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Items added in June = 655 (T.=16; me=639)

• [last year = 900]

May = 1154 (T.=43; me=1111)
April = 691 (T.=54; me=637)
March = 867 (T.=154; me=713)
February = 708 (T.=43; me=665)
January = 491 (T.=43; me=448)
December = 266 (T.=55; me=211)
November = 761 (T.=105; me=656)
October = 524 (T.=38; me=486)
September = 691 (T.=83; me=608)
August = 754 (T.=60; me=694)
July = 491 (T.=110; me=381)

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Items added in May = 1154 (T.=43; me=1111)

• [last year = 732]

April = 691 (T.=54; me=637)
March = 867 (T.=154; me=713)
February = 708 (T.=43; me=665)
January = 491 (T.=43; me=448)
December = 266 (T.=55; me=211)
November = 761 (T.=105; me=656)
October = 524 (T.=38; me=486)
September = 691 (T.=83; me=608)
August = 754 (T.=60; me=694)
July = 491 (T.=110; me=381)
June = 900

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Tagging:

LibraryThing for Libraries. Very cool, very cool--can be added to existing catalog to help people develop their own reading lists. Here's a demo.

Book reviews, book club information, reading lists...WOWIE-ZOWIE, too freakin' cool! See and use revish! This is an unaffiliated site (well, unafiliated with a library).

The Book Jetty is affiliated with the National Library in Singapore. It's also way cool. And here's a quick way to add bookmarking to any site, at least that's the claim: AddThis. Love the name! These guys are using it; search for a book to see what the deal is....

Jenica did a long post from CIL about this, too.

Library-specific:

So, you wanna search all 50 state libraries for something without having to search 50-plus times? Try one of these custom-built searches.

The Kenton County Library has developed a way for patrons to customize searches in the new books and then RSS-ify the results. WAY cool.

Creating online content and general webby-goodness:

Got a picture you want to post, but don't want the rest of the page to clash? Go to the Color Palette Generator and play.

Whole bunches of thrills are here for pretty-fying your slice of the web.

The bad news is here: lots of infected websites. How clean is your computer? Sarah pointed this out, and then listed four different, FREE, ways to clean up the gunk.

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Items added in April = 691 (T.=54; me=637)

• [last year = 727 (T. = 78 ; me = 649)]

March = 867 (T.=154; me=713)
February = 708 (T.=43; me=665)
January = 491 (T.=43; me=448)
December = 266 (T.=55; me=211)
November = 761 (T.=105; me=656)
October = 524 (T.=38; me=486)
September = 691 (T.=83; me=608)
August = 754 (T.=60; me=694)
July = 491 (T.=110; me=381)
June = 900
May = 732

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Items added in March = 867 (T.=154; me=713)

• [last year = 857 (T. = 59 ; me = 798)]

February = 708 (T.=43; me=665)
January = 491 (T.=43; me=448)
December = 266 (T.=55; me=211)
November = 761 (T.=105; me=656)
October = 524 (T.=38; me=486)
September = 691 (T.=83; me=608)
August = 754 (T.=60; me=694)
July = 491 (T.=110; me=381)
June = 900
May = 732
April = 727 (T. = 78 ; me = 649)

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From Innings:

• A long list of proxies for people who are blocked out of the internet, or who want to block their location for any reason
• Free blog templates

From Catalogablog:

• I'm very intrigued by the concept of Social OPACs, or SOPACs. The idea of allowing patrons to tag the catalog appeals to me
• Weeding, every librarian's nightmare...here's help
• Can we find a way to provide RSS feeds to updates in our catalog, perhaps via Yahoo Pipes?

