Is our OPAC fun?

You might wonder how an OPAC can be fun but here's a post on Librarything where their founder explores this idea. Do patrons want to use our OPAC or do they have to?

The good news for PPL is that as of yesterday we have our new Endeca website open for staff preview and that is a great improvement in user friendly searching, but this post challenges us to continue to improve our patron experience. The goal is to increase the fun factor by centering patron participation and social networking around books and library collections and services.

But can that be fun for patrons? You bet!

Make blogs come to you: subscribe to them

Suppose you wanted to learn more about blogs.

You find a mention of one that interests you, for instance, Tame the Web: Libraries and Technology a Weblog by Michael Stephens. You go to the web page and read through a few posts. OK, so far not too hard. But there's info posted there almost everyday. What's the easiest way to keep up?

Make the info come to you. Yes, you can order up a subscription to that blog so that all new posts will be delivered to your desktop each time there is a new post. That process is usually called "subscribing to an RSS feed". RSS is a term that is usually described as Really Simple Syndication and it's a simple way to get that blog info delivered every day. The the trick is knowing how. Here's the secret below:

1. Sign up for a free account on a newsreader site like NewsGator.com. Look for the words "Create Account". It's a lot like signing up for a free email account. Very straightforward but tedious. Be sure to write down your username and password.

2. You may want to unselect any "starter packs" that are offered (unless you really want to receive a lot of blogs).

3. You'll be dumped into a new account and be able add a blog by using the "Add Feeds" button in the upper left of the screen. You'll get to a screen that says "There are two ways to find a feed". You'll want to click on the last tab above that. It will say "URL and IMPORT". You'll see an instruction that says "Step 1: Enter the Feed's URL". So here you copy the URL from the address bar of whatever blog you are looking at, for example http://www.tametheweb.com/. Then press "Add feed" and you're done!

4. Now when you go back into your newsreader by clicking on "Webreader" you'll see all the news from that blog.

5. You can add more blogs at any time, for example a science fiction fan's blog or a children's literature blog or whatever you like. In fact once you have your newsreader set up and open on your desktop, if you see a blog you like, it might have a "subscribe to NewsGator" button that will do all this work for you. See this at InfoIsland about two screens down on the right side.

I wondered why people would want to do this taking all this trouble to set up this kind of newsreader when you could just go to the individual websites and read whatever you wanted to.

However I see now that it saves a lot of time of typing in every website address and it keep track for you of the postings you've read so you don't have to look over them twice and think back about whether you've read it. You can read the daily news from CNN, AzCentral, ALA, and more this way. It just makes it a lot easier to stay on top of the huge volume of stuff we have available everyday.

Let me know if you have any questions about this process. It's pretty vital for learning the rest.

Happy hunting in the blogosphere!

Patrons are accessing the library's web page from their cell phones? You're kidding!

Yes Virginia, as mobile technology becomes cheaper and more pervasive there are more and more cell phones sold each day that can access the internet. That means that the library's website is often accessed by people using their cell phones. Yes, I know it may seem strange but that means they are looking at our beautiful and exciting website on a screen just a few inches wide.

Just think for a moment what you would do if you were in your car listening to an author interview from NPR's Diane Rehm show. You may want to pull over to note the author and book title. What if you could simply connect to the library right there and put the book on hold? Would you do it?

Absolutely! If you are like me just remembering to write those authors and titles down and then remembering to look them up later are the hardest parts of the whole process.

The thing for us to think about is how to make our website more accessible to mobile users. You'll be glad to know that this is one of the goals of the new web team. We have talked about it and will need to work hard to create an alternate website that is pared down and easy to search for cell phone users. It won't happen right away but hopefully in the next calendar year.

Here's the best part. You are in luck! Last month PPL hosted a program by the maven of all things mobile, Megan Fox of Simmons College. It's long but it goes over all the technologies and discusses how we can use them in our libraries to connect our mobile patrons to our catalog, ready reference, databases, and resources.

What a great way to serve our public -- by making it easy for them to use us!

Thanks to Alvin Negron-Paez and Denise Birnbaum for sharing this site.

Who knew we already have a wiki?

Who knew that our library already has a wiki? Well, guess what? The Greater Phoenix Digital Library team has a wiki and we have access to it as staff members of the library.

Don't let the name "wiki" scare you. It's just a regular web page so you can click on the link and go straight to it. The unusual thing about wikis is that they are collaborative web pages. That means that any of the staff members who are contact persons in the Greater Phoenix Digital Library teams can contribute to the wiki and share information. That's especially great for teams of people working on projects, like our Ebook team is in this project.

For example our PPL ebook team has written some great answers to Frequently Asked Questions with Standard Responses about Ebooks. They are saved on the wiki so that every library in the Greater Phoenix Digital Library can access them and use them to help their patrons figure out the nuances of Ebooks.

