Happy New Year!

At the Library, Just Ask

7 Major Ways We're Digitizing Our World, & 3 Reasons We Still Want Hardcopies

"7 Major Ways We're Digitizing Our World, & 3 Reasons We Still Want Hardcopies." TreeHugger / Jamie Heimbuch.
San Franciso: TreeHugger.com, October 11th 2010.

"2. Information hoarding is a time suck. 

Having everything be just a mouse-click away is really helpful -- but it can also be a big drain on our bodies and our time. We have access to endless news articles, videos, books and blog entries, and it's tempting to want to absorb as much as possible during a day. You want to be hip, worldly, well-informed and that's great. But what about forgetting all the incoming data and just going outside for a walk -- without GPS telling you at which corner to turn, or the latest song from Katy Perry playing on your iPod. All this information available on one laptop has a way of slurping up whole days before you notice it's night time again and you still have 6,478 articles you want to bookmark before you close your browser. Instant info can make us a whole new breed of hoarder."

Letting Go / Team Waterpolo

Team Waterpolo - Letting Go (GIGWISE.com EXCLUSIVE) on MUZU.

Bruno!

I Like Clouds

Twelve Theses On Libraries & Librarians

"Twelve Theses On Libraries & Librarians." Faith & Theology / Benjamin Myers.
Sydney: Faith & Theology, February 16th 2010.

"The library is the most solid and enduring item in the whole apparatus of intellectual life. In time our academic fads and fashions, our schools of thought and indeed entire disciplines, will pass soundlessly into the abyss of history. But the library endures – in fact it grows only stronger, driving its roots down ever deeper while the wreckage of history piles up around it. The library’s sheer material presence testifies to its ontological priority in intellectual life: ideas are fickle and intangible, they occupy no fixed location, but the library fills space and time with an imposing materiality. It is the mind’s anchor holding fast beneath the storms and currents of time."

I love this passage.

Library of Dust

"The Oregon State Insane Asylum, opened in 1883 on a hill just east of Salem and renamed the Oregon State Hospital in 1913, became in part a warehouse for the state’s anonymous unwanted. When residents died and went unclaimed by family, their bodies were cremated with the ashes remanded to copper canisters, which in turn themselves got warehoused.  Decades passed, the canisters blossomed forth with all manner of colorful corrosions, the hospital started getting shut down, well into the process of which, around 2005, with what remained of the hospital under new leadership, the canister depot itself came to light."

See:
Library of Dust / David Maisel

See Also:
Library of Dust

Never Neglect the Little Things

What Do Librarians Think About Marketing?

"What Do Librarians Think About Marketing? A Survey Of Public Librarians’ Attitudes Toward The Marketing Of Library Services." Library Quarterly / Marilyn L. Shontz, Jon C. Parker, & Richard Parker.
Chicago: Library Quarterly Online 74.1 pg 63-84, 2004.

"However, very few studies have examined the attitudes of librarians toward marketing. As discussed earlier, some writers have speculated that many librarians lack knowledge of marketing, have negative attitudes toward marketing, or believe that marketing is relevant only to businesses, but not to libraries.

Most of the respondents in this study tended to express generally positive attitudes toward marketing. However, there were some statistically significant differences between subgroups. For example, more positive attitudes toward marketing were expressed by administrators and public service librarians than by reference and technical services librarians. Those with more years of library work experience and those who had taken a course or workshop in marketing also expressed more positive attitudes toward marketing."

Search Strategy

Libraries Adjust to Life in the Digital World

"Libraries Adjust to Life in the Digital World." Charleston City Paper / Erica Jackson.
Charleston, SC: Charleston City Paper Online, October 13th 2010.

"Charleston County Public Library's Executive Director Doug Henderson, who joined the organization in August, spent the last month hosting informal community meetings at all 16 branches to find out what patrons want out of their libraries.

"I'm hearing that they want larger libraries and more libraries, and we're telling them that they're talking to the choir," Henderson says. "They need to get out and talk to the elected officials and explain to them what they think their priorities are and what they hope their elected officials will support. And we'll see what happens, won't we?"

Though hours have been reduced, usage is up in local libraries — a predictable trend in the bad economy. In the last decade, circulation has increased 94.5 percent, user visits are up 32.9 percent, and programs offered are up 74 percent. On a recent Tuesday afternoon, the Main Library on Calhoun Street was positively bustling."  

The Internet In A Cup: Coffee Fuelled the Information Exchanges of the 17th & 18th Centuries

"The Internet In A Cup: Coffee Fuelled the Information Exchanges of the 17th & 18th Centuries." The Economist / Not Attributed.
London: The Economist Online, December 18th 2003.

