Posted inour digital future reference
More from Google Maps
A few months ago, Google had purchased Keyhole, a program that allowed you to look at satellite photos of anywhere in the U.S. They allowed users to download it for…
Posted inlibraries our digital future
The Failure of Middleware, Part 4: What works?
Next, our fictional student is going into RedLightGreen to find resources for her paper. RedLightGreen, a union catalog, is an excellent tool for resource discovery as the user only needs…
Posted inlibraries our digital future
The Failure of Middleware, Part 3: How do we measure up?
So now that we know what our population wants, we can see how our OPACs measure up. I created a screencast using my alma mater’s OPAC to illustrate some of…
Posted inlibraries our digital future
The Failure of Middleware, Part 2: Who are our users?
The first thing anyone designing a website or a search engine should ask themselves is how can we meet the needs of our users? In the case of academic libraries,…
Posted inlibraries our digital future
The Failure of Middleware, Part 1: What’s the Problem?
In many libraries, we see collections that do not meet the needs of their users. This problem can affect small rural public libraries with limited budgets and prestigious academic libraries…
Posted inopen source
Open source alternatives!
When I was talking to my dad and he told me that he had a copy of Adobe Acrobat's PDF Writer, I realized that not everyone is up on the…
Posted injob search
Home sweet home
I got back early Saturday morning from my interview trip and slept on-and-off all day. Travelling across time zones and the time change have really messed up my sleep cycle.…
Posted injob search
My bags are packed…
Darn it! Spring's finally sprung in Chicago and I have to go away!!! Well, at least I had one lovely day of walking the city streets without mittens and seeing…
Posted inblogging
Community at work
I just want to thank everyone who wrote me with insights and suggestions for my presentation. I have received so many wonderful emails over the past week from my colleagues.…
Posted inour digital future
Podcasting in education
To continue my theme of practical user-centered applications of technology in libraries and education, I started thinking about podcasting. I don't really know how it could be used in libraries.…
technology in information literacy: an appeal
I'm going to be doing a presentation on information literacy in a few weeks, and I'm planning on looking at how new technologies can be used in information literacy instruction.…
Posted inour digital future
Ok, you were right… [about Podcasting]
I'll admit that I was initially somewhat indifferent to podcasting. I'm not sure why... maybe I thought it was just a flash in the pan and would disappear as quickly…
Posted inour digital future
Skyperviews?!?!? How cool!!!
Just about every day, I learn about some other cool use for new technologies that makes my head spin. And I love it. :) Alan Levine (of cogdogblog) has been…
Federated searching and why users aren’t finding/using your electronic materials
Looking at my alma mater’s library website, I noticed that they are implementing a new federated search tool that searches eight resources (a mix of A&I databases and full-text). It's…
Movers and Shakers!
Two bloggers from whose writing I get a great deal of food for thought were just named "movers and shakers" by Library Journal. Congratulations Aaron Schmidt and Michael Stephens! You…
Posted injob search
The job hunt heats up
I got a call yesterday from an institution I'd interviewed with over the phone last week. They want to fly me down to interview with the search committee, my potential…
Posted inblogging
The highlight of my weekend
My husband and I were having dinner with the new librarian friend I met at the conference last week and her fiancee (who is also a librarian). He said that…
Posted inrandom
Geek confessions
Via the Eclectic Librarian, I learned about and helped to stop a grave injustice. What was this terrible injustice you might ask? It was poor Wesley Crusher (from Star Trek:…
Posted injob search
Finding a job far far away…
I have encountered one major problem in my job search that may or may not be attributable to the generation gap: the fact that many libraries will not consider applications…
Posted inlibraries
What They Didn’t Tell You in Library School
So this week I'm all alone in the big chilly city of Chicago (hubby's in New England on business). When, on Monday, I heard that there was a free conference…