Find out more about wikis at Wikipedia , the biggest and oldest wiki of them all.

Thanks to Roseline Williams for sharing info about the GPDL wiki. You are really cutting edge Roseline, thanks for leading the way!

John Berry of Library Journal gets on the blogwagon

Long time library community big wig, John Berry of Library Journal fame, started his own blog this week. His second entry summarizes left and right wing library blogs. Who knew there were so many blogs about libraries, much less right and left wingers!

Tucson Pima asks "How practical is Library 2.0? Good question!

Our neighbors to the south absolutely have their act together. Not only does Tucson Pima County Library share their conference presentations with their community but they have a audio podcast of it, a Powerpoint of it and the handouts available to all. Way to go Tucson!

Thanks to Liz Danforth for sharing this link to Tucson Pima's public website where they have posted information in their About Us section about the presentation they did at AzLA last week. I attended it and it was fascinating. They have formed an "Emerging Technologies" group to study new ways of public libraries doing business.

Don't overlook the handouts. They have a fine glossary of Library 2.0 terms, a comprehensive listing of libraries using Library 2.0 technologies, links to easy to use RSS readers, sites to learn to podcast, and a wild quiz at the end for testing your knowledge of the Library 2.0 world.

Great job Tucson!

Kankakee Public Library--leading the way!

Here's an example of library in Illinois that has used new technologies to become a cultural center of social networking in their community. Plus they've put a human face on their library by posting pictures of events and programs (check out the "Grossology -Poop is #1 with us" photo links).

They have a director's blog (where the director and assistant director debate library issues) a staff blog that is available to the public, podcasts (audio) and vodcasts (video podcasts), plus a Flickr collection of staff and event photos

Read on below for the full info from Tame the Web. If you aren't subscribed to this blog yet it should be your first step. If you don't know how just let me know--maybe we need a post just on how to do this?

TTW Mailbox: Kankakee Public Library 2.0
11/21/2006 11:52:34 AM

Allison Beasley sends a wonderful listing of new social Web library goodness at Kankakee PL:
Hello library friends,At the Kankakee Public Library, we’ve started some exciting new things that we’d like to share with all of you. Also, check out our new webpage logo JNew RSS feeds/BlogsShe Said/He Said (Admin Blog) Director Cindy Fuerst and Assistant Director Steve Bertrand duke it out - discussing and debating the issues facing today’s public libraries. Library Musings (Staff Blog) The opinions expressed on this blog are not necessarily the those of the Kankakee Public Library, its board, or the City of Kankakee. Now you want to read it, don’t you? Kankakee Public Library News KPL events, book discussions, closings and well…news.Podcasts, Vodcasts & Streaming Media
You can download our new podcasts & vodcasts onto your iPod or MP3 player, or listen to them on our website as streaming media. We are launching our first ever vodcast (video cast). These are produced and edited entirely by KPL staff, even the music! Photos
Flickr Pictures of authors and speaker events, programs, and a fair share of embarrassing staff photos (don’t forget – Flickr is an RSS feed, too!)
Well Done KPL! I don't know where to begin but this is amodel that many libraries should examine. With a post like "Poop is always #1 with Us!, it's got to be good!

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ImagineOn website with story jar

ImagineOn, an innovative library building for families with a way cool website. Check out the Story Jar for a new way to deliver stories.

Ten things a library can do to boost its techie stuff

Take a look at a quick summary of ten things you can do to help your library that won't break the bank. That's just what we need!

Ten Things I know about libraries

If you are looking for good reasons why the library should continue to innovate new services take a look at this "Ten things I know about libraries"

It is a a fairly long rebuttal to an article about why libraries are obsolete. Includes a 10 point summary of what makes a library vital to society. By Michael Stephens

ASU leads the way on podcasting

Take a look at ASU's cool podcasting projects.

I attended an inspiring presentation by them at AzLA this week and found that as usual they have explored new territory. They've recorded about 50 podcasts and made them available to the world.

If you haven't listened to a podcast yet it's just an audio recording of an event or interview that is made available for you to listen to on the internet directly, or to download it to your MP3 player so you can take it with you anywhere as if it were your favorite music recording. I believe there are also video podcasts but ASU has just done audio.

The topics are all over the map, from library instruction for example featuring their full text databases to be used for last minute research, Don't panic: Information Sources for when your deadline looms to an interview with an expert on a current exhibit at the library, A sense of the Sacred. How many of our programs and exhibits could be spotlighted in this way? Lots! Many more patrons could see and experience the experts featured in our Health For a Lifetime series, ourbestselling author presentations, our 50+ speakers, the cutting edge @ Central Gallery exhibits, even the professional leadership series speakers could be interviewed for a 15 minute podcast allowing all staff to benefit from their expertise. Sure, it would take some work to get these kind of projects up and running at our library, but we need to keep in mind how best to serve patrons. Should we serve patrons where they are, or wait for them to come to us? If they can't come to the library for an event, a podcast might be the next best thing.

