Library Technology & Related Items

Yes, it's a reference to Batman & Superman. Yes, I love graphic novels. it's 1000% what you're expecting in terms of a library technician blog.

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Book Covering Guide

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What Goes Into a Great Display

I thought about how much time and investment I place into making displays and figured this might be something worth exploring. I don’t have any particular “rules” but more guidelines and suggestions to follow like,

Use a variety of sources

By that I mean, include fiction, non-fiction, magazines, pictures books – try and vary your display – you’re trying to highlight a certain topic or part of the collection so you want to do your best to cover all your bases

Cover something of interest to your patrons or user base

The example I’ll use is of my recent Ramadan display- yes its simple but I have a nice variety of titles in this niche display

These titles might be for patrons who aren’t yet practicing Ramadan and are curious about it – or other patrons who may be curious about the practice – or they may be great for teachers who are unfamiliar with this event

 Use bright colours if possible

Even if you’re making a Halloween display, you may want to avoid making something dark – remember it has to be appealing / eye-catching, darker shades typically do not serve this function well

Model or blueprint your display before making it

 If it’s a display that might get very intricate it may help to draw it out first before constructing your display – that way you get a sense of how you want things to go – even if you make adjustments later

 sometimes just going on visualizing it may not be enough or you may not have accounted for all of the space

Don’t overthink it

Just don’t. But seriously, sometimes simpler works better.

 Get creative

Your display does not necessarily need to be on a shelf, it could be on a mobile cart, it could be a 3d model, etc. Think outside the box.

 And that’s about it! These aren’t cardinal rules either – and these are mostly just handy tips to follow – but they’ve served me well before. Good luck!

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The Benefits of Joining a Local Association As a Library Professional

Let’s assume for a moment you have decided to pursue a career in the Library Information Technology field. Trying to find your first post-college job could be tough. Or maybe you’re curious about a certain topic and would like to do a deep dive into the subject.

 May I suggest applying for membership to a professional association?

 We’ll do a case study on the benefits using the MLA (Manitoba Library Association) website

Immediately you’ll notice the “Professional Development” and “Job Board” tab

 Well, Job Board might be self-explanatory (though I’ll do it anyway – inside you will find links to various postings for library professionals), I’ll go over the Professional Development tab

 In the pull down menu, you’ll find Trustee Learning, Partnership Education Institute, Continuous Education Certificate, and Partnership Journal

I won’t go into too much depth in this post on these but suffice to say these are a wide-variety of resources, including, but not limited to the above journal, a certificate program for your tracking your professional development among other useful resources.

Another tab above, was Scholarships and Awards, which includes both students entering the field as well as professionals already working.

 As you can see, associations like MLA or ALA do a wide variety of activities for their members. One especially important one, I did not touch on is Advocacy.

They will do outreach for you, and the community on the whole, on the importance of libraries. Which can sometimes be difficult for the average community member to fathom. However, libraries serve vital functions, and having these associations around to provide that branch certainly helps.

 Finally, membership in an association may help with networking with your fellow library staff. You may meet new people and encounter new ideas you may have not considered.

 Consider applying for membership to whomever your local body is. The benefits to yourself are great, and the continued value of the organization even greater.

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Discussion Packet

               Anno Dracula takes place in 1888, the year that Jack the Ripper terrorized London. The story is framed around an alternate history wherein Dracula did not end as expected. Dracula’s siege on London succeeded and has taken Queen Victoria as his bride. Subsequently, the elites of London society take up vampirism as the newest sign of status. Meanwhile, Genevieve, an elder vampire and Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club (of the Sherlock Holmes canon) are tasked with stopping the Ripper’s killing spree. The novel takes in the horror and politics of the Victorian age, acting as a deconstruction of the era and its values. Kim Newman has authored several other titles in the Anno Dracula series and several titles in the popular Warhammer universe. Newman, a London-born author, grew interested in genre fiction during his time at the University of Sussex. Newman expertly includes homages, allusions to, or otherwise borrows characters from popular gothic Victorian literature.

