Press release on ALA election results here. Special note: way to go Katia Roberto, my co-author and now co-councilor!
Author: jessamyn
book collection for intellectual superheores
Walter Benjamin on book collecting
O bliss of the collector, bliss of the man of leisure! Of no one has less been expected, and no one has had a greater sense of well-being than the man who has been able to carry on his disreputable existence in the mask of Spitzweg,’s “Bookworm.” For inside him there are spirits, or at least little genii, which have seen to it that for a collector – and I mean a real collector, a collector as he ought to be – ownership is the most intimate relationship that one can have to objects. Not that they come alive in him; it is he who lives in them. So I have erected one of his dwellings, with books as the building stones, before you, and now he is going to disappear inside, as is only fitting. [thanks dj]
librarian/musician, where is the line?
Why does a search for “crazed librarian” net the pages of two musicians: Moby and Nino Nardino?
conference tips for newbies from Eli + friends
The Divine Miss Eli has started a list of conference tips for newbies contemplating running the maze that is the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando this Summer.
designing for users
Hey what a surprise, when we do user-centered design of our web tools, users like using them! Please read: What words and where? Applying usability testing techniques to name a new live reference service. many of the lessons they learned are applicable to any library web site.
3. Users tended to ignore links above the main content area, especially if the links were graphic images. They expected these images to be banner ads and have, over time, learned to ignore them.
4. Users were not familiar with library jargon such as “database” or “interlibrary loan.”[pscott]
4. Users were not familiar with library jargon such as “database” or “interlibrary loan.”[pscott]