Lost in the Library 2.0 world?

I've heard from several library staff members that they feel too far behind to catch up with Library 2.0 technologies. I hear you. I just became interested in these topics a couple of months ago myself. If I can start learn this stuff so can you! Yes, we are all very busy with other duties, but even a few minutes of playing with a new technology each day will help you feel more confident.

The goal here is for the library to eventually be able deliver an important service in a new and popular way, or serve a strategic plan group in a way that works for them. It's not about the technology really, it's just about staying open to what our patrons want and need, especially our Millennial generation patrons who will constitute the majority of the parents and taxpayers in our community in a short 10 years.

One last thing, I heard an interesting fact recently, that our remote users count is more than our in-house patron count. I was stunned. Could it be that we have more patrons using us remotely than we do in our libraries checking out materials and attending programs? If that's our trend then it's absolutely vital for us to keep up with what our users want.

Thanks to library staff members Jesse Haro, Roseline Williams, Cindi Holt, Nancy Morris, Cecelia Ball, Denise Birnbaum, Carol Finch, Terry Lawler, and Anne Christensen. Thanks also to Valley librarians Linda Schallan, Linda Shackle, Jennifer Duvernay, and Marshall Shore who are all way more up to date with technology than I am. They have gently led me screaming and kicking from my comfort zone into Library 2.0.

Tagging...it's not just graffitti

Have you ever wanted to know what great books other PPL patrons were reading? Have you ever wanted to get book suggestions from like-minded readers? If you are an avid Chick Lit reader, have you wanted to be able to able to find other reader's suggestion for cool new reads?

Well, a private company is doing just that. Check out LibraryThing.com.

It's a way to catalog your books with your own subject tags and it allows you to search those tags to find other people's recommendations. It connects you with people who read the same thing that you do. It creates a network of readers and their recommendations.

Our library could be in the middle of such a wonderful social sharing for our community. It seems like the right job for a library doesn't it? It's one of the many options with Library 2.0 tools.

Ways to keep up -- without taking up too much time

There are many wonderful ways to learn about Library 2.0 on your own. Three of my favorites are the blogs listed below. Each has a few posts each week that help me to understand what all this fuss is about. They are especially easy to keep track of if you roll them into your news aggregator, perhaps one of the many free ones like Newsgator.

You can find them at:

Shifted Librarian

Tame the Web

ALA TechSource

Learning 2.0 -- 23 things

Here's a fine example of a library taking the bull by the horns and implementing a training program for all staff on new technologies. The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenberg County created a staff training program called Learning 2.0. It was a self-paced 9 week program with an incentive at the end: each library staff member who completed all 23 small exercises received a free MP3 player. Now that's a training program I can really get behind!

Starting from scratch

Many of you who responded to my email indicated that you were not yet familiar with Library 2.0 technologies but wanted to learn. My sense is that others of you are very familiar with these concepts in libraries and could teach the rest of us. As a middle ground I hope this blog will be a good pointer to basic places to learn about how libraries are using the tools of Library 2.0 and will be a creative challenge to those who know the basics but might like to dream big about how our community can take advantage of them.

Please check the Ann Arbor District Library for a fine example of an award winning library with blogs on almost every page, including a director's blog, a book blog and a beautiful virtual tour to boot!

Who is the expert?

An important step in any journey of learning is to get familiar with the terms. A good summary of the terms of Library 2.0 is contained in the July/August issue of Library Technology Reports which is available free, full text on our website in Student Reference Center Gold:

Creating conversations, connections, and community.
Library Technology Reports 42.4 (July-August 2006): p6(2).

The issue has many wonderful articles about Library 2.0 technologies.

In the overview you will learn what a blog is, how libraries are recording and posting podcasts, what an RSS feed is and why you might want to publish some of your library information in that format. You'll learn what Flickr photo mashups are and why some libraries allow patrons to create subject tags for their materials.

Stephens is one of the current experts in the Library 2.0 field and has a wealth of knowledge to share.

What is Library 2.0?

Our first step in this journey will be to define what it is that we are talking about when we say Library 2.0.

Library 2.0 is variously defined as a set of social networking tools that enable a library to take full advantage of current technology to serve patrons. These tools include RSS feeds, Blogs, tagging, podcasts, and a range of other technologies.

Library 2.0 has been coined from the broader term Web 2.0 which is a term relating to using these tools over the web as a whole. When we use the term Library 2.0, we are specifically referring to using those tools in a library or library website setting. See wikiipedia for a pretty good definition of both terms, Library 2.0 and Web 2.0.

Here is the start of our journey together.

Our journey to Library 2.0 starts here. Join me as we explore together and learn from each other about ways to unite our communities in a social network hosted by our library.