1.       Does Anno Dracula work as a companion piece to Bram Stoker’s Dracula? Why or why not?

2.       In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, his conquest of Britain was an attack on Victorian ideals. However, Anno Dracula posits that Victorian ideals were inherently corrupted. Does this interpretation work for you?

3.       Compare and contrast with Neil Gaiman’s A Study In Emerald (A Sherlock Holmes pastiche involving London overthrown by H.P. Lovecraft’s Old Gods) – (library staff member will take time to briefly read the short story available from the web)

4.       Anno Dracula skillfully blends genres like horror, science fiction, and romance, among others. Why do you think Newman incorporated all these disparate elements?

5.       Discuss Newman’s writing style. Was it effective for you? Why or why not?

6.       The novel follows the popular notion that Jack the Ripper was a surgeon. Beyond the obvious homage to the original title (Jack Seward of Bram Stoker’s Dracula is Jack the Ripper), why do you suppose Newman chose to use this theory?

7.       The novel meshes real historical figures (Inspector Abberline) alongside many famous Victorian fictional characters (Dr. Moreau, Mr. Hyde/Dr. Jackyll, Sherlock Holmes, etc.). Did this semi-fantastical approach work for you? Did the setting seem convincing?

8.       The upper echelon of London embraces vampirism as the newest sign of status in the novel. Discuss the classist themes the novel presents.

9.       Geneviève as a character struggles for recognition, despite being the elder vampire to even Vlad the Impaler. Discuss the gender politics at work in the novel.

10.   Despite being in the title, Dracula himself appears only scarcely, although he looms largely over the proceedings. Did he work effectively as an antagonist for you? Why or why not?

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Tall, Dark & Hilarious : A Warm Bodies Read Alike

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Visit Original Link

As promised, here is my podcast covering video gaming / gaming in libraries

<div xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" about="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Directionless_EP"><span property="dct:title">Directionless EP</span> (<a rel="cc:attributionURL" property="cc:attributionName" href="http://brokeforfree.com/">Broke For Free</a>) / <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">CC BY 3.0</a></div>

Gaming in the Library podcast (ft. music by Broke For Free)

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To Podcast or not to Podcast

That is the question which is easily and quickly resolved, when in fact, I chose to. For an assignment, I chose to create a podcast for a fictional library (but it covers real topics) and explore issues relating to the Library Information field. In it, Brad Rogowsky (fellow student) and I study ways in which libraries are exploring gaming and the best ways to implement it into their programs, among other topics. I found creating a podcast to be an interesting experience. Interesting, but also difficult, you almost need a sound-proofed room to record a professional quality podcast (which of course we did not have). That said, I have tried my best to improve the audio quality. The software I used included the built in sound recorder software for Windows and Audacity to edit the track, and Lame for Audacity to convert and export the file as an .mp3 which is not packaged with Audacity but can be found here.

               Difficult as it was, I may try again someday because I found it to be an engaging experience. I can see merit in creating and maintaining a library podcast either for staff purposes or special interest.

               I should note the track I used in the intro was found at the Free Music Archive which can be found here, and the track was Night Owl by Broke For Free. The website was a helpful tool in creating the podcast as it provides royalty free music for tasks such as this (ie. podcast recording)

               The podcast itself, will be found in my next post, so stay tuned.

EDIT NOTE: Podcast is now up, here is a link to that post

EDIT NOTE 2: If first link, does not work, here is one to the file in dropbox

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Web two point oh no you di’int! (A Review)

So, once again dear reader, we come back to that grand, overarching concept, web 2.0. We’ve discussed it in great detail already, along with its sister concept, library 2.0. Today though, we’ll review and re-assess some of those resources already discussed and explore a couple new ones.

              Of the tools we’ve examined Goodreads, Project Gutenberg, wikis, video and photo sharing sites (like YouTube and SlideShare), RSS feeds, Reddit and social networking sites have been the most useful to me thus far. Of course, this is merely a ‘Best of’ list for myself, plenty of other ones I’ve discussed have had value. That said, Jing may not be the easiest screencasting tool (especially in Tumblr), here are a couple of recommendations for similar software. I would personally recommend HyperCam 2 as I have used that before, and it saves as .avi files which is usable by a lot of platforms. It used to attach watermarks to unregistered copies but this has since changed, making it even better for professional use.

