Quick! I Need a Blog!

Teen Lit Serves a Purpose

2011-06-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

After a hiatus engendered by a certain lack of interest in blogging, I'm back. Yay? What brought me back? Well, I've jumped on the YA Lit vs WSJ bandwagon, of course!

In case you haven't followed the latest holler, WSJ has dissed teen lit as being too hideous to read ( http://on.wsj.com/iyb4Zn ). It's too dark. The topics are all violence, abuse, despair and rage. OMG!!! And the books validate these behaviors in teens!

I was a teenager once -- before teen lit was a genre. I read the "classics" referenced in the article -- The Outsiders ( a great story, but even then I thought those NAMES were ridiculous) and Go Ask Alice (drug abuse?!?! Cool!!). I also read the scintillating and banal, Mr. & Mrs. BoJo Jones (recommended by teachers the world over). A sorry piece of fiction, to be sure, but it made me think about what life would be like as a teen mother, and it reinforced my mother's Victorian stand on sexual relations before marriage. I read, and adored, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (mental illness! AWESOME!!). I read Elie Wiesel's, Night. It was a fave and full of real, actual terror and inhumanity. It was also pretty gruesome if not gory/explicit.

I was a Good Girl. What did I get from these books? Excitement. A view of other kinds of lives that I REALLY didn't want to live. Some knowledge about the world and that other people in other places lived other, often unpleasant, lives. Hmmm...

Since my teen years were at the very beginning of books specifically for teens, I was forced to read from the adult ouervre. What did I find? Some doozies, I assure you. I had a collection of vampire stories that included an excerpt from de Sade's Justine. Of course, I had no idea who the good Marquis was -- and the excerpt didn't include any "sex" (or, possibly, I didn't get it). I read the Bell Jar. Now that book is really uplifting. I wallowed in despair right along with Sylvia and loved every minute of it. I read bodice rippers -- which at the time were the equivalent of Zane books. Yummy! Had I found any books that were as explicit as some of the teen titles available today, I would have jumped on them with great cries of joy. More excitement! More despair! Plus the vicarious experiences of cutting, sex, abuse, gore... Just what teens want to read. I say more power to 'em!

No time in life (other than old age) is as lonely as the teen years. Teens are culturally fenced in. They are corralled by their parents' expectations; they fear that discussing issues with parents will be a indicator that bad behavior is going on or being considered. Their peers are braggers who boast of behaviors that they really don't act on, so talking about things with friends can get you labeled as someone who is not cool, hip, on top of things... Teachers operate in loco parentis, so they're out too.

Teens want to live vicariously through literature. Or they want their life experiences to be acknowledged -- by characters in books. Teen lit allows kids to explore without repercussion what's going on in the world. Books provide a forum of sorts where abused kids can find out they are not alone and where surly kids from well-adjusted families can find out that life's not so bad after all. Books offer a type of friendship and commonality that can fill the voids of a culturally constricted teen life in an ugly world of harsh realities.

Ms. Gurdon needs to get back in touch with her own teen years and remember how bleak it often seemed and how meaningful those teen titles were to her at that time. She needs to acknowledge that today's teen lives in a completely different world that the one of her experience. And if she's so disturbed by the content of teen lit, she should work to improve the conditions that many teens experience on a daily basis so that the "horror" that is current lit is no longer needed.

2011-03-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

I'm taking an online course right now, Rethinking Reference Collections. It's offered through InfoPeople in California and Dave Tyckoson is teaching it. (He's great, BTW. Take one of his classes sometime.) Our first assignment was to create a snapshot of our current reference collection. There was a form to fill out and we had to write about our current collection and what our vision is for our future collection.

Doing that assignment brought home to me how sadly under-used our collection is (not that I didn't know it already, but it's just sad to reminded so forcefully). Reference heads since 1939 put a lot of effort into creating our collection and, back in the day, it was stellar. It's still stellar, but that doesn't matter so much anymore. Now reference is all about databases and instant access. Books play a very minor role in reference work -- they're kind of the "resource of last resort" for staff, and patrons barely know they exist.

When I first started as Head of Reference Services, we had a feature in our staff meetings -- "My Favorite Reference Book." Selected staff members would bring their fave to the meeting and extol its virtues. Everyone learned something and there were some great arguments about the merits of one book over another. No point in doing that now... At least half the staff has no idea what's even in our reference books. (They've never needed them!) Now we do "My Favorite Database" or "My Favorite Website." Nothing wrong with that. Databases and websites are what we use. But it's sad to see those great print resources just sitting on the shelf gathering dust -- unwept, unhonored and unsung. Sometimes I look in Encyclopaedia Judaica just to make myself feel better (it's my fave).

