People sent me links for a few libraries that have tsunami relief information: the Waterboro Library blog got something up the day after Christmas (not on the main page, but on the RSS feed for sure) and the University of Texas maps library. This huge disaster happening over the holiday season drives the point home that we’re still offering much more in the way of services and up to date information during the hours we’re open, than when we’re closed. Check the statistics on your library web site. When are people coming to visit it? Our library page views go down when the library is closed, but they don’t drop to zero. If your library home page doesn’t change in response to massive world-changing events, doesn’t that sent a message, however inadvertent, about the responsiveness and plugged-in-edness of the library itself? [thanks marylaine & elyssa]
Month: January 2005
success in libraries, marketing libraries
Andrea puts together some thoughts about libraries and success. It seems that public institutions sometimes have a difficult time promoting services without going all in for the “your library is a business. the customer is always right.” idea. I like my outreach job because I can do a lot of marketing and at the end of the day, not take peoples’ money, just offer good service and a good [and improving] product. Do you think your patrons recommend your library?
Somewhat off-topic, I picked up a hitchhiker on Friday (I work near a ski area with very little public transportation, this is a fairly normal thing to do) and met a 20-something guy from the town I work in who worked at a local restaurant. I asked him if he’d been to the library lately and he confessed that he didn’t have a card. I told him all about the library’s fairly large DVD collection (“I just saw Bourne Supremacy last week…”) and the usefulness of the internet access during power failures, and I’d be suprised if he didn’t drop by and get a card if for no other reason than he can save money by doing what he normally does @ the library instead of @ Blockbuster. It doesn’t take a french fry stand to make a library a success, you just need to figure out how to make the library worthwhile for people in the lives they are already living.
Q&A with google library
Librarians and others ask some questions of the Google Library Project. Compiled by Searcher Magazine’s crack editor Barbara Quint. [buzz]
want to be a librarian? do some homework.
Some straight talk about current and future jobs in the profession. For new librarians from working librarians. Remember, the MLS is just the beginning of your job qualifications, and the librarian job shortage has likely been overstated. [lisnews]