Perri O'Shaughnessy
The Official Perri O'Shaughnessy Page has a fittingly haunting feel to it. The site offers information on the author, news, information on her work, a FAQ, and writing guide for beginning authors.
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June 30, 2005
Mary Jane Clark
Mary Jane Clark.com is the official site of this author of suspense novels. She has a new one coming out in July, Dancing in the Dark. The site offers information on Clark, her books, news, and kudos.
June 29, 2005
Google Guide
Google Guide: Help with Searching is a very nice site that offers shortcuts, tips, tools, and more to make Google work better for you. One of their best sections is their Cheat Sheet for Advanced Users that offers a quick guide to the types of searches you can do on Google.
Google Earth
Google Earth is a free downloadable application that provides geographical images, including maps and satellite photographs. You can also add your own notations to the images and save your favorite searches.
June 28, 2005
Back from ALA
I'm back from ALA. Internet access didn't work out for me at all, but the conference was great! I especially enjoyed the PLA program on being a new rural library director. While I am certainly not new at this, I still learned some things, including the amazing services that some areas offer their small libraries.
I want my public library system to offer in-depth long range planning aid to me! Unfortunately, I want them to do it about 6 months ago! But I do know that many of the small libraries in our system are not doing long range planning and that even those of us who do it do not follow Planning for Results. This is a perfect place for our system to really help small libraries plan in effective ways. One of the people on the panel has helped 90 small libraries do long range planning! Amazing!
I also learned how to do more effective storytimes that will follow research-based methods that lead to better early literacy for children. The best part is that it improves literacy in ALL children, not just lower income or those learning English. All children! This is definitely something we as public librarians need to be focusing on! I see a possible grant opportunity here!
This is always the way I return from ALA, full of ideas and excitement. But it is nice to be back and start implementing all these ideas flying about my brain.
June 24, 2005
ALA
I am off to ALA early this morning. Check out the PLA Blog where I am one of the many volunteer bloggers. This is my first ALA in ten years, so I am very happy to be returning to the conference.
Please if you are attending ALA too feel free to stop me for a chat. I am happy to talk small libraries, blogging, technology, etc.
Common Tunes
CommonTunes offers a directory of free music that is legal to download. You can search the collection, add music of your own, or browse through the top songs and recently added titles. To make it even more useful, the site allows tagging once you register and aan RSS Podcast Feed! Very nice!
June 23, 2005
CAPHIS
CAPHIS: Consumer and Patient Health Information Section of the Medical Library Association offers recommended websites, information on running a consumer health facility, and an online newsletter that has reviews of consumer health books. This newsletter is useful for more than medical libraries, since the focus is consumer health. The reviews are short, to the point, and perfect for those of us in public libraries.
June 22, 2005
Maine Site
It Must Be Maine is the official web site of the Maine Office of Tourism. It offers information on upcoming events, travel packages, hotels, and things to do.
Church of the Customer
Church of the Customer is a blog that offers information on creating dedicated customers. The site offers not only the blog but also a newsletter and resources. This is a great blog to read for anyone who is interested in marketing and customer service, including libraries.
June 21, 2005
Myst Noir
MystNoir is a site dedicated to mysteries and suspense novels writeen by or featuring African Americans. The site offers book reviews, new releases, news, and more.
June 20, 2005
Just Say Yes
Recently, I read a piece by walking paper on letting go. It is all about creating user-centered libraries rather than libraries that are focused on rules that may be preventing patrons from doing what they need to do in the library.
I already pride myself on running a user-centered library where we lend laptops to folks, have wireless, extend check out periods when requested, and much more. But after reading this post, I have started repeating to myself, "How can I say yes to more people."
Now I am exploring having a computer that will allow CD-ROMs to be loaded. I get requests for this several times a month, so it is a great service for us to offer, but I had never looked into it before.
I think that many libraries and in some cases, library systems that serve libraries, can be caught in a defensive posture where we are offended that the rules are being questioned at all and where we feel overwhelmed by what we already offer to patrons or members. But what would happen if we did start to say yes? We would end up with happier patrons, more content member libraries, and therefore more support. And we actually end up with a happier staff because of the positive aspects of actually saying yes, we can do that for you. It is a lot better feeling to say yes all day, than to say no or have to apologize for policy.
June 19, 2005
Gataga
Gataga is a search engine for social bookmarks. It includes tags from del.icio.us, blogmarks, blinklist, jots, spurl, furl, simpy and connotea. And best of all, it offers an RSS feed for your search!
June 18, 2005
Poets & Writers
Poets & Writers website offers online resources, including recommended links for writers, a directory of published writers, and a free online newsletter. In addition, the site also offers a discussion forum, contests and articles of interest.
June 17, 2005
Xtort's Freeware List
xtort.net's complete freeware collection really lives up to its name. With categories like office/productivity, Internet, multimedia, graphics, web development, programming tools, security tools, and system tools, it really offers the best of freeware available.
June 16, 2005
New Zealand Travel Site
Destination New Zealand offers this site to promote travel to New Zealand. It has information on specific destinations, accommodations, activities, and travel, all accompanied by vivid photos.