When I took over almost 10 years ago, I was intimidated by the work of my predecessors. They'd done such a great job and I felt inadequate to the task, but I was also determined to bring our reference services into the 20th century -- and beyond. My vision of the ideal reference collection in the beginning was of a collection that provided answers to the questions our patrons asked -- and that was available to ALL our patrons at all of our branches and at home.

I have realized that vision of our reference collection. Over time, our working collection has become not one of books, but of electronic resources. I wanted more electronic resources so that everyone could have up-to-date resources at their fingertips and no one would have to use a 10 year old volume for reference. Got them -- plenty of them. I wanted our reference service to address the communication styles of our patrons. It does (finally!!). We have gone from phone reference to email reference to text reference to chat reference. Patrons can pretty much get answers however they prefer. (I guess Skype reference is next...) And this is a good thing. I wanted reference staff throughout the system to have the benefit of the expertise embodied in the reference staff at the main library. They do, now that we have deployed LibAnswers as our "Got a Question?" service. Patrons AND staff can use the system to find answers to virtually every question we've been asked since spring of 2010. Talk about equitable access! I wish I'd had this when I was starting out and was clueless.

The last part of our assignment was to describe our vision of the future of our reference collection. As I was pondering my answer to the question, I realized that my vision of that bright and shiny future is to let someone else envision it. It's time for someone with fresher ideas to start influencing the future of our collection and services. I've realized my vision and I'm happy with it. It ain't perfect, but I think it will serve for awhile. Now I'll settle for weeding the current print collection in anticipation of a move into a smaller reference space -- and I'm good with that.

But I will say that I don't see us going back to the book...

Thanks a lot, HarperCollins.

2011-02-25T12:21:00.000-08:00

Dear HarperCollins –

I understand that you are now limiting the number of times (26) a digital book can circulate from a library. Nice. What’s next? Will you “pull an Amazon” as well and send someone to remove your hardcover titles from our shelves after they circulate 26 times?

Here’s something to think about. Libraries provide access to books. To your books. We’ve been doing it FOREVER. Have we crimped your style yet? Have we affected your bottom line? No. In fact, libraries do more to promote your titles than you give us credit for. We may not be able to beat a multi-million dollar ad campaign, but we’re damned important to you. We feature your titles on lists (online and paper); we blog about your titles; we recommend your titles to book clubs; we display your books on our shelves and in our catalogs... We HELP you sell your stupid books.

Now, when we’re just starting to embrace a new technology -- when we’re just beginning to get excited about the possibilities this new technology offers to our institutions and our constituencies, you KNOCK US UPSIDE THE HEAD WITH A DAMNED BASEBALL BAT!!!!

What do you think happens at the library when a HarperCollins title becomes popular? We buy hardcover copies (lots), large print copies (lots), and audio CD versions (lots). And now we buy digital format audio copies and ebook copies too. All told, we buy a buttload of copies of your popular titles in every available format. Guess what else? We don’t buy fewer physical copies – we just add more copies in digital formats. How is this bad? How does this hurt you and your authors? You’re selling more to libraries, not less. (my eyes are rolling around in my head so much right now I’m getting seasick) Who the HELL are you protecting? Your investors? Puh-leeze.

As many copies as we do buy, they are usually not enough to meet demand. What do you think happens when a waiting list has 100 people on it? Well, we buy some more copies. And what do you think happens when people on those waiting lists get tired of waiting? THEY GO OUT AND BUY YOUR DAMNED BOOK!!! Even our limited book budgets help you sell your books and you want to make it harder for us???

HC – get your head out of your tightly bound gutter. Make ebooks library friendly. You may not miss the sales you don’t get when libraries quit buying your digital titles, and you may not even register a blip in revenue when we cut back drastically on the number of physical copies we purchase from your catalog. But pay attention to this – when our patrons ask us why we don’t have a certain title or why we don’t have a lot of copies or formats available, we’ll be VERY happy to tell them that HarperCollins is a library-unfriendly publisher and we feel that doing business with HarperCollins is NOT GOOD USE OF THEIR TAX DOLLARS. We will also give them your contact information that they may also register their displeasure with your electronic publishing practices.

Librarians may be nice but we are not without influence.

The Relevance of Libraries

2011-01-27T20:10:00.000-08:00

I am sharing this article because I think it's important. It also speaks well of my library...

Thanks to WAFB, Channel 9. Baton Rouge, LA.

