Technology and Libraries

Want to know about the newest techie thing to hit libraries?  What about the possible reverberation effects on our staff, our buildings, and our customers.  Check out these neat links and articles.

Here is listing from a blog which talks about technology and libraries.  This entry on Netflix and libraries was really interesting.  Exeter Public Library has taken it one step further and contracted with NetFlix to do a form of ILL for movies.

Here are some links to the South Jersey Library Cooperative.  You can read about their use of RSS feeds and find information about what an RSS feed actually is here.  For information on their experience with a library style "Trading Spaces" check out this page.  Both pages are very interesting and give really good information about how libraries can be creative with their resources.  Don't know what an RSS feed is, check out this "RSS in Plain English"

page.

What is the Digital Divide in Web 2.0?  Is it economic or racial status or just about people who aren't interested in the new social aspect of the web?  Read the results of the Pew Internet study here.

Remember message boards back in Web 1.0?  If you wanted to have a conversation with people online over the internet, that was your only option.  Times, they are a'changing.  From the person who brought us "RSS in Plain English" check out this blog post on other online community ideas and possibilities.  For those of you who've liked the wiki, this is great source of ideas.  It's also a great place to look to see where the library could go to help make the library a part of people's lives, get access to more people, and (more importantly!) give them more and easier access to us.

Looking for some free, online computer classes?  HP has some they are offering on everything from setting up a home wireless network to digital photography.  It looks pretty cool!  (Thanks to Willo for posting this link origionally!)

IM and chat reference?  MySpace accounts for libraries?  Who get to decide how we communicate?  Check out the Shifted Librarian's thoughts on different styles of communication.

From Talk of the Nation on Friday, May 11th:  "Libraries Enter the Digital Age" and the very cool "Encyclopedia of Life."

Competition?  Check out the book answer to NetFlix called BookSwim.  What they've done which we really need to do is allow tagging and comments.  Check out their "browse selection" page and the information that comes up about a book when you roll your mouse over it.  Too Cool!  Of course, the subscription costs $26.99 a month, which is a lot.  You can read a blog response to BookSwim here.

This is a pretty pointed response to BookSwim and Libraries in a Publisher's Weekly article you can find here--but the quote gets the point across

"March 2006 -- we spent our Thursday night as always, freeloading books in our local behemoth bookstore cafe. When asked to pay for the books along with the coffee, No, we're just gonna read them and put them back; but thanks for asking."

Now this kind of behavior should never be condoned, but we noticed a pattern; everyone else was doing it, although maybe not so openly. If all of these people are simply reading, why aren't they vagrantly loitering at a library? It's free! Well, there's no double mocha lattes at the library; but through our research to find answer we discovered that the whole literary distribution model needed to be turned upside down."

 

Want to end the digital divide?  What if every child in the world had a laptop?  Check out this 60 Minutes article on a MIT researcher's big idea.

LOLbrarians?  LOLcats?  Can you resist the LOL?  Do you know what the LOL is?--Check out this Slate.com article about the LOL fad and get a different take on how the internet is evolving.

Does gaming belong in libraries?  The teen group at the strategic planning conference seemed to think so.  To here a bit about how the discussion looks at libraries in general, check out this Shifted Librarian blog peice.

The technology and business world is beginning to embrace the concept of "open innovation."  If you aren't sure what this is, think this wiki or Mozilla Firefox (an opensource browser meaning the user can see the programming code and make their own adjustments to it).  NPR had a really interesting article about how business previously closed to the idea of open innovation are using it to grow and change.  I think libraries should embrace this idea as well.  See the article here.

A blog I like called "Information wants to be Free" is a proponant of openness and transperancy.  Her argument, which I agree with, is that even if you have policies people don't like, if you are open about your reasons and actually listen to the complaints and respond honestly to them, your patrons will be happier and your staff will be happier.  Part of this is, of course, being willing to change when the complaint are more valid than your reason for the policy in the first place.  She uses Southwest Airlines as an example.  There is also a great link to a "library suggestions" blog where suggestion from the box are posted and responded to honestly with real intention.  Even if you can't fix it, it's important to let people know you care.  Read the blog entry for yourself, here.

At the reference desk one day, I had a patron complain that the link to the catalog was not prominent enough.  Check out this blog entry about Phoenix's page--where the catalog is the webpage and the webpage is the catalog.  Way Cool.  For another cool library homepage, check out Allen County Public Library.  They have bright colors, slides of what's new at the library, easy to find links, and an RSS feed.

What's your vote for the top technology trends of 2007?  Library Web Chic has theirs?  Do you agree?  Perhaps more importantly, which of these should DCL invest in?

You and Me and Google Makes Three.  I think the title of this online article says it all.

If you are looking for less "techy" ways to learn about RSS feeds, wikis, and social networking, I highly recommend you try Common Craft.  Their "in plain English" videos are great explanations of Web 2.0.

Are we, as librarians, doomed to be always behind the times?  Durham County has gotten a MysPace Page and we have a Facebook profile, but are we too late?  Check out this blog post from the New York Times.

Why don't people turn to librarians for answers?  Slate.com posted an article on Yahoo!Answers and I think this is an excellent push for us to get IM reference started.