"WHERE do you go when you want to know the latest business news, follow commodity prices, keep up with political gossip, find out what others think of a new book, or stay abreast of the latest scientific and technological developments? Today, the answer is obvious: you log on to the internet. Three centuries ago, the answer was just as easy: you went to a coffee-house. There, for the price of a cup of coffee, you could read the latest pamphlets, catch up on news and gossip, attend scientific lectures, strike business deals, or chat with like-minded people about literature or politics."

Say It With SNAP

Life Instructions

Merry Christmas

Friday At the Library

12 Ways Libraries Are Good for the Country

"12 Ways Libraries Are Good for the Country." American Libraries / Leonard Kniffel.
America: American Libraries Online, December 21st 2010.

"7. Libraries return high dividends.

Libraries offer big returns to the communities they serve—anywhere from $1.30 to $10 in services for every $1 invested in them. Strong public and school libraries make a city or town more desirable as a business location. Americans check out an average of more than seven books a year from public libraries, and it costs them roughly $34 in taxes—about the cost of a single hardcover book."

iCarol

See Also:
North Point Christmas

Understanding Users of Social Networks

"Understanding Users of Social Networks." Harvard Business School Working Knowledge / Sean Silverthorne.
Boston: HBS Working Knowledge Online, September 2009.


"The biggest discovery: pictures. "People just love to look at pictures," says Piskorski. "That's the killer app of all online social networks. Seventy percent of all actions are related to viewing pictures or viewing other people's profiles."

Why the popularity of photos? Piskorski hypothesizes that people who post pictures of themselves can show they are having fun and are popular without having to boast.

Another draw of photos (and of SN sites in general) is that they enable a form of voyeurism. In real life there is a strong norm against prying into other people's lives. But online enables "a very delicate way for me to pry into your life without really prying," the researcher says. "Harvard undergrads do it all the time. They know all about each other before they meet face to face. 'Oh, you're that guy that did that internship in D.C. last summer.' "

Piskorski has also found deep gender differences in the use of sites. The biggest usage categories are men looking at women they don't know, followed by men looking at women they do know. Women look at other women they know. Overall, women receive two-thirds of all page views."

Labrouste Reading Room

Libraries Delivering Life-Saving Information

"Libraries Delivering Life-Saving Information." Democrat & Chronicle / Mark Hare.
New York: Democrat & Chronicle Online, December 19th 2010.

"Libraries have long been about more than books, but in the city they now deliver life support in the shape of information. Kids seek homework assistance from high school tutors. Some libraries offer adults help acquiring the basic literacy skills they need to undertake a GED program — sometimes in libraries with the help of volunteer teachers."

Library Girl / Reina del Cid

Commensurable Nonsense (Transliteracy)

"Commensurable Nonsense (Transliteracy)." Davidrothman.net / David Rothman.
New York: Davidrothman.net, December 19th 2010.

"The world changes as technology changes. Education and libraries adapt (well or poorly, but they adapt). There’s nothing new here. There’s no need for a new movement, a new term, or so much discussion about nothing."

Pasadena Public Library

OMBI 2008 Performance Benchmarking Report

OMBI 2008 Performance Benchmarking Report / Ontario Municipality Benchmarking Initiative (OMBI).

"Each municipality’s results are influenced to varying degrees by a number of factors, including:

• access: number and size of branches and hours of operation mean municipalities with lower population densities may require more library branches and more service hours to provide residents services within a reasonable distance

• collections: size and mix, as well as number of languages supported 

• programs: range of public programs 

• library use: mix, variety and depth of library uses and the varying amount of staff  resources 

• web services: availability and degree of investment 

• demographics: socio-economic and cultural make-up of the population served."

Winter Reading

IFLA World Report 2010

"Canada." World Report 2010 / IFLA.

See:
IFLA World Report 2010

Libraries Will Survive

See Also:
Library Videos Will Survive, Unfortunately

Chuck & Beans

Kaleidoscope / Cara Barer

See:
Cara Barer

See Also:
How A Germaphobe Sees a Library Book

Pretty Birds

See:
Drawing the Motmot

Friday At the Library

Book 'Em: Library Bandits

"Book 'Em: Library Bandits." The Book Bench / Ian Crouch
New York: The New Yorker Book Bench Online, December 16th 2010.

"Just the facts: Libraries, once bastions of free knowledge & civic good feeling, have become dens of iniquity where vandals & thieves run wild."

Critical Thinking

Defining Information Literacy in the 21st Century

"Defining Information Literacy in the 21st Century." IFLA / Sandy Campbell.
Buenos Aires, Argentina: IFLA Conference, 2004.

