Pimp my... book cart???

So I just found this blog entry on Librarian In Black... and I knew that I was destined to write my own blog entry about the same topic. I feel like we have talked about it before, or maybe someone else has even written about it before... even so, this topic is worthy of multiple blog entries! BOOK CART PIMPING! How brilliant is that? Librarians the world over are not happy with the standard metal or wooden book cart-- they have begun pimping their book carts! I am so excited about this right now I can barely contain myself.

If Library 2.0 is about connecting with patrons, then I certainly think this fits into the Library 2.0 realm. I have seldom- if ever- seen an actual library program that has worked well for the MTV culture crowd. I think this would do it! It's ridiculous and satirical and self-deprecating enough to work. Have a bunch of crazy librarians (I think we would all agree that this statement is true) pimp book carts! Or... patrons could pimp their own book carts (provided by the library of course). What a way to get people in to the library. I love it! I want to pimp a book cart. I bet you guys want to also.

Check out some actual carts that have been pimped.

http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=745

I like you guys,
Amber

Google Books... friend or foe?

The other night I was thinking of this quote that I read once in The Inferno, by Dante. I could remember the topic and the approximate location within the text, but could not remember any exact words or phrases. I should have a copy of The Divine Comedy, but I do not... much to my dismay. The local public library is literally about 50 yards away from my apartment, but it was 10:00pm and closed. What's a literary nerd to do? I needed that quote. I had to figure it out. I did the normal Google search to no avail. And, then... I tried something I had never tried before. I went to Google Books. I just typed in the title and up popped the entire book. Of course it still took me a while to find the quote. The point is that I FOUND THE QUOTE and could sleep that night. My eyes went "google-y" (bad pun) from looking at the computer screen for so long, but I had the stinkin' quote. Given the choice, I would have much rather preferred the actual printed book. But, in a bind... Google Books came through for me.

I don't really like the idea of books being on a computer screen. It just seems wrong. Again, this brings up some questions for me. With books being digitized, will libraries last? Will people eventually stop going to libraries because they can just get their books at the nearest computer? Or, could this be a new way of being able to serve home-bound library patrons?

I think like most things we have discussed, it's just another change that we will eventually have to get used to. Will libraries last? Yes, of course. I sure as heck am not going to read every book off the computer screen, and I am sure that there are others like me. I'm also not going to print out a 250 page book. I am going to continue to walk the 50 yards to my library. And... I will hope that the next quote pops into my head while the library is open.

-Amber

The Big Apple

I just got back from New York City about three hours ago. I spent a week there. I have been to New York several times before... but never when Apple introduced the iphone. First of all, most of my time was spent in Manhattan or on the subway to and from Manhattan. My experiences on the subways show me the same two types of people we have been discussing... the people who are reading books and the people who are playing with their phones/ipods/palms (I am, of course, generalizing... because then there are also people like me who either stare off into the distance or who are people watching). I also realize that many of the "book" people are also computer literate, and just because a person uses his/her phone does not mean that he/she does not read books. I was faced with a very large sample of people, and it made me think about the people I will be serving as a librarian. People are so cool to watch. Seeing a 15 year old girl play with her iphone directly out of the wrapping was exciting. Not only did it make me want one, but the thought of the internet being accessible to her while she was one the subway was so cool (at least when the train was above ground). I know that it is not just the iphone that does this... but the lines of people at the Apple store made me realize how accessible information is. Michael Stephens was also interested in the introduction of this tool...

http://tametheweb.com/2007/07/iphone_at_the_library.html

Here's to the BIG APPLE!

-Amber

YAY for Open Source!

I was really excited to hear Mark speak at our last class session. Honestly, I had no idea what I was getting into. I was totally impressed by all of the cool software out there that is completely free of charge. What I like most about the idea of open source is the philosophy behind it. These aren't people who just want to make a buck, they want to help. Sure, they might want a little recognition every now and again, but most consumers (myself included) would rather give recognition than money (I'm really cheap). I just find the concept really cool.

Just because I find it cool, doesn't mean that I am comfortable enough with my computer skills to install and use open source software.

This questioning of my own skill leads me to question the skills of others as well. Would OSS be useful in libraries? Would the average person be able to use a library computer that supported OSS? Or, would it just be something that the employees used? The Catch-22 here is that pretty much all people know how to use the software from the Evil Empire, which is why it is evil. Training an entire community/culture to use this new software would definitely be worth it in order to bring down the Evil Empire. But... are libraries/librarans/everyday people willing to put forth the time and effort to do so?

Old School?

I am observing the reference desk at a public library for my Access to Info course. In doing so, I have had the opportunity to watch how several different librarians deal with questions that are being thrown at them. One lady, I'll just call her "Old School".... believes wholeheartedly that libraries are not moving in a good direction. She thinks that the use of the internet and computers in general is sort of turning the library profession into a laughing stock. "Old School" primarily uses print resources to answer questions and she tried her hardest not to use computers... "unless completely necessary."

I sort of had "Old School" in mind when I was searching the blogs for an interesting topic. Our very own "LibrarianInBlack" had something to say about this exact topic. She is responding to a book about how the internet is killing our culture. I thought she had some cool things to say in response to this book (and that I wish I could have thought of as I was talking to "Old School")...

