iHCPL #48 - Check it Out!

I don't know that there's much to say about this one. As the eBranch, we tend to be the posters of the videos rather than producers. I would like to see more videos produced as I think it's a good promotional tool.

iHCPL #47 - Video Challenge

Ta Da...my very cute dogs star in a romance

iHCPL #46 - Movie Maker Basics

OK, so we've gotten an overview of making a video - and I even made a music video with Animoto, now on to (Windows) Movie Maker Basics.

So, I found so videos of my dogs I shot when we were doing one of the videos for iHCPL. Beth's video is here. I'm going to see what I can create from the raw footage, since it's available, and I love my dogs!

So, it wasn't too bad creating the video. I used several pieces of footage that we shot for the original iHCPL, added my transitions, found some music on CNET, and saved my file. The hardest part was finding music that worked with my video. I suspect that for a library oriented video - of say a program - it wouldn't be quite so hard, but I just couldn't find something I liked. I just don't think that video is my medium for creativity.

Now to figure out uploading to YouTube!

iHCPL #45 - Making a Video

So, I'm going to do the video module. This is the first post on Making a Video. OK, this is a nice easy start. I've used Windows Movie Maker a bit in doing stuff for the eBranch. It's pretty easy to use, but not super easy. Animoto we used during the original iHCPL for one of the "computer's down - we need a break" free exercises and that was LOTS of fun.

The Flip camera's are easy to use, although I don't like that they add an ad for the Flip at the end of your video. I've used a regular camera to film a video and that's probably the easiest. I haven't tried one of the newer digital camcorders, but hope to sometime soon.

Just for fun, I also did an Animoto video - of some of my wedding photos. It's a fun and easy way to create a short music video - plus I can share it with my friends and family, even though they've seen the pictures already.

Another Library Takes Learning 2.0 to the People

In a recent post on Tame the Web, Michael Stephens talks about a new series of online programs at Arlington Heights Memorial Library to help the public understand Web 2.0.

At HCPL, when we did our iHCPL program last fall, we ran a simultaneous version of the program for customers. When we did the original program we staggered the customer posts three weeks behind staff posts - in case customers had questions, staff would be a bit ahead. It ended up not being very necessary, so when we started iHCPL: The Next Generation in February, we offered it up at the same time to the public. Both are offered on the front of our website.

Facebook Actualized

I feel this way about Facebook a lot of the time. It's a love/hate relationship.

Link via Library Garden.

iHCPL - Next Gen Spring Cleaning #30 Take a Load Off

Clean up those files - we're overloaded. That's the basic message of item #30.

Hi, my name is Grace - Hi Grace! - and I have a LOT of files. File management is a never ending journey for me. Because I work with a lot of images, I tend to have really BIG files, which causes all sort of problems. So, I have a multi-tiered approach to file management. I keep active files in my Z drive and stuff I need to get to frequently. The eBranch has a shared drive for files we all use, for example the various logo files and the banners we create for the front of the website. I don't use the S drive much, only if I'm getting or receiving a big file, although lately much of that is done through YouSendIt, which is easier.

When I'm done with files, for example posters, I burn the original files to a CD and get it off my computer. So, I also have a lot of CDs. Finally, I do actually use my C drive; I have to, that's where the GIS (Graphical Information System, i.e. mapping) files are, which are absolutely HUGE.

I do have a pretty good filing system and go through my files on a fairly regular basis. If I didn't, I'd never find anything.

iHCPL - Next Gen Spring Cleaning #29 Email

So, we're looking at email in this exercise. I'm actually pretty good about keeping my email box clean. I have a good folder system set up. I subscribe to several mailing lists and they go directly into folders where I can quickly scan for topics I want to read and delete the rest. I do this in my work and personal accounts (I have one on Yahoo and one on Gmail). Several weeks back - I'm just writing this up now - I went through my folders and deleted stuff that I didn't need.

One thing I've found really useful in Outlook and in Yahoo (my primary personal account) is to use the flagging system for emails I need to get back to.

10 Questions Every Blogger Should Ask Before Posting

Great post at CopyBlogger that every blogger should read. I particularly have problems with #5 "Does my content speak to people on a human level," especially when I'm writing a post for the library blog. This is the exact point that LibrarianInBlack mentions in her link to this post.

Make Your Own Biosphere

I have looked at little biospheres in catalogs for several years now and thought how cool it would be to have one, but they're really expensive. So today, Boing Boing had a post linking to this video on how to make your own - how cool is that?

