Reference Services

The Today Show ran a segment on how libraries are helping during the economic downturn yesterday morning. To view the segment, click here. It almost seems like old news now, libraries being featured in media stories about how people are flocking to them for the "free" resources and extraordinary services from highly qualified and experienced staff. I say, "Keep it coming!" We need to keep flooding media outlets with these types of stories showing the value we add to our communities. The more opportunities for people to hear these stories the better for all aspects.

In an email sent out to the Minitex listservs yesterday, Bruce Pomerantz also reminds us about resources we have from ALA to stay on top of recession issues:

Advocating in a Tough Economy Toolkit
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/advocacy/advocacyuniversity/toolkit/index.cfm

Get tips, tools and messages that work.

Get the word out!

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I thought I would highlight an article from rakemag.com about libraries: No Ones Reading and Our Libraries Are Closing and a string being discussed on mnspeak.com: Libraries in crisis?.

The rakemag.com article talks about how libraries are booming across the country but seem to be ailing in MN, specifically, Minneapolis libraries. It's true, Minneapolis Public Library system has been plagued with budget cuts and financial woes for a long time. I don't think anyone can deny that. Granted, this is a very thin and short commentary about MPL. I appreciate the author's highlight of the need/want for more library hours and bringing this to other's attention. The more noise there is about libraries, in general, the more (outspoken) support there will be for them. However, he fails to mention the merger of MPL with Hennepin County Library System, impact on both systems and what some outlooks are for the new merged system. It would have even been great if he attempted an interview with one or two staff from MPL or HCL.

mnspeak.com's discussion string is very interesting. Certainly a lot of people are interested in keeping libraries strong and thriving (yay!) as you can see from the number of responses in this string. For those that are not familiar with mnspeak.com, it is a community support (mainly) Twin Cities blog that brings to light various topics concerning Minnesota and allows anyone and everyone to comment about that topic. It's a ginormous virtual chat room. I pay close attention to the comments posted here about anything related to libraries because it's like being able to poll your entire community and hear straight from the what they think without any bias or leading.

Things I found interesting from some of the comments are:

- No one has any really good Flickr pictures of libraries, so I'm not sure if it's worth going.
- I like how I can use my library card to use various research databases for free through HC library. I was suffering from database withdrawl after graduation. Does anyone know if I can do this via Mpls libraries?
- Yes you can use MPL databases remotely with your library card.
- google books making libraries obsolete makes me laugh.
- I am all for phone free zones with in the library but I think in order for libraries to survive they must get on board with the open office lwork style embraced by todays knowledge worker.
- I also like going to the Central Library and getting a huge pile of books to page through while sitting on the north side in the comfy chairs and all the windows. Once I'm done, I get to leave them there and someone else reshelves them.
- I gotta say that filters suck. Librarians professional ethics tie their hands- they're in the information business not the censorship racket.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 8:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An interesting new study from LibraryTechnology.org - Perceptions 2007: an International Survey of Library Automation talks about "major differences in satisfaction in the products and companies from which libraries acquire their automation systems". This should be of great interest to any librarin to works with or is part of the decision process for purchasing products and dealing with vendors. I have my own perceptions and in my own circles of librarian talk about using products, dealing with vendors, and the effects of these products. So many times the librarians I have talked to and I come to the conclusion we wished we could combine the best qualities of certain products/software to have the one perfect product/software instead of the give/take relationship we continually have to play. It's great to see reactions and perceptions from other librarians and what we could possibly use/take from the survey is also an interesting thing to think about.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is a little late but still worth mentioning. There is a new Pew Report out as of the first of the year on Information Searches That Solve Problems. From the skimming I gave it I thought it was a really good report that will definitely be in my del.icio.us tags waiting for a full review. I apologize for being so pathetically busy, but if you want a more thorough review of the report I would suggest checking out Meredith Farkas' blog.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sponsored by the 7 multitype library organizations in Minnesota, "23 Things on a Stick: A Library Learning 2.0 Program" will be launched on January 20, 2008. Staff, trustees, and Friends in all types of libraries across the entire state of Minnesota are invited to participate. This is a 12 week self-paced, self-directed program designed to get staff involved in learning and using web 2.0 tools such as Flickr, blogs, RSS, wikis, and other useful, interesting, and intriquing tools. Anyone that registers for the program by Feb. 15 and completes all 23 Things by April 13 will receive a gift for completion and be eligible to win other cool prizes.

