|
This feature for our website was actually planned and developed weeks ago before the current budget crisis to coincide with summer reading. And although the funding for public libraries from the state is still unknown, you can......Read More
about 5 hours ago
|
|
Neilson has just released a new report sharing findings from a recent study on teen media usage behavior which debunks many myths. Here are just a few that they cover: Myth: Teens are driving the growth of online video Rea......Read More
2 days ago
|
|
I'm really enjoying the message behind this new site/campaign... GeekTheLibrary.org"Brought to you by OCLC, a nonprofit library cooperative, with funding by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Geekthelibrary.org d......Read More
3 days ago
|
|
Concept leadership is one of areas that my department, Digital Services, tries to focus on. It’s important for us to continuously keep on top of new and emerging technologies and explore ways that the library and our custom......Read More
6 days ago
|
|
Wow, it seems like summer just got started but here comes the 4th of July! It's been a tough year for our country and our world, but I think it's great that Des Plaines is continuing its traditions of a 4th of July parade and fi......Read More
about 5 hours ago
|
|
I fondly remember all the talk, 10-15 years ago, about a "paperless society." We certainly rely on electronic communication more and more these days, but paper remains a cold, hard fact of life. Homework assignments, resumés, p......Read More
3 days ago
|
|
...with a vengeance! Of course, your public library is a great place to keep cool on these sultry days. Last summer, we asked you, our PlainTalk readers, to tell us about other great summer activities in the Des Plaines area. I'......Read More
8 days ago
|
|
Once again, the Library is proud to be part of the Relay for Life, Des Plaines/Park Ridge. This year's Relay takes place on Friday, June 26, 2009 at Maine West High School, on Wolf Road in Des Plaines.Our team, the Book Babes, w......Read More
15 days ago
|
|
The State Library of Kansas cataloged about 1,000 Wikipedia articles analytically at the State Library providing links via the Kansas Library Catalog, WorldCat/OCLC and the State Library’s consortium OPAC, ATLAS. Most all of t......Read More
about 7 hours ago
|
|
The morning after federal Judge Deborah Batts ruled that a Swedish author could not publish the follow-up to "The Catcher in the Rye," the book's distributor vowed to appeal.
Full piece here....Read More
about 9 hours ago
|
|
NEWS FLASH! from Publishers Weekly....Read More
about 10 hours ago
|
|
Despite the Kindle's continuing success, it's widely believed that the device cannot remain simply a terminal for Amazon's (AMZN) e-book sales if it is ever to become a true mass-market product. But what must it become? Some lea......Read More
about 10 hours ago
|
|
Last week I had Friday off and I spent most of the afternoon and evening reading The Last Olympian from cover to cover. I've said time and time again that I'm not a big series person, but the Percy Jackson books are a notable ex......Read More
about 7 hours ago
|
|
Congratulations to CherylS22 and AuntRene, winners of the Twenty Boy Summer giveaway!And thanks to everyone who entered!...Read More
1 day ago
|
|
How are everyone's Summer Reading Clubs going?My summer's been crazy, to be completely honest. I really hit the ground running, starting my new job in mid-May just a week before our SRC started.We're doing Be Creative @ Your Lib......Read More
1 day ago
|
|
Do you use themes for your storytimes?I've been thinking about this since I started my new job. At my previous library, we didn't generally use themes for storytimes. The idea behind that is that it's better to read a handful of......Read More
2 days ago
|
|
Great news report from Ohio. The M Word Blog teaches your library and non-profit tips, tricks and trends of the marketing trade...Read More
about 8 hours ago
|
|
From Janie Herman's FB post:"We are a pilot site at PPL for having Red Box services to supplement the library collection. This gives our library customers 24 hour access to the newest DVDs, means that we do not have to buy as ma......Read More
1 day ago
|
|
This was the $5000 winner of the Fuze storytelling contest. I'll bet you wished you had entered your story. :-)Drunkenomics - The Story of Bar Stool EconomicsView more presentations from slides2407.The M Word Blog teaches your l......Read More
1 day ago
|
|
By now you've probably seen the new OCLC campaign, Geek the Library. I love the bones of this campaign and look forward to hearing from the pilot cities as to whether the concept of using geek as a verb resonates with the publi......Read More
2 days ago
|
|
*This is a cross-post of an entry I wrote for the AASL blog, July 1, 2009*
The role of social media in reporting the events in Iran in recent weeks has highlighted the increasing role of emerging sources of authority and pro......Read More
about 10 hours ago
|
|
If you work with teens (or tweens) on a daily basis as I do, then you will want to read two important documents that came my way via Google Reader and my personal learning network.