              Several other tools that weren’t discussed but seem worth mentioning include Glogster, a site allowing you to create multimedia posters, and VoiceThread which allows you to create voiced slide lectures both of which carry a lot of value. Especially in service of tutorials or reference, they may serve a purpose. You might simply play a lecture on a particularly hot topic for instance. Either way, the possibilities are plentiful.

              Related to this web 2.0 discussion, we had several speakers in class presenting on this topic. They brought up numerous tools in their day-to-day routine that also weren’t discussed before. They mentioned resources like LibGuides and LibAnswers. They also brought up OneNote and EverNote. Both of these tools are used by a variety of institutions and are worth mentioning. SpringShare has other tools worth checking out as well including LibCal (Scheduling software) and Libanalytics (aggregator and analyzes usage data).

SpringShare and its various library applications. Trials are offered but are commercial resources

              Ultimately, web 2.0 (and therefore library 2.0) is huge. It’s vast and wide, and can be a tad overwhelming but worth exploring. I’ve discovered new and interesting tools for my professional development and hopefully some of what I’ve shown thus far will be of use to someone else.

QUICK FINAL NOTE: Here are some more Library 2.0 tools and web 2.0 tools, some of those noted I have not checked out yet, but seem worth examining further

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On Cloud (Computing) Nine

It seems like lots of people are talking about the “cloud” like it’s the next big thing. Well, many of you may be wondering what the heck IS a “cloud”. Simply put, “the cloud” or cloud computing is just a metaphor for accessing services and applications over the internet instead of using applications stored locally on your home computer, hard drive, or network. Many people use cloud services every day without realizing it. Gmail, YouTube, Dropbox, Netflix, etc. All of these are cloud based services. They are hosted online or in the “cloud”, so when you watch a movie on Netflix it’s not saved to your local hard drive, you’re simply viewing it from a server. Imagine if you had to save all those movies, your hard drive would be full in seconds! This is one example of the many benefits of cloud computing. Personally I use all these services and more (Facebook, Tumblr, etc.) in my day to day routines. These are simply examples of personal benefits of cloud computing. On a larger scale, companies and businesses prefer cloud computing because of the ease of access, cost effectiveness, minimal storage use, etc. In a similar manner libraries have begun to use cloud-based services and platforms.

 Goodreads is ideal for book recommendations and reviews making it a handy tool for collection development

                Libraries use cloud-based services like GoodReads and LibraryThing for collection development, reviews, etc.  As well as websites and services like FolletShelf or Project Gutenberg for e-books.  Wikis and productivity tools like Google Docs are also cloud based services libraries employ.  As you can see, there are many resources stored in the cloud for libraries to take advantage of. This does NOT mean that cloud computing is without its shortcomings. Two primary issues are the debates over privacy in the cloud and ownership in the cloud. These links discuss them at length, but the gist is that companies which host these services may be able to pilfer your data, and the possibility of potential hacks or leaks of confidential user information. When it comes to ownership the main problem is with content created in the cloud and the grey area surrounding who exactly it belongs to. In my opinion, libraries should be using cloud services and features, albeit cautiously and take into consideration these problems that they may face. The benefits do in fact outweigh the negatives thus far in my opinion, but with alterations in policy this is subject to change. Cloud computing ultimately provides useful services to individual patrons. Organizations should also take advantage of these services while still remaining mindful of the needs of their clientele.

                 With that said I have heard of or have used the vast majority of these cloud applications but I had never heard of Google Cloud Print before. That sounds potentially very useful for organizations and individuals alike.

 Note: One suggestion made in the articles above was encrypting sensitive data to protect it, this is important as a key concern is the privacy and safety of any patrons’ information

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Tools for Professionalism: An Overview

               Alright reader, you and I lead busy, messy, disorganized lives (or maybe that’s just me). So how do we get our eggs all in one basket? Easy! With one of the many productivity, organizational and writing tools available for free on the internet! There are many sorts of tools out there to help you get organized including: Google Docs, OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Doodle, SlideShare, Jing, Remember the Milk, etc.

