When Noah Lenstra gave a series of public workshops in various Illinois public libraries on the topic of “Digital Local & Family history,” the workshops yielded a few startling revelations for him.
When you’re working in a profession you love that provides numerous opportunities to grow and serve, learning to say no can be one of the hardest things.
Of course, with library budgets bursting at the seams, nobody has to worry about attracting patrons or customer service, right? No need to worry about your website as long as you just have one, right? (Cue buzzer sound!) Unfortunately, some librarians seem to think that merely having a web presence is enough, as if going live is all that needs to be done. They don’t consider the wider issues that differentiate a strong web presence from mere presence. One of the most important of these issues is establishing whether a website is usable…from the patron’s perspective. Kim Guenther points out, in her column “Assessing Web Site Usability,” that a site that fails to “effectively serve the needs of its intended audience will result in decreased traffic and has little chance of cultivating repeat visitors” and can create a “backlash [that] could extend beyond the virtual visit to the…brick-and-mortar equivalent.”[1]
Sometimes I wish I had a crystal ball and the ability to predict the future so I can be prepared for the next big thing. Maybe I wouldn’t have spent so much time developing a MySpace page for teens at the library several years ago or maybe I wouldn’t have purchased so many books that were once a hot topic and now need to be weeded. However, even without a crystal ball, I know one of the next big issues in technology and services at public libraries will be streaming video content.
Libraries need updating, once in a while. Sometimes the update is a new building or an expansion, and sometimes it’s the concept of what the Library is offering to the public and how it may serve the patrons better. When I first read about the River Center Branch Library (RCBL) in River Falls, Wisconsin and their architect Rex Canabiss’ idea that the new space they were building will not be filled with old books, I must admit there was an audible gasp emanating from the depths of my soul. Doesn’t this go against everything that makes a library a library? Who would have the chutzpah to do such a thing and think they can get away with it? Once the dust settled though, and my dander was down, I was able to logically think about what they were proposing.
So far in our discussion of women writers of fantasy fiction, we’ve met Marion Zimmer Bradley, as well as Ursula LeGuin and C.J. Cherryh. This week, we are visiting an old favorite, a new favorite and one that some hard-core fantasy readers might question my sanity over. J.K. Rowling and Laurell K. Hamilton are definitely expected in any discussion of current fantasy fiction. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is a standard in the genre, and best-selling author Laurell K. Hamilton is burning up the book charts with her now twenty-three-strong Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. You won’t find Nora Roberts’ works in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section of your library though, because Roberts is first and foremost a romance novelist. Trust me when I say that it is worth straying a few aisles over to find her works in a section you might not normally visit.
Once you’ve taken the first step and located the files you want to preserve, the second step is an opportunity to thin out your collection. This step doesn’t so much address the mechanics of digital preservation as it employs a selection process.
Libraries today are faced with the difficult task of doing more with less. Nowhere is this more evident than in the balance of books and technology. There is an ever increasing demand for digital content, yet the circulation of print materials continues to soar. While there is no one size fits all approach, there are some important factors to consider while determining materials allocations.
I’m afraid I have some bad news for the library community. Collectively we are suffering from a rampant case of atychiphobia: a persistent fear of failure. Its primary indicator is “a reluctance to try new things or get involved in challenging projects.” Symptoms may also include anxiety, procrastination, feet dragging, low confidence, and/or debilitating perfectionism.
In Henriette Lazaridis Power’s The Clover House, Callie Brown, a young woman adrift both professionally and personally, receives news that her beloved uncle has passed away in Greece. For Callie, a first generation Greek-American, this news means a journey back to Greece and a reunion with her mother Clio, with whom she has a fractious [...]
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