CIL2008: Final Thoughts

Overall, what a great conference. I really like the Information Today conferences - they do a great job of putting on something that is useful and practical. I'm still processing all of the stuff I heard, but I already have some thoughts and ideas and some tools to try.

• Our website need to be interactive and have staff and user input. Let our users market the library and give them and our staff a voice. People WANT to contribute.
• We need to explore social tools for our website.
• We need to take the website to the user on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube. Also give them widgets, toolbars, etc.
  
• Drupal looks like the right way to go.
• Need to see about getting some folks together to brainstorm about the website.
  
• Gaming is changing the way people view things. It's possible to bring the virtual and real worlds together - if you work at it.
• There are a lot of tools to help make it easier to put content on your website (I already knew this, but it was reiterated.
• I went to the Gaming and Gadgets petting zoo Sunday night. I want Guitar Hero!

Top tools to try:

• I signed up for Google Webmaster Tools, now to explore.
• Commons.wikimedia.org - icons
• Kuler (see also: 25 Online Color Generators
• Conduit.com (see also: LibX)
• Yahoo Pipes

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but while it's not a big list of ideas and tools, it'll be a lot to work with.

This is the first time I've blogged my notes (I take written notes at the conference) from a conference. I've found it very useful - for me - as a way to process the sessions I've attended and to share the information with colleagues. As I've been doing this, I've realized that we aren't always great about sharing the information we get at a conference. Obviously, it doesn't always apply to everyone, but I wonder how we could improve on that?

CIL2008: Web Manager's Academy Preconference

I'm just getting around to posting about the great pre-conference I attended on Sunday presented by Darlene Fichter, Frank Cervone, Jeff Wisniewski, & Marshall Breeding. In 6 hours we learned about a variety of topics relating to redesign, which is what we're about to do at HCPL, so this was a great refresher.

One of the first things they asked us to do was write down as a table what we wanted to learn. Darlene Fichter put it up as a tag cloud - what a great use of web 2.0.

To Ponder: 25 Questions to Ask Your Leadership Team & Yourself - Are We Ready for the Web 2.0 Digital Age? - Based on a post on Tame The Web.

Main points:

• The library web presence is bigger than your website
• Make sure you're looking at your usage statistics to see what people want
• When planning a redesign, use SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
• Set up a redesign committee - While I think it's helpful to get input, I like what Seth Godin had to say about creating a great website - #1 Fire the Committee
• To maximize web 2.0, blogs have to embrace participation by: writing in a conversational tone, inviting participation, accepting comments, participating in the conversation in a timely fashion
• We're great at content, but web users are fairly superficial. Websites need to be aesthetically pleasing. It's hard, if not impossible to recover from a negative impression.
• Most users come to a site to perform specific tasks, so emphasize the highest priority tasks so that users have a clear starting point.
• Generally, you should only have 7 +/- 2 categories at the top.
• Use a flexible vs. a fixed design, where possible.
• The web safe palette is dead - be as colorful as you want
• Don't look at library sites for ideas, look at where your users are going - Amazon, Home Depot...
• Rather than a revolutionary change, build for evolution. Try A/B testing - Amazon.com does this a lot.
• Accessibility is critical for core content, BUT value added content doesn't HAVE to be supported by all browsers.

People have a tendency to never look at a slim rectangular area that's above the page's main headline - Jacob Nielsen

• While important content still needs to be above the fold, users will scroll to the bottom.
  
• Jakob's Law: "Users spend most of their time on other sites that your site" - Jakob Nielsen
  
• What are they experiencing?
• Highly visual
• Highly personalized
  
• Highly interactive
• User generated
• Simpler is NOT always better. Amazon experiments using A/B testing. They tested a page by removing extra features. They added them back when sales went down.
• Design for scent. Users will drill down if they feel like they're getting somewhere. You don't have to stick to the 3 click rule anymore.
  

A few cool tools:

• Frogreview.com - Hysterical usability videos
• CMS Matrix - Find a CMS by function
• Google Analytics - Install code on site to track (for free) usage and other web analytics.
• Yahoo User Pattern Library - Optimal solutions to common problems.
• Google Webmaster Tools - OMG! Why haven't I seen this before.
• Sitemap.org - Info on creating site maps.
  

Some ideas:

• Add a Flickr group for HCPL to let customers submit photos
• Google has suggestions by drop down. Use in search boxes for electronic journals, etc.
  

