Library Facebook Fan Page – 10 Things to Include…08.26.09

Here is a list from the Social Networking Librarians from the post 10 Great Things to Include on Your Library’s Facebook Fan Page:

“…1. photos of your library.
2. a library video tour or other promotional videos.
3. a calendar of library events.
4. a rss feed of your library blog.
5. information about how to contact your library.
6. library hours
7. lib guides widget
8. a survey for your patrons to answer about your library.
9. information about new book arrivals
10. links to popular library databases…”

“How Social Networking Can Ruin Your Library’s Reputation”…08.18.09

Here is an interesting and valuable post from Social Networking in Libraries titled How Social Networking Can Ruin Your Library’s Reputation:

“…Here are some things that could happen and how to avoid them.

1. Trying to use too many social networking sites to promote your library. This can confuse your patrons and staff and be too time consuming. Pick one or two and focus on these.

2. Angering your patrons. If a patron becomes angry enough or annoyed enough they may use social networking to tell everyone about it and this can end up being a nightmare.

3. Not keeping track about what is being posted on your library social networking sites. This can cause content or comments to be posted that are spammy or that are not what you would like. If you are going to use social networking with your library then you need to keep track of what is being said and posted…”

San Jose Public Library Begins Text a Librarian Service…08.18.09

From the Librarian in Black today:

“Today our library, the San Jose Public Library, launched our new Text a Librarian service. As far as I can tell, we’re the first public library in California to offer text messaging services.

Here are the details:

The service is run through Mosio’s Text a Librarian.

Text your question to 66746 and start the message with AskSJ

The library responds to the user through the interface of our choice (web browser, email, IM, or text messaging) and the answer shows up to the customer as a text message

Customers are encouraged to add 66746 as a contact for easy future access

The library currently is answering questions from 1-6pm, Monday-Friday

The service is completely secure & private – customers are assigned random user IDs so the library staff don’t see phone numbers connected with questions

The service is mobile carrier certified, so we don’t need to worry about Verizon or AT&T blocking our number from sending messages to customers.

It’s staffed jointly with the San Jose State University Library librarians and a number of our public library staff at our main King Library and at our many branches…”

Libraries – Emerging Trends…08.17.09

From David Lee King:

Emerging Trends, 2.0 & Libraries

View more documents from David King.

Library Goes Live With QR Codes…08.14.09

The Civil Librarian has posted about the Sacramento Public Library with their first application of QR Codes:

“Sacramento Public Library has ‘gone live’ with our first application of QR codes! This is a small one but I’m excited nonetheless because of the great potential that QR codes have in improving our services. On our library blog, Grand Central, we now have a QR code posted in the sidebar that, when scanned, will load the contact information for our SMS reference service directly into the user’s phone…”

TOMORROW – OPALescence: FREE Online Library Conference…08.12.09

OPALescence

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Noon Eastern Time, 11 a.m. Central, 10 Mountain, 9 Pacific, and 4 p.m. GMT:

Opening Keynote: The Future of User Experience in Libraries
Speaker: Nate Bolt
The User Experience (UX) primarily involves the experience of the library user, drawing from the successes and failures of human-to-technology interface design. Usability, aesthetics, community, collections and customer service are the key tenants of this user-centric service initiative. But you don’t have to have a huge staff or big tech budget. UX Expert, Nate Bolt shares ideas for free and easy Library UX improvements.
Location: Rialto

1 p.m. Eastern Time, noon Central, 11 a.m. Mountain, 10 Pacific, and 5 p.m. GMT:

Topic: Librarians in Virtual Environments: From Classrooms to Communities
Speaker: Alison Miller
Libraries and librarians have made great progress in engaging in virtual environments. We are often the first to try new things: technology, social media/networks, enhanced services, etc. Alison will share ideas and examples of successful engagement along with areas identified as needing improvement.
Location: Rialto

Unconference Session: Discuss the topics and trends you want!
Discussion Facilitator: Joshua Neff

Location: Strand

2 p.m. Eastern Time, 1 Central, noon Mountain, 11 a.m. Pacific and 6 p.m. GMT: One-Hour Break Time!