If you want to read more about this learning program check out the news post on SELCO/SELS website and look for a more indepth article in the January issue of MINITEX Reference Notes.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From Library Journal: Thanks to $3 million from Congress, EPA will reopen closed libraries. Six libraries out of 24 libraries had closed due to funding cuts from the government will reopen over the next 18 months. In addition, they will continue with plans to consolidate nine laboratory libraries to save money and streamline services with the purpose to increase access to digitized materials.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Roy Tennant over at TechEssence.Info has published his Library Software Manifesto. He offers a good list of relationship expectations between library and vendor and library and patron. Something we all could brush up on now and then.

Meredith Farkas also points out that John Blyberg also published a great post on ILS Customer Bill of Rights that coincides with Tennants piece nicely.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you were like me, you were too busy with MLA Annual Conference to pay attention to Internet Library Annual Conference that took place this past weeken in Monterey, CA. However, Jenny Levine over at The Shifted Librarian gives some good notes to share on some of the sessions that took place. Thanks Jenny for blogging your way through the conference! Much appreciated.

Of particular note is the session on Integrating Libraries & Online Communities Online by Glenn Peterson and Marilyn Turner of Hennepin County Libraries talking about bookspace.org.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is a great video I found on YouTube. Enjoy!

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The first issue of Journal of Web Librarianship has been published by Haworth Press. Check out a FREE sample copy by selecting "Free Sample Print Copy" from the right-hand column via the link above. You can also get an RSS feed for the journal's TOC.

Also freely available are the journal's first two podcasts, interviews with Joe Janes and Jody Condit Fagan, hosted by Deanna Christina Sukkar, on the journal's homepage, http://www.lib.jmu.edu/org/jwl/

And, to stay up to date with latest news about JWL, visit the Editorial Blog, at http://jweblib.livejournal.com/

Check it out!

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Librarian in Black blogger, Sarah Houghton-Jan, recently posted an article on the future for California libraries' statewide chat reference. She states that although the state is currently offering this service free to CA residents, it is completely dependent on state and grant funding outside of regular budget lines for it's survival. Each year funding for the service has been less and less. Last year and this coming year there has been enough funding to keep the service up and running but there has not been enough to maintain a coordinator to administer the service.

There has been A LOT of discussion about this on the DigRef listserv. Some of the points highly in the discussion string are how to libraries firm up funding for their newly added services/projects? How do you transition from a grant fund base to having your service incorporated in the permanent budget structure? Also, it's important to set (achievable) goals for your library so that you have something to fall back on when you have to defend your service and also something to tout when you want to promote your successful service. What and who will define these goals?

I think the most important thing when you are trying to transition a project or service from temporary funding to permanent funding is that you have successful measureable goals that prove your service or project have/can make an inpact in your community. Also, it is important that the ones that administer the service or project be actively involved in creating those goals because otherwise, those goals will be created by individuals that are not involved in the project or service and may not know or understand the mission of that service or project. They could create goals that are not in scope with the project/service or its intended outcomes.

It will be interesting to see how California structures their AskNow statewide digital reference service to receive enough funding to keep it going.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You may have heard of the Open Library Project. It's an ambitious project with the intent of digitizing every book in existence. Now, obviously, there are issues with books in copyright. As they state on their website:

"The Open Library strives to make materials as openly available as is legally allowed... (They) will rely on Creative Commons licenses to encourage the greatest possible degree of access to and reuse of the materials, consistent with respect for the rights of content owners and contributors."