Woman says library gave her second chance at life

Posted: Jan 27, 2011 5:29 PM CST Updated: Jan 27, 2011 9:19 PM CST

Click image to enlarge

By Tyana Williams - bio | email
BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - The main library on Goodwood Boulevard will have a brand new building in two years. But until then, one woman is speaking out to make sure those plans aren't getting taken off the table. Sharon Bell says with all the crime in her neighborhood, the library became her second home.
The Goodwood branch is by far the busiest library location. Librarians say the main branch sees around 1,500 people a day.
Sharon Bell is what you might call one of their regulars. "I can literally walk you through this library and tell you where every book is," she said.
Bell says the books were a blessing. She says her neighborhood has its share of criminal activity, so when things got crazy she gathered her son and went to the library. In fact, she says she began visiting the library six days a week and staying for about eight hours a day.
Bell came to Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina destroyed her home. She says initially she was trying to fill out FEMA paperwork, but realized she needed to do more to better herself.
"My first day of college was here at the library. I enrolled in college here, I attend college here," Bell said. She says librarians began to take notice she was spending all day in the building. But as soon as she told them her story, they began pointing her in the right direction for research help.
Now that the branch expanding, Bell says she's hoping to encourage others. She wants to help someone else find a way out of a situation similar to hers.
"I am a single mother. My husband got murdered in New Orleans. So coming here changed my life. There was a lot of help here for us, if you wanted it," Bell said. "It's all been through a book, a simple book."
Construction on the new library should break ground in the spring. As for Sharon Bell, she says she's set to graduate from college in May.
Copyright 2011 WAFB. All rights reserved.

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On Being a Personal Librarian

2011-01-21T08:23:00.000-08:00

I'm a reference librarian. I find information. I show people how to use databases. I solve puzzles. I am not a Readers Advisor.

For one thing, my own reading is pretty narrow. I hate mysteries. Bodice rippers bore me anymore. The most popular authors in the most popular genres just don't do it for me. My non-fiction reading is totally devoted to food. I do read science fiction and fantasy -- and the occasional thriller. I also read chick lit, but I'm getting over it. But unless you like to read what I like to read, I'm no help to you. Reading is personal to me and I'm not going to read stuff just to be useful.

That said, for the last 8 months, I've been my mother's Personal Librarian.

That she even trusted me to pick books for her says a lot about my mother's belief in my abilities as a librarian (or maybe she was just using me). She wasn't quite as narrow in her reading as I -- but she did hate mysteries, was bored with bodice rippers, and indulged in the VERY occasional thriller. However, she did NOT read science fiction and fantasy. She liked Danielle Steele! She liked Southern fiction -- but none of the authors you'd expect someone who liked Southern fiction to read. She liked historical novels, but no Elizabethan settings (what did she have against Elizabeth??). I could go pre-Eliz and post-Eliz, but Eliz herself? Anathema!! She read Christian fiction, but I had to be careful with that. If it was too... sappy, she gave me the stink eye. She did like a good adventure story every now and then, and I managed to find a few that didn't get tossed back into the bookbag immediately (that was the definitive sign of choice failure). I will have to give her credit, though; if I did find a good one, she bragged on me Big Time -- throughout her reading of the book. I think she was worried that I'd stop trying if she didn't acknowledge my successes.

At first, I hated being responsible for finding Mama's most important entertainment avenue. Reading was so much a part of who she was and it was her biggest act of daily living. It freaked me out, and I dreaded the Tuesday night book pull. But as the weeks wore on, I started to view it as a reference question -- a puzzle to be solved for a favorite patron. I found myself making her book choices in much the same way I would approach constructing a search for a difficult topic. I didn't look for similar authors -- that blew up on me early on. But I looked for similar themes. I read a few pages of possible titles and considered how the book "read" -- would she find the writing style compelling or would she throw it in the bag by paragraph 3? Setting was often hit or miss (Elizabeth I was a good example of a miss), but I got pretty good at figuring out that a book set in Montana in 1843 would not go over, but that a book set in Missouri at the same time would probably make the table rather than the bag. Being Mama's Personal Librarian started to be fun.

Now that job has ended. I'll miss the Tuesday night book pull and trying to second guess her reading taste. I'll miss the disappointment of seeing 10 out of 12 books stay in the bookbag and the feeling of accomplishment that 6 books on the table brought. In some ways, being her librarian made me feel closer to her. It brought us together on a level that was more "friends" than "mother and daughter." It gave us something to talk about other than her health and the boredom of being homebound. I think my efforts to keep her in good books was successful overall. I know she'd say they were.

Midwinter Wrap-up

2011-01-16T07:35:00.000-08:00

My committee, RUSA/RSS Management of Reference, is winding up its revision of the Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers. (Is it just me, or is the title of this document entirely too long?) We'll be submitting the revision for comments later this Spring and hope to have them approved and ready for publication after annual. This will be the 2nd revision of the Guidelines and I think it has been the easiest by far. We only needed to do a little tweaking.

