Thursday, July 1, 2010
RDA Toolkit (Resource Description & Access Toolkit)
The link to the RDA Toolkit (Resource Description & Access Toolkit) is available here. Enjoy free open access through August 31, 2010.
ALA Conference 2010 (Washington, DC)
This year I attended the ALA (American Library Association) Annual Conference in Washington, DC for the first time. I was a student volunteer in the ALA Student-to-Staff Program where I volunteered in exchange for travel awards to help defer the cost of attending the conference.
I was assigned to the PLA (Public Library Association) where Linda Bostrom is the Manager. My role as a student volunteer was to attend PLA Programs and help the speakers with their needs. I provided assistance with the program evaluations that attendees completed at the end of each program. I also acted as a liaison between the speakers and the convention center in case audio/visual problems occurred.
When my volunteer duties were finished, I had an opportunity to tour the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health Library.
I was assigned to the PLA (Public Library Association) where Linda Bostrom is the Manager. My role as a student volunteer was to attend PLA Programs and help the speakers with their needs. I provided assistance with the program evaluations that attendees completed at the end of each program. I also acted as a liaison between the speakers and the convention center in case audio/visual problems occurred.
When my volunteer duties were finished, I had an opportunity to tour the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health Library.
Night of the Living Librarians (a better version)
Congratulations to my friends and library classmates at the University of Pittsburgh for bringing home the gold book cart and first place in the 6th Annual ALA Book Cart Drill Team Competition. Special thanks to Sherri Griscavage for organizing the routine. Hail Pitt!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
March of the Librarians
The annual conference of the American Library Association (ALA) is in Washington, DC this weekend. I'm attending from Thursday to Tuesday and will spend most of my time with the Public Library Association (PLA). I'm looking forward to meeting new people and observing the conference in general.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Social Media
The lecture and discussion about social media today in LIS 2600 was pretty good. The idea that these are tools a library can use to invite people into the community is a useful way to frame the topic. Many people use these tools, so the library ought to use them too. The result may be more people playing a role and being involved in the library community.
One of the examples that speaks to the success of building a community is the open source movement. The article "The Cathedral & the Bazaar" that we read in LIS 2000 describes why open source works and how the process incorporates the best in people when they are collaborating on topics they feel passionate about.
One of the examples that speaks to the success of building a community is the open source movement. The article "The Cathedral & the Bazaar" that we read in LIS 2000 describes why open source works and how the process incorporates the best in people when they are collaborating on topics they feel passionate about.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Pierogi Mascot Fired
This post is weakly related to libraries or technology. It is about public relations. The Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team demonstrated how little they understand public relations when they fired a pierogi mascot for writing critical statements about the Pirates on his Facebook status. Earlier in the week, the Pirates admitted to extended the contracts of Manager John Russell and GM Neal Huntington, which had been kept a secret for a year. It's really one public relations disaster after another. Did the Pirates think that no one would pick up on this juxtaposition where the pierogi was fired instead of the GM and/or Manager?
I just think it makes for interesting commentary. I'm not in favor of firing JR or Huntington (yet) but to fire the pierogi the way they did seems like no one in their office has a sense for how a story like this plays out. Not well.
I just think it makes for interesting commentary. I'm not in favor of firing JR or Huntington (yet) but to fire the pierogi the way they did seems like no one in their office has a sense for how a story like this plays out. Not well.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
A Day In My Life
Here's what I did today:
Morning
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.
- 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.
- 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).
Monday, June 14, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
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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