They just unveiled the demo site that gives you a sneak peek at the creation and future of this hefty projection called The Open Library. You can even take a guide tour to get a better feel for this ambitious site.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I haven't seen this before and I don't think it's made the round of listservs (that I'm subscribed to). Plus it was posted during ALA conference so I'm just getting around to it now. So here is a post by David Weinberg in Everything is Miscellaneous about Why We Need Librarians. Very interesting post. He argues that we need both tagging and a systematic cataloging structure in our web 2.0 world. He is responding to a paper by Thomas Mann, Peloponnesian War and the Future of Reference, Cataloging,
and Scholarship in Research Libraries. I just came across these and haven't delved into them yet but I thought I'd throw it out to you for your reading pleasure as well.
Let me know what you think.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 2:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ALA President, Leslie Berger:
-discussion on environmental policies
-tranform libraries/comunities - create advocates
-emerging leaders group - identified 120 issues to work with
-looking for new emerging leaders, find info on pres' website
ALA's 1st agenda for 21st century libraries:
-fully articulated national library agenda as we receive more feedback, give yours
-visit her site for more info about Library Transformers program
ILoveLibraries.org

Dana Gioia, president of NEA - talking about The Big Read program
-partnering with libraries to get public to read books, more about that at website
-need libraries to sign up

Robert F Kennedy Jr named Time Mag's heros for the planets in the success of helping Hudson River project - The River Keeper's
-we're not protecting the environment for the sake of the fish and the bird's we're protecting it because we recognize it as the foundation of our planet
-the worst thing that can happen to the envir. is that it becomes the province of one party
-you can't talk honestly @ the environ. w/o speaking critically @ the current administration
-concerted effort to eviscerate the last 30 yrs. of environment work is happening at the white house
-white house appointees in environmental areas are full of anti-environmental/pro-corporate Bush friends
-top 100 environ. officials in this govt are the worst actors w/in each of those industries
-their jobs are not to support the public interest but enrich the pres' policies and agenda
-"liberal media" - there's no such thing, a few things but there is a "right wing media" - talk radio is 90% controlled by the right
-decline begann in 1988 abolish the fairness doctrine by reagan -fairness doctrine included:
1. had to air news of public interest - doesn't include paris hilton - means news critical ofr us making rational choices
2. giving an opinion you had to give both sides
3. you had to avoid consolidation - keep diversity of control (localized)
-reagan abolished it as a favor to christian right and big studio heads
-results: consolidated to 5 guys deciding the news we get
-news dept. have become corp. profit centers
-got rid of foreign news bureaus - none anymore, we rely on bbc

we're the leaders of the free world but we don't know what's going on in the world

-we don't hear about the critical issues that pertains to groups instead the entertain us w celebs

we know more about tom cruise and katy than we do about global warming

you cannot have a democracy for very long w/o an informed public

-he gets the same replies from republicans that he does from liberals

republicans are just democrats who don't know what's going on

-10 lowest diverce rate states were all blue states - 10 highest were red states
-10 lowest teen preg. rates were all blue states - 10 highest were red states
-the real difference was information deficit
-this is an informational issue
-huge information deficit among people who voted for bush - believed sadam hussein bombed the world trade center - bush strongly supported the kioto pact
-getting their info. from fox news and talk radio
-posed to them said what if sadam hussein didn't bomb the world trade center - they said we should not go in to iraq
-the value of the info is the key

-T. jefferson - not to deprvie the public their rights but to forcibly apply them - you are a danger to all if you don't have/know you're rights
-i'm highly paraphrasing hear - he's talking real fast

on his air america radio show he talks about coal burning plants
-he has asthma, 1 out of 3 black children have it
-400 coal burning plants burning illeagally
-clinton admin was processing the worst 52 of them
-bush was being given $$ from this group - he came in and ordered the cases dropped
-bush dropped the clean air act so now those plants don't have to meet any level requirements
-bush's decision to drop this kills 18000 americans every year 6x's the # from 9/11
-epa announced 19 states fish unsafe because of mercury
-all states but wyoming some or all fish unsafe to eat - wyoming not tested don't know figures - cheney's state
-every woman of child bearing years should get mercury levels tested. you can getting them tested thru his website

-accd. to cdc there are thousands of children born in this country every year exposed to dangerous levels of mercury
-this industry donated $100 million to bush campaign - bush admin is scrapping clinton program

-adironacks - protected area - today 1/5th of lakes there are steril and bush has rolled back the provisions protecting the area

-story of suing west virginia coal mining industries over filling river beds with coal waste and how the judges decision was overturned by change in definition of the term "fill" in the clean air act making it legal - read his book!!!