3 p.m. Eastern Time, 2 Central, 1 Mountain, noon Pacific, and 7 p.m. GMT:

Topic: Collaboration 2.0
Speaker: Robin Hastings
Join Robin in a discussion of the use of cloud computing tools (Google’s Apps, Blogs, Wikis & other social networking sites) as they are being used in libraries. Learn real-world uses of these tools and discover other ways that libraries could make use of free, easy-to-use cloud computing resources.
Location: Rialto

Unconference Session: Building a Learning Culture
Discussion Facilitators: Cindi Hickey, Brenda Hough, Stephanie Gerding, Betha Gutsche, Kim Priest
Location: Strand

4 p.m. Eastern Time, 3 Central, 2 Mountain, 1 Pacific, and 8 p.m. GMT:

Topic: Erin’s Hour of Awesomeness: Best Practices for Web 2.0 in Schools
Speaker: Erin Downey Howerton
Find out what Web 2.0 tools are being used by teachers around the world to pump up their lesson plans, and what learning institutions can do to help them succeed.
Location: Rialto

Unconference Session: Discuss the topics and trends you want!
Discussion Facilitator: Kaijsa Calkins
Location: Strand

Friday, August 14, 2009

Noon Eastern Time, 11 a.m. Central, 10 Mountain, 9 Pacific, and 4 p.m. GMT:

Topic: Listening to the Future of Reading: Readers’ Advisory and Audio Books
Speaker: Kaite Stover
Audiobooks have been steadily increasing in circulation for many libraries in the past five years. Patrons are beginning to demand certain titles in audio and library staff need to know how to suggest titles to avid listeners. Learn how to employ standard readers’ advisory training to promote titles to library patrons, including “how to listen to a book in fifteen minutes.”
Location: Rialto

Unconference Session: Discuss the topics and trends you want!
Discussion Facilitator: Joe Kraus
Location: Strand

1 p.m. Eastern Time, noon Central, 11 a.m. Mountain, 10 Pacific, and 5 p.m. GMT:

Topic: How American Libraries Are Using Web 2.0 Tools for Marketing
Speaker: Curtis Rogers
Location: Rialto

Unconference Session: Discuss the topics and trends you want!
Discussion Facilitator: Kendra Levine
Location: Strand

2 p.m. Eastern Time, 1 Central, noon Mountain, 11 a.m. Pacific, and 6 p.m. GMT: One-Hour Break Time!

3 p.m. Eastern Time, 2 Central, 1 Mountain, noon Pacific, and 7 p.m. GMT:

Topic: Beyond the Basics: Training for Technological Fluency
Speaker: Brenda Hough
Are you offering technology training for staff and patrons? Join this discussion to share ideas and interactive techniques to address varying skill levels, adapt to multiple learning styles, and deliver technology with greater impact. Provide opportunities for learners to develop skills that will help them adapt and succeed tomorrow as well as meet their needs today.
Location: Rialto

Unconference Session: Discuss the topics and trends you want!
Discussion Facilitator: Michelle Boule
Location: Strand

4 p.m. Eastern Time, 3 Central, 2 Mountain, 1 Pacific, and 8 p.m. GMT:

Closing Keynote: Networking Library Services: A Glimpse at the Future–Moving Library Management Services to Web-Scale
Speaker: Andrew Pace
In April, OCLC announced a strategy to create the first Web-scale, cooperative library management service, extending WorldCat Local to include delivery and circulation, print and electronic acquisitions, and license management. This highly scalable service will allow libraries to preserve the core functionality they require to manage their collections while also creating a platform on which they can better manage and evolve library workflows. Moreover, the service-oriented architecture will allow libraries to interoperate more easily with other local business process systems. Andrew Pace will give a summary of the effort, highlighting key milestones for the project and the opportunities for positive change in libraries.
Location: Rialto

