More NELA residue

While attending the sessions at NELA, I was keeping a running list of social networking websites I had never heard of before, but that I thought might have some application within the library. I intended to post about all these last week, but forgot until Chris happened to mention one in an email. I know I'm probably the last to hear about such things, but here they are...

• Readers Advisory-type Websites
• last.fm: Pays attention to the music you play on your computer or ipod, and keeps a running list in your music profile on their website. Your profile can be viewed by others who share your taste in music, and you can find new music to listen to by finding other people who share your tastes (like Chris does)
• AllConsuming.net: This website covers anything and everything that people consume, but the section that interested me was, of course, the books section. Search for a book to find people that are currently reading or have read it, reader reviews, and also links to other books read by these same people - I like the "read-alike" aspect of this website (although I wasn't too impressed with the design)
• 43Things: A website where people can keep track of the things they want to do with their life, like "write a novel" [4312 people] or "learn Klingon" [29 people]. It's a way to meet people with similar interests, and have people find you
• WebShots.com: Very similar to flickr (which I use) but apparently attracts more youngies than old people like me - but it's always good to know what the kids are up to. They also seem to have more "mature content" control than flickr does, which I found interesting
• "Enhance Your Website" Tools
• Even I had heard of Meebo.com, but MeeboMe.com was new. It lets you embed an IM chat window right on your website, so client software does not need to be installed on a computer. I really like this idea. I have been trying to get IM Reference going in my library, and this might be the way to go. I think, just like Meebo, it works with AIM, MSN, Yahoo and GTalk, so this would be a great tool to have available on the library's public computers. I have to play with it more, but I'll keep you posted
• Feed2JS.org: Again, this requires more playing on my part, but from what I understand of it, this tool lets you convert RSS feeds to javascript code, which can then be easily embedded on a website. So, if I wanted to display the posts from a Weird Al Yankovic blog (and after all, who wouldn't?) right on my own homepage, this tool allows me to do so

So many websites to keep up with. The distressing part is trying to get this information to my patrons (of course, they might know about them long before I do). It seems to me that making a webpage bibliography of these is a bit anachronistic, but will serve until I find something better - so if you know of a better way, please comment and let me know.

43things, allconsuming.net, books, chris, feed2js.org, flickr, im, last.fm, library, meebo.com, meebome.com, nela, readers advisory, rss, social networking, webshots.com, websites

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Pay-for-RSS?

While at NELA last weekend, I attended a session by Linda Braun, who talked a lot about RSS feeds. One of the tools she presented was PageFlakes, which I had never seen before. During her talk, she kind of offhandedly commented that one of the reasons she likes PageFlakes is that it lets her save stories she wants to read, but doesn’t have time to save at the moment. That way, the text of the article gets stored on the PageFlakes server, and, obviously, she can go back and read them later.

She then commented that this is sort of a loophole to subscription news services, like the New York Times. The NYT provides free access to their stories for 14 days, but stories older than that require a subscription fee to read. However, by saving the stories on PageFlakes, she creates her own archive, and never has to pay to read older stories she had saved before they were 14 days old.

I found this interesting for two reasons: first, I like loopholes. Second, though, it made me wonder about RSS feeds, which I think most people take for granted right now (if they know about them at all). But what if RSS feeds go the way of bank ATMs - something that started out as being a free service provided by pretty much all the major players, and then, after people incorporated them into their lives and essentially became dependant on them, were suddenly no longer free (at least, to use another bank’s ATM).

So right now I can get NYT articles for free through RSS, but I don’t see it as unfathomable that they would see this as a viable way to make money in the future - after all, people pay for convenience, and RSS feeds are much more convenient than visiting their website every day.

nela, new york times, pageflakes, rss, technology, web 2.0

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NELA 2006 Recap

I just got home from NELA 2006, and had a great time. Here are a few of the highlights.

