extrapolation to make decisions, coupled with complex blending of ideas and experiences that takes place in nanoseconds. Asked to describe how they made a decision after the event they will tend to provide a more structured process oriented approach which does not match reality. This has major consequences for knowledge management practice.

7. We always know more than we can say; we will always say more than we can write down.

This is probably the most important. The process of taking things from our heads, to our mouths (speaking it) to our hands (writing it down) involves loss of content and context…”

Twitter 101 Part 2 Now Online…04.06.09

For anyone wanting a primer on Twitter, Search Engine Watch has started a 3-part series titled Twitter 101 and today Twitter 101 Part 2 is online.

Here is how it was originally described:

“There’s a lot of buzz right now about Twitter, which has emerged as one of the most popular social media tools. This three-part article is for those who are just getting started with Twitter or who simply want to know what it is and how it works. I’ll cover everything you need to know about setting up and using a Twitter account, and share some tools and resources to help you leverage Twitter to market yourself or your company…”

Twitter 101 Part 1 original post.

“Michael Tamblyn – 6 Projects That Could Change Publishing for the Better”…04.06.09

This is a REALLY GOOD video I recommend watching whether involved with publishing or not.

“Michael Tamblyn, CEO of BookNet Canada, describes 6 projects/changes/initiatives that could make things better for publishers, readers, and others with an interest in the future of the book.”

Despite the strange appearance, the video below works fine if you click on play.

New Twitter Search Engine Uses Page Rank…04.06.09

Stan Schroeder today on Mashable! highlights the new Twitter search engine Tweefind which uses page rank in search results:

“Remember how Google conquered the world of search? They figured out a way to tell which web sites are more important than others, by judging how many links are pointing to them, and called it Google PageRank…

Rank is calculated through several parameters. Creator of Tweefind, luca Filigheddu, lists them:

# followers
# following
# of tweets
# of RT he/she receives
# of replies
# of distinct users who reply
# of distinct users who retweet
# of RT he/she makes
# of links the user shares

This approach raises some interesting questions. Are Twitter users with more followers, tweets, replies or retweets more relevant in the context of real time one-to-many conversations? Is there really a ‘rank’ on Twitter that can be calculated and be useful in real world usage? Could an approach similar to Google’s PR algorithm do for Twitter search what it did for Google?…”

I used Tweefind to find out about the earthquake today in central Italy with positive result.

U.S. Government to Launch Data.Gov in May…04.06.09

http://WhiteHouse.gov

http://USA.gov

http://Recovery.gov

Web Trends Map 4…04.06.09

Thanks to Robin Wauters on TechCrunch pointing out the yet unfinished but very interesting visualization from Information Architects which “…has released the final beta for the fourth iteration of its awesome Web Trends Map series…”

As Robin says, “…The picture that’s embedded above doesn’t do it justice in any way, so be sure to check out the full-sized image hosted on Flickr… or “ better yet, head over to Zoomorama.”

Social Networks in China…04.06.09

I thought this was interesting – a TechCrunch excerpt on social networking in China titled Chinese Social Networks ‘Virtually’ Out-Earn Facebook And MySpace: A Market Analysis:

“…Despite China’s massively growing internet market, international giants like Google and Facebook are having trouble making gains with the 300 million Chinese online users. China’s netizens are on average very young – 66.7 % of them are younger than 29 years old and 35.2 % of them are teenagers—with social networking and entertainment applications being the most popular.

While companies like Facebook struggle to conquer market share in China and to create viable business models everywhere, their Chinese clones have built lucrative cash machines literally earning billions of dollars a year. Unfortunately, adopting Chinese methods may not help American social networks due both to cultural differences in Chinese user behavior and industry practices. Below is our analysis of the Chinese social networking scene…

Despite the popularity of social networking in China, the social networking market is dominated by local Chinese players, and Western networks have trouble adapting to Chinese culture and user expectations…

Yet the astronomical growth of China’s social networks can be attributed as much to its massive market size as to its cultural norms and values. Social networking apps can hit hyper-viral levels in China due to a higher tolerance of intrusive app invitations. It is not uncommon for apps to essentially force new users to invite people and perform tasks before being able to join their friends online. Once friends have joined they are required to interact much more with the apps and advertisements than on Western applications. While this model is not replicable for the US market, certain aspects of this strategy/cultural mindset are necessary if companies like Facebook or Myspace want to compete in China…”

Read the Latest Edition of The International Survey of Library Automation…04.05.09

(Image:  ihome.ust.hk/…/diploma/libauto/libauto.html)

Here is Marshall Breeding‘s 2009 summary of his latests “International Survey of Library Automation ”…regarding the perceptions of libraries toward their automation systems, the organizations that provide support, and the quality of support they receive. It also aims to gauge interest in open source library automation systems”…

 

Most Positive Perceptions

Polaris emerged this year as the ILS product with the highest positive ratings in the categories of product and company satisfaction. Libraries using AGent VERSO from Auto-Graphics gave the highest rankings for customer support and loyalty to the company for future business. Library.Solution from The Library Corporation received highly positive marks from its customer libraries in all categories. Libraries using Polaris, AGent VERSO, and Library.Solution showed the least interest in open source ILS products. These three companies received extremely high satisfaction ratings from their libraries, with average scores separated by very thin margins.