CIL2008: What's Hot in RSS & Social Software?

Presented by Steven M. Cohen

Links up at PBwiki, so I'm only going to highlight the sites I found particularly interesting:

Google Reader lets you share items to which people can subscribe & has a mobile version.
Libworm.com - Search the Library blogosphere
Aiderss.com - Gives statistics on your blog, can analyze your .opm file to show you which of your feeds is most popular.
Citebite.com- Link directly to quotes in websites. A similar service is Fleck.com.

CIL2008: Giving Your Marketing & Advocacy a Second Life

Presented by Nancy Dowd & Paula Battakas

The presentation will be posted on Dowd's blog at some point is now available. Unfortunately, while very stylish, the PowerPoint was extremely difficult to follow due to a small font and the use of red on black background. The presenters also went through the presentation quickly.

Added:

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A few points:
Old school is afraid of transparency.
New media demands transparency

Cool example - NYPL Labs - Public lab of new technologies they're testing. LOVE THIS. One of their ideas is a suggestion box, a la My Starbucks Idea (Dell now has Ideastorm.com)

Photoshop Express has great language: Tell us what you like, dispise, what put you to sleep

Make your own Got Milk Poster (can't find the example) - What can we do like this?

Mid York Public Library's Regional Read blog discussions were lead by community members!

CIL2008: Innovative Marketing Using 2.0 Tools

Presented by Michael Porter & Helene Blowers

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This looks like an earlier version of the presentation, but looks it has most of the content. Updated to correct slide show. Some of the main points:

The old paradigm was to control the look and feel of the brand.

The n ew paradigm is to influence the character and portability of the brand. An example was Chick-fil-a's Show Us the Cow promotion. Could we do something like this - show us the iStar?

Turn the marketing over to the people.

Examples:

• Allen County Public Library - Community album, participated in A Day in the Life of Allen County. Could we do something like this - a day in the life of Harris County?
• Libraries & Librarians Flickr group; 365 library days project - great place to get marketing ideas.
• San Mateo County Library - ads across the top for Flickr & MySpace
• Hennepin County Bookspace - Submit a Photo of yourself reading Harry Potter
• Use the Flickr API to upload photos to Flickr. Note included disclaimer that the user agrees to when submitting the photo.
• PLCMC Foto Fun - Used Big Huge Labs Flickr Fun application to get users to submit motivational posters.
• Denver PL How I had Fun in the Library YouTube contest
• Louisville PL - A Library Champion Lives Here - Real & virtual meet
  

Take whatever tools work for you and market your library.
It's not about us, it's about the community
We're about stories, but we're terrible at telling ours
When you showcase public contributions THEY spread the word

8 Steps to Marketing 2.0

1. Educate - Learn about social media
2. Experience - participate & join the conversation
3. Envision - Develop a 2.0 marketing plan
4. Engage - Create social celebrations; focus on customer/community
5. Enable - Help your library brand & content to travel (widgets, toolbars)
6. Expand - Play with multimedia
7. Explore - Learn as you go & track success
8. EXPERIMENT

Always remember, the best way to get customers to market your brand is to let them market themselves

CIL2008: Tech Tools for Effectively Managing Information

Speakers: Roger Skalbeck & Barbara Fullerton

Interesting experimental presentation style. Rather than a PowerPoint, the presenters had several plain slides with links to screencasts of the sites/software they were discussing. While there were some technical glitches, overall it was an interesting way of presenting. Biggest issue is they started running short on time.

All the links are on the CIL2008 Wiki, so I'll only highlight the ones I thought looked especially interesting.

• SendMeRss - Get RSS feeds by email. Has a widget that can be added to a site. Interesting
• Kuler (see also: 25 Online Color Generators) - Get color inspiration from Adobe. Has a desktop application as well. Use to create palettes. Can download swatch file for Dreamweaver.
  
• Conduit.com (see also: LibX) - Use to create a toolbar. Might be worth checking out as a replacement for HCPL toolbar, which has some issues with anti-virus software. Gives statistics on use. Automatic updates.
  
