A Day In My Life

Here's what I did today:

Morning

• Made iced tea for breakfast.
• Watched my cat Roberta while she was sleeping.
  
• Went grocery shopping for vegetables.
• Cooked roasted veggies.
• Read a few journal articles for LIS 2000.
• Looked over LIS 2000 small group dicussion board.
  

Afternoon

• Played tennis.
• Watched knuckle-baller Tim Wakefield pitch for the Red Sox against the Dodgers.
• Looked at some websites I found while reading the World Book Almanac.
• Looked over a few of my classmates blogs for LIS 2600.
  

Evening

• Rendez vous with a friend for dinner somewhere in Pittsburgh.
  

The Future of Public Libraries: Tending the Garden

Tending to existing customers of libraries should be first and foremost. I understand the need to broaden the base of users and to bring in larger numbers of users. However, I think there is an existing constituency that is being neglected. I would rather have fewer, more passionate advocates for the library over more lukewarm users. I also think the existing needs of patrons may be overlooked when the emphasis isn't on their particular needs and enhancing service to them. The "tending the garden" analogy is that it's easier to get great results from an existing garden or flowerbed over planting from seed. Enthusuastic supporters will advocate for the library and can be considered as a the best tool for success. It's also more likely that they will become lifelong supporters, not simply library users while their children are in school (for example).

Aggregating Web Resources | American Libraries Magazine

Aggregating Web Resources | American Libraries Magazine

Librarians working on digital collections have traditionally focused on the digital library management system that houses the items they select. The items reside deep inside the silos that are created. ORE - The Object Reuse and Exchange specifications provides the opportunity for items from different sets of collections to be aggregated together into one collection.

I think it's true when you hear in the library program that things might start making sense over time. I don't think an article or development like this one would have had any significance for me earlier in the program.

Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales

This video interview of Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales was posted to Bb for LIS 2000. One of the things he said is that the science or understanding behind what outcomes you'll get based on the software features you design is in its infancy. An interesting observation.

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• Good, Bad and Ugly on the WIkipedia (cognitive-edge.com)
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• Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales On Being Open (ostatic.com)

Live, Love, Meow!

Image by divemasterking2000 via Flickr

June is Adopt a Cat Month.