Negative Perceptions

The survey results reveal high levels of dissatisfaction by libraries running legacy ILS products. Athena and Winnebago Spectrum, both systems acquired by Follett Software Company that will not receive ongoing development, received the lowest ILS satisfaction scores and indicated the least likelihood that they would purchase an ILS in the future from this company. Libraries using Dynix gave low marks regarding their satisfaction with the product (5.14) and for SirsiDynix as a company (4.81), but rated support more moderately (5.76). Horizon libraries gave SirsiDynix very low marks as a company (4.32) but registered moderate satisfaction for the product itself (5.68).

The number of negative comments provided on the survey forms overwhelmingly exceeded positive ones.

ILS Satisfaction

Polaris ranked as the product that received the highest score in response to the question probing satisfaction with the library’s Integrated Library System with a median rating of 7.73. Fifty-one libraries using Polaris responded to this question. Last year a total of 59 responders rated Polaris 7.78, reflecting remarkable consistency across the two years. AGent VERSO earned second highest marks in this category (7.26), with Library.Solution from The Library Corporation only a fraction lower (7.20). Millennium from Innovative Interfaces, Inc. also attracted highly positive ratings (7.09).

Company Satisfaction

Polaris Library Systems also won the highest score for company satisfaction (7.76) with Auto-Graphics (7.68) and The Library Corporation (7.33) only slightly less favored. Libraries using Millennium gave Innovative Interfaces solidly positive ratings (6.44), though a notch below the top three companies. Libraries using legacy products not surprisingly noted their vendors as least satisfactory, including those using Athena (3.92), Horizon (4.32), Winnebago Spectrum (4.52), and Dynix (4.81). The middle tier of company satisfaction included those using Koha supported by LibLime (5.84), Virtua from VTLS (5.79), Voyager (5.59) and ALEPH 500 (5.20) from Ex Libris, and Unicorn from SirsiDynix (5.05).

Satisfaction with Customer Support

Libraries using AGent VERSO rated Auto-Graphics as the company providing the most satisfactory support (7.81). Polaris (7.41) and The Library Corporation (7.07) also earned highly positive ratings for customer support, just below that of Auto-Graphics. Innovative received strong marks in this category (6.46), though again just a notch below the top tier. Users of Athena (3.63) and Winnebago Spectrum (4.57) gave Follett low ratings for support.

Company Loyalty

In response to the question probing the likelihood that the library would purchase future ILS products from their current vendor, Auto-Graphics received the highest marks for customer loyalty (7.64) only slightly edging above The Library Corporation (7.50) and Polaris Library Systems (7.33). Libraries using Millennium gave mixed results, but overall indicated strong loyalty to Innovative Interfaces, Inc. (6.54). Libraries using Athena (4.32), Winnebago Spectrum (3.95), and Horizon (4.37) seem on average not inclined to purchase their next system from their incumbent vendors.

Open Source Perceptions

It’s not surprising that the libraries already using an open source ILS registered the strongest interest in future consideration of an open source ILS, with Koha as supported by LibLime toping the list (8.05). Other than these open source true believers, libraries running proprietary systems submitted responses reflecting much lower interest, with even those most dissatisfied with their current product such as Winnebago Spectrum (4.95) indicated relatively weak interest. We also observe that libraries most satisfied with their current situation, including Polaris (2.29), AGent VERSO (2.63), Library.Solution (3.00) showed little interest in open source alternatives…”

Palm Sunday Reflection: Jesus Christ – Legend, Lunatic, Liar, or Lord and GOD?…04.05.09

In his famous book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis makes this statement: ”A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg–or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us…’”

“Jesus could only have been one of four things: a legend, a liar, a lunatic–or Lord and God.

There is so much historical and archeological evidence to support his existence that every reputable historian agrees he was not just a legend.

If he were a liar, why would he die for his claim, when he could easily have avoided such a cruel death with a few choice words?

And, if he were a lunatic, how did he engage in intelligent debates with his opponents or handle the stress of his betrayal and crucifixion while continuing to show a deep love for his antagonists?

He said he was Lord and God. The evidence supports that claim…”

Who is Jesus…really?