Bronwyn's Library Blog

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

web 2.0 - a new generation of service

From Phil Bradley

There are many Web 2.0 applications, they’re becoming more popular and more are being added all the time.

There are many ways in which these applications can help library or information services perform more effectively, and indeed add entirely new services for users.

Read the whole post

library

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

the Librarian - your technology partner

From Doug Johnson…

”Having a partner in any enterprise that seems risky lessens the fear factor and improves one's chance for success. When implementing a new project that uses technology, I whole-heartedly recommend asking your librarian to be your "technology partner." You will find that today's best librarians -- or library media specialists (LMSs) -- have…”Read on to find the eight qualities …

library

Monday, May 29, 2006

Interested in self-improvement?

I have a new blog devoted to personal improvement.

You're welcome to visit and catch up .. it's at Pivotal Personal Best.

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Saturday, May 27, 2006

The Terrible twos - Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and more

By Greg R. Notess

Parents often describe the trials and tribulations of raising 2-year-olds as “the terrible twos.” Movie sequels, although not called the terrible twos, rarely equal and even less frequently exceed version 1.0. So what is a searcher to make of the recent spate of sequels and twos on the Net?

We have Web 2.0 and its offspring, and relatives such as News 2.0, Library 2.0, School Library 2.0, and 2.0 Culture. Do the sequels live up to their hype?-->http://www.infotoday.com/online/may06/OnTheNet.shtml

Friday, May 26, 2006

The legend of the library sinking under the weight of its books

Legend: A famed college library is sinking into the ground because its architect failed to take the weight of the books into account

Origins: A widespread belief at any number of colleges is that the school's library is slowly sinking into the ground because the architect failed to allow for the weight of the books which would be housed there after the building's completion.

Alternatively, college libraries with a significant number of unfilled shelves are rumored to be kept that way to stave off disaster — according to lore, if those shelves were loaded, the buildings would surely sink.

Such beliefs have been part of campus lore at least since the late 1970s, and current students may not realize their professors were hearing the very same tales when they themselves were undergraduates.

Some tales involve a misdesigned athletic facility for which the weight of the water in the swimming pool wasn't factored in; others deal with a residence hall which is sinking because its builder forgot to allow for the weight of the inhabitants and their possessions.

By far the most common form the legend takes, however, is that of the sinking library. Though a few libraries have experienced settling problems, none of them was the result of an addle-brained architect who left out the key calculation regarding the weight of the library's holdings

. Read on .

library

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Winner of the 2006 Libraries Change Lives Award

Library-based scheme working to decrease antisocial behaviour amongst young people in Sighthill area of Edinburgh has won the 2006 CILIP / LiS Libraries Change Lives Award. Winner of the 2006 CILIP/LiS Libraries Change Lives Award announced Read on …

library

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Developing a Digitisation Framework for your organisation

The Electronic Library 22(6):pp. 518-522.

Abstract

This paper describes how a Digitisation Framework was set up at the University of Auckland Library from 2001 - 2004. The elements of the framework are discussed, how it was developed and implemented and what was learnt from this. The purpose of the paper is to help organisations of any size and type to set up their own digitisation framework in the near future. Read on …

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Social bookmarking - for teaching and learning

Social Bookmarking: What are the Implications for Teaching and Learning (poster presentation)

library

tagging>

Monday, May 22, 2006

Engaged patrons

“ … provide website services connecting public libraries and their patrons. We handle the programming; you reap the benefits of being able to offer your users a more engaging and interactive web presence.” Visit Engaged patrons.org

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Friday, May 19, 2006

The Orange Prize for Fiction

Shortlist 2006

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss Find out more

Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel Find out more

The Accidental by Ali Smith Find out more

On Beauty by Zadie Smith Find out more

Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living by Carrie Tiffany Find out more

The Night Watch by Sarah WatersFind out more

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Thursday, May 18, 2006

Grow your organisation

Grow your organisation with information on organisation management, publicity and recruitment, leadership and meetings.

Visit my organisation web pages.

tag:organisation.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Kids unplug for library books

A Massachusetts library is offering children tote bags full of books in exchange for a vow to swear off TVs and PCs during vacation.

Read on ...