The first resource, courtesy of Helen Blowers......Read More
1 day ago
|
|
Now you can access podcasts and resources from the Library of Congress at iTunes! Here is what Matt Raymond of the Library of Congress blog has to say about this exciting new Web 2.0 addition for LOC:
Blog. Twitter. YouTube.......Read More
1 day ago
|
|
We already knew this, but I loved seeing this on the Netvibes blog today!
Using public pages as virtual libraries! – Netvibes.com Blog via kwout
Don’t forget to check out The Unquiet Library on Netvibes; I have also......Read More
12 days ago
|
|
Annual is just around the corner. Our bloggers discuss what they're most looking forward to this year in the Windy City:
Jason Griffey: ALA Annual is always a blur of activity, and it's sad to say that while I tend to overplan l......Read More
about 11 hours ago
|
|
Greetings from Northern Michigan! The days of summer are flying by and I’m splitting my time between trying to wear out our new Labrador Retriever Cooper and prepping for upcoming talks at ALA Annual. I’ll be presenting for ......Read More
2 days ago
|
|
I don't often post specifically about things I'm involved in at my real job (Head of Library IT at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga), and try instead to examine general technology useful to libraries of all types. But ......Read More
9 days ago
|
|
Hot on the heels of the latest issue of Library Technology Reports, Collaboration 2.0, is a toolkit designed to help ALA members who want to bring remote participants into a meeting or who want to stream a session’s audio ......Read More
15 days ago
|
|
Here's my column for the June issue of Information Outlook.
Blogging as a Special Librarian
Download file
(MS Word format)
Stephen
Download file
...Read More
about 12 hours ago
|
|
I love this graphic from The Steve Rubel LifeStream.
He explains it here in his posting: Blogs are Out of Beta, But Bloggers Should Always Be in Beta this way:
"The image above is one of the most important graphics I have ev......Read More
about 22 hours ago
|
|
Got two minutes?
Quite a few people are pointing to this video and I think it's a good investment of two minutes.
What is the future of the library? from Guy Adam Ailion
Quite a few good concepts packed into two minutes.
Wha......Read More
1 day ago
|
|
Here's my column for Multimedia and Internet@Schools in the Mar./Apr. 2009 Issue
Preparing for the New Media Literacies
Download file
Stephen...Read More
1 day ago
|
|
Home from NECC in DC. Great to be gone; great to be home. Going to try to summarize a few thoughts about this year's giant lovefest to all things that go beep two-point-oh.
I can't say that I took away any real exciting ideas ......Read More
about 13 hours ago
|
|
My Sunday morning and afternoon here at NECC in DC were free of obligations, so I took a good long walk. Washington is one of my favorite cities, especially for people watching. Summer dresses on young women are better than flow......Read More
4 days ago
|
|
My 08-09 Head for the Edge columns that appear in Library Media Connection are now online. These include:
Continuing Education, August/September 2008From Cop to Counselor on Copyright, October 2008 The Other Shoe Redux, November......Read More
4 days ago
|
|
On China's policy to filter the Internet:Once you start censoring the Web, you restrict the ability to imagine and innovate. You are telling young Chinese that if they really want to explore, they need to go abroad. - Tom Fried......Read More
4 days ago
|
|
Alfred University (NY) will check out bicycles to students, faculty and staff starting fall 2009 “just as they would a book at Herrick Library.” For a nominal fee ($3 for two days and $5 for a week) users can b......Read More
1 day ago
|
|
Free Webinar: Become a Carbon Zero Hero: Vanquish the Phantom Load Villain
Wednesday, July 15, 2009 2:00 – 3:30 PM EDT
Registration: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/621236970
Discussion on how to vanquish the phantom......Read More
2 days ago
|
|
Accepted for publication, by College and Research Libraries, to be published probably March 2010, by Maria A. Jankowska & James Marcum entitled “Sustainability Challenge for Academic Libraries: Planning for the Futur......Read More
3 days ago
|
|
From Library Juice Press:
Greening Libraries, edited by Monika Antonelli and Mark McCullough and published by Library Juice Press, is a collection of essays, papers and articles on various aspects of the green library movement. ......Read More
3 days ago
|
|
Janie Hermann writes:
We are a pilot site at PPL for having Red Box services to supplement the library collection. This gives our library customers 24 hour access to the newest DVDs, means that we do not have to buy as many copi......Read More
1 day ago
|
|
No, you may not have a friendly chat with library staff, originally uploaded by sirexkat.
