The LIBRARY MEMO

I attended the 2009 Library Technology Conference. The conference was held at Macalester College, St. Paul. It occurred on Wednesday and Thursday, March 18 and 19, 2009. The following are sessions that I attended:

Amazon’s Kindle Wireless Reading Device: Is It the Future of Inter-Library Loan?
This session explained the value of using an electronic reading device to satisfy some of the Inter-Library Loan (ILL) borrowing requests from the campus community. One positive aspect of this device is the ability to acquire a book electronically within a day. An ILL borrower could get a requested book much faster than with the traditional ILL borrowing process. One of the main negative qualities of an electronic reading device is the eye strain that occurs when using such a device. Here is the website:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00154JDAI/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=2733312175&ref=pd_sl_94gezpav8a_e

Minnesota Digital Library – Where We Are
This session explained the purpose, policies and procedures of the Minnesota Digital Library (MDL). Here is the MDL description of its purpose: The Minnesota Digital Library Coalition (MDLC)—professionals from libraries, archives, historical societies and museums across Minnesota—is creating a digital collection of the state's unique resources and special collections. The Minnesota Digital Library supports education, scholarship and enrichment through Internet access to this collection. The MDLC provides a server and database environment and imaging support that is the technical foundation for current and future digitization activities. Here is the website: http://www.mndigital.org/

VuFind: The MnPALS Experience
This session demonstrated the functions and purpose of VuFind. Here is the VuFind description of its purpose: VuFind is a library resource portal designed and developed for libraries by libraries. The goal of VuFind is to enable your users to search and browse through all of your library's resources by replacing the traditional OPAC. VuFind is similar to Primo. Here is the website: http://www.vufind.org/

Discussing “Next Generation” Library Catalogs
This session featured and exchange of thoughts and ideas from both the presenter, Eric Lease Morgan, Head of the Digital Access and Information Architecture Department of the University Libraries of Notre Dame, and the audience. Methods for setting up search engines beneficial to libraries was primarily discussed.

Using an Audience Response System in Library Instruction
This session covered the basics of using an audience response system for library instruction. The system described in this session is the same one that the UMD Library uses, which is Turningpoint Technologies. Here are a couple of websites that may be of interest:
http://www.turningtechnologies.com/
http://webpac.clic.edu/

Please feel free to ask me questions.

Posted by Sue Trettel at 2:48 PM | Permalink

The annual 2008 ILLiad International Users Meeting occurred on March 11 - 14, 2008 at Virginia Beach, VA.

ILLiad is computer software used to conduct Interlibrary Loan transactions. It was developed by Virginia Tech in the 1990’s. Atlas Systems, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA has since developed and maintained the software, in cooperation with OCLC.

Pre-Conference, introductory classes were held on Wednesday, March 12th. I attended ILLiad 101: Lending and ILLiad 101: Borrowing. Attendees were shown the software’s basics.

On Thursday, March 13th, keynote speaker, Jay Jordan, President of OCLC, addressed the future of library business, especially as it pertains to the use of electronic resources, including hardware, software, and databases. Library services must keep pace with other web sources such as Google and Yahoo, he said.

Afterward, I attended the presentations ILliad Toolbox, Error Troubleshooting in ILLiad, Web Reports in ILLiad Version 7.3, and Empowering Your Patrons Through Direct Request. All three ILLiad seminars dealt with specifics on how to use ILLiad software, customize it, and produce reports, such as UMD Library Lending transaction statistics. The last presentation regarding direct requests was produced by OCLC. Its general theme was encouraging libraries to be positive about and expand ILL services.

On Friday, March 14, 2008, Taming the Torrent: Top Ten Ways to Simplify Your Workflow and an Atlas Systems update were presented. The first class was quite technical and a bit over my expertise as I had not used the software at all at that point. I am sure that more experienced attendees received some education about how to simplify one’s workflow using ILLiad. I was unable to attend the Atlas Systems update because I needed to catch my flight back home.

The conference was beneficial to me because it prepared me for using ILLiad.

Posted by Sue Trettel at 9:38 AM | Permalink

The annual Enhancing Quality Staff symposium for paraprofessional library staff was presented on May 20, 2008, in Minneapolis.

Janet Kinney's keynote address interpreted S. R. Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Service, written in 1931, in terms of today's service environment. Although the times have changed, the concepts still apply: (1) Books (or any information resources) are for use, (2) For every reader, there exists the right book, (3) For every book, there is the right reader, (4) Save the time of the reader, and (5) A library is a growing organism. Kinney emphasized that libraries are the bedrock of learning and education, and it is our mission to remove barriers because education is for everyone. We need to supply the right resource to the right person at the right time. Another imperative is that libraries need to be places that earn the support of their communities. We can do that by putting the user first, empowering people, and embracing new developments.

I attended a session on Extreme Googling, describing web tools available with a gmail account. I thought the map tool was neat because it allowed you to draw on maps to make them specific to your event, but the down side was that viewers must have a gmail account in order to access them. The presenter showed a Google document sharing resource. However, one participant said to be wary of Google's copyright terms stipulating that any document uploaded becomes its property. One useful tip-use Firefox with Google apps.

I attended a session on Creating Dynamic Exhibits and Displays, and I was impressed with the presenter's expertise as well as the fact that the University Libraries could afford to hire a person to specialize in producing displays. That seemed to be his whole job! He had some good tips about incorporating three-dimensional elements and drawing people into a whole-room exhibit. He talked about how to make an entrance statement, consider the audience/ age group, make it timely, use banners, kites, floor graphics, ceiling hangings, etc. Signage and order of presentation are important.

One presentation focused on using Social Media (particularly films like the kind on YouTube) in libraries. Interestingly, Cody Hanson cautioned against spending a great deal of time creating film sequences. Instead, he suggested trying some quick & dirty techniques. He gave examples of resources and equipment that balance ease of use with quality of results. Some ideas he shared included recording speakers, classes, or tours of the facility as well as computer instructions. One caveat was that these methods do not provide the accessibility of captioned content. He said that Magpie could be used to create captions but that it is hard to sync these up to the action.

I appreciated the opportunity to attend this symposium.

Submitted by Charlene Brown

Posted by Sue Trettel at 3:07 PM | Permalink