               Today I have picked just one to study, Jing. Jing is screencasting software. This means similar to screencapturing software (which Jing is also capable of) you capture a portion or as much of your screen as you want in either a static image or a video. You can then upload it to their screencast website, or save the video or image to your computer. This software has applicable use in libraries. Namely, you could use this to give tutorials, internally or for patrons, depending on what you wish to do. Another main use of this software is highlighted in Jing’s Wikipedia page. It would be extremely useful for virtual reference. Suppose a patron contacts you through a social media account with a reference question, you could upload and share a video to them, or post one to your blog if it is extremely common.

  Note: Not so easy embedding it in Tumblr after all, Jing saves as .swf files and is NOT a supported filetype. My best suggestion would be to download free conversion software found here.

See? Pretty easy right?

 You could even make videos showing how to navigate the database, giving directions to physical locations around the library, and as many other uses as you can imagine. The beauty of screencasting is that you get to actually see the actual process, thus, hopefully less confusion is caused for the patron or co-worker your helping. This is just one piece of software that is helpful in a library setting. For other examples, here is a link to other productivity tools. Another I briefly showed in the video above is SlideShare (which I also mentioned), which does exactly as its names implies, allowing you to share slideshows. Finally I would personally recommend OpenOffice if your workplace needs a free alternative office suite. Its good even just for private usage, and I can personally attest to its usability. Overall, I would suggest at least checking out several of these programs as they’ll help no matter the goal.

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Link to the Past (Website You Visited)

               Let’s just jump right in and say it. Bookmarking is not very fun. Tracking down your favorite sites every time you get a new computer is a hassle. That’s why there is social bookmarking websites these days. Social bookmarking is exactly what is says. Its web 2.0 applied to bookmarking websites. Instead of your bookmarks being tied down to your computer or browser it’s displayed on a website hosting your account with all your various hyperlinks. What makes it social is the ability for anyone to see your links, comment on them, make their own additions, tag, among other features.

               My most notable interaction with a social bookmarking website is (and I expect most reading this will be the same) Reddit. Reddit allows you to join subreddits, which are essentially interests/topics you may have, where people post links relevant to that interest or topic and that link is upvoted or downvoted by other members of that online community. In this way, you get relevant or interesting links at the top of that page. Mind you, I did not have an account before, but I created one for further inspection, as it has been useful in the past. It could be useful for both professional and personal interest, with subreddits for a vast amount of subjects. For our purposes here are two subreddits that may be of use to subscribe to.

                    A few of the various topics with their own subreddits that exist 

               Now, that you have a basic understanding of social bookmarking, let’s take a look at social cataloging. Again, like social bookmarking, it’s the web 2.0 version of cataloging. You’re able to comment, tag, etc. on peoples’ book collections. Goodreads is one such example. I personally use it to find new books I might enjoy as Goodreads will make suggestions based on books you’ve rated. I also use it to keep track of my collection, which is also useful in a professional manner as well, as you are able to add ‘bookshelves’. Both of these features are useful, the first namely for readers’ advisory, and of course the second for cataloging. The benefit to social cataloging is the interaction with patrons and social tagging which I feel is a bit of a double-edged sword (which I’ll explain in a moment). Patrons will be able to add reviews for books which in turn helps others and is a great example of how social cataloging is beneficial, in this instance for collection development. However, patrons are able to tag books and while this may initially be helpful, I would caution against relying on it. As this article points out, people tag so they may find it, not so everyone can find it. Hence, the double-edged nature of it.

Goodreads makes a recommendations on genres, subjects, etc. you already have rated

While social cataloging websites are full of useful features, structuring an actual library catalog similar to these sites may not be the best direction to head in (in my opinion of course).  The reason being, catalogs are structured and organized by professionals and if left to social cataloging where they may be edited, tags useful to one user may be removed or changed, which could seriously impact accessibility. Perhaps adding some features, like user book reviews though might be acceptable.