If you're not familiar with this venerable document, it is perhaps one of the best docs produced by ALA. It is a roadmap for reference services, applicable to any type of library. It's well written (although the language is a little too academic for my taste) and does an excellent job of addressing staff behaviors in just about any reference delivery situation. If you work in a reference situation, or manage one, you really should read it. Most of you will be pleased to see that you're already following the guidelines. And for those who read it and find something new -- kudos!! If you incorporate the new information into your services, they'll only improve both the patron and the staff experience.

I went to an interesting EBSCO Advisory Board meeting too, but I'm not at liberty to discuss what occurred there (confidentiality agreement); however, I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed having input on new concepts and products. And the EBSCO staff takes extremely contructive criticism very well. It was cute to see their shoulders slump when the group didn't like something and then watch them all perk up when they got positive feedback. I was also very impressed with the comments from my colleagues -- all public librarians. It's exciting to see what "takes" other public librarians have on the services we offer and how they think that certain kinds of products will meet the needs of their patrons. We are all so different, and yet so much the same...

At my 3rd meeting of the conference, I met with the good folks from Credo Reference and Springshare (developers of LibGuides and LibAnswers) to provide input on the possible intergration of Credo and LibGuides. Boy, was I happy to do that!! I love Credo and I love LibGuides!! I really hope that their ideas work out -- I could really get behind having our guides show up in Credo Topic pages. And if it's easier to point patrons to Credo within a guide, even better!! I can see this marriage making reference life better for staff and patrons.

My one disappointment at Midwinter was a lack of time in the exhibits. I always enjoy visiting my vendors and rooting out new services for my library, and I wasn't able to devote my usual time chunk to it this year. My two brief forays into the exhibit hall only allowed me to say hi to a couple of folks. Oh well... There's always New Orleans.

eBooks End of the Year Awards

2010-12-27T19:03:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays! I'm late with the sentiment, I guess, but whatever works... Somebody is still celebrating something. I decided to spend a little time in between Christmas and New Years bestowing a few awards that I just made up in my head. I'm cranky -- but I'm fair. Here goes:

End of the Year Kudos go to Barnes & Noble. I just tried to find an Overdrive ebook to download and almost every ebook that we added in the last 2 months was checked out! YAY! The colornook has really taken off here and our Overdrive offerings certainly show it. I know that the nook sold well for Christmas because our local B&N was using Overdrive access as a selling point -- and several of the staff witnessed actual sales happen (we were wrapping presents there). AND we had some trouble with the Overdrive site over the Christmas weekend and I got a LOT of questions from new nook owners.

fyi... Our ebook checkouts in the 1st 9 months of 2010 were 150% higher than the same period in 2009 -- I anticipate a similar upswing in checkouts in 2011. Again, thanks B&N!!

End of the Year Frowny Face goes to the Literati ebook reader. Unlucky patrons who received one of these readers have had nothing but trouble, based on the emails and phone calls I've dealt with. And come to find out the Literati isn't compatible with Windows 7!! WT...??? Hope they get that little problem fixed. I don't expect that Literati owners will be adding to our ebook stats any time soon. Literati has added to my supply of wrinkles in only a couple of weeks! Bleh.

End of the Year Quizzical Expression goes to

library staffers who don't read the emails that tell them the Kindle is not compatible with Overdrive
library staffers and patrons who think that just because a reader can get online wirelessly, they can download books wirelessly. People -- that wireless access feature is designed to SELL books, not access free ones. Duh.

End of the Year ClunkFest recipient is Overdrive for their super-clunky mobile app. Yes, it works. Yes, I use it. Yes, I wish it weren't so CLUNKY!!!!! OMG!! I have to find the book I want on the actual website, then go look for it on the mobile app so I can download it. It's a ClunkFest. 'Nuff said.

End of the Year Best iDevice eBook App award goes to Bluefire Reader!! I can read both EPUB and pdf formats on my iPad, thereby avoiding the ClunkFest (and the EPUB-only limitation). And I can either email the downloaded book or use the **DropBox app to get it to my iPad. And the books look GREAT!!

**Runner up for this award is DropBox just for its overall convenience factor.

So that's it for this year in eBooks. I'll see you in San Diego.

Reference Catch-22

2010-11-21T18:34:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was directed to Library Journal to read Jean Costello's unsettling blog post about her experience with local reference services, Why I Don't Use Libraries for Reference Anymore. I try to remain upbeat about the future of reference, but this post kind of did me in. I was going to respond to her, but decided to post my response here instead:

As the head of a reference division in a public library, I cringed as I read your post. And I live in fear that one day, a patron just like you will visit my staff and have a similar experience. But one point your post brought home to me was one I've been concerned about for awhile and am not sure how to address.