• PonyFish - Create feeds for a site that doesn't have RSS. limited to 5 sites for free.
• Firebug - Firefox extension that lets you test different colors and fonts on your website.
• Scribefire (see also: WIndows LiveWriter, Qumana) - Firefox extension that lets you publish to multiple blogs.
• GifUP - They didn't get a chance to say much about this. The site say it's a GIF animator and Avatar generator. Something to look at more.
• TechCrunch and Adobe Media Player (see also: VLC Media Player) - Watch YouTube videos offline
  

CIL2008: Gaming, Learning & the Information World

Day 3 keynote by Elizabeth Lane Lawley

Keys to Happiness

• Satisfying Work to do
• Experience of being good at something
• Time spent with people we like
• The chance to be part of something bigger

Are you in the happiness business?
Maybe not yet, but you will be

In terms of perceived quality of life - virtuality is beating reality

Showed a clip of "A Spoon Full of Sugar" from Mary Poppins. Make it fun

In gaming, people willingly do repetitive tasks because they get rewarded through points, recognition, etc.

Putting the Fun in Functional

1. Collecting
2. Points
3. Feedback
4. Exchanges
5. Customization

New term - Productive Play

How can we harness the power of gaming?

Games that blur the boundaries:

• Chore wars - do chores in real life to get points online for look in the real world
• Seriosity's Attent - Company gives each person "money" called Serios that they can spend on email. Makes people think before sending email.
• Social Genius (URL not working) - Matching game to help people learn to recognize the people they work with. Get points for the more people you know. - This could be great for branches and the system as a whole to learn who they work with.
• Passively Multiplayer Online Gaming - Currently in beta, users download a Firefox extension that gets them points as they surf the web. They can use the points for armor, etc. How can library's use? - Users can create missions (i.e. PATHFINDERS!) to guide people through the web. Something to watch and maybe try out.

Games as gateway drugs (good thing)

• Guitar Hero is encouraging many people to learn the guitar - for real
• Online Rebound - People going from real to virtual and back again. E.g. - Taking picture, uploading to Flickr, then ordering cards from moo.com
• Etsy.com - People selling handcrafts online

How does your library make people feel happy, playful & productive?

Bring the virtual back intot he real and make tangible connections.

Libraries as happiness engines.

CIL2008: Leading Technology in Libraries

Presented by Gina Millsap, Executive Director & David Lee King, Digital Branch Manager of Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library

Barriers:

• Money
• Don't Know
• Fad
• No Time
• No Staff
• Overwhelmed
• Afraid
• Questions

Need to be sure we're not one of the barriers. Are you walking the talk?

Library Director 2.0

• Less hierarchy
• Trust staff
• Transparancy
• Involve all levels of staff
• Explain decisions

Organization is structured for quick decisions & implementation
Train staff
Allow play time
Listen
Offer structures for feedback

Library Director 2.1
(10% of Gina's time is spent on fund raising)

• Make Customer Service Job 1
• Don't assume you know what's important to customers
• If money isn't there, seek other resources
• Organize around the work - define tasks then organize around them; avoid one size fits all
• Experiment - do pilot projects
• Treat staff as customers; they'll then treat the customers well
• Build your leadership team
• Understand the context
• Data based decision making

Two NOs

• No Turf
• No passive aggressive behavior - handled by holding feat to fire; talk to the person you have the problem with

It's about people NOT stuff

Ask the right questions:
When Gina came in she met with all senior management individually (~24 people) & focus groups of staff (staff ~ 250) and asked for input, then aggregated information into organizational priorities

• What are the top 5 things we need to preserve & why?
• Top 3 things to change & why?
• What makes you feel valued?
• What do you want me to do as director?
• What are you concerned I'll do?

need to reprioritize what staff are doing
May require scheduling
If it's fundamental - treat it that way

Making Time for Web 2.0

Why make time?

1. Be relevant to the next generation
2. Teach the current generation
3. Teach them how to subscribe to your library
4. Save time
5. Patrons want to participate
   
6. Be a community leader
7. Land a cool job

How do I make time for 2.0?

• Change focus
• Schedule your time
• Remember to play
• Grant time to staff
• Don't ask staff for input if you're not going to use it

Job descriptions for all staff now say they will participate in the digital branch through blogging (librarians only) although it's open to all staff.