Hopefully, dear reader, you now have a fuller grasp on the features of these sites. Here are some websites that are suggested to check out. They are similar to the ones discussed, but everyone has their own preferences. Here is an overview of other uses that social bookmarking may have in libraries. Here is another for social cataloging. Now, reader, venture forth, and find your favorite webpages (like my blog, presumably, if your still reading it!).

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Libraries and Podcasting: A Match Made in Audacity

               Now, that title may seem confusing to some. So I’ll start by explaining my little joke there. ‘Audacity’ is audio editing software commonly used for podcasts, vlogs (video blogs), etc. Our primary concern with it today is its use in recording podcasts in a library setting. Podcasting (a portmanteau of iPod and broadcasting) is essentially either an audio or video series created by virtually anyone with audio recording software, usually with an option for subscribing through an RSS feed or other means. For a more comprehensive history of podcasting, read this.

 Podcasting is widely used today in many libraries for many uses, as detailed here. Why? Well that’s very simple, theoretical question asker. It’s because it can be very easy to record your own at little cost. A detailed outline of how to get started making your own podcast can be found at this site. Today, we’ll look at one library podcast and study how they use it, and to what ends, and whether it is effective. Without further ado, I give you the Nerdy Librarians podcast.

 http://www.nerdylibrarians.info/?powerpress_pinw=157-podcast

Note: Unable to embed audio file as it is too large, in its absence here is a link to the episode in question.

               This podcast is run by a husband and wife duo with LIS degrees (as stated in their About Us page), and covers various topics of interest in the library including social media, reading habits, web comics, graphic novels (including Fables YAY!), perception of libraries in media (Forbes / General Stereotypes) and gaming.

                 The podcast itself is aimed at a general audience (including library personnel) and has topics that are fairly general, with a nerdy (right there in the title) slant. The hosts are very personable, and seem genuinely interesting. They have very clear audio and (at least in the technical aspects) are very professional. The content is VERY oriented towards a casual audience. This would be ideal for patrons, with some interesting information parts for library staff (parts about YA, mythical fiction, etc.) but is definitely more of a general consumption podcast.

                 Ultimately, I found this podcast to be a very enjoyable listen (but then again I’m a huge geek). It would definitely appeal to patrons and favours topics that are of particular interest in libraries especially social media and gaming. For marketing and library promotion purposes, this would be a very useful podcast, as subscribers to a podcast of this style (general interest / books / popular media), might be interested in the books mentioned (in this case the Fables graphic novel) and head to the library and check out the works mentioned. This is definitely one of the better presented general interest podcasts and the casual nature (laid back dialogue of the hosts) is partly why I chose to examine it, the other reason being the topic of graphic novels which I found particularly fascinating.

                 Of course, library promotion is not the only use for library podcasts, there are other useful library podcasts including but not limited to: Circulating Ideas (various topics, frequently updated), Adventures in Library Instruction (topics focusing on well, instruction, hasn’t been updated in a while), T is for Training (for library staff, frequently updated, audio is poorer quality)

                 For a more comprehensive list of library oriented podcasts, click here.

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Photo and Video Sharing: It’s not ALL just cat videos and vacation photos anymore! (But those are there too)

Dear reader, you may have heard of these small, fringe websites called YouTube, Instagram and Flickr. Joking aside, people (likely including you, given that they are used by millions of users) can use them to upload videos and photos of whatever they desire for whomever they desire by making them public or private. Many of these kinds of sites are used for both professional and personal interest. Which brings me to my next point, that libraries are actively using these websites to upload photos and videos for a wide variety of purposes. Today, we’ll be looking at one library that subscribes to these kinds of sites and two of their accounts and evaluating the usefulness of both.

               …aaaaand that library will be Toronto Public Library. Here is its Instagram account (photo sharing / video sharing) and here is its YouTube account (video sharing). Toronto Public Library has 100 branches and their location and contact information may be found here.

