EngLib
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Ebooks readers
Posted: 05 Jun 2009 12:25 PM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Englib/~3/BPM-ImJaKF4/
I have a dream. And it could be easily enough achieved I guess. I would love to have a few ebook readers to loan out to my users. I know of a few libraries that offer Kindles in circulation, like Texas AM and Princeton. Penn State and Sony recently announced a project where Sony donated 100 readers to the libraries.
I see three immediate advantages in my situation (small physical library, small budget, no shelf space for fiction):
no shelf space used
possibility of download-on-demand for fiction or non-fiction titles. No guessing work on the librarys part as to what fiction to buy. Users needs are met quickly.
can serve advantageously the students who are visually impaired.
and a bonus one:
cool toy > nice PR opportunity
Now, are the younger generations (millenials) into e-readers? Ive tested the waters with my local Student Governement. I think they were intrigued but not completely sold. Ill keep working on it and prepare a good proposal for their support. Maybe when e-textbooks are used more here.
Meanwhile, if Sony wants to do another project with a smaller university campus with a polytechnic vision, Im available for a meeting
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EngLib
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New Health Sciences SIG for ACRL
Posted: 26 May 2009 11:22 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Englib/~3/mJ1B_9uyVd4/
ACRL has just approved the formation of a new Health Science Special Interest Group. The Interest Group will be added to the dues renewal starting in September.
However, there is an existing Google Group. There will also be a meeting at ALA Chicago, in the ACRL Suite. If you are interested (even if not a ALA/ACRL member), it is requested that you fill out a survey in order to find the best time possible for all.
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EngLib
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Another library flash mob
Posted: 01 May 2009 08:25 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Englib/~3/0YcMWl7V_2Q/
I linked a few months ago to a flash mob at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. More recently, several hundreds of students tried to enter the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga library during finals week. Two nights ago, it the was the William T. Young Library at the University of Kentucky to be visited by, depending of what you read, 300 to 1500 students. Knowing the building, basically a large 6-storied tube, the noise must have been deafening.
Is this a increasing trend or is it more covered by the media? While I think the students have good intentions, the possibility of injury is present (crowd surfing, jumping off the building like at UTC). And, how does the event ends? At UNC, the crowd seemed to disperse rapidly on its own. At UTC, security shot mace over the crowd. At UK, someone pulled the fire alarm. Do you know of a library emergency plan that cover that situation?
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EngLib
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College students dont use Twitter
Posted: 21 Apr 2009 09:16 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Englib/~3/TqB2JJn4a7E/
In a report on a USF study, that I found a little disheartening, it was concluded that, while college students do use social media, they dont use Twitter much and remain unaware of its use for business/professional purposes.
So, they use it to connect with friends, but couldnt care less about businesses, brands or organizations trying to reach out to them that way. Which could means that very few students would follow a librarys Twitter profile, or if we extrapolate to other platforms, a librarys Facebook Page for example. Discouraging when students are the main clienteles I want to reach using those tools.
Rates of usage are very low:
Of the 250 Florida college students surveyed, 99 percent use social networking sites. However, only 15 percent have an account with Twitter and 34 percent have never even heard of the site. Some 58 percent of the students who have Twitter accounts never use the service or rarely log-on.
Is this only in Florida? Is this only for the lowerclassmen? If I look right now at the followers of my librarys Twitter profile, I see faculty, staff, other librarians and library organizations, an alumn and community members. No one that I could really call a true-blue student. Im working on more promotion right now so maybe that will change a bit. I need to research what has worked elsewhere (because there are plenty of libraries on Twitter.)
I still think Twitter is a great way to push news and content to users but maybe those users need to be more educated on Twitter.
And by the way, my librarys profile is @usfplib
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EngLib
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Help with research/publishing/presenting
Posted: 16 Apr 2009 10:08 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Englib/~3/98EBWPywUi8/
The Internet Resources column in the April issue of CRL News (vol. 70, no. 4) offers a useful list of resources to help academic librarians with the research component of their workload. The column, by Laurie L. Putnam, is entitled Professional Writing and Publishing: Resources for Librarians.
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EngLib
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OCLC and EBSCO partner for full text
Posted: 08 Apr 2009 10:54 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Englib/~3/mPyfgn6MoXw/
OCLC and Ebsco have announced an agreement that makes it possible for libraries that subscribe to both WorldCat Local and EBSCOhost services to provide their users with online access to the full text of electronic content.
My system has a WorldCat Local beta installation (and several Ebsco products). Users who have tried the beta have really liked the fact that you can search both books and articles with the same search. Easy access to the full text is a definite plus.
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EngLib
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Twitter resources in Education
Posted: 03 Apr 2009 11:40 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Englib/~3/PcnRWK8QqzE/
An interesting list of tips, apps, and resources for teachers on Twitter (100 of them). May be more geared toward K-12 but still some good ideas for the higher ed crowd.
Im playing with the idea of a session for my faculty.
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EngLib
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How librarians can use Google Book Search
Posted: 31 Mar 2009 10:46 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Englib/~3/RpN6WOkolj8/
Steve Ostrem at Library Journal wrote a nice article on how librarians can use Google Book Search for reference, research and collection development.
Particularly interesting, and new, is the popular passages search, the subject headings, the ability to clip and paste from public-domain works and the personalization options now offered via My Library with a Google account. Theres also the links to Worldcat (which I find myself using more than my own library catalog now.) All in all, without mentioning the copyright issues, Google Book Search does get better and better.
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EngLib
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Ada Lovelace Day
Posted: 24 Mar 2009 12:50 PM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Englib/~3/KVgKNPo_MZU/
Today, March 24th, is Ada Lovelace Day. It is an international day that wants to draw attention to women excelling in technology.
I would like to highlight two women here that I admire for their technological skills. I also have the pleasure of knowing them personally and, bonus, theyre librarians!
Jill Hurst-Wahl is an expert on digitization and social web tools like Second Life. She has her own consulting firm, Hurst Associates and is a faculty member at Syracuse University at the School of Information Studies. She blogs at Digitization 101.
Stacey Greenwell is an expert on information/learning commons. She is the Universtiy of Kentuckys Information Commons Hub librarian and a former IT support professional. She blogs at The Uncommon Commons.
With these spotlights, I do not wish to undermine all the other women I know that make techology sing (and there are many of them) - please ladies, rock on!
Post from: EngLib
EngLib
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2, 000 000th document in IEEE Xplore
Posted: 19 Mar 2009 12:04 PM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Englib/~3/k4waeRoUZpw/
Brian C Gray shared this morning that the IEEE Xplore database reached two
million documents this month.
The two millionth article loaded into IEEE Xplore is Intelligent Packet
Dropping for Optimal Energy-Delay Tradeoffs in Wireless Downlinks,” by
Michael J. Neely from the University of Southern California. It appears in
the March issue of IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control.
You can download a copy for free.
I remember when IEEE made this database available. And I remember making
the case for it in a previous job. It was pretty much a no-brainer for us.
Kudos to IEEE!
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