Doug Lord from the Connecticut State Library passed along a neat little post from the Conntech listserv from the Cheshire Public Library announcing their new Ubuntu computer. Notice how psyched they sound, how easy the install is, how familiar the applications sound. Got some old hardware? Try it yourself.
question: book club book swapping?
A reader writes “I’ve volunteered to be on a committee to develop our regional book club in a box program. Are you aware of a network where libraries can trade or otherwise share book club or (fill in your city/campus here) reads program books? We have virtually zero money and need fifteen copies of each title; our current titles have been practically exhausted by our readers. Any advice you can offer would be much appreciated.” If anyone has experience with something like this, if you could leave some information in the comments, thanks.
if you come by my place of work on september 10th
I sort of like the “Slam the Boards” idea of librarians showing up on “answer sites” on September 10th and indicating that the answers they give are by librarians. It’s a neat idea. It shows librarians interacting with social communities and (hopefully) providing good quick reference. We shine when we’re giving answers, and less when we have to exert control over complicated real life situations. I would like to say, however, that if you come to my place of work, that being Ask MetaFilter, arguably one of the more awesome “answer sites” currently in existence, you’ll need to know a few things.
1. We have many great librarians already, over 50 at last count, though it may be more like 100, and these are only self-identified librarians library workers and library students.
2. You’ll have to pay $5 to join. One of our great techniques of keeping the riffraff out is out $5 lifetime membership fee. Works amazingly well.
3. You should learn the culture some, learn how to give answers, how to not tell people to JFGI (as if you would!), not to sign your posts and not to get in fights or make stupid jokes in AskMe threads.
4. Don’t toss up a bunch of bibliographic citations when a decent URL will do. You’re online, act like you’re online.
I think this idea is a neat one, but could backfire if we spazz out into every existing community and assume that because we’re librarians every bit of advice we offer is like manna from heaven. If I were planning to participate in this — and I’m not because I’ll be working — I’d spend some time between now and 10sep07 learning a bit about the places i was planning to go. Nothing says you really care like getting to know your patrons. Go. Be awesome.
Copyright notices, deceptive and otherwise
Karen Coyle has an excellent blog post about some of the ridiculousness we’ve been getting used to lately in terms of copyright and copyright notices. This includes libraries that say you can’t make a digital copy of a public domain imags that they make available (debatable but still odd-sounding) a copyright notice on a blank book and what the heck is up with the innocuous sounding Computer & Communications Industry Association.
yes, I speak 2.0…
Ryan Deschamps has an interesting and thoughful post about his impressions of people’s tendency to shift “from a rational criticism of the so-called Library 2.0 movement/manifesto follow[ed by] an irrational trashing of anything having to do with Web 2.0 services and user-centered library services” The dilemma, simply stated, is when you see someone who has a critique of something you care about and are knowledgeable about — could be Library 2.0, could be tech support, could be apple pies — how do you inform or correct their misunderstandings without seeming like a prostyletizer or part of the Apple Pie Bandwagon? Or should you? Anyhow, the original posts that spawned Ryan’s post was over at the Annoyed Librarian. I left a comment.