goodd environ. policy is identical to good economic policy

enivon. injury is deficit spending - quick cash for years of disaster we/our kids may not recover from

free market is the most efficient and democratic way to distrib. the goods of the land
-poluters make themselves rich by lowering the quality for everyone else - somebody cheating the free market and getting a free ride, a subsidy

-he's losing his voice

river keepers - catch the cheaters - internalize your costs the same way you internalize your profits

-no such thing as the common good, community-owned resources

-we should not let corps. run our govt - they don't want free market - they want profits
t. roosevelt - said that ameica would never be destroyed by a foreign enemy
f. roosevelt said during wwii that the donination of the govt by corp power is the essence of facism

-we need and informed public that can recognize all the milestones of tyranny and we need an independent and aggressive press that wis willing to stand up to the power
we no longer have that in the u.s.

nature enriches us - economically , yes - also esthically, culturally, spiritually
-we destroy nature we diminish ourselves
-we fight for environ. because we believe the trees will have more value in the ground than torn out

- i don't want my kids to grow up in a world with no commercial fisherman on the shores or family farms

-we know ourselves best by immersing ourselves in creation - great piece on god speaking to us through nature and art... we can not cut ourselves off from that

jesus was challenging those of his day which were religious fundementalists
-religion at it's best is a search for the truth - fundamentaalism is an end to that - there is all there is we need to know

-we are rooted in nature in this country, that's (one of the places) our values come from - an american democracy came out of the forest

-nature is the critically defining theme

this admis: ruthless capitalism for the poor and socialism for the rich - they have violate every part that mandates the christian faith

230 yrs of discipline vision of democracy of both dems. and repubs. has been washed away in the last 6 years from this admin.

-this admin are war hogs, like war but want others to fight it for them, they don't understand the idea of america - the idea that america was born on.
-these people don't understand what makes america worth fighting for - they are ok with taking away rights, habius corpus... because we're in danger
-but we're not we were when we had 25,000 nuclear warheads pointin at us but we didn't wiretap or torchure....

got get his book, i didn't do his speach justice

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tag-team presentation with David Free and David King talking about podcasting and vlogging (video blogging) for libraries and reference services.

Free's talk: Wide World of Podcasting: Implications for Libraries (presentation available on his site - he's also blogging about the conference and this workshop as we speak!)
what are libraries doing? Lots! check out:
-ask a ninja: what is podcasting - ok not a library but funny
-student moniter marketing survey - what's in? beer 59%, ipod 79%
-ohio u. alden library audio tour - staff or student led tours by floor or download entire tour
-pierce county (wa) library system - book reviews
-orange county (fl) library system - podcasts of storytime for kids
-fairfield university library - 1-2 minute pods - perfect length
-cal state university - fulton - library guide for nursing - rich learning environment of the library

Instructional podcasting mashup:
1.) brief assignment overview podcast
2.) audio/video tours of specific library areas
3.) online tutorials/podcasts for assignment specific resources & services
4.) subject guides/cheat sheets

Have a plan: see also www.davidleeking.com
Why? is this something we can use in our library & help our users - enhance our services - help fulfill mission of library
-why/how is the tech you use in the library going to help you reach your users/help your users

Podcasting Tips:
-create good content
-consider your voice
-be passionate & entertaining
-online/script, but don't read!
-find a quiet place
-remember your listeners
-multiple voices rock!

-creative commons podcasting legal guide/see also www.rulesfortherevolution.com

How often?
-have content on a regular basis - people will expect to have content from you.

Who?
-try to get as many people involved about your podcasts as possible - take advantage of resources you already have available

7 steps to podcast heaven:
-recording/editing
-listening
-hosting
-posting
-feeding
-promoting
-evaluate/repeat

ok, battery dying, i'll have to post the rest tonight...

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Michael Stephens gave the first presentation of the Reinvented Reference Preconference all-day workshop. He just finished and we're in a break before David Ward from UIUC will be next talking about IM Reference Services.