               Firstly, we’ll breakdown their YouTube account. Quickly brushing over their content will show they use this account for quite a variety of purposes. They have tutorial videos, story time videos, exhibit videos, lecture videos, festival videos, etc. The bulk of their focus seems to be on education and promotion. As a patron I would find this somewhat interesting, though I think some of the content is perhaps a little dry at times, with notable exceptions (including the festival videos). Perhaps some Q&A’s with prominent authors or book discussion videos might liven their channel up a bit. Shortening or only posting perhaps a ‘greatest hits’ of some videos may help to make some content more digestible. Most patrons won’t have time in their day to sit down and watch a full hour’s worth of video. Overall, however, it seems to be an effective account.

A video from their Keep Toronto Reading Festival. It is titled ‘The Traveling Cellist’ and promotes the arts (the performance) as well as their collection (the Cellist of Sarajevo)

               After perusing through their Instagram account, it seems focused mostly on promotion. Their content includes pictures of new books, programs, events, videos promoting local culture, etc. I find this account to be somewhat more appealing to the general public. It’s focused more on displaying short videos and photos of the actual events and as a patron I would be more intriguing by this content. It’s bright, well organized, and easy to navigate. Which is to say, this would be easy for a patron to use and enjoy, and therefore this account is an excellent example of skillful promotion.

 Toronto Public Library’s Instagram account promoting events, other libraries, and local culture.

              Overall, the Toronto Public Library does a great job of sharing content people would be interested in and promoting their work. They falter in a few places (as noted), but ultimately serve as examples of well-done photo and video sharing in a library setting.

               Toronto Public Library only showcases a fraction of the available uses for library photo and video sharing. Here are some more suggestions on uses for photo sharing in your library and a link to a PowerPoint about using YouTube for your workplace. Now get out there and start sharing!

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Thanks Mark Zuckerberg! : Or social networking and how it makes connecting with your patrons efficient and easy (also other uses)

     Of course, he only created Facebook, which is perhaps only the most recognizable among a variety of recognizable social networks. Dear reader, as you may well know, social networking has developed into an integral aspect of our lives. However, you may not fully realize that it also has become ingrained into most libraries’ digital spaces. Libraries can be found on sites like Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest among others. All of which are social networking sites. The essence of social networking is getting connected with others, hence the ‘networking’ part of the name, and the best part about this is that the connections between everyone is visible. A person, therefore could see that say, this person works at this branch of this library. You could get in touch with our imaginary library employee, as this PowerPoint suggests, and seek their recommendations on how to acquire a job in that field. This is but one example of how to use social networking. Another might be to interact and get connected with your patrons. Today we’ll study one particular case where a library is doing this and doing this quite effectively: The New York Public Library Pinterest page.

     The library in question is obviously a public library, they put it right in their title. Therefore, its goals are more oriented towards access and serving all members of the public equally for their multitude of needs. Their Pinterest reflects this. Their page has links to other Pinterest pages of theirs with such content as this:

Comments and uploads from users of the library. The patrons are interacting and networking with the library.

As you can see there, even between only these pages there is a variety of uses, such as a YA books page to attract younger readers and a page for New York City which looks to contain historical documents about the city itself (another good use of social media / networking for libraries). If we examine this page’s pins we also see a variety of uses:

      We can see they are promoting books, television shows, and events. They are therefore helpfully displaying materials and programs the library offers. As we have discussed before, this is one of the major advantages of social networking. Getting word out to the patrons about these items in the collection is a part of promotion and they did it splendidly. New York Public Library for their purpose has effectively conveyed what they aspired to. They sought to market themselves, their materials and their events and did so with gusto.

     This is simply one example / study of an effective use of social networking for a library. If you choose not to use a social networking site for these specific purposes there is still a variety of other uses as highlighted here. There is also a variety of social networking sites that may be useful to you personally or professionally in your library that weren’t mentioned here. Some of these other sites of value may be helpful and are listed here. Now, dear reader, hopefully you have a greater appreciation of how you can ingrain yourself or your library into these networks.

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There’s a (library) app for that.