Kathryn Greenhill writes:
Spearwood Library has been remodelled.
They have added a half wall so that staff and patrons cannot make......Read More
5 days ago
|
|
Tara Hunt Whuffle Factor`, originally uploaded by cambodia4kidsorg.
This book is on my summer reading list – great graphic!
...Read More
6 days ago
|
|
visit our faceboo page for specials, originally uploaded by Librarian by Day.
Nice thought – What specials could libraries feature on their Facebook pages?
...Read More
6 days ago
|
|
I am not taking a summer break from learning or teaching. Today I started teaching two 7 week courses. One is in managing a school library/media center and the other is in science and technology literature. Next week is the A......Read More
2 days ago
|
|
A visit to the Art Institute of Chicago inspired this article. It is meant to be a parody of an art critique and poke fun at artists who do not title their work. Except for Chaim Potok’s fictional character Asher Lev, all th......Read More
about 1 month ago
|
|
On May 17 the Chicago Art Institute opened its new modern wing, an expansion that increased display space by about 30%. In honor of this occasion they offered free admission for the week. My son and I went to visit on differe......Read More
about 1 month ago
|
|
On Sunday (May 10) my son and I went to the Illinois Holocaust Museum. The building is very impressive. On the left is a picture of the back. Strange, this is the street side with the name on the wall. The entrance is on the ......Read More
about 1 month ago
|
|
by Kitty Pope, Alliance Library System
I’ve been waiting a long time to write this article!
Over the past few months, I’ve repeatedly said at work and play “it’s all about passion baby”. How you approach life and the e......Read More
2 days ago
|
|
Browse the WJIL State of the Stats, find out how you can get the WJIL “wordle” out, utilize the newly published Competency Index for the Library Field and learn more about bringing Web 2.0 into Academic Librarie......Read More
2 days ago
|
|
Armando and Mariela met each other in Mexico as children and then again as adults while attending an English as a Second Language (ESL) class at the Toman Library. Both worked very hard learning English that first year. They fel......Read More
2 days ago
|
|
Make sure your technology plan covering FY2009 services has been approved. FCC rules require that services other than basic telephone service be covered by an approved technology plan. Because July 1, 2009 is the first day appli......Read More
2 days ago
|
|
NSLS is just about ready to take our “bags-to-bins” project to the next step. To find out more information on what this project entails, check out an article by delivery assistant, Don Johnson. On Wednesday, June 24th a ......Read More
3 days ago
|
|
Libraries luminaries from throughout northern Illinois came to NSLS to celebrate the retirement of library superstar, Sharon Ball. Since 1998, Sharon has been working side-by-side with NSLS school, public/youth services, and......Read More
7 days ago
|
|
The official changing of the NSLS guard took place on this past Monday. It is always a busy evening, as first the current board holds a meeting, followed by a second meeting of the new board. Check out the swearing-in and the ......Read More
8 days ago
|
|
I just returned from a trip to Springfield for my first gig as a grant reviewer (LSTA grants). It was a fabulous learning experience, and I look forward to sharing my new found knowledge with NSLS libraries when we all start wri......Read More
13 days ago
|
|
As a new mother, I spend a a lot of time awake with Reed when most sensible people are asleep. Consequently, I’ve seen plenty of infomercials and commercials that are rarely if ever on television when sensible people are a......Read More
6 days ago
|
|
Paul Pival wrote today and yesterday about “mafia tactics by Harvard Business School Publishing”, wherein they are trying to charge libraries to link to articles from Harvard Business Review in EBSCO for online class......Read More
6 days ago
|
|
I recently had a not-so-fun experience with our local hospital which reminded me of how important it is to ensure one’s front-line staff are empowered to question things.
During our childbirth class – which was spons......Read More
15 days ago
|
|
I realize that while there have been little blurbs about this on FriendFeed, Facebook, Flickr, etc., I haven’t actually blogged anything about the new man in my life. Probably has something to do with the fact that the onl......Read More
2 months ago
|
|
This is a highly do-able art project that would work well at a kids library program AND you can work in some great collection tie-ins from your art and artist books.
