The demise of public libraries.....is it happening?

Having worked in public libraries, I have been reconsidering staying within this area. This was underlined via a story by MaintainIT, which pointed to a Boing ,boing story about internet access being filtered and unfiltered in California. In the article RandomReader makes the following comment:-
As a former public library librarian, I can say that unfiltered Internet is simultaneously 1)important for intellectual freedom reasons and 2) a giant pain in the rear end. More broadly speaking, computers are transforming the texture of libraries and attracting new demographic slices that previously had no use for the library. Add to that what Amazon and Half.com have done for allowing book lovers to access books, and the impact of Google on giving people access to basic reference information, and you have even more more upheaval in public library land. Just today I predicted to a colleague that by 2025, the stereotype of public libraries as being about books and a quiet environment will be replaced by something having to do with computers, community programming, and probably the taint of Internet addiction/e-stalking/etc.

I'm in agreement. The days of looking for books are dead. Being an expert on e-mail is soo the vogue. No wonder i'm looking at legal libraries.

Reading on the way to work

Having started my new job has given me time to catch up on plenty of reading (1,2,3) I have just started The Devil's Cup, which looks at the history of coffee. As a blogger, I was interested in the London Coffeehouse's, especially Richard Steele, who created Tatler in one. The book quotes the coffeehouses of the time, who could be writing of bloggers when they says:-
Coffeehouses had made civilised conversation into a popular sport.

Job satisfaction

Having said previously of starting my new job, I am getting into the swing of things. Yesterday, was exceedingly good. Just the simple things make it enjoyable, like getting on with work colleagues and assisting people who need it, and best of all learning from my mistakes. Shame the jobs short-term, but its nice to be enjoying a job.

Shelfari feel the stress

Having discussed previously Shelfari's bombarding of users and none users with spam, it seems there trying to climb out of a hole. Tim Spalding quotes Book Patrols article, in which they accuse Shelfari of Astroturfing, saying:-

Shelfari has engaged in some pretty dubious behavior including astroturfing (posting on blogs pretending to be users, not employees) and partaking in widespread spamming campaigns.

Shelfari CEO, Josh Hug, has defended himself from the claim of astro-turfing, by saying:-

As for the astroturfing, that was an unintended work of an unexperienced but well-meaning intern who failed to make himself known as he commented on blogs. That was not our intent and we were unaware that was going on. It has stopped.

If it was a rogue intern, why was he needing to do it? With $1million investment did they really require such a transparent way of doing this. I maybe a librarything fan boy, but shelfari have really been very stupid, and allowing an intern to do this (without keeping an eye on them) is dafter still.

Sad news

I was informed sunday of my grandfather passing away and am in the midst of preparing myself to be a bearer. I will miss him so much. He watched me as a child play football, he got me interested in football (which in turn made me interested in statistics and classification). He also taught me more important lessons. That money does not make you happy. That you should look out for your fellow man. That you should always remember your family. And most of all, that life is for living. I Salute you for that grandpi.

Shelfari gets shot down........

Librarything has brought to my attention that its inferior competitor Shelfari has been spamming people. Whom Tim Spalding(the owner of librarything) describes (via another source as this):-

in the words of the well-known blog Gawker, "basically social networking rapists."

I've noted also that Shelfari has been emailing me a lot lately and its very annoying (and something librarything NEVER does).

Hopefully, shelfari will stop it soon.

Does Professionalism extend to A major library employment agency?

Having started my new role (which lasts till the end of december), I was still looking for a position after I finished there. Therefore in looking on a library agency website, I noted a role I felt I suited. They asked for a cv on the website, which I sent. After a good few hours no response. So I rang them, to show some degree of keeness (it was a good job, so I wanted it). I spoke to the relevant person, who said my email had not arrived. THEN SHE CHECKED HER JUNK FOLDER. It was in there (first off, that made me feel tremendously undervalued and incredibly angry). As is the way, I kept my cool, asked if I could put myself forward and sending me more information on the role. She did (surprisingly).
I wrote back, said I liked the job, but lacked a few skills but was willing to learn would she put me forward.
Response. None.
I had to ring again. She was at lunch, and would contact me if anything occurred.
Response. None.
Now, most large library and non library agencies (1,2,3, have a professional attitude. Even if they do not have a role, they don't put your email in junk folders, ring you if you got nowhere in the position.
But this one (no names, but very large and so web 2.0 organisation they have a blog) feels they have no need to offer feedback. Well, thanks for nothing. Diatribe ends.
By the way, I had also rung them to see if a half day voluntary role was still available. It wasn't and they were taking it down friday. Funny, I just checked and its still there.

Pre-job nerves and making an impression

Well, as I start my new role as a Learning & Information Officer tomorrow its quite nervy. I went down today to see where it is. I wanted to do a recon mission, so I could check the library, join the library (therefore checking what identification is required to join). Ironically, the library is closed on a wednesday. The library building though looks very nice, and a 100 years old this year. Roll on tomorrow. Its nice to know start my career as a librarian. I would also like to say thanks to well wishers who are presently enjoy the half-term.

Patron training article

There is an interesting article over MaintainIT called A commitment to patron training. Sarah Washburn discusses how they have got people to come to computer training by having a small charge of $5, which is then refunded to them once they start the course.
A very neat idea, as most people don't mind wasting time but hate wasting money. The person who started this Claire Stafford says of this scheme:-

“If they come to the classes they get their money back. We did start it as a free--non-gratis--service, but we were finding that if people didn’t make a commitment, that they were not coming in. And we had waiting lists that were just tremendous! And we couldn’t serve these folks that were waiting, and the folks that did sign up forgot, or had something come up, and failed to contact us and let us know. “

Excellent.