As an aside, David said that he went out and asked staff how they want to participate in web 2.0 and that was used to add new options (blogging, flickr, etc.), which has now been incorporated into job descriptions

Kouzes & Posner's leadership practices have been incorporated into performance reviews

CIL2008: Libraries as Laboratories for Innovation

Presenters:: Matt Gullett (PLCMC) & Greg Schwartz (Louisville Public Library)

Virtual Village @ PLCMC

• Create rich & different atmosphere
• Play music & run content on screens
• videos
• Flickr slides
• Patron spotlight - photo/image/avatar & customer's favorites
  
• Create new experiences for people at the library
• The library being more
• Discovery Service Desk
• Sit on stools to be at eye level
• Main service area has 80-100 computers
• Plasma screens with content
• Try to be more interactive with folks coming into space
• Play background music to help control volume in area
• Discovery desk is round. One side will be used for informal instruction
• Experimental Game lab
• Learning Lab
• Media lab

Greg @ Louisville

• Library think tank developed new design ideas - The Louisville Project: A Design Charrette
• Four people were selected to "do great things"
• not where they want to be
• Rather than broad thinking right now they're focusing on efficiency due to budget cuts
• They are doing beta testing - handing out new technologies to customers who apply for testing & a conversation
• LFPL University using open courseware

How to make it work:

• Need talent - use it in creative & thoughtful ways
• Time & space - hard to be creative amongst day to day activities
• Support from admin - resources, space to operate, organizational architecture, commitment: willingness to say yes or at least maybe

CIL2008: Facebook Apps & Libraries' Friendly Future

Presenters: Laurie Bridges & Cliff Landis

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Some key points:

• More popular than Google
• Social networking is more popular among women
• 58 million active users; 1/2 return daily
• #5 most popular site in the US
• 55% of teens use social networking
• Stickiest website in the world: the average users spends 20 minutes on the site & visits 32 pages
• Question: How can we make HCPL site stickier?
• How do we get more fans for HCPL Facebook page? - Cool! We have 4 new fans since I last checked!
• Dunbars number: The number of people you can maintain a stable relationship with. Facebook lets us keep up more relationships
• Need a way for users to write comments, rate & INTERACT
• Library catalogs are social networks for ideas. people WANT to interact, but they can't find out how on a library site.
• Social Network definition: has a profile, friending, public comments (Danah Boyd)
• The Line between social space & intellectual space isn't blurring. It was never there in the first place
• It's never a mistake to give users more options
• Let the users interact with the library;Create a users centered library; Let them interact with each other

How to not be left behind:

• Talk to users & find out what THEY want
• Use the tools they are using
• Broadcast what you're doing
• "Earn your audience" - deliver useful & interesting content that users don't have time to jump through hoops for.

CIL2008: Drupal & Libraries

Speaker: Ellyssa Kroski

This helped make my decision about Drupal for HCPL. This was a great presentation on Drupal.

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Several good points:
"Nearly core" Modules:

• Organic Groups
• CCK
• Views

Ideas: Could perhaps build multi-site system including Intranet?

Several library installations that sound interesting:

• UAA/APU - Multi-site: 3 sites on one code base & one database
• Franklin Park Public Library - Built by 1 person in 2 1/2 months
• Simon Fraser University - Used the Events Module
• Red Deer Public Library- Has a "Just testing section" on their Intranet to test new modules
• UAF Libraries - Created a DVD browser that pulls together DVD search results & IMDB cover art. Also has Top Clicks using the Taxonomy & tag cloud modules
• Hoover Public Library - uses the Captcha module. Has several microsites with different themes
• Cleveland Public Library - Uses Multi-site search module; customized the events module

Trends:

• Distribute management of website content
• Empower staff/customers
• Do multiple projects
• Present new views of content
• Staff Intranets

Top 5 Modules for libraries:

1. Bibliography Module
2. Marc Record
3. Book Review Modules
4. Millennium (III)
5. Z39.50 Search

LDAP Module for auto authentication within a library for an Intranet.

To remove a posters name from a page, create a new node type without name.

CIL2008: Mashups for Non-technies

Speaker: Jody Condit Fagan

Great presentation on the use of Yahoo Pipes to create mash-ups of rss data. Since the presentation is online - http://cil2008.pbwiki.com/f/Mashups+for+the+Nontechies_Final.ppt - on the CIL2008 Wiki, along with additional material from Jody, I'll just mention some key points.