Stephens' talk was on the future of user services and web 2.0. He was a great speaker and I find it hard to see how the other speakers will compare to this first one. He was so energetic that I couldn't get a good photo of him, he kept moving around too much. He had a lot of interesting things to say and a lot of which I have covered in this blog over the past year. So you can see, I liked his talk and agreed with a lot of what he had to say.

Highlights:
Libraries need to let go of control
-in regards to Do's & Don'ts signs in the library - don't ban technology because it's technology - let users keep their cell phones on, let users game and access email, give them space to explore
Go where the users are
-must read - Cluetrain manifesto (haven't read it yet but will put it on my booklist)
-the Hyperlinked Organization/Hyperlinked Library - have conversations, be open and honest, be transparent, PEOPLE WANT TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS (believe it or not)
-Involve and engage your users - user centered planning, involve frontline staff in planning because they hear what the users are saying
-content - offer the mechanism (for the user) to create content - on library website and other places, be the engager, teacher, learner
Learn
-be involved with training web 2.0 - talked about Learning 2.0 (I've blogged about this before)
-why do this? reach a segment of your users that might not encounter the library any other way
Emerging Tech Group
-start a group to focus on emerging technology - meet once a month/6 x's a yr, blog about your meetings/findings/discoveries
-be a trendspotter of tech and web
-apply blogging to internal communications
Adopt a 2.0 philosophy
-in your mindset of how you approach your library board and the higher up's.
-learn from gamers
-discover, play & experience new tools
5 Things You Can Do Now:
1.) Be a trendspotter
2.) Form an emerging tech committee
3.) Try a Learning 2.0 program
4.) Create a "What's New" blog (ah-hem! like this one??)
5.) Explore the idea of presence

-don't do everything, pick and choose the things that work the best for you.

whew! ok David Ward is up, I'll blog about that next...

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I forgot to post this earlier but there is a great article in the Chicago Tribune: UIC working on making virtual chats a reality (FYI: this is a ProQuest link). Snipit:

"Graphics technology is already good enough to create realistic-looking human avatars in 3-D, said Jason Leigh, director of UIC's Electronic Visualization Laboratory. Speech recognition is better than 90 percent accurate, and imaging-processing speeds by computers are close to real time.

UIC also has developed technology that provides viewers with 3-D images that do not require wearing special glasses.

One important factor in the project is to impart appropriate body language to the avatar as it responds to comments and questions, said Steve Jones, a UIC professor of communication.

"In real life, it's just assumed that you can read a person's responses without saying anything," said Jones. A subtle hesitation before speaking can have meaning, but such nuances have been mostly lacking in software programs created so far."

This isn't specific to digital reference but it's not far to see the connection and usage in that arena.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The University of Minnestoa Libraries along with the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), which includes the “Big 10” institutions plus the University of Chicago, have mad an agreement with Google to digitize up to 10 million volumes from the CIC collections, with particular focus on “collections of distinction.” Continuously updated information will be available through CIC's website.

University Libraries will be joining other universities such as Harvard, Oxford, Michigan, California, and Texas. Similar to those agreements, the CIC plan will address volumes in the general collections, but the “collections of distinction” is a new twist. These are focused areas of historic strength in each CIC library which will be digitized in their entirety. Further, the CIC agreement represents significant collective action in coordinating large-scale digitization. University Libraries hope to include up to one million volumes from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities holdings (archives and special collections are not included).

The project has the enthusiastic support of the provost and president. They recognize the incredible opportunity this presents and the public benefit that will come from access to the collections CIC has developed over many institutional lifetimes.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is an interesting article about how online tools such as blogs and wikis are aiding the teaching environment, reaching more students, and creating a new forum for peer-review/editing of work, developmental writing, and critical thinking.

:"The emergence of blogs and wikis within higher education is causing the academy to reexamine traditionally held pedagogical beliefs".

"While the pervasiveness of the technologies is growing outside of the academy, many are wondering how they can be included within the academy".

This is a very interesting read and does a good job of showing how valuable blogs and wikis, and web 2.0 tools in general, can aid in instruction, collaboration, and learning.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is a new article by the President of ACRL in Inside Higher Ed: Libraries at the Cutting Edge. Despite Google and access to more and more resources libraries still have a place and they are reinventing themselves to stay recognizable and interesting places.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)