Back in the day, when we used books (almost exclusively) to answer reference questions, we were answering more questions just like yours. The staff was familiar with that kind of question and was better armed to answer it -- not because our resources were deeper then, but because the staff's experience was. As I look over the questions we are asked today, I find very few that require the kind of knowledge of resources that yours did. In fact, I'm not sure how many of my staff would even know look for poetry explication sources to answer your question. I know that some of them would, but the younger/newer ones might not think of looking for an explication resource unless they had been lit majors. They may not even know the term to start looking for it.

This isn't entirely a matter of poor training -- if it were, I wouldn't be as worried about it. It's a matter of using knowledge of resources plus acquiring more knowledge over time -- and that's just something that isn't happening like it used to. I can train staff to use databases and books, but if they rarely have the need to use them after training, they lose what they learned. (Reference work ain't like riding a bicycle.) I can also send out a tough weekly reference question as a training tool, but even that is only putting a tiny band-aid on an ever-growing sore. If our reference staffs don't get constant reinforcement and regular challenges (the kind that can only be had by assisting patrons like you on a regular basis), they won't grow into knowledgeable critical thinkers, and reference service will slowly atrophy into the the kind of service described in your post -- a source of pleasant conversation and general information.

Our LibGuides Renamed -- the Submissions

2010-11-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

I said I'd share the names that were suggested for what we currently call Research Guides. To refresh your memory -- we decided that Research Guides didn't really describe our Guides. Very few are "research" focused. But they are infomative.

Well, here's what we got:
411-Files
Clue U
DigiBytes
Easy Search
Expert Guides
Fast Facts
Fast Search
Find It Fast
Find It Guides
Find It Guides
Find It!
Finding Guides
Guide-o-matic
In the Know?
Info Click
Info Guides
Info Links
Info on the Run
Info Quick
Info Resources
Info To Go
Infoclicks
InfoFiles
Infolinks
Information Station
Infoscope
KNOWfiles
Knowledge Express
Lib Info Links
LibGuides
Library411
Pathfinders
RefFiles
RefGuides
Research Lite Guides
Search Help
Search-a-Guide
The 411
The Dirt
The Hook-Up
The L Files: The Truth Is In Here
The Scoop
Topic Tags
Topical Jungle

Got a favorite on this list? Let me know.

The LibGuides Conundrum

2010-11-16T16:15:00.000-08:00

Why don't more public libraries use LibGuides? I don't get it. They aren't expensive. You can make as many of them as you want. (You could base your entire library website on them.) They're really easy to create.

I can understand that small libraries with no budget might find them cost prohibitive, but if you have just a tiny bit of money to spend and you need to show a return on your reference/database/popular title/CD/audiobook, etc investment, it seems to me that you NEED LibGuides. They are a quick and easy way to promote your resources and collections -- and patrons use them! Our Great Reads for Teens guide averages over 700 hits a month and it gets no promotion. Sights & Sounds (CDs, DVDs, music etc) averages over 500 hits/month. We do a little promo via our blog, but generally our patrons manage to find the guides that they need and they seem to keep coming back to them.

LibGuides can take a couple of hours to put together. (Big Whoop!) But once you get one made you can update it in no time. Plus, you can reuse content by copying or linking -- so you don't have to recreate the wheel every time you need the wheel. Graphics are easy to add; YouTube videos are easy to embed. There are cool features like mouseover bubbles that make your library look like it's a tech savvy place. Each guide has a separate URL, so you can promote an individual guide easily. What's not to love?

If you're unfamiliar with LibGuides, check out our guides: EBRPL Research Guides
If you want more info visit their social networking site: The Springshare Lounge

LibGuides are worth looking into. Check them out.

Addendum: this librarian said it better than I did...

Where is the Single Sign-On Library Website?

2010-11-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

There are many frustrations in the library world, but for me, the biggest one is the login.

Our patrons do nothing but login to stuff. They log in to access their accounts. They login to place a hold. They login to to use the databases, to read an ebook, to download an audiobook. We've had automated catalogs and electronic, authenticated resources for YEARS now. Why are our patrons still logging in multiple times to use them???

The concept of the truly single sign-on is a mystery to just about everyone I talk to. For some reason nobody seems to grasp the idea of having patrons log in on the home page to get access to all our resources -- with NO MORE LOGINS! Whenever I broach the subject, the person I'm speaking to asks, "You mean your patrons have to login to each database individually?" Or, "Don't you have a database page?"

People, am I speaking Swahili in America?

Our patrons should be able to log in one time -- on our home pages -- and have seamless access to our resources from that point forward.

Think about it... How many websites do you use that require a login? About a million. After you login to one of these sites, do you have to keep doing it to access the content? No. So why do you have to keep doing it on the Library website?

Now, I'm not stupid. I know very well that the content on library websites is comprised of very disparate elements provided an infinite number of vendors. The catalog/ILS is one thing (that often doesn't communicate well with itself); databases are another thing; ebooks are their own thing; and downloadable content is a horse of a different color altogether. Big Whoop. Just because we get this stuff from different vendors who, in some cases, don't acknowledge the existence of the others, doesn't mean that we can't figure out a way to create seamless access.