Self Portrait Literal Cubism
Complete illustrated instruct......Read More
8 days ago
|
|
As librarians we know that the internet is littered with time-wasting, badly constructed websites, but here are a few that are actually useful in everyday life:
StillTasty
http://www.stilltasty.com/
If you have patrons with qu......Read More
20 days ago
|
|
Did you know that Saturday, June 13 is World Wide Knit in Public Day? Ok, actually there are four days of official celebrations–go on over to the WWKiP website to check the story out. You can also find out about knitti......Read More
20 days ago
|
|
Looking for authors or poets on Twitter? Here are a few more lists:
Literary Tweets: 100+ of the Best Authors on Twitter by Cameron Chapman on Mashable.com. Each author is briefly introduced and a sample tweet is included. ......Read More
about 1 month ago
|
|
If you live in Ohio, you’re in very real danger of losing your public libraries. You need to contact your legislators now to save them or else Governor Strickland’s proposed budget cuts are going to end up shutting ......Read More
8 days ago
|
|
When I picked up my new Palm Pre smartphone last week, one of the store employees said, “You must have been waiting for this phone for a long time.” He could tell I was excited about it. I told him I’d been wa......Read More
15 days ago
|
|
If you want a glimpse into one possible future for LIS education, look no further than Scott Nicholson’s free Gaming in Libraries course, running now on a computer near you. It makes use of a fascinating mix of tools that ......Read More
20 days ago
|
|
Marketing!
Originally uploaded by pollyalida
No tags for this post....Read More
23 days ago
|
|
And yes, 1 of them is the Bodleian. Cool.Very intersting article, maybe a good trip would be to visit them all, I've been to 2 and counting...http://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/news/the-7-most-impressive-libraries-from-throughout-hi......Read More
9 days ago
|
|
Well it's been an interesting month already, I still feel like I am waiting for sunny summer days. Since I last posted on June 12th the joy of celebrating my son's 16th birthday on June 15th was met with the passing of my mothe......Read More
10 days ago
|
|
I doubt I'm the only one who avoids the news because I don't want to read one more story about murder, the economy or corruption. I even avoid the home page on my email because I don't want to read the latest headlines. My regul......Read More
20 days ago
|
|
Working in a public library is never a dull job. Libraries have become more than just the traditional building that loans books by evolving into a combination of career center, community center and learning center. The computer ......Read More
21 days ago
|
|
During some downtime on my recent trip I was watching old skateboarding videos on YouTube and was prompted to check The Pirate Bay to see what albums by fIREHOSE were available. I didn’t get very far.
I was a bit surpris......Read More
10 days ago
|
|
Yesterday I visited the public library in Hjorring, Denmark. It is part of a civic center that includes a gym, restaurant and library. Here are some photos.
The desk doesn’t say “info.” It says “Welcom......Read More
17 days ago
|
|
Danger Mouse is a musician perhaps most know for his The Grey Album which is a mashup of Jay-Z’s The Black Album and the Beatles’ The White Album. The album is often used as an example of the tension between remix c......Read More
about 1 month ago
|
|
An amazing gift! The color scheme matches the site perfectly.
...Read More
about 1 month ago
|
|
June 20, 2009
A Literary Legend Fights for a Local Library
By Jennifer Steinhauer
VENTURA, Calif. — When you are pushing 90, have written scores of famous novels, short stories and screenplays, and have fulfilled the goal of......Read More
10 days ago
|
|
It is what it is. I have no good excuse....Read More
13 days ago
|
|
From SFGate.com:
Dog Ate My Library Book
Leave it to the San Francisco Public Library to turn its overdue book amnesty program into a creative writing contest.
Recently, borrowers with overdue books were allowed to bring them ba......Read More
13 days ago
|
|
From Examiner.com:
Controversy has been swirling for some months now in Wisconsin. Apparently, a library in West Bend has struck a nerve by including books like one by author Francesca Lia Block in its youth section. What’......Read More
14 days ago
|
|
CNET reports that Wikipedia, the collaborative encyclopedia, plans to add video to its entries. Apparently, Wikipedia will include a link to “Add Media” in a few months, which will allows users to search for copyrigh......Read More
12 days ago
|
|
Google – - perhaps in response to Bing and Wolfram Alpha – - has created a page called Explore Google Search to tout its cool features and tools. The page highlights using Google as a dictionary, calculator, unit con......Read More
14 days ago
|
|
Right on the heels of the release of Microsoft’s Bing, another tool surfaces that also claims to be a “decision engine”. It’s called Hunch:
“In 10 questions or less, Hunch will offer you a great sol......Read More
16 days ago
|
|
Google has added a tool called Google Squared to Google Labs. Might this feature be a response to the recent release of “computational knowledge engine” Wolfram Alpha? Who knows. Anyways, Google Squared presents data......Read More
28 days ago
|
|
July 7 - the BIG day for the paperback version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a breathtaking finish to a remarkable series. The final chapter to Harry Potter’s adventures wil......Read More
17 days ago
|
|
I was just alerted to this website - it looks great- for library AND to share with our teachers, homeschooling families, and daycare providers. Teacher Vision...Read More
2 months ago
|
|
So May 2 is Free Comic Book Day - this is a great way to partner with a local comic book shop AND give a big shout-out for comic books! Don't miss it!!...Read More
3 months ago
|
|
Where to find all the GREAT blogs on ya/child's lit???Alltop - LOVE this one - lists each blog and the most current 4-5 posts for each blog. Great resource.Nearcircle - Another great resource that lists TONS of lit. blogs, list......Read More
3 months ago
|
|
Just the words "summer reading" take me to a relaxing other world where I am warm and comfortable with hours of unstructured time, mine for the taking. In today's world, such escape is becoming increasingly elusive. But I urge y......Read More
26 days ago
|
|
It's a familiar story: When times are tough, library usage goes up. The media has been full of variations on this theme for the past year.