Libraries and QR Codes…08.11.09

(QR Code for the Lone Wolf Librarian blog)

There hasn’t been much discussion of libraries and QR codes lately but today there is a good post from the Emily Brown, Outreach Librarian at Northeastern State University, Muskogee campus, on her blog brownez@thelibrary titled Tuesday Two.Oh! Tools for Advertising which is excerpted here:

“…We will actually be taking a look at two sites today, both of which are easy to use and easy to navigate. So, get out those cell phones and let’s start talking QR Codes…

I was introduced to this technology by an innovative librarian at the University of Central Oklahoma, Amanda Lemon. Amanda and Jason Cimock (also of UCO) presented at this years COIL workshop, unCOILed. They spoke about mobile phones in the classroom, and their presentation can be found here. Part of the presentation focused on todays tool, QR Codes. It’s a very interesting presentation, and if you have time, I suggest that you take a look.

On to the tools! The first tool we’ll be taking a look at is Mircosoft Tag Beta…

There are a lot of potential uses for this technology.

To be fair, there are a lot of code creations sites out there. Spend a little time on Google and you’ll find a site that fits your needs. With that in mind, let’s look at another code creation option. Q-Lytics…”

Of course, Europeans seem to be more committed to QR Codes as this video will attest:

Updated List of Libraries on Twitter…08.04.09

Today there is an UPDATED list of libraries on Twitter from the Circulation blog from Lindy Brown.

FREE Webinar – “Introduction to Blogging for Nonprofits and Libraries”…07.30.09

Introduction to Blogging for Nonprofits and Libraries
Thursday, August 6, 11 a.m. Pacific time

Is your organization looking to expand your reach and communicate more directly with your supporters and community? Are you considering starting a blog to help you do this?

Join Becky Wiegand from TechSoup during this free webinar as she interviews Allyson Kapin, blogger for Care2′s nonprofit marketing blog Frogloop, and Jason Griffey, who literally wrote the book on blogging for libraries to discuss the ins and outs of starting a blog for your organization. From considerations like which tool to use, how much staff time to commit, whether volunteers and interns should help, best practices, and how to launch your blog into the blogosphere, we’ll discuss all the basics of how to get started.

Register today!

My Info Quest Launches Text Reference Service Today…07.21.09

From the MyInfoQuest release information:

“…Starting today, patrons of approximately 50 libraries from all over the US will be able to text a question to (309) 222-7740 and a real, live librarian will respond within minutes. The service is free of charge, but standard text messaging rates do apply. Staffed by librarians from around the country, answers are sent to cell phones by librarians in 320 characters or less, or the equivalent of two 160-character text messages…

The hours of service will be Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m…”

Facebook Most Used Social Media For Sharing…07.20.09

Mashable! reports today that ”…According to AddToAny, Facebook now dominates sharing, with 24 percent of shares from the widget consisting of users posting items to the social network. That handily beats out email (11.1 percent) and Twitter (10.8 percent), making the world’s most popular social network also the most popular service for sharing content. This is undoubtedly welcome news at Facebook, as the site continues to emphasize sharing and readies its own real-time search engine…”

How Employees are Allowed to Use the Social Web…07.16.09

There is a useful post from Jeremiah Owyang from Web Strategy today titled Breakdown: The Five Ways Companies Let Employees Participate in the Social Web excerpted here:

“…I’ve noticed that there are three ways that companies allow employees to participate. Update:  On a related note, I gave my thoughts to CNBC about the roles of social within corporations.