I WANT EASY!!

When I go home, I want to go to my library site, create an account that consists of my username (whatever I want it to be), a password and my library card number. Once I create that account, I want to log in with my username and password and NEVER LOGIN AGAIN while I'm on the site. I want to click on the databases link and go straight to the database list. I want to click on a database link in a LibGuide (did I ever say how much I love LibGuides?) and go straight to that database to start my search. I want to click on a link that says Renew My Books and renew my books. Right then. I want to access the content of an ebook straight from the catalog. I DO NOT want to login to Overdrive separately.

Isn't integrated access to all our resources something we should be demanding? Isn't the single sign-on the only thing that really makes sense if we want to see a real return on our resource investment?

I am Picard. Make it so.

Renaming LibGuides

2010-11-03T18:36:00.000-07:00

We got LibGuides a couple of years ago. (I LOVE LibGuides!!) When we started with them, we thought about calling them "How Do I? Guides" but we eventually decided to call them Research Guides. Sounds serious and useful, right? Well, they get used. But we have realized that very few of them are really "research" guides. Our guides are more fun that that.

So I got on the web today to see what other libraries are calling their guides. Would you believe that almost all of them call them LibGuides?? Does "LibGuides" mean anything to patrons? I guess it does, but I always thought of "LibGuides" as a librarian-type name, not a patron-friendly name.

We aren't going to call our guides, LibGuides. That's just too weird. So we've started an contest to get the staff to come up with a new name. So far, the names we've gotten make me wonder if any of our staff members have ever even looked at our guides. If we get any good ones, I'll post them.

Post-Internet Librarian

2010-11-03T18:23:00.001-07:00

Sitting in the airport waiting to go back home is probably the best place to write a reflective blog post about the Internet Librarian conference. I'm certainly not distracted by anything... Unless boredom can be a distraction.

The ILC was not as great as I'd hoped it would be. Which is not to say I got nothing out of it. I did. I got plenty of validation. I found out that my library does a pretty good job of managing our online presence. We make sure we brand everything with our logo. We try to keep the same color palette on our various sites. And we've done our best to use consistent naming for our accounts, although, our reference name, eref, is too generic. Oh well. It's been around long enough now that our patrons know it.

I also found out that I have a better idea about how to strategize a strategic plan that I thought I did. That was a comfort, to be sure. I had recently been in a meeting about our technology plan and was poo-poo'd by the group concerning a suggestion I made. Found out my suggestion was accepted practice. (told you so). I also found out a whole lot more about developing a strategic plan. This was a very good thing since I plan on doing one in the very near future. Internet Librarian really helped me prepare for that task.

And I learned about failure at IL. Not that there's a lot to learn about it -- we have all failed at one time or another. Anyone remember thin clients??

I attended a couple of programs that dealt with library fails. I was surprised at some of them. Reference in 2nd Life? Has anyone had true success with that? Granted i heard only a brief synopsis of this library's SL adventure, but it sounded to me like part of the fail was that they didn't want to answer the kinds of questions they got. People wanted to know how to put on clothes. That's a legit SL question. It's also a public library-type question. I mean, we'd answer it -- and count it in our stats for the day. I guess the academic library that was presenting this particular fail didn't realize the SL is a community, not a campus? It took me awhile to figure out how to dress that avatar when I first joined SL. Too bad we weren't doing SL reference then. I could have been the Naked Librarian!

I don't think I'll be bucking to go back to Internet Librarian anytime in the near future. I'm glad I got to go this time and I'm sure I'll find a reason to go again, but I think I'll stick to ALA for the time being.

If Wishes were Fishes...

2010-10-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I wish that Overdrive's delivery element wasn't so clunky! Wait. Let me rephrase...

Oh, how I wish Overdrive's delivery method was more streamlined! That's better. More streamlined... as in a single computer-resident software application that accommodates both audio- and e- books.

Or an application that would allow WMAs to work on a Mac (What? They work with iTunes...).

Or an iDevice app that tells you to log in before you do anything else.

OH! How I wish their help file was navigable! (I also wish patrons would actually look at it.)

I really wish the publishers would pick a single DAMN industry-standard format for audiobooks and ebooks and make it so we all can access the titles we want, whether we borrow them from the library or buy them from Amazon. And use them on any device we happen to own. (And I thought the recording industry was bad!) Jeeze!

I wish our patrons would take advantage of the great stuff we provide for them. We have free music downloads! That you can keep!! Why aren't you downloading constantly? Do you prefer to steal the music off our CDs?

I wish the reference staff would go to Credo first rather than Wikipedia. I also wish they'd learn how to do a basic search in Westlaw. It ain't that hard.

