SchoolRooms at BPL

Today I attended a demo for the content portal/federated search product called SchoolRooms. The short of it is that this is a SirsiDynix product designed to be the only information tool K-12 kids need when doing homework or looking for curriculum-related information.

The long of it is that this tool has, as I count it, two primary functions. First, it is a browseable portal of selected web resources. "Selected" is emphasized here for two reasons. First is that these resources were selected because they were relevant to schools' curriculum, browseable by elementary school, middle school, etc (these are call "guides," and there are also guides for parents, educators and librarians, which focus on the curriculum, but from a "how to I help the kids" standpoint).

All of these resources are websites freely available on the internet - which leads to the second meaning of "selected." To build this product, SirsiDynix worked with INFOhio and Kent State University's School of Library and Information Science (where I earned my MLIS) to bring together students, teachers, librarians and programmers. As a development team, these groups conducted exhaustive usability testing (read the report of their findings [pdf], lead by Jason Holmes) to make sure the product would be useful, useable and functional (for instance, they realized that the product would need to have a graphics-based K-2 interface, since kids that age can't read yet).

Further, paired teacher/librarian contributor teams hand-select websites that are both reliable and relevant. These websites form the bulk of the content within the browseable section.

If the browseable section isn't enough, SchoolRooms also functions as a federated search interface. From one search box (on every page within SchoolRooms), patrons can search the library's catalog, all the library's subscription databases, all of the hand-selected websites, and lastly, the internet in general using Google (although this last one could be done by anyone, SchoolRooms has a nice built-in feature that helps people search better than they might if they were to go to Google themselves. For instance, if you were on the SchoolRooms page for "Elementary School > Geography > Maps > Africa," SchoolRooms will incorporate those keywords in the Google Search, which will yield better results than a freehand search, as a patron might not think to include all of those words).

This demo session was lead by Kenneth J. Peterson of the Boston Regional Library System and the Boston Public Library. He point out that BPL is the first to roll this product out city-wide (although San Diego is not far behind, and Ohio is looking into state-wide implementation. Also, libraries in Canada and Denmark are interested). He was very excited about this product, especially coupled with BPL's eCard program. And to encourage use, there is a large link on the BPL homepage to their SchoolRooms portal.

The bottom line seemed to be that this is a great product for K-12 homework help. In the usability study, it was found that 88% of students said they'd use it again, and 51% said it was more helpful than Google or Yahoo. That's a tool to keep an eye on - although I can't even imagine what the price tag would be.

boston public library, bpl, databases, federated, federated searches, federated searching, homework help, INFOhio, jason holmes, ken peterson, kenneth j. peterson, kent state university, ksu, libraries, library, public libraries, schoolrooms, sirsidynix

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Sex…@ your library

So, I'm making my rounds just before we close last night, and what do I find? A condom and wrapper. Hooray.

I know it's a fetish of sorts, and I've heard of libraries having trouble with patron fornication. Even another library I worked in had incidents (before I was there). But this is the first time I've come face to face with it, so to speak.

I talked to some of the other staff about it today, and we all agreed that yes, the place where the condom was found is a very secluded, blind corner, and yes, we need to address this. One of the other librarians asked if I could show her exactly where I found it, and when I took her back there - guess what we found? Another condom.

Luckily, thankfully, although both were opened, neither were used (although we didn't look too close). It could possibly be just kids getting excited about playing with something taboo, even if they're not using them for their intended purpose.

But it's pretty clear this is completely inappropriate library behavior, and so we're looking into how to stop it. Here's what we've come up with so far:

1. Put up a security camera (which is costly, and would also have to be monitored to be effective)
2. Put up a fake security camera (and hope the presence of it is intimidating enough)
3. Make desk staff get up at least every thirty minutes and "patrol" (which is something we should really be doing anyway)
4. Redesign the layout of the stacks in this area, to improve sightlines (which actually isn't feasible, considering all our shelving is bolted into the concrete floor, and aligned with the ceiling lighting)
5. Remove the shelves from this area that make it so secluded (although, my first thought on that is that this would just give more space down there for who knows what)
6. Wall off this corner entirely, and make it into a storage closet

I think the final solution will be a combination of a few of these. Definitely #3, probably #5, and maybe either #1 or #6. Sigh. Never a dull moment.

(And don't even get me started on oversize books in general - they seem to be problematic in every public library)

book, books, condoms, inappropriate behavior, libraries, library, oversize, oversize books, oversized, oversized books, public libraries, public library, sex

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