It's All Good links to a good use of YouTube for explaining how to use NetLibrary

I agree with lalcorn at Librarian's Rant that this is the best headline in quite a while

Librarian in Black has the usual long collection:

• Cool new resource for mystery readers. I could move in there for a few weeks at least
• Consumer Reports did a report (awhile back now) on the best-buys in prescription drugs
• People drop their kids at the library all the time. Libraries need policies on how to handle these sitautions, and there is a sort of clearinghouse for this. Thank goodness
• More stuff on social networking in the library
• Dopey DOPA is back...sigh....
• Utne Reader has begun a library column
• What works with what...in downloadable books

Loquacious Librarian has a couple of good points:

• Caffeinated bagels and donuts. Now that's a good idea!
• Boys will be boys, especially in winter

Lorcan Dempsey:

• More--LOTS!!--on collection development and weeding. Tons of stuff here
• These guys are trying out all kinds of stuff with their OPAC, trying to get the public as up to speed as the library staff
• The British Library has redone their website

Library Stuff:

• Is there a real social networking site in the States like this one in India and the Far East
• Most cameras in libraries are watching the patrons. This library installed one to watch the staff
• Google Reader is trying to usurp Bloglines' place in the world of blogs. [Personally, I still prefer Bloglines, but if Google can make using their product WAY less annoying, I'd switch. As of now, though, I'm headed off after this post to cancel the 10 or so feeds I've been using there. Icky.]
• As shocking as this is, the FBI actually misused the Patriot Act. Go figure.
• The library is the same as jail?

Stephen's Lighthouse (probably my last list o' links from here)

• 2007's bling technology, and...
• 2007's web predictions (yeah, I'm a little behind), AND...
• The top stories of 2006. So many I've already filed in the remainder bin
• I do love my lists, and here are a bunch for my other love: librariana
• Why people should love their librarian (NOT in the romantic sense, thank-you-very-much!)
• And why we librarians should get on our soapboxes

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Items added in February = 708 (T.=43; me=665)

• [last year = 542]

January = 491 (T.=43; me=448)
December = 266 (T.=55; me=211)
November = 761 (T.=105; me=656)
October = 524 (T.=38; me=486)
September = 691 (T.=83; me=608)
August = 754 (T.=60; me=694)
July = 491 (T.=110; me=381)
June = 900
May = 732
April = 727 (T. = 78 ; me = 649)
March = 857 (T. = 59 ; me = 798)

Amazing the amount of time I have, and the amount of work I get done when I'm not all panicked about merger issues!!

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Items added in January = 491 (T.=43; me=448)

• [last year = 544]

December = 266 (T.=55; me=211)
November = 761 (T.=105; me=656)
October = 524 (T.=38; me=486)
September = 691 (T.=83; me=608)
August = 754 (T.=60; me=694)
July = 491 (T.=110; me=381)
June = 900
May = 732
April = 727 (T. = 78 ; me = 649)
March = 857 (T. = 59 ; me = 798)
February = 542

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Items added in December = 266 (T.=55; me=211)

• [last year = 572]

November = 761 (T.=105; me=656)
October = 524 (T.=38; me=486)
September = 691 (T.=83; me=608)
August = 754 (T.=60; me=694)
July = 491 (T.=110; me=381)
June = 900
May = 732
April = 727 (T. = 78 ; me = 649)
March = 857 (T. = 59 ; me = 798)
February = 542
January = 544

2006 Total = 7,789
2005 Total = 8033
2004 (May-December) = 6,230

Since these numbers only tell part of the story, here are my "contact hours" (i.e. meetings attended for system business) for the past several years:

2003 = 4.5 (2 meetings), plus Book Blitz which took two days, and a Dewey session from TMQ on one day; TOTAL = 28.5 hours
2004 = 22.5 (10 meetings), plus 2-3 online training OCLC training sessions on Connexion; TOTAL = 27.5 hours
2005 = 35.5 hours (10 meetings, plus one two-day seminar requiring a 6-hour round-trip drive and overnight stay)
2006 = 52 (17 meetings of varying lengths, including three that required 6-hour round-trip drives), plus 6 teleconferences which aren't included in the master list, and three days in Boston for PLA (figured at 10 hours/day); TOTAL = 94 hours

Keep in mind that each regular meeting requires a two-hour round-trip drive.

And then there's all the mapping from III to Sirsi...which would only depress me if I totalled it up, so I won't.