I really wish I ruled the world.

Marketing Reference

2010-10-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

Marketing Reference is a BIG THING these days -- and with good reason. Our patrons have discovered that they can actually find information on the internet! Consequently, we don't answer as many reference questions. Horrors!!

We like to think that our citizens can't find "good" information on their own -- that they wallow around in wikipedia citing half-baked articles in term papers and quoting misinformation to their friends. Would that this were the case. Wake up, Librarians! Patrons have learned to find useful info without us. We've spent several years teaching them how and they are definitely catching on. I regularly talk to patrons who have already used the resources I want to direct them to. They know about databases and how to use them. They tell me about good sites to include in libguides. What's a reference librarian to do? Sit back and wait for my job to be cut? Not on your life! I'm getting out there and telling those hapless suckers who haven't visited a library in years all about our reference services.

Yes, indeed. I'm going to market reference to the Great Uninformed.

Sometimes it actually works. Several years ago we started attending the local business expo. We barked at the front of the booth like doormen on Bourbon Street. We grabbed stragglers by the elbow ("What's your line of business?") and steered them to the computer for a magical demonstration of the next cool thing -- databases! ("All you need is a library card. And it's FREE!"). The guys from the Geek Squad actually got excited about Safari Tech Books and I got a love note from a young guy who made cold calls for his firm. I showed him Reference USA.

Marketing reference is harder now. It's more about marketing the library than it is about marketing information services. At my library I've started an outreach program that will provide computer classes to folks in assisted living. So far, we've visited 4 sites. They all want us to come back. Is this marketing reference? Sort of -- reference provides computer education in our system. But it's really marketing a library service. I was on TV twice this month, talking about our newest databases: Freegal, Opera in Video and Music Online. Marketing reference? Not really. But reference is the place to find out how to use these databases.

Our most popular LibGuides (created and maintained by reference folks) are more successful as reference marketing tools. Here we can actually point to resources. YAY!! But the most popular guides are Great Reads for Teens (RA for fiction) and Music, DVDs and Movies. Not exactly reference guides. Fortunately, our Arts & Culture, People Connection and Baton Rouge Room guides are also well used, so I can consider LibGuides as a successful reference marketing tool.

I hear a lot about how reference has changed and might be in danger of becoming obsolete. Reference as an information function has changed since I started out 17 years ago -- we aren't researchers so much anymore. But one thing that hasn't changed about reference work and never will... Patrons look to us for answers: how to cope with technology; where to find cheap/free entertainment options; how to find job opportunities or social support. It doesn't matter that they can more easily find things on their own. They will always need help; we will always be there to provide it.

After the ebook Summit

2010-10-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

I attended the Library Journal ebook summit the other day -- Libraries at the Tipping Point. I find the title of the summit an interesting one. The title implies that ebooks could be the thing that tips the balance for libraries. The image it conjures for me is one of the library balanced on a fulcrum of patron expectation.

In late 2010, public libraries are negotiating a delicate landscape of serving two groups with very divergent expectations: patrons who expect a traditional library experience and view digital materials and services with indifference, if not skepticism, and patrons who are technologically engaged and expect more and more digital services and materials. Will ebooks shift the balance of patron expectation? Nope. The shift has already taken place.

Today, even the most technologically backward patron expects us to provide instant answers via the internet, whether we find the answer quickly online or merely deliver it to them that way. They want us to teach them how to use digital technology, no matter that they don’t own a personal computer or digital device. Everyone (pretty much) uses email. Technology has become part of the traditional library experience. The tipping point is not the digital product – it’s the delivery.

Which brings me back to the ebook summit… Delivery, or the lack of it, was a common theme.    We’ve gotten pretty good at delivering services and adapting to changes in how services can be delivered. Materials – ebooks, audiobooks, video, music – are another matter. How do we deliver the digital goods? Part of the problem is out of our hands; platforms and formats are in a state of flux that will have to be waited out.   But compounding the problem -- patrons use a thousand different devices to access our stuff.   Remember when the iPod wouldn't play an Overdrive audio? Or when Netlibrary only worked with 2 obscure players? Patrons don't get it when their XYZ mp3 player can't play WMA files or their Kindle can't read every ebook out there. We look like chumps where delivery is concerned.

But we'd look like bigger chumps if we didn't offer what so many patrons want.

I didn't get any answers at the ebook summit. But I did find out that I'm not alone in my frustration with digital delivery and in my concern that the content and formats I've been buying could easily go the way of the betamax. So I take what comfort I can in the realization that books on CD replaced books on tape and the world didn't end. And that downloadable books will slowly eclipse physical ones. Life is change; and change in Library Land is kind of slow, but it's inevitable nonetheless.   We'll deal.

