April 2008
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Month April 2008

no babies in the library!!

Young babies and toddlers can sometimes be loud in the library. They scream and run around, often disrupting real patrons’ placid library experience. Parents have no control. These little menaces really have no place in our buildings. NO BABIES OR TODDLERS IN THE LIBRARY!!

Is there any library that would dare post this sign or slide down this slippery slope thought process? No library would post a sign like this, but plenty of library think like this, right? Replace “babies” with “cell phones” and see what happens.

Cell phones can sometimes be loud in the library. They ring loudly, often disrupting patrons’ placid library experience. People have no control. These little menaces really have no place in our buildings. NO CELL PHONES IN THE LIBRARY!!

Not too far from what we really see in practice, eh?

The point that I’m sure I’ve written about here before is that if librarians are going to take up this issue they need to concentrate on patron behavior, not specific devices. These devices can be used silently in a multitude of ways, just like babies and toddlers can be in the library without screaming. And if *gasp* on occasion a baby screams or someone’s phone plays the “La Macarena,” so what? It is simply part of this wonderful and sometimes messy existence in the Public. If you wouldn’t dare put up a sign like the one above, you similarly shouldn’t put up such a sign about a phone. After all, more people enter your building with a phone than a baby. Won’t somebody please think of the cell phones?

Note: This morning I had the idea to start a repository of good, positive signage for libraries. I might still make some signs that people can use to replace their crummy, mean signs in the upcoming days but I got sidetracked with this!

walking paper scraps

Zkimmer
Browse magazines with Google Maps controls. It actually works pretty well.

The hours of operation are perhaps not the sexiest aspect of a library website, but they are nonetheless a “killer app,” providing a small, crucial bit of information for your users. Great intro to the article Using Google Calendar to Manage Library Website Hours in the Code4Lib Journal

Line Game
My favorite time killer since Line Rider. I feel like a lab rat. Every time I fail I get so mad and have to try again. And again.

The importance of the mobile web
A fantastic post by Fiona Bradley. I like it because the content is valuable. I like it because she lays it all out in a clear and professional way.

Adidas no.74 concept store
Here’s a case of a company knowing their market. Adidas is connecting to their community, so to speak, through a low key and underground design aesthetic. Even before customers enter the store they’re being told that Adidas understands them and that they’re on common ground. What does this do? It increases brand allegiance. I’m not suggesting that libraries necessarily open up graffiti covered storefronts with no signage, but rather that we think about connecting with our communities – physical and otherwise – on this level.

v. important reference item

The CIA’s library has a copy of “Danger Man” aka “Secret Agent.”

originally uploaded by goppenheim

P.S. I did some spy work on my own and noticed that the CIA’s holdings appear to not be in worldcat.org. Huh.

iLike the iSchool

Last Friday I had the honor of giving the first talk in the newly resurrected Margaret Chisholm Lecture series. Over 100 LIS students, alumni, and faculty spent a portion of their evening talking about the read/write web with me. LIS on a Friday night? My kinda folks for sure. I even got to meet my Flickr friend Jen Waller face to face. Nice!

They made some great posters for the event:

And had a big screen:

Here’s a pdf of my slides for the event: Libraries and the Read/Write Web. [11 MB]

Someone asked about what I read to keep up with all of the cool things happening on the web and in libraries. I managed to recommend using a feed reader and name a few blogs. I didn’t give a very exhaustive list mostly because my incoming self selected information stream is such a blur. I probably couldn’t name a quarter of the weblogs I subscribe to, I just pick out the interesting bits when they pop up.

To make up for my weak answer I promised to list some blogs that could make a little starter kit for keeping track of what’s happening with libraries and the read/write web. You’ll notice it is mostly non-library blogs. I’m not slighting library blogs, just highlighting the point that we need to get outside of the library and related writing.

Tech stuff
Gizmodo
NYT Technology

Design
Signal vs. Noise
information aesthetics
swissmiss

General
kottke.org
Lifehacker
TechCrunch

Misc
Pasta&Vinegar
Pink Tentacle
Wired Top Stories

Libraries
Librarian.net
LibraryCrunch
LibraryBytes
The Shifted Librarian
Swiss Army Librarian

Two more points. First, don’t click around to all of these sites every day. Use a feed reader to bring the information to you. To learn about that, see RSS in Plain English. Also, don’t limit yourself to these blogs and their feeds. Find some blogs relevant to you and your hobbies. This will get you in the habit of checking your reader frequently.

Thanks to everyone that made it a great event.

Gaming (& Gadgets!) Night at Computers in Libraries

What: Gaming (& Gadgets!) Night
Where: CIL 2008, Jefferson Room
When: Sunday, April 6th, 5:30-8:00 pm
How much: FREE
Who: You and other people interested in gaming

Jenny Levine and I have given a few gaming workshops at past Computers in Libraries and Internet Librarian conferences. After the sessions we’ve opened up the room to anyone interested in playing some games and/or learning about gaming. It’s proven to be a popular and really fun time, so this year Information Today has turned the post-workshop gameplay into a featured event. With refreshments even!

Computers in Libraries 2008

We’ve assembled an impressive array of games!

Systems: Nintendo Wii, Playstation 2, and Xbox 360. We’ll also have two Nintendo DS handhelds.

Games: Wii Sports, DDR, Hotel Dusk, Guitar Hero III, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Wario Smooth Moves, whatever you bring, and Rock Band.

Since we’ll have three systems going at once, we’re opening up the option of an honest to goodness tournament with prizes. You probably want to know which game, huh? Well, it’s up to you. Sign up in the comments here or at a page we’ve created on the CIL08 wiki titled CIL08 Gaming Night to play Rock Band, Guitar Hero, or DDR. We’ll play whichever game gets the most signups!

In addition, Chris Harris is bringing some modern board games. Bring your own games, bring your latest shiny, new gadgets, and we’ll see you Sunday night!

Gaming (& Gadgets!) Night at Computers in Libraries

What: Gaming (& Gadgets!) Night
Where: CIL 2008, Jefferson Room
When: Sunday, April 6th, 5:30-8:00 pm
How much: FREE
Who: You and other people interested in gaming

Jenny Levine and I have given a few gaming workshops at past Computers in Libraries and Internet Librarian conferences. After the sessions we’ve opened up the room to anyone interested in playing some games and/or learning about gaming. It’s proven to be a popular and really fun time, so this year Information Today has turned the post-workshop gameplay into a featured event. With refreshments even!

Computers in Libraries 2008

We’ve assembled an impressive array of games!

Systems: Nintendo Wii, Playstation 2, and Xbox 360. We’ll also have two Nintendo DS handhelds.

Games: Wii Sports, DDR, Hotel Dusk, Guitar Hero III, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Wario Smooth Moves, whatever you bring, and Rock Band.

Since we’ll have three systems going at once, we’re opening up the option of an honest to goodness tournament with prizes. You probably want to know which game, huh? Well, it’s up to you. Sign up in the comments here or at a page we’ve created on the CIL08 wiki titled CIL08 Gaming Night to play Rock Band, Guitar Hero, or DDR. We’ll play whichever game gets the most signups!

In addition, Chris Harris is bringing some modern board games. Bring your own games, bring your latest shiny, new gadgets, and we’ll see you Sunday night!

Hill made a print!



For Aaron.

Originally uploaded by hilweber