Type One:  We Have No Clue
This model, where brands have no rules, no guidelines, and therefore no resources to help employees –it’s a freefor all…

Type Two:  Shut it Down
Fear is the primary motivator here, but in some cases, this is to protect employees and the company from liability…

Type Three: The Corporate Represenative
Some companies setup only small groups within corporate communications, or polished executives to be on blogs…

Type Four: Common Employees Blessed For Social
Last night, I shared the stage with Intel’s Michael Brito at Stanford’s continuing education program on web 2.0, he shared that Intel has a SMP program, which stands for Social Media Practioner. The different from the ‘tower’ model listed as type 3, is that this can include other regular employees beyond the refined executive…”

Type Five: Everyone Is Encouraged To Be Involved
Some companies that have active employees in the social sphere can benefit from having every employee involved…

Culture impacts how companies choose
So which model is right for your brand? It really depends on your industry, culture, and employee behavior. While many companies may select the first or second model in the next few years, in the long run –as Generation Y enters into the workforce, it’s undeniable that the third model where everyone is a participant of some form is most likely.”

Social Media User Survey Results…07.16.09

This is some interesting and relevant information from a post today on Mashable! by Jennifer Van Grove titled What Type of Social Media User Are You?:

“Back in May, Anderson Analytics worked with Greenfield Online to survey and interview respondents on their attitudes and behaviors regarding social networking. Based on these results, Anderson was able to identify and categorize seven types of individuals, from the social media pessimist to the social media maven.

They then used the data to publish a report on the lifestyles, behaviors, spending habits, and income levels for each of their identified categories. The results are in, and the largest percentage of social network service users are business users (31.8%), which they estimate correlates to a total segment of 35 million users with an average age of 33 and an average income of $56k….”

Palos Verdes Library District Begins Using SOPAC2…07.16.08

John Blyberg reports today that the Palos Verdes Library District has launched his SOPAC2 (social OPAC)  software for their online catalog.  Blyberg received the 2009 LITA Brett Butler Award for his work on the SOPAC during the ALA 2009 annual conference in Chicago.

Online Conference for ALL Librarians – OPALescence…07.15.09

OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries)

OPALescence 2009

A Free Online Library Conference for Everyone

Thursday Aug. 13^th and Friday Aug. 14th

Registration is free, easy, and online: tinyurl.com/N4JMV7

Conference Wiki: http://opalescence.wetpaint.com/

Hosted by OPAL:  Online Programs for All   (http://www.opal-online.org)

(Psst:  Sponsorships are available for as little as $250)

Contact Tom Peters for more info:    tpeters@tapinformation.com or  816.616.6746

“Opalescence:  The state or quality of being luminous, iridescent, and lustrous … like an opal”

Library of Congress on Facebook…07.13.09

The Library of Congress in now also found on Facebook.

10 Tips to Manage Your Social Media…07.08.09

Here is an excerpt from Part 1 of a helpful MakeUseOf.com‘s post 20 Tips to Manage Your Online Social Life — Part 1:

“…1. Visualize Your Social Map

Use pen and paper or mind mapping services like MindMeister to draw your social network or social map…

2. Define Your Target Audience

For each network where you share data, define your target audience…

3. Use a Password Manager

When we sign up with a lot of different web services, we are tempted to use the same password across several websites. The problem with using different passwords was remembering all of them…

4. Separate Private & Public Photo-Sharing

Use two or more photo-sharing sites for different types of photos…

5. Use One Social Bookmarking Site

Social bookmarking helps keep all your bookmarks together, easily search and tag them, and share them with your friends. Do not spread your bookmarks across different sites. Choose Digg, Delicious, Redditt, or any other service you fancy and stick to it…

6. Use a Gravatar

Use an avatar that looks good in both 64×64 and 128×128 sizes and save them for reference. Using a gravatar helps you get a consistent avatar across multiple sites…

7. Use Social Surfing

Do you browse a lot of websites, open separate tabs to social sites, and copy-paste to share interesting stuff with your friends? Or keep several tabs open to check updates in Twitter,Facebook, and Friendfeed? If you’re using IE or Firefox, get the Yoono plugin to make life easier. Yoono also supports popular IM networks. Or if you’re a power social user, try using the Flock browser…

8. Integrate IM, Email, and Social Networking

If you use a browser that doesn’t yet support plugins or are a heavy user of IM, check out the latest version of Digsby or Trillian…

9. Use a Consistent Username

For people to easily recognize you, use a common username across all sites…

10. Track Your Comments

Ever leave a comment on some blog or site and never visit it again? You may be disgruntling those who respond to your comment with a question. Get control of your comments across blogs, sites, and social networks, with comment tracking systems like BackType…”

Library Social Media and Customer [Patron] Service…07.06.09

The Search Engine Watch blog had a good post by Linda Evanas today relevant to libraries titled Customer Service in Social Media:

“… ‘The Undo Button‘ showed a Twitter conversation between a restaurant owner and a woman who had visited their establishment.