Hi, so today we’ll go over what an application is and how they are useful in libraries. So first up, what is an application? Good question, imaginary question asker! Simply, they are programs like the calculator on your PC or Facebook on your phone or Instagram, etc. These are all applications, or programs which do some kind of activity, organizing or various other purpose for you. So the calculator mentioned above may be helpful as a business app for instance. Applications are becoming much more useful and prevalent as mobile platforms (platforms, by the way, are what you use to view / use the application like a PC, tablet or smartphone) allow you to connect to digital marketplaces like iTunes app store or Google Play and download hundreds of apps in seconds. No longer are they only available through slow installation on a PC which requires an install disk. You can simply connect through Wi-Fi and download whatever you want fast.

                 Now, with that introduction out of the way let’s focus on one that could be useful in a library environment. As a matter of fact, we’ll study the Kobo application. This is an eReader app. It allows you to download and read eBooks and has a built in marketplace of its own to find and purchase eBooks and also can be used to read them. This application has practical use in libraries. As more and more of their catalogues become available through online or mobile platforms, more of them will be available as eBooks. Kobo is one such app to use to view these eBooks.

 But don’t simply trust me, Toronto Public Library suggests its patrons to use Kobo eReaders. Mind you, it also suggests Kindle and Adobe among other eReader apps. These ARE also helpful programs. In my mind, any of these eReader applications would be useful in a public library setting. Access is a major objective of public libraries as they serve the public. Therefore all types of people with all types of needs are served at these libraries. More access means a broader range of content for a broader range of people. These eReader applications thus help these public libraries achieve this goal of access.

 Applications used in tandem with other applications like Kobo

               The effectiveness of the Kobo, and therefore most eReader apps, cannot be stated enough. These applications allow you to swiftly connect with a marketplace, find a book you want, and view it through your PC, tablet, etc. in mere minutes. If access is a major goal of the library, which it is in this case, then this application greatly helps. There are other applications available which may help your library whatever kind it may be. For instance here’s a list of health library apps.

                 These are but a few examples of applications that may help in your library. There are MANY more, with many other uses. Here is a list of some that may be worth a look. Winnipeg Public Library has an application also that might be worth checking out called WPL to go. It has its catalogue viewable from a mobile platform, and you can view events and place holds, etc straight from the app. All in all, applications are becoming a part of everyday life and are therefore being absorbed into the library landscape as well, with their own library tailored uses.

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Wikis and You or THE POWER OF COLLABORATIVE EDITING

Alright, dear reader. Today we will discover wikis and the magic of collaboration! Seriously though, they are pretty useful. How you ask? Well, allow me to show you:

                 The name ‘wiki’ comes from the Hawaiian word for fast or quick. Wikis, like this one are essentially webpages that may be edited, published, and linked to other web pages by even a layman like myself. Their ease of use is a major facet of their popularity. They are collaborative projects that anyone may edit and add to or change. Because of this, they are excellent for sharing new ideas and communicating. Companies have started to use them internally for sharing ideas among employees and communicating with staff. The larger world in general uses them to look up various topics of interest. Both of these uses applies to the library world. They can be used for internal communication such as discussing meetings, helping with patron questions, FAQs, policies, etc. They may also be useful to patrons for questions about the library, reference questions, and communicating events among other uses.

               Wikis, I believe, are useful to a point. If they are well-managed and maintained, as well as not cluttered (like this one seems to be (p.s. this one has relevant library related content in an easy to find space) ) and difficult to navigate, then they can have a wealth of knowledge that is quickly accessed. Also virtual vandalism can be an issue, such as with Wikipedia. Due to the open source nature of it, anyone can edit, even those with no knowledge or intentional misinformation about subjects. I have used wikis many times before. Either because of personal or professional interest. They are usually, at the very least, a good starting point for research.