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Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Pulitzer prize winner/poet laureat, Stanley Kunitz dies

NEW YORK - Stanley Kunitz, a former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner whose expressive verse, social commitment and generosity to young writers spanned three-quarters of a century, has died.

He was 100....

He served a single one-year term as U.S. poet laureate and was also the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, the precursor to poet laureate, from 1974 to 1976.

His poems included tributes to nature and wildlife, such as "The Snakes of September," the traumatic memories of "The Portrait," in which he recalled his father's suicide, and the spiritual journey of "The Long Boat," with his wish "To be rocked by the Infinite!/as if it didn't matter which way was home."

His early work was more formal, more dependent on rhyme and meter, but he anticipated his own evolution with the poem "Change," with its promise of "Becoming, never being."

Over time, his verse simplified, crystalized, with Kunitz once observing that he had learned to "strip the water out of my poems."

Read more ...

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Monday, May 15, 2006

Annual Library and Information Week Trivia Night

It's on again!

Put it in your diary now!

ALIA Quorum would like to invite you to the Annual Library andInformation Week Trivia Night.

Date: Monday 22nd MayTime: 6:00 pmVenue: The Irish Club, 171 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane

Start organising your team now - registration will be one per team.Entry fee is the same as last year - $15 for non-members- $10 for students and members

Sunday, May 14, 2006

the Academic Search engine from Microsoft

Windows Live Academic

A new, Microsoft-based, online search engine focused on academic subjects is now live.

Called Windows Live Academic, it currently indexes content related to computer science, physics, electrical engineering, and related topics (with more than 6 million records from approximately 4300 journals and 2000 conferences) providing direct access to peer reviewed journal articles contained in academic and scientific online portals.

More subjects will be added in the near future

. Read more ….

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Saturday, May 13, 2006

Grow your organisation

Visit the Organisations Pages for tips and articles on leadership, public relations, communication and organisational management.

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Thursday, May 11, 2006

the death of Muriel Spark - the role of fate?

DAME MURIEL SPARK, acknowledged as one of Britain’s greatest novelists, has died aged 88 near the Italian village where she had lived for 27 years. She was the author of 22 novels, including The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which was made into an Oscar-winning film starring Maggie Smith. Read more …

Novelist who found her prime away from Miss Jean Brodie The role of fate in life fascinated Catholic convert who became exile in Italy

Read the article

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authors
writing
library

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

sexual discrimination is what it is despite the occupation of the perpetrator

So you'd like me to comment on you letter, Mr Phelps.

Christopher Phelps
Department of History
The Ohio State University at Mansfield
Mansfield, Ohio 44906
(419) 755 4380
historypolitics@aol.com

Did you choose me because I was a librarian? And if a lecturer in history at the University or Queensland in my home town were accused of sexual discrimination, would you expect me to think you would be interested because you are a lecturer?

Surely as a member of the human race, we would all hope that any sexually discriminatory behaviour would be curtailed, no matter whether it was a person of our own occupation or someone else's.

I suspect it was just so you could have an inbound link. Well, for what it's worth here is your link.

Monday, May 08, 2006

"Forward this to your colleagues. Keep building strong communities of library people who care about each other. It's what we humans do best."

Read on …

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Sunday, May 07, 2006

Google steps up its search technology

Google steps up its search technology

Google has acquired the rights to a new search technology that offers instant answers to queries without the need to go to another website.

The leading search engine is reported to have won against rival bids from Yahoo and Microsoft for the technology, developed at the University of New South Wales in Australia

. Read more …

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Saturday, May 06, 2006

Better grades? Thank a librarian

The following article appeared in the Toronto Sun, Friday, April 7th,2006.

Libraries tied to student achievement

Study makes case for training, funding

"...first Canadian study linking school libraries to student achievement indicates that better libraries improve student testscores and add to kids' reading enjoyment. The Ontario School Library Association says the research, released yesterday, is the evidence it needs to make a case for more trained school librarians and better-stocked shelves.

"There's such a clear link between libraries and student achievement. I don't know how the minister (of education) can ignore it," said association president Michael Rosettis.