…This example demonstrates a few things about conversations in social media that any marketer can integrate into their strategy for entering the social media space.

1. Monitoring Pays Off: The establishment Brasserie Pavil was clearly monitoring their name in the social media space. If they weren’t monitoring their Twitter account and actively engaged in conversations with their audience, then they would’ve missed out on Bloom Maternity sharing her experiences with their establishment.
2. Engaging Conversations: Looking at the Brasserie Pavil Twitter account reveals that this restaurant is clearly engaged in conversations with its audience by tweeting, retweeting, and replying to its followers. Also note their ratio of followers to being followed. They aren’t using Twitter to broadcast what’s on their menu — they’re speaking to patrons about their experiences, letting their audience know about events, and so on. Actual conversations are going on.
3. Understanding the Power Community Members Hold: Brasserie Pavil recognized the power of the tweet that came from Bloom Maternity and what power the sharing of her experience at their establishment would have on her followers. By quickly recognizing Bloom Maternity’s influence and addressing her experience in a way that respected her opinion, Brasserie Pavil turned a negative experience into a positive situation.
4. Being Humble: Brasserie Pavil didn’t argue, nor take offense to Bloom Maternity’s tweet. They embraced it as an opportunity to make a bad situation better. Being humble, accepting the bad, and saying ‘I’m sorry’ when bad things happen to your customers are some of the best actions companies can take when dealing with potentially negative situations in social media.
5. Creating Fans/Evangelists: By being honest, forthright, and genuinely caring about Bloom Maternity’s experience and demonstrating that care with engaging conversation, Brasserie Pavil has likely created at least an avid fan in Bloom Maternity, who will relate this experience in a positive manner to her audience. Rather than continuing down the path of  ’this place was a disappointment,’now her experience is ‘even though my first experience there wasn’t the greatest, they cared enough to ask what went wrong so they could fix the situation that caused my disappointment.’

Investing in social media conversations is very resource-intensive. However, conversing with the audience in a genuine manner, not with predefined marketing messages, can have great rewards…”

MyInfoQuest – Collaborative Text Reference Service…07.02.09

Welcome to My Info Quest!

Here IamLibrarian blogs about the new “Infoquest collaborative text messaging project which will kickoff on July 20, 2009“:

“The time is approaching…MyInfoquest will launch on July 20th.  We currently have 36 libraries participating in this collaborative text reference service.  The advisory committee and subcommittees have been meeting regularly and working hard.

This project is a pilot project slated to run through December, 2009.  We are working on securing funding to continue the service.  One of the ways that we are doing this is through an upcoming conference “The Handheld Librarian.”  This is a one-day, virtual conference offering presentations on a wide variety of topics…”

This is from MyInfoquest page:

On the go and need an answer? Text your question to an InfoQuest librarian and have the answer delivered to your phone in any zone with My InfoQuest: txt 4 answers!

• Call 309-222-7740 and enter your library’s code – after July 20, 2009
• Txt your question
• A librarian will text an expert answer within 10 minutes during the hours of service
• It’s easy and accurate!

InfoQuest is brought to you by your library!

Visit here for a list of participating libraries.