Here's the back story: Library staffs love to serve and be busy. It's that missionary sp......Read More
2 months ago
|
|
Since 1921, the Newbery Medal has been awarded annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished American children's book published in the previous year. The idea came from bookseller and publisher Frederic......Read More
2 months ago
|
|
Showing your enthusiasm for the library can change your life.
More than 30 years ago, Morton Grove resident Estelle Cooperman went to a library open house with her son.
"We were new in the community," she said, "and with happy......Read More
2 months ago
|
|
I’ve been reading and thinking about websites lately (oh really David? Who would have guessed?). Organizations simply don’t have one nice, tidy website to manage anymore. First, take a gander at these three articles:......Read More
26 days ago
|
|
Remember my post on TSCPL’s Meebo chat widget embedded in our library catalog? Since then, we have stopped using the Meebo Me widget. It was great – it helped us start our IM reference service, and it was easy to emb......Read More
about 1 month ago
|
|
Last post, I covered things I think about when making personal friend connections in a bunch of social networks I use. I also said “for MPOW, it’s slightly different – I might cover that in another post.”......Read More
about 1 month ago
|
|
If you sign up and use social media tools, here’s what might happen to you: the image accompanying this post is my inbox. I recently visited my parents, and I only answered pressing emails … but didn’t really c......Read More
about 1 month ago
|
|
I swore to myself last year after attending the annual Zena Sutherland lecture at the Harold Washington Library that I would hound my fellow NSLS youth services people to go next year. And here it is next year already!
Here......Read More
2 months ago
|
|
Back in 2001, I was inspired by the CTA’s project where they posted poems throughout the transit system for people to read as they ride. I thought it would be a very cool thing to plaster the Youth Services Department a......Read More
2 months ago
|
|
The morning that the ALSC/YALSA Youth Media Awards are announced is one of my favorite days of the year! In past years, I’ve watched the streaming video and enjoyed it immensely. But this year was even more fun being t......Read More
5 months ago
|
|
Here is a link to my Top Ten Books of 2008 for children and teens. The list was due in mid-October, and of course two months later, I’ve read many other fine books. It really makes me wonder how valid anyone’s To......Read More
6 months ago
|
|
ALA has sent out an urgent call to action:
Please contact your Representative and ask him or her to sign the “Dear Colleague” letter being circulated by Congressman Raul Grijalva in support of funding for the Libra......Read More
3 months ago
|
|
There’s been…well, not progress, exactly, but motion on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. From ALA:
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) today released an announcement to the Federal Register stay......Read More
4 months ago
|
|
Under 12? No going into the library for you!
At least, that seems to be the fear:
A federal law that will soon go into effect could have some startling consequences, including the possible banning of children from libraries unle......Read More
5 months ago
|
|
Just got a great link to information on how libraries can let their communities know of services they have to help folks through tough economic times. While most have seen the video at the link below, look farther down the p......Read More
5 months ago
|
|
That’s right! Digital Past is now on Twitter as DigitalPast - be sure to follow us for all the latest updates with the program!...Read More
3 months ago
|
|
How many stories start this way? Quite a few I imagine, especially in the horror genre, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about today!
It certainly was dark and stormy over the weekend up by my house which means I......Read More
3 months ago
|
|
Yes, that’s right! Today we celebrate the birth of a new collection on Digital Past! Yeay! The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists History Collection explores the history of the AANA and the nurse anesthesia profe......Read More
3 months ago
|
|
Finally a few minutes to stop and let everyone know what’s coming up with Digital Past in the very near term! We’ll be rolling out a fantastic new site and I hope you’ll all stop by and reacquaint yourself with......Read More
4 months ago
|
|