"I will agree that the web is full of junk. Who wouldn't? But you know what? So are the shelves of any bookstore or library. The bulk of what humanity produces is junk. Just because it's published/printed doesn't make it not-junk. But there are a few lovely jewels out there, things we try to seek for ourselves, and the finding of which librarians make their life's work. The web is hard to sift through sometimes. However, the beauty of the web is that professionals do emerge on top, they do become more easily found, top of the search engines, listed in subject guides, linked to by countless individuals, and so on. People value, recommend, and highlight those works that are the best to them. That is how the diamonds rise toward the top of the heap (and I'm not just talking about search engine results here) and regular folks can find them more easily than they can find the junk. That's not to say there isn't still a bit of sifting going on...there is...but a lot of the junk gets self-filtered out because regular folks find it, disregard it, don't link to it, don't click on it, don't want to look at it. "

Maybe "Old School" should read this...

-Amber

Dogs and Communities

On my usual quest for my next blog subject, I was searching Michael Stephens' "Tame the Web." The first article that popped up was a picture of Michael and his dog, Jake.

Side note: I love dogs... love them. When we are talking in class about some people in this world being more comfortable communicating in a virtual setting... I relate that to my life and the fact that sometimes I wish I could just live my life surrounded by dogs and hanging out with them. People are so complicated and dogs are so simple. I love them.

Needless-to-say, I had to click on the link in order to read the article. Basically, Michael had to put his dog to sleep. After spending some 13 years with the dog, Michael found this difficult to do (big surprise there). So... he created a FLICKr page with photos and stories to sort of commemorate the dog's life. The really cool part is that other people have been leaving comments and stories of their own about their dogs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelsphotos/564463388/

I know that this is not really library 2.0 based, but it is an example of how library 2.0 technologies and ideas can help to create a community. All of these people know what it is like to love and care for and lose a pet... Michael Stephens is using that very personal experience to bring people together through this medium. I can just imagine this experience leading to a display, a book group, a virtual community, etc. in libraries based on this shared experience. It's really cool to me. Not just because I love dogs, but because communities are created and people are supporting each other. I dig it.

-Amber

Patron Ownership

One of the coolest cultural changes that I am seeing in education lately is that of student ownership. Educators are trying their hardest to get students to take part in their learning. We want them to make their own decisions as far as what and how they learn best. We allow them to create their own projects, we let them do self-assessments, and we allow them to help create rubrics and even classroom rules.

An ideal situation where Library 2.0 is put into action should be similar, with librarians starring as the "teachers" and patrons starring as the "students." With a patron centered library, patrons should feel ownership in the decisions/choices the library makes. I found this article from a guy who calls himself "Superpatron." He has listed ten ways that a patron can make his/her library more useful. It basically encourages patrons to become a part of the decision making process. It makes sense to me.

http://vielmetti.typepad.com/superpatron/2007/05/ten_ways_for_su.html

Amber

define Library 2.0

I have been looking for some other stuff to help me understand library 2.0... still. Since our little pop/extra credit quiz, I made myself question, "Do I really know what Library 2.0 is?" The answer? No... I don't. I know what parts of it are and there are so many elements to it that I still don't really get. But, I found another article that I read and thought was kind of helpful.

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6365200.html

Making use of customer input, reaching users, and frequent evaluating seem to be some common themes I am seeing. I also like that this article says that not every library is ready for Library 2.0. It's a culture shift and some people/places/cultures are not ready for it as of yet. Just like anything... some people prefer to do things the old, traditional ways. Not that anything is wrong with that. Because cultures are changing around us, we sort of have to change with the cultures. Libraries are no different.

Amber

Game for a laugh?

I am also enrolled in a Saturday class at MLC called Access to Information (Shout out to Jo and Carol who are also in that class with me). In our last class session we discussed some stereotypes that librarians are categorized under. I find them quite funny, but I also can understand how people could be offended by them as well. I was searching around on some websites concerning these stereotypes. I found a few hilarious sites. One of which is called "The Lipstick Librarian." It comes complete with a quiz to see if you... yes, you... might be a lipstick librarian (if you are not, then apparently you are just a stereotypical librarian... sorry). I still have some more research to do to see if men can also be classified under the "lipstick librarian" category. If you're game for a laugh, check it out. I am including a couple others as well. Enjoy.

http://www.lipsticklibrarian.com/

http://www.sonic.net/~erisw/bdlib.html The Bellydancing Librarian

http://hokkien.uuft.org/librarian.html Butt Kicking Librarian

Have a great week!

Amber

Who says librarians can't wear lipstick, belly dance, and kick butt at the same time? That's certainly what I plan to do when I become a librarian.

Pop Culture in libraries

I found this really cool that brings together pop culture and libraries! How fun is that?!?! I thought it was kind of fun. Maybe you guys should check it out. It has a ton of great links.
www.popgoesthelibrary.com

Amber

Library 2.0 stuff

I was looking for articles to help me understand what library 2.0 is. I think I found a kind of cool article that describes what a 2.0 Librarian is and does. I like that it describes the library as human because "it makes the library a social and emotionally engaging center for learning and experience." Maybe you should check it out. http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/3.htm The author is Michael Stephens. Read, enjoy.

Amber

What is this blog?

I hope this blog is a way for me to communicate with other people in this class. I'm going to try to make it fun. I am taking this class because at some point I would like to be a Library Media Specialist. I really do want extra credit points, and I do really like my instructor... and her incomparable wisdom. Can't wait for next class!