The study by Queen's University professor Don Klinger was based on provincial test scores and attitudinal information collected by the province's Education Quality and Accountability Office. That information was married with data on the state of elementary school libraries gathered by the provincial parent group, People for Education. Klinger's study of 800 elementary schools and about 50,000 students showed that schools without trained teacher-librarians were more likely to score lower on grades 3 and 6 reading tests. Schools with teacher-librarians had proportionally more students who scored the highest levels on Grade 6 tests. The study found the biggest difference teacher-librarians made appeared to be in how much students enjoyed reading, said Klinger.

The research showed that the presence of a teacher-librarian accounted for a small shift in students' attitude to reading. It was a tiny variable, but given that researchers haven't been able to identify most of the factors affecting student achievement, it is significant, he said.

"If all school libraries were adequately staffed and sufficiently funded, just imagine the impact on student achievement," said Rosettis, a teacher-librarian at St. Augustine Catholic High School in Markham. Teacher-librarians are qualified teachers who've taken more courses to become librarians. They focus on integrating information technology with the curriculum, and work with teachers to design research units.

The $40,000 study was funded by the Ontario School Library Association, but conducted independently, Rosettis said.

U.S. studies have shown a link between student achievement and well-staffed, well-stocked school libraries. The librarians and People for Education say the Ontario government has made small steps to stem a 20-year decline in school libraries with a $17 million book grant last year and another $15 million last month. Rosettis said he hopes new education minister Sandra Pupatello will find the study compelling enough to consider designating dedicated funds to teacher-librarians and books. School boards get one librarian for every 769 students, but many schools don't have that many students and even when they do get a library allocation, some principals spend the money on other staffing and specialty teachers in physical education or music.

People for Education research shows that only 54 per cent of Ontario elementary schools had a full- or part-time teacher-librarian last year, compared with 80 per cent in 1997-'98. At Church Street Public School, full-time teacher-librarian Nancy Woodruff said she works with other teachers, looking for alternative curriculum materials to suit student needs, including those who haven't yet learned English and others with learning disabilities. "These children will have to know how libraries function to the end of their school days," she said, but every year she wonders if the school will be able to keep her in the library position. Principal Judy Gillis said she gets between $6,000 to $7,000 a year to stock the library but it's a struggle with so many competing priorities. Pupatello was not available for comment yesterday.

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Friday, May 05, 2006

Poetry visibility

Low cost suggestions to develop greater visibility for poetry during April and throughout the year.

Poets.org

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Thursday, May 04, 2006

Google Librarian newsletter

Google Librarian Newsletter
http://www.google.com/librariancenter/newsletter/0604.html
The third issue is available.

Really enjoying The Library Garden – conversational, pithy and looking at our issues through our eyes.

“In Robert Spector's book "Lessons from the Nordstrom Way" he devotes a whole chapter to "dumping the rules". Spector suggests, rightly so methinks, that every rule -- EVERY rule -- is a barrier between the library and the customer. If you feel resistance to this idea and start thinking about all of the reasons you need the rules, I ask you to ponder: Do the rules make things easier/better for your customer?”

Read the whole post

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Wednesday, May 03, 2006

I also have a blog where I can share some of the interesting, crazy, thought-provoking things I find when I'm prowling the net for research. You're welcome to visit.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

I also have a blog where I can share some of the interesting, crazy, thought-provoking things I find when I'm prowling the net for research. You're welcome to visit.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Managing Electronic Records


One of the biggest challenges faced by any organization today is that of manageing electronic records. Bringing together for the first time, the views, exerpience and expertise of international experts in the RM field in the public and the private sectors, this book covers the theory and practice of managing electronic records as business and information assets.

It focuses on the strategies, systems and procedures necessary to ensure that electronic records are appropriately created, captured, organised and retained over time to meet business and legal requirements. In addition to chapters covering principles and research and developments, there are case studies relating to practice and lessons learned.

2005 . 216pp . hardback . 1-85604-550-1

Available from Amazon for $89.95

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library

Tech essence

Roy Tennant started TechEssence to address the need for simple, easy to understand information about information technology. He is lucky to be joined by a stellar cast of individuals who contribute their unique perspectives on technology and its appropriate place in library service

: Visit the blog

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library
information technology


 
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