FREE Mobile Learning Textbook…07.02.09

Although it has been available for a couple of months, there is a new textbook, Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training, which is available for FREE download in whole or in part. It is described by the pubisher as follows:

“This collection is for anyone interested in the use of mobile technology for various distance learning applications. Readers will discover how to design learning materials for delivery on mobile technology and become familiar with the best practices of other educators, trainers, and researchers in the field, as well as the most recent initiatives in mobile learning research. Businesses and governments can learn how to deliver timely information to staff using mobile devices. Professors can use this book as a textbook for courses on distance education, mobile learning, and educational technology…”

Librarians Remain Filter of “Sincereity”, “Credibility” and “Trust”…07.01.09

Here is an interesting excerpt from Jon Johnson, Client Services Manager for Library Associates Companies / LAC (LibGig’s parent company), from the LibGIG post The Next Big Thing about Jason Cranford Teague‘s talk “Web 2.0 Applications and the Future”:

“…In the Web 3.0 world, websites will need ‘Sincerity’ as a key ingredient in terms of attracting visitors who come back and use the service, or to follow the traffic generated. Two other aspects that go hand-in-hand with ‘Sincerity’ are ‘Credibility’ and ‘Trust.’ The sites and services that have these three aspects will be the ones that are visited most and gain the most traffic. The drawback to this is the risk that people will tend to those sources that most speak to them, rather than becoming more exposed to different views and tones of dialogue, although I found surprising that he refuted the common misconception that people read what they can on the internet and take it as truth. He said that his research found the opposite is actually true, particularly with the younger generation of users. They tend to look at content and information much more skeptically than people realize, more so than any other generation. The most trusted source of information for the younger generation of Americans is Jon Stewart firs and Steven Colbert second — I rest my case.

Here is the crux of his talk: historically there has always been ‘Trusted Filters’— people or organizations that have the trust and credibility to present information correctly. Examples are parents, teachers, and LIBRARIANS; these are people who are trusted to provide the information requested in a way that is not colored and is more forthright and honest. Those networks have, over time, moved from the home/neighborhood to the media (print, radio, TV which is now too colored to be credible), to the computer (too much information to filter through). The next step will be to leverage applications like Twitter, Facebook, etc. to search out sources of information. Finding “Trusted Filters” is the next step in Web 3.0 evolution, networks of people sharing information that filter the news and information they receive and consider when making decisions.

Teague says there are applications/websites that are starting to move in this direction. Tiseme.com and vark.com are two such applications. They will take your IM buddy list and link through all your buddies to source out experts in certain fields who may best be able to answer a question.”

“Library Websites for Mobile Devices”…06.20.09

Here is an excerpt from the Centered Librarian‘s post Library Websites for Mobile Devices which is worth reading completely:

“The Mobile Libraries Blog has an executive summary of the University of Cambridge’s M-Libraries: Information Use On The Move report from the Arcadia Programme. While there’s a substantial list of ways to integrate mobile devices with libraries to better serve patrons, one of the simplest things – ‘Ensuring that the library website is accessible and will resize to smaller screens…to be ready for increasing numbers of netbook users and mobile internet users in the next few years’ – may be the most difficult thing for some institutions. The difficulty is not technical, but a combination of internal politics and marketing…”

Overview of Google’s Picasa…06.29.09

Picasa is FREE software for organizing and editing digital photos originally created by Idealab and owned by Google since 2004.

Here is “Cool Tools Library 2.0: Picasa” from San Jose State Universitys School of Library and Information Science. Visit the “Cool Tools Library 2.o website for more.

Educational Objectives Taxonomy and Web 2.0 Tools…06.26.09

Thanks to the Baby Boomer Librarian for posting the following interesting image in Bloom’s Taxonomy applied to Web 2.0 tools today:

“…Like other taxonomies, Bloom’s is hierarchical; meaning that learning at the higher levels is dependent on having attained prerequisite knowledge and skills at lower levels (Orlich, et al. 2004). A goal of Bloom’s Taxonomy is to motivate educators to focus on all three domains, creating a more holistic form of education.”