Information Literacy Framework

With Dignity & Respect: Serving Homeless People in Library Communities

"With Dignity & Respect: Serving Homeless People in Library Communities." American Library Association / Michael Santangelo.
America: ALA, 2009.

Batdance / Prince

~Post Script, I just watched this again: best video ever? Top 5 fo sho.

Pixel Delicioso

Discovered Pixel Delicioso, which is a great site that boasts vast amounts of delicious desktop candy.

Librarian Career & Job Description

"Librarian Career & Job Description." / Career Overview.

"Employment for librarians beyond traditional conditions will increase the fastest over the next ten years. Nontraditional librarian positions include jobs working as information brokers and performing work for private corporations, nonprofit organizations, and consulting firms."

Closing the Books?

"Closing the Books?" Newsweek / David A. Graham.
New York: Newsweek Online, August 23rd 2010.

"The impact of cuts may not have hit home for most patrons, though. Outside the Brooklyn Public Library last week, Birgitta Victorson, who had been there for story time with her toddler son Magnus, said she hadn’t heard about the library’s budget problems. One reason, she said, was that she’d only recently started using the library: “Because of my own budget cuts at home, I have to find a way to utilize the library, because I can’t buy my own books.” She said the constant stream of people going in shows how important the library is as a center of the community."

Say No to No Libraries

Levels of Library Quiet

Carleton College

Artful Thought

Library Card Art

See:
Tommy Kovac

Shush-back

Kickass Librarian

Shush

Home Library of the Future

How A Germaphobe Sees a Library Book

See:
Cara Barer

Shsshing the Librarian

"Shsshing the Librarian." Joe Murphy Library Future / Joe Murphy.
Connecticut: Joe Murphy Library Future, November 11th 2010.

Knowledge Wins

A More Tactful Shush

"A More Tactful Shush." Closed Stacks / Miss Information.
America: Closed Stacks, April 12th 2010.

Shush Gets A Nod

Katya Pereyaslavska: An Aspiring Academic Librarian's Dirty L Word Cool Librarian Blogs

Thanks, Katya!

Guardian Planet, Mars

At the Brooklyn Central Library, Noise is Golden

"At the Brooklyn Central Library, Noise is Golden." Prospect Heights Patch / Genevieve Walker.
Brooklyn: Prospect Heights Patch, December 11th 2010.

"Vaughn believes that a library should be a welcoming gathering place for the community and does not think that her library should be regarded as a silent reading room."

Hence, Stacks

Sometimes, That Happens

Sometimes, This Happens

Friday At the Library

Library Card Pocket

Love in the Stacks

Up

Don't Forget to Visit

Sectional View of the New York Public Library

Jinny Williams, Library Assistant

Winterlude / Bhat Boy

See:
Bhat Boy

At the Bottom Of Everything / Bright Eyes

  

Everything is Catalogued: The Hipster Librarian

"Everything is Catalogued: The Hipster Librarian." Counter Punch / Linda Ueki Absher.
Washnigton: Counterpunch.com, December 7th 2010.

"It's finally happened: everyone wants to be me.  

Well, they don't want to be me, me.  After all, who wants student loans, an undervalued house and a sweater that looks like I've just mugged a red heffalump?  But everyone under thirty with skinny black jeans and artistic facial hair, or Bettie Page bangs and winsome skirts with felted bird appliqués (with an influential minority wearing all of the above) want to be what I am: a librarian.  This is a surprise, to put it mildly."

See Also:
Lipstick Librarian

Books By Colour

How to Organize Your Personal Library with Dewey Decimal System

"How to Organize Your Personal Library with Dewey Decimal System." eHow / princessbride42.
America: eHow, c2007.

See Also:
How To Use the Dewey Decimal System
Dewey or Not Dewey

Water Seeks Its Own Level

Water seeks its own level.

Libraries Stay Current, Serve Community Needs

"Libraries Stay Current, Serve Community Needs." Anchroage Daily News / Mary Rasmussen.
Alaska: The Anchorage Daily News Online, December 3rd 2010.

"Adequately funding our library makes good financial sense, too. A study by the Institute of Social and Economic Research at UAA found that for every $1 in municipal support, the library returns up to $2.46 in economic benefits to the community."

Busy Night At the Library

Recession Gives NJ Libraries New Mission

"Recession Gives NJ Libraries New Mission." The Star-Ledger / Leslie Kwoh.
New Jersey: NJ.com, December 8th 2010.

"Much of her time now also is spent counseling individuals. The job seekers who come in are often middle-age or older, and many of them don’t know how to use a computer mouse, much less Microsoft Word or Google, she said. A few months ago, one man told her he wanted to apply for a job at Home Depot, but didn’t know how to find the company website, she recalls. Another woman came in clutching a hand-written résumé."

So Chic