11.30.05
Posted in News at 11:07 pm by Paloma Cruz
Madeleine Albright to Keynote New Orleans Conference
– reported by the American Library Association
Former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has agreed to keynote the American Library Association’s Annual Conference, next June 22–28 in New Orleans, the Association revealed November 14.
I understand why ALA is keeping the conference in New Orleans, but there’s a part of me that’s reluctant to go. I recently drove through Port Arthur and stopped for dinner. It was… enlightening on what to expect. And it wasn’t anything nearly as devastating as News Orleans.
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Posted in News at 11:03 pm by Paloma Cruz
27 Librarians Win New York Times Awards
– reported by Library Journal
The New York Times Librarian Awards, in its the fifth year, has honored 27 librarians. This year’s winners represent 13 states, including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Wyoming. Nominations from the general public were accepted from June through September and exceeded 1,200 with nominations coming from 48 states. The Times held a reception in honor of the winners on November 16, with author Alice Hoffman as guest speaker. Each winner received $2,500 and a commemorative plaque. A separate plaque featuring the winner’s name and title will be sent to the library where each winner works.
Read the Library Journal aticle, linked above, for the full list of honoress.
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11.26.05
Posted in General at 12:14 am by Paloma Cruz
Why is the redesign of Thomas Ford Memorial Library’s Web site important? It’s not really pretty, not my cup of tea. It’s not extraordinary. However, they’ve done a few things right. In the words of LibrarianInBlack:
- The wording: active patron-driven language, no library-ese spoken here
- The navigation is laid out according to category: audiences on the top (adults, teens, kids), popular tasks on the left, info and “about” stuff on the right
- Visible variable font sizes: click on the little “A” pages over on the left to resize the text
- Obvious contact info: front and center
- Simplicity: no useless bells and whistles, just plain simple usable content and navigation
- Liquid layout: automatic resizing for screen resolutions and sizes (800×600 sweetness)
- Quick Search: quick catalog search box right on the homepage (ok, we have this too, but it’s awesome)
LibrarianInBlack also points to Aaron Schmidt’s walking paper about his work on the redesign. All worth a read.
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11.20.05
Posted in General at 9:58 pm by Paloma Cruz
I’ve been living offline for a while. Here are a few recommendations on links and reading:
- OCLC Top 1000 books. “OCLC’s Top 1000 books list is out for 2005. The top ten can be viewed separately. The full 1000 are also available for viewing. I am amused by the fact that a Garfield comic outranks all Shakespeare except for Hamlet.”
- Netvibes as “My Library”. “David King has a great idea about using Netvibes as a “My Library” portal page.”
- Librarian Trading Cards. “During one of our discussions, she mentioned the Librarian Trading Cards blog, which is incredible, funny, and a great marketing tool.”
- Miranda warning to library users. “You have the right to enter this library and to use its contents, but understand that by doing so, you are waiving your right to privacy, and your right to consult with an attorney should the government decide your taste in reading is relevant to the national security.”
- Librarians Make Crap Money. “Pardon my language, but it’s true. In what other profession would, in the same library system, the beginning level tech support person (a position with no secondary education requirements) make more money than the Head of Reference at the Main Branch (of course requiring an MLS degree and supervision of a number of staff)?”
- Trillian training. “If you’re using Trillian for your instant messaging reference service, you might want to check out the Trillian training materials posted by Beatrice Pulliam on her blog, edifice ref.”
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