• No programming involved - just plug in information
• Mashup information with a map, so the feed has a map
• Idea: Combine RSS of Events feeds with a map?
• Website is built for new users
• Idea: Use pipes to create search boxes?
• Pipe output can be read in any reader
• Use RSS to Javascript to convert to HTML for website
• Copy anyone else's pipe & modify - browse popular pipes
• Get Amazon account for web development use - data sent by XML which can be manipulated
• Can use Google mash-up editor along with Yahoo Pipes

CIL2008: User Generated Content

Speaker: Roy Tennant

• Focus on library managed sites
• Definition: Content = photos, movies, documents
• Descriptive Content = tags, descriptions, ratings, reviews
• More (decent) content is better
• more access is better
• Can help provide more personalized service?
• Foster interaction and community

"We don't know everything" - Farcas

• Examples:
• kete.net.nz - public repository of content; a story of community told by it's people
• hhpl.on.ca/greatlakes/glimages - asking community for help in identification
• Worldcat - add to it, rate & review (why can't we do this?)
• LC on Flickr - tagging
• higher profile for the collections - they went where the users are
• Community engagement
• Got 11,000 contacts
• Exploit the knowledge of the masses
  
• Boston Public Library also now on Flickr
• steve.museum - museum social tagging project

What to know:

• Our idea of "content" may not be theirs.
• It'll be messy, but that's mostly OK
• There are ways to increase effectiveness through intelligent usage

Issues:

• What are your goals?
• Are you set up appropriately to meet those goals?
• Are there strategies to maximize the benefit?
• How to distinguish between user and library content
• Will you need to moderate?
• Is the impact worth the investment?

User engagement is a good thing
Need to get up to speed on fostering engagement
Get savvy about using this stuff effectively

CIL2008: Widgets, Tools & Doodads

Awesome presentation from Frank Cervone & Darlene Fichter. They were part of the pre-conference I attended as well. Some really useful stuff here. See the presentation for all the tools.

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Some of my favorite suggestions are:

• Feng-Gui - Alternative to eye-tracking
• Browsershots - Get screenshots of your website in different browsers
• Photoshop Express - Online free version of the great graphic package. I have the full Photoshop, but this would be great for our branch staff
• Addthis.com - Create a bookmarking sharing button for your website
• Google Gadgets - A variety of widgets for your site - mentioned Google Countdown: could be used to countdown to SRP or Staff Awards or...
• Google Translate My Page - customizable
• Anonymouse - Check if licensed resources are available to non-library users
• Prism - For Firefox, opens a web application in it's own window separate from browser

And finally, the lolinator.com - transform your website!

As an aside, my LOL Name is Growla Cheezburger

CIL2008: Library Web Presence

Speakers (Emily Rimland & Binky Lush) from Penn State University Libraries talked about doing a Research Jump Start page geared toward undergraduate students - primrarily incoming freshmen - who would be better served by something simpler than their main page.

They created several widgets for the page - and for use on external pages such as iGoogle, Netvibes, or Pageflakes using Widgetbox.

I like that the widgets can be put on student's own pages. Widgetbox also provides analytics. While it offers widget creation for Facebook, it does not offer Facebooks social aspects.

The other speakers (Kristina DeVoe & Derik Badman) were from Temple University Libraries discussing their implementation of the LibGuides product from Springshare. It offers an easy out of the box solution for staff to create interactive, modular subject guides. I've looked at Springshare a bit and will be investigating further, although it may not be necessary with the upcoming Drupal installation.

Temple's Guides

Other guide creation options were mentioned:
MyLibrary
SubjectsPlus
LibData
ResearchGuide
LibCourseBuilder
Social Bookmarking
Wikis

Presentation at MadInkBeard

CIL2008: Fast & Easy Site Tuneups

Great tips from Jeff Wisniewski, from U. of Pitt. Presentation will be on CIL site - probably in a week or so. Most of the tips can be done in under 1 minute; at most 4-5. I've bolded the ones I really like.

• Update your copyright automatically with a script
• Add "last updated" script ot all pages
• Add photos to contacts
  
• Turn boring contact info into Hcards - use for individuals, branches, or services. A Dreamweaver plugin is also available.
• Replace all instances of "click here". For example "Click here for info guides" becomes "Info guides are here"
• Use Firefox extensions Tails & Operator
• Harness the power of the 3 question survey - ask for email (and respond)
• Don't make the server think: If a directory link, add the final slash
• Web 2.0ifiy your logo - Web2.0 Stylr
  
