Webcast Report: Gadgets and Tools and Apps, Oh My!

Match the tool with the needDon't be afraid to playCool gadgets can be practicalConsider multiple uses and applicationsSchool Library Journal blogger andknown gadget man Jeffrey Hastings welcomed over 700 webcast attendees to Gadgets and Tools More...

QR Codes To Extend Library's Reach In Contra Costa, CA

$60,000 BALIS grant will fund year-long projectQR codes will link patrons to read-alike materials, and events informationWill dovetail with Library-a-Go-Go automated materials vending sitesAre QR codes-two-dimensional hyperlinking barcodes-the next wave in connecting mobile-savvy patrons to More...

The Library of Congress Talks Digital Initiatives

Recently, LJ Academic Newswire columnist Ellyssa Kroski interviewed Michelle Springer, a project manager of digital initiatives within the Library of Congress Office of Strategic Initiatives. They covered the library's recent forays into social media, including More...

Enlightening Twitter with Library 2.0 Ideas

In a tongue-in-cheek response to the Library 2.0 phenomenon, the Library 2.0 Idea Generator randomly produces sentences composed of Library 2.0 themes, phrases, and proper names with sometimes serious, sometimes silly verbs.'I kinda felt like More...

You Can't Afford Not To Do These Things

We've written about ideas for improving customer service, boosting staff morale, fostering change, and building a management and communication style that is win-win for both staff and administration. Almost everything we've discussed has, as its More...

European Digital Library Launches, Promptly Crashes

Site attracted three times more visitors than anticipatedExpected to re-launch in DecemberFrench dominateprojectGo back to the Academic Newswire for more stories(This article first appeared in the November 25 issue of the LJ Academic Newswire.)Europeana, a More...

YourLibrarySite Now Supports SOPAC 2

External support and installation options for SOPAC 2 now availableDrupal-based OPAC interface offers feedback optionsPalos Verde Library District web site revampSOPAC 2, the latest rising star in the world of patron-friendly online catalogs, has new More...

ALA Report: Computer Demand Still Increases

Computer use surges; demand exceeds supplyLibraries offer more digital servicesBandwith issues remainWhile the number of public access Internet computers grew for the first time in six years-12 per branch, up from 10.7 in a year-nearly More...

LibraryThing Releases One Million Free Covers

One million free cover images available for download and display in library OPACs30 million items cataloged by LibraryThing users to surpass LC collection sizeAmazon.com to acquire minority stake in LibraryThing upon completion of AbeBooks purchaseLibraryThing, More...

BiblioCommons Emerges: 'Revolutionary'; Social Discovery System for Libraries

Offers 'easy readers' advisory';System layered on top of ILSUsers new to social web take to taggingBilbioCommons, a new social discovery system for libraries that replaces all user-facing OPAC functionality, allowing for faceted searching and easier More...

The Transparent Library: Embracing Service to Teens

When did it become an acceptable customer service response to try and push out an entire age group of users? Never, but that's happening at too many libraries. Can we remain transparent, open, and focused More...

Michelle Jeske's AV Picks

At the well-attended (see LJ 5/1, "PLA Draws 10,000 to Minneapolis," p. 15) 2008 Public Library Association National Conference, Michelle Jeske, manager of web information and services and resource sharing, Denver Public Library, led a More...

Library 2.0 Gang Kicks Off

The first podcast in the new Library 2.0 Gang roundtable series went live March 19, riffing on topics explored at the Code4lib conference, including The Open Library-with the project's tech lead, Aaron Swartz as a More...

LC Seeks Community Tagging in Flickr's New 'Commons';

3000 images availableTagging may lead tomissingcaption informationThe Commons is new model for publicly held collectionsThe Library of Congress has joined photo-sharing site Flickr, making available 3000 photos for which no copyright restrictions are known to More...

OCLC Study Says Libraries Overestimate Privacy Concerns

OCLC has released an international research study, Sharing, Privacy, and Trust in Our Networked World, which has some sobering news for libraries. Even though 60 percent of respondents say they trust the library, only a More...

In New Zealand PL, a Recording Studio Opens

Is Beatbooth 'the first recording studio in a public library anywhere in the universe';? Librarians at New Zealand's Palmerston North City Library (PNCL), claim it is – well, 'as far as we know.'; Beatbooth is More...

On September 10, Librarians Will Be a Presence onAnswer Sites

On September 10, librarians are asked to 'Slam the Boards!'; by visiting online "answer sites" such as Yahoo! Answers, Ask MetaFilter, Wikipedia Reference Desk, or Amazon's Askville, fielding as many questions as possible, and making More...

Gorman: Beware the Hive Mind, Find Reputable Sources

In the age of the Internet, everyone's an expert, complains Michael Gorman, the 2005-2006 president of the American Library Association, but few actually have the credits to back it up-and now Gorman's blogging his critique. More...

A Public Library Tries LibraryThing

LibraryThing developer Tim Spalding may have warned that public libraries are more scared of user-generated tags than are academic ones (see 'Chief Thingamabrarian,'; LJ 1/07, p. 40–42), but he's found a taker in the Danbury More...

The Transparent Library: Living Out Loud

You're 'out there'; whether you want to be or not. In the March 2007 Wired cover article, 'The Naked CEO,'; Clive Thompson illustrates that corporate blunders, missteps, and outright lies are exposed every day. One More...

A Public Library Tries LibraryThing

LibraryThing developer Tim Spalding may have warned in LJ four months ago that public libraries were more scared of user-contributed data than academic ones, but he’s found a taker in the Danbury Public Library (DPL), More...