Ask a librarian service at LC

The Ask a Librarian reference service at the Library of Congress got a mention in the list of question & answer sites/tools at Mashable: Q&A TOOLBOX: 30+ Tools For Questions and Advice.

Social bookmarking & libraries presentation

Earlier this month I did a presentation on social bookmarking for the staff at MPOW. I gave a brief overview of social bookmarking and then demonstrated how to use del.icio.us. I followed up with some examples of how libraries are using del.icio.us (linked to on the guide listed below).

• Online guide I created
• Presentation slides (pdf)

Social bookmarking & libraries presentation

Earlier this month I did a presentation on social bookmarking for the staff at MPOW. I gave a brief overview of social bookmarking and then demonstrated how to use del.icio.us. I followed up with some examples of how libraries are using del.icio.us (linked to on the guide listed below).

• Online guide I created
• Presentation slides (pdf)

Library Facebook applications

I’ve been using Facebook for the past two months or so. I like it. Several libraries have developed applications that work within Facebook. I installed the ones that show up in the Facebook application directory. Here’s a brief overview of their features.

Notre Dame Library Search

Inserts a single search box on the profile page for finding books and articles. As you can see from the screenshot, the search only works for valid Notre Dame users. There are links to the library’s home page and its Ask A Librarian service above the search box as well. The application page (when selected from your Application links on the left) provides the same interface.

Hennepin County Library Catalog Search

Inserts a single search box on the profile page for searching their catalog. A drop down box allows you to select Title, Author, Subject, or Keyword. The application page looks the same. Unique: A link below the search box lets you add this application to your profile by clicking on it.

UM Library Search (University of Michigan)

Inserts a single search box on the profile page that lets you do a keyword search in the library catalog. Logo on the left links to the library’s home page. The application page provides the same interface.

UIUC Library Search (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Inserts a single search box on the profile page that does a search for both books and articles. Also provides a link to the Ask A Librarian service above the search box. The application page looks the same.

Update: Code for the UIUC Library Search: https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/dh-ward/www/facebook_search_widget.zip

Ryerson U Library

The Ryerson University Library application is very different from the others. The screenshot above shows what it looks like on your profile page. It inserts a single search box on your profile that searches the library catalog. A drop down box allows you to select Keywords, Title, Author, Subject, Journal Title, Course, or Prof/TA. The “click here for more content” link beneath the search box provides links to Ryerson Library App main page (see below), the Catalogue search page (part of the app), the News page (part of the app), and the library’s website.

The Ryerson Library app provides a significant amount of information on the main application page. I’ve included a screenshot of it above. There is a catalog search box, an article search box, links to the five most recent news items, as well as links to many library services and guides. The “News” tab (at the top) provides links to the top 15 news items, the “Search Catalogue” tab provides another location to search the catalog (I don’t see anything different about this search than the one on the main app page), and the “View New Titles” tab provides links to view new audiovisual items, new books, and new e-books (which then all display within Facebook).

Overall, the Ryerson U Library application provides a significant library presence in Facebook. None of the applications address the social nature of Facebook and any potential that may have. Although, the Hennepin application does take advantage of the viral nature of Facebook by including a quick link to add the application to your profile.

Feed readers, video sharing sites

I’ve been using Bloglines for over a year now and been happy with it. I have taken a look at a few other feed readers, specifically Google Reader and Rojo. I thought Rojo was nice, but I had no reason to switch. When I originally looked at Google Reader I thought it was visually confusing. Well, with all the hype about the new and improved Google Reader, I imported my blogroll from Bloglines to check it out again. And I like it – a lot. But at this point I don’t intend to switch because I love that you can subscribe to email lists in Bloglines.

I’ve also started using Dailymotion for video sharing. Why not YouTube? Well, the visuals again. Dailymotion has a clean interface and I found it easy to use. YouTube is messy. There are flashing banner ads, and tons and tons of links on every page. Ick. I’m not into the whole social aspect of the site – so it doesn’t matter to me that YouTube has a huge following. I just want to share videos with my family.

Wiki at Work: Implementing a Wiki in Reference Services poster

Here is a pdf of the poster I presented at the ALA conference last weekend. I’ve included a little bit of the text from the poster here as background on the project.

Reference Showcase
Last year, the Reference and Information Services department at the Perry Castaneda Library piloted a new forum for sharing knowledge across all branches of the University of Texas Libraries called the Reference Showcase. This forum was created for public service staff to share information in a timely fashion about assignment-related resources, new databases, research tips, and more. The Reference Showcase forums were intended to be informal, in-person gatherings with brief presentations.

Problem
Because it is not possible for all public service providers to come together on a regular basis for the Reference Showcase due to scheduling conflicts and other obligations, an online solution was needed to provide staff members with long-term access to the knowledge shared at these meetings.

Project Objective
This wiki was created as a repository for the knowledge and information shared at Reference Showcase forums to provide public service staff members with long-term access to time-saving approaches and other valuable information. In addition, I created this wiki to fulfill my capstone project requirement with UT’s School of Information. My field supervisor for the project was Jenifer Flaxbart and my faculty advisor was Dr. Loriene Roy.

Development Process (January – May 2006)

1. Software selection
   • Open source software or hosted solution?
   • Chose PmWiki, open source software, to be installed on a UT Libraries’ server
2. Open forum to get initial input from future users
   • Introduced the project, its purpose and scope, and solicited feedback
3. Created website structure, wrote help pages, created indexes, and implemented additional functionality (extensions)
   • Incorporated feedback from open forum
4. Test group – five future users
   • Demonstrated wiki at an in-person meeting and solicited feedback then and over the next few weeks
5. Made changes based on test group feedback and added twenty sample entries
   • Content received from librarians and reference listservs
6. Instruction session
   • Open to all public service providers at the UT Libraries
   • Brief presentation of the project, wiki demonstration, hands-on training, and Q&A
7. Training for wiki administrator

Conclusions
The UT Reference Wiki content will change dramatically over the next few months. An existing internal resource called the “Assistance Guide” will be added to the wiki. The Assistance Guide contains more factual answers to frequently asked questions at the reference desk. Public service providers at UT want a one-stop, searchable resource, so the two resources will be integrated.

Wiki at Work poster