Monthly Archives: April 2009

Libraries and the Economy – Part 1

Posted on April 28, 2009 by

Well, this truly is our heyday!  As budgets implode, library use explodes, so how do we provide more with less?  Websites can help relieve some of the stress on information desks by linking to resources that answer some of the most … Continue reading →

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In Praise of Statewide Library Cards

Posted on April 27, 2009 by

I was living in New Hampshire when I got my MLS, so thought it was the norm for libraries to charge non-residents huge fees to use their collections (the next town over from mine was still pretty small, as was … Continue reading →

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Customer Feedback as Blog Fodder

Posted on April 21, 2009 by

Thanks to Glenn Harper, from Frankston Library Service in Australia for this great use of customer comment forms.  They’ve started posting a monthly pdf of patron input (it looks like any remarks that could be used to identify someone have been stripped, so … Continue reading →

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Health Reference

Posted on April 21, 2009 by

The College of DuPage did a teleconference this week on health reference.  Reference librarians in particular should take note as the speaker, Debra Kakuk Smith, said that just 27% of people go to a health specific site when researching a medical problem … Continue reading →

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No money to build? Branch out!

Posted on April 14, 2009 by

I know lots of libraries have put their building plans on hold or have lost mil levies or funding that would let them expand, so I think the time of the mini library has come.  We want to be more … Continue reading →

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REFolution 6

Posted on April 7, 2009 by

Frances O’Brien of West Virginia University gave her talk on Janus at the Reference Desk: Rethinking Reference Revisited.  She quotes Johanna Drucker in her 4/3/09 article in Chronicle Review – Blind Spots: Humanists must plan their digital future – where … Continue reading →

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REFolution 5

Posted on April 7, 2009 by

  Joe Murphy from Yale University’s talk was Sending out an SMS: Exploring Reference via Text Messaging with Mobile Devices. He sees SMS (Short Message Service) as an enhancement rather than a replacement for traditional reference services. He uses ChaCha … Continue reading →

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REFolution 4

Posted on April 7, 2009 by

    Pat Dawson, Rider University and Kate McGivern, Bergen Community College presented Have Laptop Will Travel: Experiences of a Field Librarian.   A week before Pat started this program she did house calls to faculty (which gave her good … Continue reading →

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REFolution 3

Posted on April 6, 2009 by

Russell Palmer from LYRASIS (formerly PALINET) spoke on Google Gems for Reference Librarians.  He talked about using Google for a calendar, stock quotes, news, a phone book…  He spoke of Google Sets – they let you fill in missing information … Continue reading →

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Facts on File History Poster

Posted on April 6, 2009 by

  For all Facts on File customers out there – do you baby boomers, remember that wonderful best moments in movies collage poster they had in the seventies (Scarlett and Rhett and the kiss, Rick and Ilsa in Casablanca etc)?  … Continue reading →

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