August 21st, 2007 Brian Herzog
I flew to Ohio this weekend to spend time with my family. I brought a book to read on the plane, but my mom asked if I could leave it with her so she could read it.
This leaves me with no book for the return back, which got me thinking. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a library for airports? I could go into the CLE branch and check out a book, read it on the plane, and then return it to the MHT branch when I landed.
I know the logistics would be difficult, and this is certainly an idea that could not sustain itself today, but I still think it would be nice.
Of course, I could always just buy a book - or better yet, find a BookCrossing in the terminal.
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August 18th, 2007 Brian Herzog
This was one of those questions where nothing was going right, and before long it became clear to both me and the patron that the best thing to do was just cut our loses and part ways:
So, an elderly Indian man walks up to the desk. Usually, race and age aren't much of a factor in reference questions, but this time they were: "elderly" because he was very hard of hearing, and "Indian" because we had trouble understanding each other's accents.
After about five minutes of back and forth between the two of us, I eventually was able to grasp his request: his son, who lives in Switzerland and is an I.T. Officer for a Swiss Bank, recently bought property on a Caribbean Island. The son wants to build a house there using wind and solar power technology. This patron, who said he knew nothing about computers, thought he'd be nice and research some of the companies that produce this equipment, and mail the information to his son.
I think there are people who devote their entire careers to this question, and I felt bad that this patron expected me to have this information ready and waiting for him.
And the language barrier made the search that much difficult - mainly because he couldn't hear me. He kept asking me to speak up, and kept raising his own voice, but I won't shout to anyone over the reference desk because it seriously disturbs all the other patrons in the area.
By the time we got to the point of actually looking for the information, we were both frustrated.
Anyway, I decided to start by looking for companies that produce solar power equipment. I simply searched for "residential solar power equipment," and one of the search matches was for a company called SunWize.
Having this one company name, I then logged into ReferenceUSA and printed their company profile. The profile not only gives this company's contact information, but also includes a "competitors report" which gave the names of other companies in this industry. That was exactly what the patron was looking for - names to give his son. Excellent.
So now, we try the same trick by searching for "residential wind power equipment." But this time, the first hit was American Wind Energy Association's Small Wind Turbine Equipment Providers directory, which was perfect. I printed this directory, and he had what he came in for.
Having gotten (and found) something made both of us feel better. He thanked me, turned, and walked a few steps away from the desk. Then he stopped and stood for a minute, turned again, and came back to the desk.
He said since he was mailing the information to his son, he'd like to keep a copy for himself, just in case. Actually making the copies took another ten minutes of explaining how the photocopier worked, where to put in his money, etc.
By the end of it, I felt like I kind of let this guy down, even though he did leave with what he came for; actually, it felt like a case-study from an MLIS "reference interview" course. I can just hear Dr. Holmes asking the class, "so, what did Brian do wrong?"
I'm sure there were better resources out there, and we certainly should have looked into the availability of any of this in the Caribbean, but the communication and technological barriers were aggravating both of us. I don't think I soured this patron on libraries in general, but I also don't think I'll ever be invited to partake in the solar- and wind-powered island getaway. Ah, well.
libraries, library, public libraries, public library, reference question, solar power, wind power
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August 16th, 2007 Brian Herzog
Great news (as I see it) this week for Wikipedia users: Virgil Griffith of CalTech created a search tool that can identify what computers were used to make changes to Wikipedia articles.
Others review some of the findings, but the importance of this is that Wikipedia has suddenly become much more trustworthy. Now that people who make changes can be more readily identified by the IP address of their computer, glaring falsifications and biased edits are easier to track and correct.
If fact, and ideally, it'll prevent this vandalism from taking place to begin with. Hopefully, if people in news organizations, political aides or anyone else know that they're no longer completely anonymous, the amount of this abuse will subside.
That, or the number of these changes coming from the IP ranges of public libraries will increase dramatically. Then, perhaps we'll have to sic the USA PATRIOT Act on them.
libraries, library, public libraries, public library, virgil griffith, wikipedia
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August 15th, 2007 Brian Herzog
Just a warning - this was posted on a "sex blog," but it's still worth a read.