Select Italy
Select Italy is a gorgeous travel site offering customized itineraries, and information on museums, events, hotels, transportation within Italy, food and wine, vacation packages, and much more.
June 15, 2005
BBC Radio
BBC - Radio offers a couple ways to listen to BBC radio programs online. You can listen live to the specific stations or listen to specific programs of interest and podcasts. Programs include music, news, entertainment, sports, and much more. If you are someone who listens to Internet radio, this is definitely a site to check out.
June 14, 2005
10x10
10x10 / 100 Words and Pictures that Define the Time / by Jonathan J. Harris is an amazing site. They scan the RSS feeds of some of the top news sites for the most-used words. Taking the top 100 words, they match them with pictures and get a snapshot of the news of the day. The 100 words and 100 photos are combined into a 10x10 grid resulting in a fascinating visual glimpse of the day.
June 13, 2005
Alternative Medicine Site
WholeHealthMD is a site dedicated to alternative medicine. It offers information on healing food, approaches to specific conditions, expert opinions, and news.
June 12, 2005
Wisconsin Libraries Get Increase in Funding
American Libraries is reporting that South Carolina and Wisconsin Libraries Get Increased Funding. This is such great news for Wisconsin library systems and also for the libraries they serve. Especially in the tight economic times we are in, it is good to see libraries being valued and more importantly, funded!
StoryCorps
This is a fascinating project that will take our own stories and make them accessible to others. StoryCorps is a national project that provides StoryBooths across the country where people can record their own life stories. On the website you can learn about the locations of the StoryBooths as well as listen to people's stories and sign up for their email list.
June 11, 2005
Game Cheat Codes
GameWinners is the best website I have found for cheat codes for video games. Their codes cover 49 different systems from modern consoles to PCs to classic systems. Not only do they cover more systems than most sites, but their cheat codes for each game tend to be the most extensive. This is a handy site for teen librarians or reference librarians who want to be able to answer teen questions about codes. Or for those of us who are parents and have to be able to unlock all the boards on Tony Hawk 3.
June 10, 2005
Do Libraries Still Matter?
Carnegie Reporter: Do Libraries Still Matter? is a great article about the future of libraries. Here is my favorite quote:
"They are traditionally seen as a pillar of democracy. And they provide a place to go—the crucial “third place,” other than home and work or school (and as early library advocates liked to point out, other than the saloon as well). Unlike Starbucks, you don’t have to buy anything, and the wares are as intoxicating in their way as any at a neighborhood bar—except they don’t impair driving."
June 9, 2005
Mail2Web
Mail2Web and similar services are a good service for librarians to know about. It allows those patrons whose email services do not allow web access to actually read their POP3 email accounts via the web. Sweet!
June 8, 2005
2005 Book List
2005 Big Book Preview offers a look at some of the most highly anticipated books coming out this year. Get your link to the library catalog ready, and reserve those titles!
June 7, 2005
Xap
Xap Student Center is a nicely designed website that offers students information on applying to college. The site has sections on how to get to college, plan a career, find the best college for you, get financial aid, and finally connections to over 700 online college applications.
June 6, 2005
Official Find
Official Find is a search engine specifically for finding official sites for brand names. We get requests for that sort of information regularly at the library. This should be a very handy site.
June 5, 2005
Washington Library and the FBI
NPR has a great piece on a Washington Library Tested by Patriot Act where a librarian did exactly what was right to stand up for her patrons' rights.
Over the years, I have been asked by people why librarians "stand in the way of the police," but that is not the way I view it at all. I stand in defense of people's basic rights. If that happens to be in the way of the police, then they are the ones that have to change their approach.
June 4, 2005
Apartment Therapy
Apartment Therapy is a blog dedicated to stylish apartment living. Covering topics like decorating, furniture, materials, and stores, the site offers an RSS feed and lots of photographs.
June 3, 2005
International Booker
The Winner of the First Booker International Prize was announced yesterday. Ismail Kadare, the top-known Albanian poet and novelist, was named the winner.
Kirkus RSS Feeds
Kirkus Reviews Online offers several RSS feeds. They include most viewed book reviews, most emailed, most saved, and most
printed.
June 2, 2005
The Riley Guide
The Riley Guide has been offering job and employment resources since 1994. It serves as a great portal to resources across the Internet on how to find a job. The site includes sections on starting a job search, research, resumes and cover letters, networking, interviewing and negotiation, salary guides, and job listings.
June 1, 2005
Google Print
Google Print is now in beta. When I ran a quick search, I was amazed to find books with copyrights from the last five years. Patrons will probably be equally drawn to the quick and easy search and the results. Unfortunately, often the entire book is not available. So the list of results rivals those of the library's ebooks site, but ours are all there in their entirety and Google offers pieces. Even worse, there is no way to tell unless you click on a specific entry what amount of content you will find. The site is also missing an advanced search option with standard book parameters like publisher, author, publication date, etc. Keyword is all very nice, but one cannot truly drill down to the exact results one wants without more advanced search options. Google has a lot to learn from libraries.