                 There are many uses aside from communication and research alone with which wikis can provide aid to libraries. Wikis may be useful in a library environment to provide tutorials for users on equipment, local events, and book discussions. They may be particularly useful for academic libraries, reference libraries, health libraries, etc. because they tend to get more difficult and complex questions from patrons. Having an easily accessible answer on the open net, may prove helpful for these sorts of libraries, and give patrons the answers faster than it once took. This aids in the central concept of ease of access for users. Therefore, wikis may be a tool to consider for these sorts of libraries.

 Wikis, as you hopefully now understand, are neat, interesting tools for libraries. For communication, they provide a central hub of sorts. For research, it’s a one-stop shop. The sum total value of wikis cannot be stated enough. However, as a final reminder, ANYONE may edit wikis. Therefore you must take all statements from them with a vigilant mind, and expect some inaccuracies.

Some wikis below :

Wikipedia

TV Tropes

Library Success Wiki

Note :These are a few examples among MANY others. Be aware that there are many sites which allow you to create a wiki.

[worldsfinestlibrarytech]

Libraries and the advent of microblogging

Hello again, dear reader. Today, we’ll be having a discussion about microblogging, and focusing in on some twitter accounts. Before I delve any further into that though, allow me to explain what microblogging is. In short…well, it IS short. Microblogging is very short, concise blogging with a tiny character limit. Twitter allows only up to 140 characters including spaces used. Although Twitter is not the only microblogging site out there, it is the one we will focus on in this post.

 Now, without further ado, I present to you a short primer to the library world on twitter. I shall give a brief overview for each one account and some comments / a short review of the content.

 Winnipeg Public Library – It is very clean and organized. It uses microblogging effectively to communicate mostly about workshops, lectures, and events. It also has pieces on local history and suggestions for book reads. The blog has a very clear purpose, with no personal posts.

Vancouver Public Library – Lots of pictures and events posted. Nice design, communicating effectively and with clear purpose.

 JFK Library – Honestly, I didn’t like this blog nearly as much. Despite it seeming to have a clear presence and purpose (to share JFK’s thoughts and words, etc.), it has very little (as far as I saw) information that is directly linked to the library itself. I understand this might be a specialty library, but I saw only one tweet mentioning their museum and one event called ‘ask an archivist’. Other than that, it conveys very little about the library itself. I would rather it share news and events than quotes and thoughts primarily. I understand that those attributes are important to this library. However, should they not be using it for some library promotion? I feel like it is an inadequate use of social media.

 USC Libraries – Really quite liked this blog. It had posts primarily around exhibitions and events. As well, it had quite a few about local history. There was lots of quality work put into this blog. Their blog has lots of pictures of said events, and looks very clean. Personally, I enjoyed this twitter.

 School Libraries – Mixed bag really for this one. I enjoyed that there was lots of room set aside for discussion with patrons about book reads and events. Many posts encouraged comments. Such as this one:

 However, there wasn’t many pictures, and the design just looked a little ‘muddled’. Also, I respond better to humour, colour, and pictures mixed with text posts and this just hurt my eyes after a while. A lot of text and nothing else. However, this is just my personal opinion, you may enjoy this one. Nothing, per se, was wrong with any written content within.

 Scottish Poetry Library – Really enjoyed this one. Also it was a specialty library, but this time it promoted events and speakers to the library right away:

It used lots of pictures and had a very clean design. It had lots of exciting posts about poetry contents, and retweets of other accounts. They also post a link to another of their social media accounts. I felt this one was very nicely handled.

Interesting, the one with the most followers was the JFK library, the one I liked least. Although, that could be chalked up to how well known that particular library is. The second most followed was the Scottish Poetry Library with 23.5K followers. This one, I felt, was a quality twitter as they used it quite well for promoting library run events. Some of these other ones, despite being well designed, may not have as many followers as they have not as many residents in their cities or world renown. Whereas, the JFK library itself, is quite famous and renowned although their twitter account is not quite up to par (for me, anyway).

  Overall, I did enjoy how some of these twitters were making good use of the short format and getting the word out (quickly) about their various events. They also frequently linked to other websites and accounts to carry the discussion onto those pages, effectively circumventing the character limit. The purpose of which was to let those who wanted to be more colourful with their prose to be able to do so.