Roving Reference and Other Tools…06.26.09

From Justine Shaffner, the Librarian is IN, comes this from her post New Roving Reference and Assistive Technology Tools:

“Back in the days when libraries weren’t quite so busy, if I didn’t have a constant stream of questions at the reference desk, I’d get bored and start trawling the stacks for people who looked confused.  I was delighted when we got a tablet computer as I no longer had to drag the patron over to a PAC or run between them and my computer for call numbers and answers. Having the internet with me at all times helped a lot when I needed to show the customer searching the art books for Van Gogh’s Starry Night how easily she could find it on Google Images, but while I could see the same catalog interface as our patrons, there wasn’t a way in to the staff side of our materials database.  That put a damper on my speed as quick, powerful searches and circulation functions still had to be done from the reference desk.

So I was intrigued by three of the products in the May/June 2009 issue of Public Libraries. EnvisionWare now has a LibraryPDA(TM) that can evidently do all staff side functions (plus inventory).  And for those of you with a SirsiDynix ILS, there’s Horizon PocketCirc 1.0 with functions similar to the LibraryPDA but with remote access also available, so you no longer have to write down titles and barcodes while checking out books at a school, offsite program or town event.

The third product would be great not only for visually challenged patrons, but also for commuters wanting to make effective use of travel time. ReadSpeaker works with WilsonWeb’s many full text databases and converts articles into audio for immediate listening (will wonders never cease – let’s hope all our database vendors follow suit)…”

Couldn’t Attend SLA? Can’t Make It to ALA? Try OPALescence Online August 13th…06.26.09

NO FEES – NO DUES – NO TRAVEL

ALL Librarians Can Support & Participate

OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries) is planning something special:

Thursday, August 13, 2009 beginning at noon Eastern Time, 11:00 a.m. Central, 10:00 a.m. Mountain, 9:00 a.m. Pacific, and 4:00 p.m. GMT:

OPALESCENCE: A Free Online Conference for All Librarians

Has your travel budget dried up? Still want that conference experience of fresh ideas, lively conversations, and networking with colleagues?

Participate in OPALESCENCE, a free online conference for all librarians and fellow travelers. We’re planning a series of interesting and informative presentations and discussions spread over a two-day period. Watch this space for more announcements.

Host: TAP Information Services

Schedule of Events: OPALESCENCE Conference Schedule (coming soon)

Organizing the Library for Social Media…06.26.09

There is an interesting and relevant post from Jeremiah Owyang’s Web Strategy blog discussing the latest Forrester Research survey today titled Report: Companies Should Organize for Social Media in a “Hub and Spoke” Model which is excerpted here:

“I often get asked by brands: ‘How should we organize our company for social media?’ or ‘Which roles do we need’, or ‘Which department is in charge’. So for our latest report (clients can access all the details) answers just that, it has data and graphs about spending, brand maturity in the social space, which department ‘owns’ the program, and how companies are organizing.

Companies organize in three distinct models
For this post, let’s focus in on how companies are organizing. There are three basic models that I’ve observed and surveyed brands:

1. The Tire (Distributed): Where each business unit or group may create its own social media programs without a centralized approach. We call this approach the ‘tire,’ as it originates at the edges of the company.
2. The Tower (Centralized): We refer to this centralization as the ‘tower’ — a standalone group within a company that’s responsible for social media programs, often within corporate marketing or corporate communicaitons.
3. The Hub and Spoke (Cross Functional): Like the hub on a bicycle wheel, a cross-functional group that represents multiple stakeholders across the company assembles in the middle of the organization. The hub facilitates resource sharing and cross-functional communications (via the ‘spokes’ in the wheel) to those at the edge of the organization (or the ‘tire’)…

The faster brands can realize that approaching social marketing and collaboration isn’t about technology, but about process and change management the better off they are…”

Social Library Catalogs – “No Longer an Inventory But a Community”…06.26.09

Here is an excerpt from a great posting by Laurel Tarulli – The Cataloging Librarian, Collections Access Librarian at Halifax Public Libraries, yesterday titled Library Catalogues are no longer an inventory but a place, and a community :

“…Social catalogues will play a vital role in promoting RA services in the future. It’s already happening. I believe that the future of the library catalogues will rest on whether we can become a place, rather than an inventory.