• Small chunks of sans-serif type
• Cheery colors
• Rounded corners
• Be an Icon icon - be more graphic: Commons.wikimedia.org - icons
• Need for speed - Install Firebug & Yslow in Firefox to test site speed
• Cache the cache
• Combine small images into an image map - Yahoo research has found this can make images load faster
• Scripts:
• Eliminate inline scripts on a page. Put them in a separate file and point to the file so it loads once
• Exception: Your front page - put them inline, it will load faster
• Tidy up your homepage. Validate with w3.org
• Optimize your CSS Cleancss
• Move important info out of the "blindness zone"
• Search engine optimize page titles. Use page title analyzer from Google Webmaster Tools
• Add labels to forms for accessibility
• Use radio buttons & check boxes appropriately
• Add social bookmarks links for "Add to X" - Social Bookmark Creator
  

CIL2008: Going Local in the Library

Presented by: Charles Lyons (Added)

Google's mission:

Organize the world's information 7 make it universally accessible & useful

Look at Google Sky

• Information on the Internet behaves differently whether it's local or global
• Google is doing well with putting local results into general search results

Real potential of local web is something deeper
or more 2.0
or more hyper local

Local web

• is diverse and includes search engines, maps, media, government data, blogs, social networks, and people
• is social - user generated, participatory, amateur, civic, grass roots, and citizen journalism

The local web is the joining of the real world and the virtual world

Look at handmaps.org

Local web is bringing a sense of place to the internet - are libraries? Yes, but we can do better.

• Create custom local search engines - mycommunityinfo.ca; Google Custom Search, Rollyo, Swicki
• Local blogging: Placeblogger, Blogdigger, metblogs: Create a local blog directory; on library blogs talk about community events - Darien Community Matters, Fort Wayne Area Artists
• Local News: Topix, Outside In, Your Street - Skokie Talk, Myhamilton.ca (Online communities as no libraries currently doing news solely) - We could use local news feeds on revised branch pages
• Local wikis - Loudounpedia, WikiNorthia
• Local Photos - geo tagging on Flickr. Subscribe to locally related tags. We already do good with Flickr, what can we do better - some ideas: create a HCPL Flickr group and let customers contribute photos. Ask branches to geo tag, which aids in mapping photos.
• Maps: Yahoo Map Mixer, Google Maps, Metacarta
• Create local guides: Guidespot, iNeighbors
  

CIL2008: Keynote - Lee Rainie

Keynote was by Lee Ranie Rainie from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, who talked about some of the results of their studies on people's use of the Internet. Some thoughts from the program:

Added: Link to Presentation

• Wireless connectivity is brining back email as an option for people
• News - however a person defines it - is becoming more important to people

Have recently done research on how people are getting information to help solve problems that could have a government connection or be helped by government resources. This was not a general information study. Specifically asked about libraries. They found:

• 79.5% had at least one problem ~ 169 million adults
• 53% of adults had been to a library in the past year
• Younger adults are more likely to visit the library:
• 62% Gen Y (18-30)
• 59% Gen X (31-42)
• 57% Trailing Boomers (43-52)
• 46% Leading Boomers (53-61)
• 42% Matures (62-71)
• 60% of online teens used the Internet at a library last year; up from 36% in 2000
• There are no significant racial differences in library use - 53% each of blacks, whites & Hispanics used a library
• What sources did people use?
• 58% - Internet
• 53% - Professionals
• 13% - Public library
• Who turns to libraries for problem solving?
• Young Adults (18-29) - 21%
• Oldest - 15%
• Blacks - 26%
• Latinos - 22%
• Lower Income <$40,000 - 17%
• At the the library, they used:
• 69% consulted staff
• 68% used computers
• 38% of those that used comptuers got one on one instruction
• 58% sought reference material
• 42% used newspapers and magazines
• 64% said they felt successful using a library and 36% got lots of information; Internet was 63% and 55%; Government Agency was 65% and 49%
• 29% they would go to a library again if they had a problem
• 40% of lower income
• 41% Gen Y
• 41% less educated
• 42% Latinos
• 48% blacks
• 68% of regular library patrons
• Hypothesis: Young people have had most recent experience @ libraries so they know we can help
• Takeaways:
• 53% market share isn't bad, but there are other opportunities
• Need public education about what we do and how we've changed
• Focus on success stories
• People who know you best are the ones who keep coming back
• Patrons are heppy and some are zealous advocates
• This is an era of consumer evangelists
• Give them web 2.0 tools, training
• Get feedback
• Your un-patrons are primed to seek you out; keys to their patronage:
• awareness of work
• comfort in your environment
• mentoring skills
• Aspire to be a node in people's social networks
• Ask yourself: How can I be a friend & fit into people's social networks
• Offer your expertise in new literacies
  

iHCPL - Next Gen Spring Cleaning #28 - Ack! Clutter

In our first exercise for Spring Cleaning - #28 - we're learning about general organization. I actually use some of the GTD principles already, especially with email. In email, I use my Inbox as a to-do list, I know not the best idea, but it works for me. I triage my email by doing quick replies when I can and flagging items I need to work on or need to get back to later. Things I need to keep go into folders.