• One of the best parts of going to conferences like this is meeting area librarians. I met many this time, including Jessamyn West (with who, I’m sad to say, I think I made a bad first impression), and Michael Golrick (on his farewell NELA attendance on his way to the greener pastures of Wisconsin). I also got to spend time with Lichen Rancourt, which is always enjoyable
• Although the Internet Librarian 2006 conference was going on at the same time, many of the NELA sessions I attended focused on Library 2.0 gizmos. Of particular note were:
  • Linda Braun’s coverage of PageFlakes (a fancy and user-friendly make-your-own-portal kind of website) and the always popular LibraryThing was great, and she really drove home the message that RSS feeds need to be utilized everywhere (including new materials added to our catalogs) to help reach our "unseen" patrons
  • Emily Alling and Maura Deedy talked about a bunch of interesting social networking software in their presentation
  • During Jeanne Munn Bracken's session on "I’ve got Google, why do I need a library?," ensuing discussion highlighted that Google.com and libraries should not be mutually exclusive - our focus should be on informing patrons when it is appropriate to use our print and subscription databases rather than Google.com, and when patrons do use Google.com, how they can use it smartly, efficiently and effectively
  • Unfortunately, I missed Jessamyn’s Web 2.0, Library 2.0, Librarian 2.0, but I did pickup the handouts [doc]
• NELA’s Information Technology Section held a new technologies demo session, where I got to play with Microsoft Vista (which isn’t nearly as bad as I expected, and really might be tolerable), learn about creating podcasts with Audacity, and ask questions about PlayAway digital books
• I happily attended a guerilla marketing session, which presented both good and bad ideas:
  • Ideas that have worked:
  • A nice-looking signboard in front of the library promoting events to passing drivers (studies show white lettering on a black board is the easiest to read)
  • Advertise when possible at local businesses, such as fliers at supermarkets, on-screen advertising at a bowling alley (on their scoreboard computers), etc.
  • Create informative library placemats for use at local restaurants (give interesting factual information, list upcoming events, talk about useful resources, etc.)
  • Get listed on regional tourist maps
  • Try an adopt-a-highway project, and get staff and local teens involved to help clean up the community
  • Simple paper fans to pass out in the library in the summertime, with library information or a clever "I stay cool at the library" message imprinted on them
  • Advertise upcoming events on craigslist.com
  • Distributing bookmarks to students listing databases and other "homework help" resources
  • Ideas that did not work:
  • Imprinted lollipops: no one wanted them, and the library was stuck with them for months and months
  • Metal bookmarks: they ripped the pages of books
  • Advertising on the local cable station: it gets the message out, but it is hard to keep up on new events and you have to keep on top of the cable company to remove old ads
  • Working with schools: this often meets with resistance from the schools, but they are a great resource so keep after them
  • They also provided some tips for making flyers:
  • Print on regular paper and cardstock, and use the cardstock versions when a crowded bulletin board requires the flier to stick off the edge (common in supermarkets)
  • Keep fliers short an content-focused - too much color or graphics will detract from your message
  • Keep library information in a consistent location (such as, always in a box in the lower right corner)
  • People read fliers in a "Z" pattern, so design your flier to put your important information where their eyes will see it
  • For training on Microsoft Publisher, they recommend SkillPath
• I also had a few productive talks with many vendors in the exhibit hall:
  • I learned that Learning Express Library offers computer skills tutorials (such as learning Microsoft Office programs, Adobe Acrobat, etc.) in addition to their test preparation tutorials
  • I spent a lot of time at the Plymouth Rocket booth, and really liked all three of their software products: EventKeeper (online events calendar), TixKeeper (museum passes reservations) and EKRooms (meeting room management)

So, all in all, a very productive conference. It’s even better since it was in Burlington - such a nice city. And I got to see the exhibits at the ECHO Center, devoted to promoting the science and public awareness of Lake Champlain.

Now all I need to do is put all this new knowledge and ideas into action when I get into work tomorrow.

burlington, conferences, library, nela, vermont, vt

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