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Items added in November = 761 (T.=105; me=656)

• [last year = 380]

October = 524 (T.=38; me=486)
September = 691 (T.=83; me=608)
August = 754 (T.=60; me=694)
July = 491 (T.=110; me=381)
June = 900
May = 732
April = 727 (T. = 78 ; me = 649)
March = 857 (T. = 59 ; me = 798)
February = 542
January = 544
December = 572

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Items added in October = 524 (T.=38; me=486)

• [last year = 665]

September = 691 (T.=83; me=608)
August = 754 (T.=60; me=694)
July = 491 (T.=110; me=381)
June = 900
May = 732
April = 727 (T. = 78 ; me = 649)
March = 857 (T. = 59 ; me = 798)
February = 542
January = 544
December = 572
November = 380

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It has become abundantly clear to me that,for the remainder of the time until we 'go live' on Sirsi, I am just not going to be able to keep up with technology news. My brain is on the verge of exploding (just as my head has totally come loose from my neck).

I'll still come and update the monthly stats I keep here, but that's all the time I foresee having (and only because I have to keep that somewhere after all!

See you in the spring!

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Today's posts are mostly from Library Stuff:

--There is at least one library who mails books to patrons, a la Netflix; this is how it works for the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library

--The state of Maine has created a "library use worth calculator"--my (conservative) total was $258. They even have instructions on how to customize this calculator for other libraries.

--Library Thing has competition. Shelfari is much more graphically-driven and more interesting to look at. It's merged social networking with cataloging books. Cool.

Meanwhile, the Heavy Metal Librarian goes on a rant about "compassionate" conservatism in the context of No Child Left Behind (a.k.a. by my circle, "No Teacher Left Standing"). What I find interesting--and helpful--is the scripture to which Aaron links to cite back at those who quote Bush's Bible at nay-sayers.

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most of these came from Librarian in Black:

• The Generator Blog--for everything you can think of from fortune cookies to poetry to typos
• Motivator
• Custom Sign Generator
• Letter James
• Image Chef

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· Catalogablog:

about XML tags for your site, the easy way; these can be transferred for Google Webmaster account
I missed Day Against DRM, but isn’t everyday a day worthy of being against it? If you don’t know, check this site

· Infomancy came across a definition of technology all librarians should love...and keep at hand! "We define technology as the organization of knowledge for practical purposes." --Emannuel Mesthene - Technological Change. 1970.
· ISHUSH asks: Can QR work in libraries? What is QR?
· Librarian in Black points to Wetpaint, a place to build your own wikis even if you don’t know anything about coding
· Library Stuff

some churches are using technology more effectively than most libraries
Why librarians are better than Google

· Stephen's Lighthouse and points to a report declaring MySpace isn’t as bad as its PR tells us and The Shifted Librarian agrees
· Stephen's Lighthouse also points to PC Magazine's list of the worst 25 websites
· And, the Sitemeter weblog has instructions for fixing the code in case I ever migrate... or rather, when I have no choice but to migrate to the New Blogger

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This post by Sarah Houghton at Librarian in Black really hits home--on a consortial level, not a workplace level. The title alone says a lot: "How to beat employees into the ground."

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I'm so happy to be pointed to this new blog about typos in library catalogs called Typo of the Day, just scant months before I'm no longer able to do anything about typos in our catalog.....

Still it's a good idea, and I'll be checking and fixing errors in our catalog as long as I still can.

[from Catalogablog]

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I'm WAY behind on this...


· Added Entry points to an article in the Guardian (UK) about why articles (i.e. "A", "An" and "The") and the suppression of them is IMPORTANT when doing an alphabetical title sort

· How to get a clearer RSS feed, the easy way

· There are a couple from Catalogablog:

· about MTL which I could use if I understood what it was...

· This post points out the UK has a union catalogue which is free for libraries to add their holdings. There is an ILL component to boot. Cool. You have to register as an institution to search, however.

· Infomancy has a link to the full report on the debacle of Reading First

· Scanblog points out that two problems with current "official" library blogs is their lack of humor and tendency towards being boring. There are good ones out there, and some are linked.

· Librarian in Black has the usual plethora of Library Goodness:

· a link to fun stuff you can do with Google Earth including lots of Featured Content which combines the maps with data from places like National Geographic and the Jane Goodall Institute.