Internet Librarian Conference, Here I come!

2010-09-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

Looks like I'm going to the Internet Librarian Conference this year. It will be my first time to go. I've wanted to go before, but felt like it would be an exercise in frustration. Now we have new administration and some institutional changes, and I'm looking forward to learning some things I'll actually be able to implement. Amazing!

This spring I attended a quick & dirty reference conference at Tulane. My reference tech guru and I were the only public librarians there. What's with that? It wasn't expensive and we drove down both days. Whatever... We both learned a lot and found out about a couple of techie things we were itching to implement when we got home. Within a week of the conference, I had chat reference going (Bless LibraryH3lp!!), LibX installed on all the staff computers (that was a new one for us), and a trial of Reference Universe in the wings. I call that a useful conference!

Speaking of LibraryH3lp... If you're having problems with your IT folks implementing chat reference, this happy app will definitely improve your chances. It's hosted externally so you don't need a new server, and you can limit access to chat. We do it only through our website, so the IT people aren't so paranoid about network compromise. We get a lot of play just through the website. Pump up the ref stats, y'all!

Having had such a great experience at Tulane, I'm really jumpin' to get to the Internet Librarian. One of my goals for the coming year is to gather all our digital library stuff into one spot -- a digital branch full of ebooks, databases, libguides, music, archives, and, of course, the catalog. It's not like you can't get to all our online content through the website, but how much cooler would it be to have it all in one area? So I have high hopes that attending ILC will get me going and give me the tools I need to get started. I love starting new things!! So exciting!

Review: The Faded Sun Trilogy by CJ Cherryh

2010-09-24T15:31:00.001-07:00

I just re-read this book and loved it just as much as the first time I read it. But this time I realized that this is the "original" version of Cherryh's wonderful Foreigner series. Well, it's not really the original, but it reads like the "origin."

A lone human is forced to adapt to a confusingly different, yet familiar, alien mindset (mri) -- and to act as a go-between and cultural translator for humans and mri.

Cherryh's writing style is less confusing in this book than it is in Heavy Time (one of her most confusing); however, she does like to just set you down in her world without any preamble, leaving you to navigate the new environment much as the human character, Duncan, has to. But this book has the hallmarks of a great Cherryh story -- wonderfully realized aliens, the mri and the Regul; politics, politics, politics; military intrigue; culture clash; and a little religious fervor thrown in for good measure.

It's a good adventure too.

If you've already read the Foreigner series, then you should really backtrack and read this one. If you haven't read Foreigner (and you really, really should), then read Faded Sun and then move on up. It's a good first taste and a satisfying read.

A Review of Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer (audio version)

2010-09-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

What FUN!!! This audiobook is a great adventure story with an engaging heroine. And the reader, Katherine Kellgren, is magnificent!!!

Mary "Jacky" Faber, street urchin of London, becomes a ship's boy on a British Naval vessel in 1800. She manages to maintain her disguise and has some great adventures just trying to keep everyone on board fooled. In typical English naval adventure fashion, Jacky has to contend with bad men, cannonballs, marooning, and pirates. She learns to be a sailor, seamstress, singer, and penny-whistle-artist extraordinaire. She even learns to be a girl -- but she's not very good at it.

The pace is fast and you root for Jacky from start to finish. In fact, she's so engaging that I went right out and got the 2nd book. It was like Harry Potter all over again!

Although Bloody Jack is a teen title, adults who enjoy fast-paced adventure stories, historical novels, or even Brit naval stories will find it a fun read. My 76 year old mother has read the whole series.

I'm listening to the 3rd book right now and am looking forward to books 4 and 5. It's a great listen or read.

The need for a blog

2010-09-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

Despite the title, I don't need to blog. I just need a blog. It's a career thing. I'm a public librarian. I don't publish -- my job doesn't hinge on publishing. I DO write. A lot.

I write myriad emails to everyone on earth. I write copy for web pages and brochures. I write letters of recommendation; letters to irate patrons; letters to vendors... I tweet and post on Facebook. I spend most of my days and nights writing. And yet. When it comes to "showing off" my writing in a professional capacity, I have nothing to show! Not one published article. My tweets are about food or music gigs. My posts are my tweets -- or they're comments on things my friends have posted about.

So here's my dilemma. I'm going to run for an "office" in a major professional association. As I was filling out the form, there it is. List Publications (limit to only 3 publications!). Put on the BIG BRAKES! I have no publications. I have the aforementioned emails, copy and letters. Tweets and posts. What to do? I want to be taken seriously as a candidate. Academic librarians are voting! They publish! I can't pull publications out of my...

book bag!

Then it came to me. I can blog. Librarians take blogging seriously. I will be a serious Librarian Blogger. I will be profound and insightful. For about 3 posts.