Author: theweelibrarian

Academic Librarianship - library 2.0 - reference

Find it here!

September 28, 2006 by 0 Comments

There’s a radio commercial that I heard this morning for the yellow pages (I think, I’m still waiting to hear the commercial again to confirm this). They are advertising themselves as the Find Engine. This got me thinking about our library catalogues again. The debate has been raging about how our OPACs suck and there is a lot of merit in the arguements for this. The biggest question is whether our students can Find It; are we a Find Engine, should we be? The number of students who come to the research help desk looking for materials in our catalogue, I’d say we are not a great find engine.  I’m not going to wade too deeply in the catalogue debate but perhaps we need to think of ourselves as Find engines.

Our library is presently undergoing transformation, a very exciting time as we start surveying all of the exciting opportunities we could be a part of. Part of a discussion at a meeting today turned towards blended librarianship. By considering learning theory, how students and faculty learn, rather than straight librarianship we may be able to move towards a catalogue that acts more as a Find engine. By considering how people learn, how they search, we can design more intuitive catalogues and help simplify the process. I’m interested on how this way of thinking would affect all aspects of the library, especially for instruction. A thought I think I will mull on for a while.

online info

Open Access

September 28, 2006 by 0 Comments

Just thought I would pass along word of two specialized agency databases that are providing developing countries with much needed scientific literature. One database, the Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture, is from FAO, while WHO offers the Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative program. Find more information at the UN Pulse blog. Open access is essential to developing countries and it’s good to see this being recognized.

tech

On the Tech Front

September 19, 2006 by 0 Comments

I’m very interested in technology but I must admit I’m a tech geek wannabe. I’m great at reading about new technology and software and maybe even playing at a very basic level. I don’t have the full grasp though, something I hope to gain in the future. Nonetheless, here are a couple of  tech announcements lately that could eventually have an impact on libraries. Computers may get even faster in the near future thanks to a sticky silicon. A projector the size of a sugar cube has been created for use with mobile phones, PDAs, laptops, etc. Stephen Abram raises some considerations for libraries.

odd stuff

Where Have All the Readers Gone?

September 18, 2006 by 0 Comments

Here’s a piece lamenting the fact that fewer people seem to be able to read, comprehend and retain larger works of writing. Are future generations of readers doomed? I certainly hope not, although I must admit, I do find myself reading too many small chunks thanks to emails and rss feeds. I finally sat down with a peice of fiction the other day and it felt good to read more than a page. In an effort to stave off the dark days ahead, I vow to read more than my emails and rss feeds. Gee darn…

odd stuff

Bada-bing! It’s here!

September 17, 2006 by 0 Comments

The new update of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is out and has added more terms to its prestigious pages. Some of the words included:

  • Bada-bing
  • Disneyfication
  • wi-fi
  • wonky

Maybe it’s just me, but I think some of these words belong in a slang dictionary rather than the OED, or maybe I just don’t hang around the right people (ie. those who use the words all the time).

library 2.0

Much Ado

September 14, 2006 by 0 Comments

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education (may require subscription), Facebook is planning on opening membership beyond university communities, much to the chagrin of the students. The academic library community has been debating whether we should have a presence in this area and it will be interesting to see if the decision to open membership changes opinions.

I’ve been interested in the place of the library in Facebook and have gone as far as setting up an account but not much more than that. All of this is particularly interesting as I’ve recently discovered a similar student site just for students at my institution, complete with chat and forums for discussions. While browsing the site as far as I could as a guest, I noticed a thread involving the library. I contacted the administrators to see if I could participate and, surprisingly to me, they said yes. I’ve had a lovely response to my presence, which is more than I was hoping for. I intend to check in occasionally to see if there are any library or research questions I can help with. Hopefully it will remain so positive.

Uncategorized

What’s Next?

September 12, 2006 by 0 Comments

Here’s a piece from the BBC which talks about a school plan in which students are fingerprinted before they can borrow a library book. At the moment, there is an opt-out option but it will be interesting to see how long that lasts and how long it will be before others follow suite. I realize books are precious but this is not the way to enforce it. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I also can’t see it making reading appealing to children. There are other programs for which fingerprinting is useful (child identification and such) but I don’t feel it’s necessary in the library.

Uncategorized

Let Us Remember

September 11, 2006 by 0 Comments

It is September 11, the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York. I’ll never forget when I heard about what was happening. I was in cataloguing class and during the break, someone turned on the tv. Unfortunately, once the break was over my professor came in and said “Sorry folks, but we’ve got cataloguing to do” and turned off the news coverage. It seemed a little heartless at the time. Nonetheless, my thoughts are with those who lost loved ones on this day. May it never happen again.