Libraryzen news

Garrett Hungerford over on Libraryzen has created a neat re-design of his website. For those who have not heard heard of library zen, its described as:-

LISZEN, powered by Google Co-op, was launched on October 27th, 2006 by creator Garrett Hungerford with 530 searchable library blogs. Since that time LISZEN has grown to over 750 library blogs and has been noted in School Library Journal, Google's Librarian Central, and other publications. Other Library and Information Science Programs have added LISZEN to their web resources for library students; such as University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of North Dakota, and Uppsala University.

Good news

Having finished my dissertation and job as a carer, I will start a new job on thursday at a library. As is usual, pre-first day nerves are setting in, but i'm glad to be back at work.

NYT article

There an interesting story in the New york Times called Libraries Shun Deals to Place Books on Web [may require sign in]. In the article it talks about the Open Content Alliance. this aims to :-
'Several major research libraries have rebuffed offers from Google and Microsoft to scan their books into computer databases, saying they are put off by restrictions these companies want to place on the new digital collections.'
Its very interesting read.

Library Game

Via librarystuff, is a library game using Flash. In the game one has to answer querys for clients and finding them as quick as possible. Kind of reminded me of Paperboy back on my old Spectrum.

Weirdness competition

I was interested watching the television, and the new Wii game called Britains Brainiest family. The game is against other 'families' in the UK. The prize for this is to Win university fees for your kids. Now with Britain going into a pickle about computer games. Now, I like gaming as many other librarians do, but I really am not a fan of paying for one's education by being able to afford a WII, the game and getting my family to play as well (getting my family to play seems hell too me).

Nancy Dowd article

Nancy Dowd from The "M" Word - Marketing Libraries blog has an interesting piece entitled Blogging for a purpose?. Although I have previously tried to get a blog started at a library, it provides some useful insights in whats needed.

Google's My library article

I noted from librarystuff article by Phil Bradley about Google mylibrary. Phil feels that :-

My advice - give this a miss entirely and don't waste any of your time on it. Use something like LibraryThing or Shelfari instead.

I think he is correct here as I have said before.

Walt Crawford meme

As some blogs have already indicated(1,2), Walt Crawford has a new job with Palinet. The full article on his job is here:-

Walt Crawford Named Director & Managing Editor of PALINET Leadership Network
10/4/2007
PALINET is pleased to announce the appointment of Walt Crawford as Director and Managing Editor for the PALINET Leadership Network. Crawford is an internationally recognized writer and speaker on libraries, technology, policy, and media, and the creator, writer and publisher of Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large, an ejournal on the intersections of libraries, policy, technology, and media published monthly since 2001. He also maintains a blog on these and other issues, Walt at Random. He was recently listed as one of the 31 most frequently-cited authors in library literature 1994-2004 (the only American writer on that list outside academic libraries.) Cathy Wilt, PALINET’s Executive Director, comments: “We are thrilled to have Walt direct the development of this library leadership community of practice. The PALINET Leadership Network and PALINET members will certainly benefit from his substantial experience, not to mention his editorial wit and wisdom.”

About the PALINET Leadership Network
Currently in beta release, the PALINET Leadership Network is an innovative online member service for library leaders designed to create a community of practice by sharing informative articles, forums on current issues, and collaborative discussions on cutting-edge topics. Designed as a wiki platform, the PALINET Leadership Network provides the latest innovations and most current leadership information in the library arena and beyond. Developed in partnership with the Library Leadership Network (LLN), it is an ideal vehicle for staying current with literature, blogs, and other leadership conversations, as well as a critical tool for mentoring staff.

See Walt Crawford at the PALINET 07 Conference + Vendor Fair, October 29 - 30, 2007 at the Tremont Grand Conference Center in Baltimore, MD. Register at www.palinet.org/2007conference.

Many congratulations to Walt and best of luck in the new role.

Database news

Found via Researchbuzz , a database of books with photographs and photograph covers. Researchbuzz writes about :-
Covering Photography, a site that indexes book covers with photographs (as opposed to abstract book covers or those with paintings, illustrations, etc.) ......... The site contains hundreds of book covers with photographs, browsable by date, photographer (Laurie Anderson??), publisher, author, or designer.

The site can be found here. An excellent site for photo libraries.

Inspirational bloggers

I was reading Jennifer Macaulay's blog entitled I Think I Have Blogger’s Block. In this she says why she hasn't blogged so much, that :-
It isn’t that life has gotten in the way, that school has gotten in the way or that I didn’t want to write.
I find it a shame. Jennifer has always been an inspiration whilst (and recently completing) do my own Master degree. It was interesting to watch her go through a similar course at the same time as I was and the problems she encountered.
I do hope she feels that 'I’m generally unhappy about my school experience' will be found soon.
Another blogger who I hope has good news soon is Walt Crawford. As those who read his blog know, Walt is 'between jobs'. I also find his blog excellent material to have a maturer attitude to libraries (thats meant as a complement). I do hope he has something to look forward to after his holiday.
Very divergent bloggers, but I do appreciate reading them on my bloglines.

Free range librarian article

I noted Karen Schneider from has released an interest article on Wikipedia entitled Wikipedia's Awkward Adolescence. If your interested in wikipedia, its well worth a read.