It has a nice picture, too, and I think "A library isn’t a petting zoo" should be on a t-shirt.
flashing, libraries, library, masturbating, perverts, public libraries, public library, sex, stacks
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August 14th, 2007 Brian Herzog
Readers Advisory has been quite the topic for me lately, and the fun continues.
There's a current thread on ME-LIBS about what libraries do to connect books with readers, and I thought I'd pull together some of the examples provided (please excuse any editorializing on my part - I was trying to just pull out the highlights, so any mistakes below are mine):
Molly Larson, Rockport Public Library
- We have a "Rockport Readers Recommend" display that is ongoing and we encourage patrons to recommend titles...[and] write a comment in the notebook. We also post this list on our website including patron comments
- We also have "BookLovers Cafe"...an informal gathering on Saturdays once a month when patrons can just come in and talk about what they're reading. [Staff] compiles the list of recommended books and we also provide the list at the book display
- [Staff] created a handy series book that is right at the Circ desk. Patrons like this because they don't have to look it up in the OPAC or somewhere else to find the next title in a series (popular adult fiction)
- We have various themed displays that change regularly. Patrons love the different displays
- In our monthly newsletter...staff members will contribute "good reads" suggestions. I've seen patrons bring in the list of recommended reading and look for the books
- We have done "if you like" lists on occasion as bookmarks
- Ongoing display of new children's books and Maine Student Book award books
- I use NoveList almost on a daily basis and offer to print article from that for patrons
Kathy Foss, Camden-Rockport Middle School Library
- A series "notebook" which we used to have in hard copy but now have at our website
- A set of shelves just for what I call "Foss Favorites" in the school library which kids can browse as they know I've read each title and recommend it
- A variety of reading lists on our website so that if a student wants another book, for example, with animal main characters, they can browse these and print out the lists that interest them most by clicking on Foss Favorites on that page
- We also use Novelist all the time
- This fall we plan to start encouraging our students to podcast their own book reviews so that other kids can hear them
Barbara L. Keef, Windham Public Library
- Our patrons love eye-catching displays, especially if they are in a bit of a hurry to grab a couple of books for their vacation time (the popularity of a display is easily judged by the amount of time you spend in re-stocking those titles)
- Some successful display ideas from our library include:
- "Most checked-out book lists" from Library Journal to showcase the popular fiction and non-fiction titles
- A display of "what we read last summer" (the NY Times Best-sellers from the summer of 2006)
- A "Read, White, and Blue" display of -guess what- books with red, white and blue covers
- A "Get a Life" display for biographies
- Read-alike display (right now it's Jodi Picoult)
- Other Popular Author display (at the moment, it's Clive Cussler)
- We also have created read-alike bookmarks as well as a list of what our Book Group has been reading/discussing
- There are also displays in our Teen Area for new titles and other popular subjects (pirates, for example)
- Novelist is a valuable tool along with all those other lists found on public library websites. It is fun to hear what other libraries are doing for Reader's Advisory and it helps to browse websites and visit bookstores to get ideas
I don't know why, but it was kind of funny to see that everyone mentioned NoveList (I use it myself, and patrons seem to enjoy NoveList after I demonstrate it). I also liked that these libraries dedicate displays to younger readers; I know that depends on staff and space availability, but it's a group that shouldn't be ignored.
In my library, we rely heavily on displays, read-alike bookmarks, informal staff suggestions, and our Readers Corner webpage. We also use NoveList quite a bit, as well as BookLetters. My concern is trying to present all of these suggestion sources in a coherent and useful way.
Another source for ideas is the Readers Advisory section of the Library Success: Best Practices Wiki. If your library has found something that works well, please share.
books, libraries, library, public libraries, public library, reader advisory, readers advisory, reading, recommendations, suggestions
Tags: Books, libraries, Library, Marketing, public libraries, public library, reader advisory, readers advisory, reading, recommendations, suggestions
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August 9th, 2007 Brian Herzog
book, book review, book review search, book reviews, books, google, google custom search, library, public libraries, public library, reader advisory, readers advisory, review, reviews
Tags: book, book review, book review search, book reviews, Books, google, google custom search, Library, public libraries, public library, reader advisory, readers advisory, review, reviews, Technology
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