Blogs
Grabbing a gravatar
18th September 2008Do you like to use online forums or comment on blogs? If you do, chances are you’ve seen, or perhaps even have, a small icon or picture that often sits to the left of a commenter’s name. [...]
Laura
Personnel
How to hire a good tech for your library?
9th September 2008I think that one of the most difficult hiring decisions a public library has to make is that of a tech.1 Although the systems that enable all of the digital resources of the library are truly mission-critical, [...]
Keeping Up
[GUEST POST] Everything you ever wanted to know about spyware & adware (but were afraid of the answers)
2nd September 2008Shawn Walsh is the Technology Analyst for NEO-RLS. What are spyware and adware, anyway? Spyware is any technology that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge. [...]
Keeping Up
Lifestreaming, the next social act
26th August 2008I currently know more about the lives and interests of many of my professional contacts than I do about some family members. This isn’t really on purpose, but it is a direct result of the choice [...]
Keeping Up
Beyond the visual avatar
22nd August 2008(Something kind of fun for a slow(er) Friday.) A couple of weeks ago I covered Weblins here, and someday, I promise, I’ll get to avatars and gravatars. Each of those examples is a visual way to [...]
email
Time to talk spam
19th August 2008(With a lot of credit to George Lenzer, blogger at alt.think!) Here’s some facts about email’s biggest annoyance. Did you know: Spam is largely automated? There aren’t sweatshops full [...]
Keeping Up
The sins of library web sites
13th August 2008Ah, Twitter is a wonderful thing. I asked members of the Twitterverse to catalog the problems of library web sites, and my followers (as friends on Twitter are called) did not disappoint. I got responses [...]
Keeping Up
[GUEST POST] Is your library search bar friendly?
8th August 2008Don Yarman is the Deputy Director of Delaware County Public Library. Probably by now, you’re using a web browser that has a search box in the upper right-hand corner. Do you use it? You should; it’s [...]
Keeping Up
The web as social playground: Weblin
31st July 2008For the past several months, I have been experimenting with a little-known web application called Weblin. In effect, it allows you to have a little avatar (Weblin) that appears on any web site you visit. [...]
Keeping Up
[GUEST POST] Escaping the Brand Trap: Moving Beyond Big Name Software
22nd July 2008George Lenzer is a Computer and Network Manager at Cleveland Public Library and blogs at alt.think. Do you exclusively use big name household products like toothpaste, laundry detergent and tissue paper? [...]
Blogs
To blog or not to blog…is that really the question?
14th July 2008Libraries are often encouraged to blog. By no means, let me discourage your library from blogging! But, because it is so easy to set up a blog, some libraries overlook some important questions they should [...]
OPLIN
There are no ‘OPLIN databases’
10th July 2008(This is something that even I, who worked with database purchases for the CLEVNET consortium, didn’t really “get” until I came to work for OPLIN. I’m sharing here in an attempt [...]
Gadgets
[GUEST POST]Ultra Low-Cost PCs: Little Laptops Getting a Lot of Love
1st July 2008Glen Horton is the Technology Coordinator and Assistant Director of SWON Libraries. As convenient as they are, laptops can be a pain to lug around. They’re heavy, take up table space, generate [...]
Keeping Up
RSS, Part II: Why your library web site needs a feed
26th June 2008I am assuming that, by now, you have a RSS reader/aggretator of your own and you now understand why RSS has begun to control information flow on the Web. Because of RSS, many people don’t even [...]
Keeping Up
Facebook and public libraries
18th June 2008“Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, [...]
Keeping Up
Why Flickr for libraries?
10th June 2008There has been an awful lot written about Flickr, one of the top online photo-sharing sites. I’m not out to re-create the wheel, so here is an excellent slideshow presentation on what Flickr is, [...]
Keeping Up
Why link collections are dead…sort of
4th June 2008I am hoping, nay, I’m practically praying, that your library does not have either of the following: A collection of links to external websites (often called “Links” or the “Link [...]
Keeping Up
Tag, You’re It
30th May 2008You may have heard about tagging (AKA folksonomies). If you’re a cataloger, the whole concept might give you nightmares. So, before we even delve into what tagging is, let’s preface the discussion [...]
Uncategorized
A short lesson in Netiquette
27th May 2008Everyone has at least one; that person (friend, family member or coworker) who thinks they have to forward every last joke, LOLCat photo or (usually fake) virus warning to absolutely everyone in their [...]
Keeping Up
Time to join the Twitterverse
19th May 2008There are seemingly a million Web 2.0 applications out there. You wouldn’t believe how many are popping up daily–just add Mashable to your RSS reader (you’ve got one, right??) to keep [...]
Blogs
First things first: RSS
16th May 2008RSS (usually standing for “Really Simple Syndication”), is crucial to your career. No, really, I mean it. After all, if you’re a librarian, keeping up with information and current events [...]