As for to-do lists, I actually prefer the old fashioned note. I've recently started using a 3x5 card system, which works for me. I need to have my to-do items smack in front of me, which is why online systems haven't worked. I have fiddled around with some group online systems, but even those I don't really like.

Overall, I'm pretty organized electronically and in paper format. I do welcome this module, as it gives me an excuse to go through everything.

iHCPL - Next Gen Sound #27 - Be Your Own Radio Station

I actually helped test this, so my Gabcast recordings are up on the right hand side of my blog. I found Gabcast extremely easy to use! Once my account was set up, all I had to do was phone it in. Now if I could just be interesting. I don't see myself getting into podcasting, it just doesn't interest me to do this. I don't subscribe to podcasts either. I'm a much more visual person, which is why I'm surprised at how much I like audio books.

Even though I am not a podcast fan, it doesn't mean there aren't plenty of people who are and I'm excited about some of the things we're going to try for the eBranch. One branch has already started podcasting and I hope more will try it. There are other things on the horizon with podcasting as well, which we'll hopefully reveal in the next few weeks.

iHCPL - Next Gen Sound #26 - To Make Sweet Music

Could I compose music, exercise 26 challenged me to see if I could. I first tried out Splice and just couldn't figure it out, so I gave up. Next, I went on to JamStudio and had a blast. My creation, based on Beethoven's Ode to Joy can be found here. I was initially surprised that it was chords, although that makes sense, so what I bang out on the piano as single notes, became chords, but it actually sounds pretty nifty, if I do say so. I found JamStudio really easy to use, although it would probably help to have some music knowledge to use it.

I also looked at Qloud, which integrates with and creates a playlist for your Facebook page. I'll have to play with this a bit more as I didn't see many artists I liked in the first perusal, but it's an interesting concept.

iHCPL - Next Gen Sound #25 - To Burn or Not To Burn

So in exercise #25, we need to burn a CD. TO be honest, I'm having technical difficulties with Windows Media Player right now, but have burned CDs in the past. Usually, it's very easy to burn a CD - you just insert a CD, and select what you want to put on it and voila, you have a CD.

I just don't use CDs anymore if I have a choice. In the car, for audio books, I prefer an MP3 player because you don't get skipping (usually), which sometimes happens with CDs. If I'm listening to music at work, I much prefer an MP3 player - or an online play list to CDs or radio.

As to music online, I think open access (with some limitations) is preferred. For example, Songza, which I mentioned in my last post lets you find music and listen to it online. In my case, I own some of the music I'm listening to and I might find other things I like. If I like it enough, I'm going to buy a copy for myself. It's a case of try before you buy. Several studies have shown that sharing is not really detrimental to purchasing - in fact in some case it helps it.

iHCPL - Next Gen Sound #24 - The Sweet Sound of Music

I thought I better catch up with the Next Generation on Sound, so here is my post for exercise # 24. I looked at a number of pay music sites in the past. Before my iPod was stolen, I had used iTunes frequently (hopefully I'll get a new MP3 player soon - tax refund anyone?). To be honest, I wasn't overly fond of iTunes. I found it rather difficult to use, although the iPod was a dream to use. Funny how one was easy and the other hard.

Since I've downloaded music (and audio books) from the HCPL Digital Media collection, I thought I'd give music.download.com. Since I really like Celtic Woman, I searched to see if they had any free downloads. Unfortunately, they only had a couple free streaming MP3s. As a side note, I actually like this feature of the C|Net site a lot and can see fiddling around with creating online play lists more than downloading.

While they didn't have Celtic Woman for download, there was a related item that came up - Celtic Shores that had a bunch of free downloads, so I downloaded Amazing Grace. Glad this is just a test, because it was an incredibly annoying version, LOL. I skipped the transfer to an MP3 player, because frankly I've done that a lot with audio books, so I know how it works.

I'm glad I discovered this site. Another site I came across recently that's pretty cool is Songza, a music search site. When you enter keyword(s) it will find any songs or artists related and then you can play directly online. While there's no downloading, you can create playlists.