When we talk about RA services, we emphasize that true RA work cannot be accomplished without the trust of our readers. What about our silent reader? Our remote readers? What about our avid readers who wish they were librarians and want to share their reading suggestions? You won’t find these readers in the library asking our RAs for help, but you will find them in the library catalogue – at least, that’s where they should be. Right now, they are using social cataloguing sites like LibraryThing. But, I believe they are just waiting for us to catch up and when we do, what’s coming will be amazing.

When I presented at the pre-conference, I emphasized the movement toward social features in our library catalogues and the new face of the library catalogue. Much of what I discussed already exists to some extent, but much of what I discussed is what’s coming, or should be coming soon. There are so many ways we can explore social technology to create a community of trust among our readers through the library catalogue. That trust will bring RA work into our readers’ homes…”

Social Catalogues: Enriching Content that Enhances RA Services

View more documents from Laurel Tarulli.

More on Mobile QR Codes Used in Libraries…06.26.09

If you are interested in QR code use in libraries, there are several older posts to check out.  Here is an excerpt from Helene Blowers who has a discussion  on LibraryBytes today QR Tags & Concept Leadership:

“Concept leadership is one of areas that my department, Digital Services, tries to focus on. It’s important for us to continuously keep on top of new and emerging technologies and explore ways that the library and our customers can benefit from them.

QR tags is a technology that has actually been around for a few years. But until the mass adoption of smartphones with cameras, there wasn’t a dominant market yet for their use. When we launched our mobile text-based catalog early this spring we began to think of ways that we could use technology to market it smartly. QR tags seemed like a natural choice, since they are specifically designed for mobile devices. While we’re still playing with this idea some and refining the concept, the idea of placing QR tags in strategically defined places within the library on informational signs does seem to have a lot of merit. Not only does it have the potential to introduce the public to a new technology, it also tells those who are already tech savvy and familiar with mobile QR tags that the library has a mobile catalog.

For those that are not familiar with how QR tags work, here’s a short overview and a video demonstration…”

Lorcan Dempsey included a piece today about library barcodes in Apple, Netbooks and Barcodes :

“…One of the hits of the conference was the discussion by Kate Robinson of the use of QR Codes in the catalog at the University of Bath (blogged here earlier this year). It prompted discussion of the variety of ways in which people and materials could be tied into the network.

The Globe and Mail had several stories about capturing data from codes.

• Databars. A discussion of the use of Databars, smaller than barcodes, in retail and supply-chain operations.
• Samplesaint: a story about how this company, which creates digital media for cell phones, now distributes discount coupons for redemption by on-screen scanning at the checkout. Coupons can be received in various ways, including in response to an on-the-spot request by texting a number found on the relevant shelf.
• There is also a general discussion of the use of cell phones as payment devices.

Interestingly, these were opposite an advert for IBM (featuring a barcode image) which promoted its ability to make supply chains smarter and more efficient.”

See Also: Simple Use of QR Codes in Libraries

Libraries and Nex Gen Mobiles

QR Codes – “Transpromo Cross Media Interactivity”

First “Handheld Librarian Conference”…06.18.09

This is from The Handheld Librarian Conference website:

“The Handheld Librarian 2009 – An online conference about Mobile Library Services

More people than ever are using mobile devices for a wide variety of purposes including communication, internet access, text messaging, and entertainment. It is important that libraries provide services on these devices as use increases.

The first ever Handheld Librarian Online on July 30, 2009 is the place to learn about these and other topics related to using wireless and handheld devices in your library. The program — sponsored by Alliance Library System, LearningTimes and Infoquest — will include a variety of ways to collaborate, network and learn from a great group of experts in the field. In addition to live interactive webcasts, we will have a collection of available resources, discussions boards, and access to the recording of all live events for one year after the conference.”