· another link that discusses Read-Alikes from Downer’s Grove PL not covered in NoveList

· ...and a follow-up reporting that NoveList may not be visible using screen readers (for ADA-enhanced visual monitors)

· reasons librarians should not default to Google; in fact, trying ask.com is a good thing—10 times over

· a link to a great source for medical images

· more free ebooks

· a link to the Chicago Manual of Style, which is now online for pay, but there is a free section

· a rebuttal to someone in Lawrence, KS who thinks libraries are out-of-date. The Lawrence Library has nothing to be ashamed of

· a note that the list of libraries using MeeboMe is growing

· a reminders that there is at least one (and reliability) free online dictionary with lots of other perks.

· a link to Google's list of the most frequently viewed English books searched in Google Book Search

· a link to a list of book recommendation engines from Stephen Abrams

· Speaking of Stephen Abrams, he has a link to a wonderful staff video using Madonna's "Ray of Light" video as a jumping-off point

· Travelin Librarian links to a plug-in that pops up lyrics while you're listening to the song (doesn’t work with iTunes)

· Shelley has a link to Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust community sponsored by Wetpaint (q.v.--I've got more on Wetpaint later)

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I'm not sure why this made me laugh so hard...... Read the rest of this post

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Items added in September = 691 (T.=83; me=608)

• [last year = 719]

August = 754 (T.=60; me=694)
July = 491 (T.=110; me=381)
June = 900
May = 732
April = 727 (T. = 78 ; me = 649)
March = 857 (T. = 59 ; me = 798)
February = 542
January = 544
December = 572
November = 380
October = 665

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In no particular order...

• A timely reminder for the beginning of the school year and the consequent upsurge (we hope) in Virtual Reference service is discussed on Library Stuff. We aren't supposed to just Google the question we receive. We are supposed to be reference resources; remember the Reference Interview??
• Norman Roberts at I N N I N G S linked to Newspapers24, which in turn links to newspapers all over the world. VERY cool.
• Stephen Abram had several good posts and links lately: one on Necessary Things to Learn, one spinning off on that about How to Leave a Good Voicemail, and one on why the Internet is NOT Confidential
• The Librarian in Black, Sarah Houghton, has a lot of good stuff to say all the time. This is just a small selection of things from the last two weeks or so:
  • Image generators are a fun way to make cool-looking signs online, or possibly even in print; she's got five or six good ones linked in this post. She also linked to a catalog card generator that's a hoot.
  • Here's an interesting concept: library cards for people who never walk in the door, but want to use online resources. She calls them "remote users."
  • There is an easy-to-use online database of public and private schools that seems complete (though who knows how current it will be in the future!). Right now it's great, though.
  • Did Novelist tell us they were adding first chapters to the database?? That's kind of neat.
• Alice at OCLC does a nice job of explaining how to add the WorldCat search box to a website; I'm going to go see if it works!

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Items added in August = 754 (T.=60; me=694)

• [last year = 727]

July = 491 (T.=110; me=381)
June = 900
May = 732
April = 727 (T. = 78 ; me = 649)
March = 857 (T. = 59 ; me = 798)
February = 542
January = 544
December = 572
November = 380
October = 665
September = 719

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OCLC has revamped WorldCat and made it more accessible to the public. This is cool. Go play.

However, as Steven Cohen points out here and here, there are a few problems, namely "how do I actually GET the book?" I agree that it would be nice to have a slightly more standardized situation among libraries, but I also see that local communities want to make their own rules about the 'stuff' they buy. Still, a national database of loan policies, cardholder policies, ILL policies, and [for me!] barcode assignment would be absolutely fabulous. Where do we start?

Meanwhile, Librarian in Black shares a link to a university library which is built on a WordPress (i.e. blogging) platform. It's pretty cool. They are even allowing comments on each item! But probably the neatest thing is that once you locate an item, if you click on the location, a map of the library pops up with the location circled. How brilliant is that!

The Heavy Metal Librarian explains why DOPA is for dopes.

Finally, lalcorn points to a collection of hysterically funny gov.doc titles. My favorite is this one.

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